To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Aleks046 – :
Was at the mall and all of Saks, Neimans, and Nordstrom were out of stock. The associate sayid since it isn’t in high demand they may get like 3-4 in a shipment and they sell quickly. Under-appreciated. Was doing some retail therapy and this was gonna be my remedy. Too impatient to wait for a shipment lol I’ll wait til spring. Very austere, soapy scent, it is striking. Easily unisex.
CowboyMarlboro – :
This is a happy walk in rain, a playful kiss, a ray of sunshine through a shaded meadow. If I were to describe a fragrance in a song, No. 19 would be “Stardust”.
“Though I dream in vain
In my heart, it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love’s refrain..”
Mewviaburbbaw – :
I wore No19 EDT all through the 80’s while my kids were growing up and loved it. Sometime around 2000 after not wearing it for years, I was shopping and sprayed some on my wrist. When my grown son got home after his class he came in the kitchen and grabbed my arm and inhaled. He closed his eyes and said he just got a rush of childhood memories and asked what I was wearing because it was a smell he remembered and loved and associated as his mom. How awesome that a fragrance can become that much a part of a person.
Fast forward to 2018 when I found an EDT sample, wearing it until every last drop is gone. Then decide to order a bottle of EDT from Chanel only to be so dissapointed that I sent it back the next day. So, a few days later after realizing how much I missed my signature scent, I found an older parfum on e-bay. I won’t go into notes since that’s been done many times, but for those who are searching for a scent of your own, or like the new version, try to find at least a sample of pre-reformulated No19 to compare. I’m sad that I don’t get along with the new but happy the original is still around to treasure.
Edit: I got a vintage No19 EDT from EBay and it’s perfection! It’s heaven in a bottle and a great find because it’s 3.4 oz in the old silver refillable bottle.
FAFA123 – :
I don’t usually feel thrilled about Chanel’s more popular fragrance lines; their more recent private collection is much nicer to me. But I find No. 19 EdT to be quite mesmerising.
The sharp green galbanum definitely opens and gives way to the powdery ionones (iris), but there is also some anisic note here that I think enhances the composition. It’s much cleaner and sharper than the sister fragrance, No. 19 EdP, which is ionone heavy and thus more powdery than I would normally select.
The dry down of this scent is nice as well–it continues the bitter theme with very mild but pronounced hints of leather softened with sandalwood and enriched by vetiver.
It’s a great scent and I think it’s a good price point for what it is. Sillage and tenacity are low-moderate, but it’s an EdT so it won’t last quite as long as a perfume. I still highly recommend trying it!
If you have the chance to visit the Chanel boutique in Saks 5th Avenue in New York, ask for Carla. She’s a fragrance enthusiast and made my purchase very pleasurable.
Luckmanbks – :
Oh wow! Green scents are not usually my jam, but I am currently head-over-heels for No. 19. I received a 30ml vintage splash bottle of this beauty as an extra from a ridiculously generous swapper a while back, and finally got around to trying it out. The opening is very vegetal, and then it dries down to a surprisingly warm scent for something so fresh and green and with a reputation for being “cold.” These greens are sun-warmed and this perfume is not an ice queen. Anyone wearing No. 19 will come across as self-assured, however, and that’s never a bad thing.
freek1ll – :
Not just for women, No. 19 is a green, almost menthol scent. One of my favorites by Chanel.
edvin251 – :
This smells like cigarette smoke. I’m not the first person on here to make that association. But if you let it dry down for a while, the sharp, green, floral-leather comes out. This isn’t soft and comforting, it’s green and alive. It’s an interesting EdT, that’s for sure. There are a lot of layers and facets here. Almost smells like a cleaning product shallowly, but if you go deeper you can get the green and floral notes. Quite complicated.
reewCheefly – :
What could be more divine than Iranian-grade galbanum that almost feels like sap from the plant and rubbing it between your thumb and index? 19 is a thorough study of galbanum accentuated by the butteriness of iris. Impeccable in composition and seamless in execution, no wonder 19 is talked about as a reference point when it comes to the green genre. What makes it stand out from the 70s releases is that instead of focusing on hyacinth, 19 used galbanum as a focal point. More refined and more formidable in combination with leather and rose.
This is Chanel’s best offering from its commercial line along with Cristalle.
FriendIsabelle – :
This is for the vintage versions.
I nearly passed up the sample-sized bottle of 19 cologne at a yard sale, as I was never impressed by No 5, but I opened it up and took a sniff, paid the quarter they were asking and brought it home.
This fragrance has definite classroom associations for me–a well-liked teacher must have worn it when it was still new on the market; perhaps young, pretty but-with-a-steel-backbone Ms. Miller. It would have suited her.
I detect a natural fresh green that doesn’t shriek. I detect subtle leather, and yes, a stale cigarette-smoke note, which would have been perfectly appropriate in a creation for Coco Chanel. This last is also nostalgic for me, as my formative years were prior to the time that anyone worried about 2nd-hand smoke and nearly all my initial experiences had the aroma of cigarettes wafting around *somewhere*.
19’s florals briefly echo Hermes Caleche–a little soap, but not an abidingly-soapy fragrance. Sometimes I get a little burst of aniseed at the outset that quickly dissipates.
Conventional wisdom used to hold that delicate scents were for the pale-complected, while the deeper-hued were allowed the delicious orientals. Being pale, myself, this disgruntled me as if I’d been sentenced to a lifetime of nothing but beige. I love the complexity and spice of orientals, but if I’m honest with myself, they do tend to wear me, instead of the other way around.
19 has all the complexity and surprises I could ever want, but with the good manners to let me be the boss.
This lingers faintly on my skin overnight and into the next morning, sometimes even after a shower. It becomes an intimate, erotic powder scent.
Some find 19 a bitchy, cold fragrance. It is not. Rather, it is not ingratiating. It doesn’t wheedle, grovel, giggle or scream. It is for women who don’t need to jump up and down for attention, who don’t need to be obvious to be noticed. I wish I could have afforded this when I was younger!
mixasko – :
I was looking for SOMETHING SPECIAL.
Something delicate yet strong.
Something herbal, resinous & green – but not medicinal.
Something earthy, dusty & smoky – yet clear.
Something sweet & impressive – but without a drama queen effect.
The answer to those requests is Chanel No. 19.
Velvety green /yet diaphanous/, aromatic, sophisticated, daring, distinctive & refined.
Artur_555 – :
Not much I can say about this one that hasn’t been said already. Green galbanum and iris goodness, oakmoss and vetiver, springy florals, so many great notes. Classic, elegant, confident, fantastic. One of my all time faves.
xorton – :
Oakmoss and vetiver, but in a way that is not dated, unlike similar male-marketed fragrances from the same period. Great for a man in 2018
anrkmnka – :
This is far too good for the ladies to keep to themselves particularly in the EDT. It has garnered compliments from friends and intimates almost more than any other scent. The dry down with dusty iris mossy and leather notes and creamy sandalwood underpinning beautifully blended florals is a delight for all.
rwe178JeomiWogkig – :
I really wanted to like No.19, after having read all of the reviews about the fresh, green scent. The initial impression was of strong, cut flower stems.I was reminded of something my Grandma used to say if something smelled too “green” or medicinal/herbal. She would say “That smells like funeral home.” I realized that was exactly what this scent reminded me of.Not a pleasant association. I waited for it to dry down into something I liked, but it just didn’t happen.Darn.
TYAPOLINA – :
DH gifted this to me a few weeks ago.
For years I have been sighing about how much I miss Chanel 19, which I used to love as a very young woman, decades ago, but haven’t worn in many, many years. He didn’t realize that the reason I hadn’t re-purchased this is that I haven’t been wowed by the current, weaker reformulations and I am not prepared to pay the steep price that they are asking for something that I do not absolutely love. Since I am not a vintage hunter, Chanel 19, as far as I was concerned, was a thing of the past. Therefore, when I opened his gift and found a tall bottle of the current EDT, I was surprised and also a bit dismayed. Two things however have since mitigated my dismay: I discovered that DH had gotten a very good deal on the bottle,and hadn’t paid a totally astronomical price and the scent has grown on me. Something very odd happened actually. I found that after I had turned the bottle over to inspect the label (I was concerned about the possibility of it being a counterfeit)the notes were more discernible, smelling fresher and closer to the scent that I remembered. Since then I have noticed this consistently: when I remember to give the bottle a quick turn the scent smells better and I am quite enjoying it. I know that this controverts the conventional wisdom about how perfumes are blended but for me this is a thing.
WaitIgl – :
I initially disregarded this scent when I tried it for the first time at the start of the year. The current formulation is just much too weak and really has zero staying power.
Zoom forward several months and my lovely friend sent me a 15mL recharge from her mother’s vintage selection. As this was an heirloom of sorts, I’ve been very careful with it as it means a great deal to my friend – enough that she passed it on to someone who’d use it. Maybe it’s the sentimentality talking, but I honestly think the vintage is the way to go. It’s roughly above the strength of the current EDP and has much more complexity than any of the current formulas – and I love both the eau de parfum and parfum.
It’s very green, very powdery and VERY galbanum heavy. It’s not in the same league as Chamade or Vol de Nuit, but the three are barely comparable to one another. This is cold, hard and straight to the point. The current eau de parfum I find to be very kind and loving, whereas this is a total b word. Not to be crossed, only for those who do the crossing. My nan wore something very similar as I was growing up – now she hates it. Go figure.
A bit oakmossy, like Hermes’ Un Jardin Sur Le Toit and leathery / powdery like a handbag that’s seen a few years of make up abuse.
Timeless, classy, exceptional, crystalline, effortless and undeniably Chanel.
and no, my dear milennials, NOT just for the older generations.
Eternity’s great grandmother, in a way.
DonVitoHead – :
On me this is not sharp, bitter or cold. Cold is cristalle! It does have a distinct salty soapyness that does not appeal to me. I do appreciate the scent for its character, balance and interest, it does keep me sniffing but I cannot see myself wearing it on a regular basis. I love the florals, honeyed rose violet, that are unfortunately very subdued on me, also the green notes, and the slightly soapy ambery notes complement the green/floral notes very nicely. One to try if you want a complex soapy scent of distinction and subtlety. It is a long time since I tried the edp but I would say this one has less heavily iris and violet.
DiokstokHow – :
Full disclosure: Iris and I don’t typically get along. She has a tendency to either turn to powder on me, or smell like vinyl both from the bottle and on my skin — so I doubt it has much to do with skin chemistry but more my perception. However, I have much appreciation for this note.
It’s like this: the iris note is used a lot in shampoos and to scent pure and innocent things like dolls and rubber duckies. We have our own set of experiences with smell that can imprint so strongly in our psyche and cause an emotional response. For me, somewhere in my childhood I must have been overwhelmed with plastic toys that smelled like iris. I think that’s also why I have trouble with iris based leather scents — most smell like nursery room vinyl to me. I’m hoping to retrain my brain and reset my olfactive memory. I’m choosing a 5 ml spray decant of Chanel No. 19 EDT as my treatment serum.
Clean soapy notes like aldehydes that I associate with class are present here. Galbanum is bright and a little bitter and contrasts well with the softness of iris. Other bitter but cheerful white florals like narcissus and lily of the valley are also detected and enhance the green aspects of iris. Oakmoss here is very smooth, and although it adds to that feeling of vinyl for me, it’s also luxurious and supple.
After a while as No. 19 EDT dries down, it turns to a musky smooth green softness and loses any crispness about it. My brain is still translating this as soapy vinyl or pleather, nothing natural or woody. However I have much appreciation for this composition — it’s very well blended, clean and chic. It’s rather cool and reticent, romantic too like a watercolor painting. I do like those sharp opening notes much better than the drydown. But I can see how others are comfortable in the finishing fresh airiness and classy muskiness of this beauty.
We’ll see how those lovely fresh green notes carry the iris and how I feel after I get to the bottom of my 5 ml. Perhaps this one may be something that I can appreciate from a distance or on another person but not on myself beyond those opening notes.
ktu87 – :
Layering it with Prada Infusion d’Iris is heavenly!
45874587 – :
Wow. This perfume is sharp. It’s definitely a unisex scent to my nose. I like how mossy it is! The other Chanel 19 perfume with the glass cap and gold rim is more feminine. This perfume is green but also powdery which makes me think of dry, soft hay. That’s not bad but it’s different. I start to like this perfume more as it dries down. The florals come trough after a few minutes. A woody, musky chiqueness shows up soon after. Man? Woman? Who cares? It’s definitely complex and interesting!
Dimon89 – :
Looks like its sharp but its not 🙂
Please don’t let the color of water to mislead You…
Oris…Vetiver…oak moss and…pretty light burned wood is a first plan…Dry down is really fast…. beautiful… woody relaxing notes… covered with… powder….
Absolute masterpiece to me.
My summer scent I purchased yesterday…
Its was stormy day in Chicago… I felt so great to walk with my umbrella… while it was raining… I wear Chanel 19…. and nothing really matter 🙂 after first spray….
While it was raining I went to park and I felt so relaxed and so classy….
This is amazing scent.I would never say myself and I would never let anyone to say: – harsh green. ~I would say- hard to describe a rare gem…hidden diamond…
Love the bottle as well.
Amazing quality of Vetiver ….. covered with a high quality of poudre…
Masterpiece to me.
I am glad everyone loves Chanel 5 🙂 19 is only for me 🙂
gendos36 – :
I purchased a vintage 1970’s bottle in box, never opened (still in original plastic wrap).
At the moment, all I can say is “wow!’.
They definitely made perfume with more concentrated ingredients back then…
I’ve just sprayed my first two sprays (with quite an old fashioned sprayer) and my goodness it is a strong smell and projects very well.
UPDATE –
It does open up with a slight sharpness and is very green, but I actually don’t mind it.
But once the greenness calms down a bit, the iris starts to shine through and it is gorgeous.
For the base and dry down I get a lovely clean soapiness, but a very expensive classy french soap.
Kenav – :
It’s a common cliche that No 19 is cold. Well, yes, it is – in the same way that the sweeping metallic curves of a well-proportioned classic car are cold, or the finely etched stone of a masterful sculpture.
It is also often said that No 19 is sharp. That is also true – in the same way that the wit of the finest satirist is sharp, or the point of a perfectly cut jewel.
Also commonly acknowledged is No 19’s aloof beauty. Here, I have no simile to offer; the statement is what it is. Chanel No 19 possesses an aloof beauty that remains unrivaled in the world of perfumery. There’s a reason she is regarded as the ultimate ice queen – she is beautiful, yet cutting; inviting, yet prickly; and oh so statuesque in the surety of her very being.
No 19 opens with a subliminal dose of aldehydes and a truckload of galbanum, both of which continue to add sparkle and depth (respectively) throughout. The florals are both soft and crunchy – powdery iris meets bitchy jasmine. The base is all transparent wood, vetiver and leather – a foundation, rather than a monolith. But the sappy, resinous galbanum is the real star here – and it’s the best example of a galbanum-forward perfume you’re likely to find.
I have a pre-IFRA sprayer of the EDT, and it is marvelous. Longevity is 10 hours plus, with soft projection throughout. I find the EDT to be the purest expression of the No 19 ethos – but then again, as a male, I prefer its sharpness over the more iris-forward EDP. I wear No 19 at the office, to dinner, or on any crisp spring or autumn day that takes my fancy. She will neither offend nor fade into the background; she is admirably resolute.
A world without No 19 would be like the moon without the stars; still bright, yet without that extra sparkle.
Oh, and while we’re still on the cliches, here’s one more. It’s a cliche that is as irrefutable as it is impossible to avoid; one that I can’t bear to use until literally the very last word of this review. Here goes: No 19 is, without a shred of doubt, without the least wimper of postmodern pandering, without the slightest equivocation, the one, the only, the ultimate green.
imperial – :
Heavenly Spring morning <3
this smells of spring in Norway to me , a cool breeze of chill still in the air but the sun is up and you know it will warm you up in a few hours . The dewy foog still in the grass make your new ballerina shoes a bit weet but who cares . The day will unfold and bring trilling new oportunitys of bright smiles , friendly giggles . The heart beats faster and spring love comes to mind. Thsi feals ike a tripp down memory lan to me . I dont think i knew anybody whearing this beauty. but the scent itself brings back so many beautiful memorys .
Im lucky enough to get a vintage bottle of this juice so it has tons of oakmoss and crisp galbanum . To me i cant realy detect that much iris in this one . Its more about the green and leather then the powder i normaly get from Iris .but the iris and orris roots makes it earthy and green more then powdery in this perhaps. This beauty will shurly be one of my favorites this Spring , side by side with miss dior original and Estee Lauder privat collection. Spring scents and green cravings for shure.
I will absolutly tell you that this is far better then the poudre version . infact i desided that the poudre version was a bit boring on me . So will rather go for this for the green crisp fix . And probebly the edp aswell , havent tested jet . but hopfully soon it will be mine aswell . If somebody wants the poudre and have the edp no 19 and look to swapp let me know 🙂
fedosow2010 – :
best green out there. it smells so natural and elegant…. gem.
budda85 – :
Had to search for an older version because the reformulations smell so off on my skin–too florally and not green enough. Happy to stumble upon a bottle on ebay and now my summer fragrance. Unfortunately something in the bottle makes my boyfriend swell up in hives so something to be worn only for myself. A really aggressive green, which I love! A scent that hugs you when you wear it.
bzx670bedyWelty – :
This is the perfume I wore all through college, and a few years on and off in my 20s. I wore this when I was dating my first boyfriend. My good friend turned me on to this senior year of HS, she wore either this or Revlon Charlie when she couldn’t afford the Chanel. Both smelled so good on her. Eventually I stopped borrowing the Chanel and bought some for myself.
I still have a bottle of this from the 90s, and it smells mossy, leathery, green, earthy. The type of scent that molds with your skin and your own personal body chemistry and doesn’t smell like “perfume”, but makes you smell good. The cold, aloof corporate board woman in a business suit associations with scents like this aren’t what come to mind for me. When I smell this, I think of the type of young woman who shopped at vintage clothing stores, old book stores, and hung out in NYC on the weekends, in the 90s, when you had more individualists, and hipsters & special products for them, or generic mass market fragrances, weren’t a thing yet.
I keep hearing about the reformulation and haven’t brought myself to smell it yet. These reformulations, especially the ones that took away things like oakmoss when it was the heart of the fragrance, smell to me like what those Designer Imposter body sprays were to the originals (“If you like Giorgio, you’ll love Primo!”). So many of these classic scents are just a shell of what they used to be, and now people ask “what perfume are you wearing?”, instead of saying “you smell good”. I just can’t bear to see that with Chanel 19 :/
edit 11/17- I tried the current formulation. In the late 80s & 90s, the EDT and parfum were 2 different things..the parfum being greener and sharper, the EDT having more of a leathery/ oakmoss/ mossy smell. The EDT now smells similar to the parfum, green and sharp, and the leathery/ oakmoss dry down is gone. Also, neither the EDT nor the parfum smell as natural as they used to, they both have this “metallic” note that wasn’t there before.
cheentraice – :
Rediscovering this. SHARP as a knife
To wear when taking something like a
Physics class. Serious. Assertive. And
SHARP did I mention SHARP Wonder
how I ever got through First Semester
without this Class A Decadence Mmm
Marat-932 – :
High hopes for this one…. But when I finally tired it, I found it to be too sharp for me. Like a prim school teacher with a pursed lip and a flat ruler to snip at students’ fingers. A perfume I love on others only.
ndj314speagoessenda – :
This perfume is classy and complicated, ever changing. It also has a sadness to it without even knowing the backstory. It isn’t me. I think it might only be hers!
юля758 – :
Powdery, warm woody floral. A hint of green, a hint of leather. I cannot detect the notes individually, though.
On me, a very elegant, sophisticated, serene and feminine scent.
Easier to wear than Crystalle, which is really sharp and almost masculine.
Neither one of them has made me fall in love with them, but both are scents I enjoy and really, really well-done.
If I could have a large set of Chanels, I would enjoy owning them both.
—
I own a sample.
HNBBttrree – :
Galbanum via Chanel, a little powdery but not too much, green, formal. This is what I wear when I have a work meeting with new people and it does make me feel elegant and put together, but not in a cold way at all. A workhorse fragrance, like a white shirt or a black pair of pumps.
I am surprised by how many people get leather from this, but then again I am a leather fiend. I am also surprised by how many people find this sharp, unless to their nose green associates with sharpness– it doesn’t to mine.
Good longevity, work-appropriate silage.
coldunn – :
This is a beautiful green floral in the vintage version but the current version is so weak, fades away after less than an hour and isn’t worth buying for that reason.
AgigeArilique – :
This perfume is ICONIC !!
Can’t say enough to describe it. The green bitter opening is stunning, and this are the notes that i like the most. I would like that this notes last longer, but everything beautiful doesn’t last long. Than there are two fact; the first if you spray it on fabrics, it doesn’t develope completely so it can remind on a sort of hair spray. It is not a bad fact, it depends if you like this smell. The second option is to spray it on the skin and here comes the magic. The smell of clean, soft, the smell of good, a very fine soap. Totally genderless and delicate. It is the sort of smell you can notice in the intimacy of a hug. The sillage is not very strong so it is really a personal choice and pleasure.
The opening is of course sharp, like opening a bottle of syrup, medicinal and vegetal-alcoholic. Personally i can’t descibe how i like and admire this opening. It is life literally. Than the powdery, earthy and dry notes are just divine. So this are the traits of this perfume in my modest opinion.
Last but not least are the feelings and the fantasies that this perfume evokes to me. Yes, it can smell dated, classy and mature but this is not enough. In this notes lie the creativity and originality of this perfume. So don’t expect nothing sweet and sugary nor the fresh-watery sweet kind of ‘perfume’ that nowdays is fashionable. With this perfume i can fantasize of an era that it is gone, which doesn’t exist anymore, but on the other hand evocative of good memories and a tender melancholy. It is really an other world. As a smell it also has a sort of aristocratic and intellectual recall. It is so evocative to me, but i really don’t want to sound pretentious. At the same time it reminds me of a grey rainy day, but in spring so with this rain the grass, flowers and trees can explode with their beauty and greatness. To me it is a ‘particular’ perfume for ‘particular’ persons.
andrey9873 – :
A very wonderful, mature, green scent. Perfect for spring weather, and I also love it anytime. I love the fresh, dry, crisp feel of it. It’s beautiful.
denyamgn – :
This is my Spring scent. Interesting, because an earlier reviewer, more knowledgeable than I, thought that it was the perfect Autumn fragrance.I wear it exclusively in the warmer months and Coromandel during the cooler ones.Hoping that this site will elucidate me so I can branch out.
boorris – :
I think Chanel 19 takes a couple wears to understand. For me I smell the pyramid almost upside down. The first impression is sharp, tough, and off putting. Leather, bitter dry woods, and some floral funk underneath. You give it 5-10 minutes and it’s already changing a lot and smells more floral.
An hour later and Chanel 19 lifts her veil and reveals that she really is a pleasant lady. Cool, crisp, and dignified. Mimose, iris, rose, leather, and a bright bergamot.
I really get two sides of Chanel 19, and I really do need to wait for the dry down to enjoy it the way I do. The transformation is interesting like a flower blooming, it doesn’t take too long so I don’t mind waiting. I enjoy the complexity and that it’s a classic scent, and I think I will always find room for 19 in my collection.
kasper33 – :
I bought this in the 80s, when I was 19. It felt very sophisticated but fresh. it reminded me of gin and tonic, and vintage fur. It felt slightly debauched!.
I never went off it but I didn’t get compliments for it. It’s not a friendly cuddly smell, it’s dry and classy..
Fudo – :
On my skin no 19 is subtle to the point of being non existent an hour later……must be my skin chemistry
SonyMon – :
Chanel No 19 is a verdant lawn in a country manor house. It might not be to everyone’s liking but to me it is the reigning queen of the chypres. This tops every “green” floral chypre I’ve experienced in my many years as a perfumista: Blue Grass by Elizabeth Arden, Vent Vert by Balmain, Estee Lauder’s Aliage and Balmain’s Ivoire not to mention Scherrer and Ma Griffe.
It’s scented moss, vetiver, perfumed grass in a bottle. This is a mature fragrance. Nothing about it is fruity, sugary, gourmand, or even sweet. It opens with a nocturnal galbanum, green and aromatic, like hanging moss from trees and a breeze blowing under the foliage. The air is perfumed with moss and galbanum. The mood is mellow, relaxed, serene. It smells like falling asleep on a rolling hill. It also reminds me of the scent of cut and mowed grass.
The florals come and go quickly. There was a distinct hyacinth flower that I really loved, perhaps an iris, a jasmine and narcissus, rose and lily of the valley. The flowers are dainty and subtle, faint, in the background. The aroma can hardly be called a floral although it has a very well made lily of the valley note that always matches up with anything green in perfumery: galbanum, patchouli, moss or vetiver. If you’re looking for a bigger floral in a classic Chanel scent, stick with Chanel No 5 with that beautiful rose and ylang ylang, or Chanel No. 22 and it’s exquisite whit floral scents of tuberose and white roses/jasmines, and or Chanel Gardenia with that heady gardenia. This is a perfume in which the top notes with galbanum and the base notes with moss are at the forefront.
The dry down is woodsy and aromatic with a powerful vetiver. The moss, too, is right on your nose. It’s mossy, mysterious, dark, nocturnal, and elegant as well. This is a Church perfume. It seems to have almost an incense note but it’s coming out of that moss. This perfume reminds me of Sundays, Church, and parks, lawns, well manicured front yards and the autumn. It is most definitely a Fall Fragrance. The autumnal air is melancholic. It has the saddest dry down, like a funeral fragrance. This matches up with black funeral clothes or just black dresses “old lady in black” Whistlers Mother dress. It is the closet to Chanel’s personality as a perfume can get. She never wore Chanel No 5 and she was all over this perfume.
It is also unmistakably French.
This contains every conceivable French perfume ingredient that was traditionally formulated during Coco Chanel’s time. It was created as her last perfume and it has a bit of a sad tone, but also comforting and peaceful. It smells like the green lawns of the Elysian Fields in the After Life. Chanel, walking around in a state of perpetual peace, still wears this perfume in that afterlife.
In it’s practical use, this is a superb autumn fragrance for Church (not a wedding) funerals, and for formal events and occasions.
Buy this perfume if you enjoy the following frags
Blue Grass By Elizabeth Arden
Vent Vert By Pierre Balmain
Aliage by Estee Lauder
Scherrer by Jean Louis Scherrer
Ma Griffe by Carven
Ivoire de Balmain by Balmain
yuyul – :
I’m a huge fan of the Poudrée version, but the EDT is probably the most versatile of the bunch and I have a lot love for this one as well. It’s less makeupy like Poudrée, although there is an element of that as well, and overall just lighter but still a force to be reckoned with.
When I first smelled Chanel n. 19…and I don’t remember if it was this EDT or the EDP or the Poudrée, but I thought “good grief, this really is sharp!”. But my nose at that time was used to sweet, more mainstream fragrances. Nowadays this does not feel all that sharp to me (or sharp to the right degree that it is a pleasure to smell). It’s an aquired taste…coffee used to taste horrible, as did beer, until I learned to appreciate them, and with perfume it’s pretty much the same. If you cannot handle it, though, give Infusion d’Iris, by Prada, a try, as it is similar to the n. 19 line but much softer and delicate.
Aerohoplenerihys – :
The opening reminds me of Estee Lauder Youth Dew, though the notes aren’t at all similar. I honestly don’t get the green notes. However, the scent is so dry and strong that there is a bitter, puckering taste