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xin419speagoessenda – :
I prefer to use this as modern-day smelling salts. The first spring-green dab to the wrists really opens the third eye. Heartbreaking clarity. Why can’t the galbanum last forever?
I have a 4 ml mini of the original formula. With the changeover to EDP, I was tempted to buy the giant size of the discontinued EDT so I could bathe in the stuff. You’d have to—by common consensus it’s a weak performer.
I have another spray sample of the EDT and I don’t know what to feel about it. It seems to flit off in other directions. Sometimes I catch a whiff of my floral-vetiver sillage and think it’s wonderful, sometimes too tonic. I’ve discovered I like leather, but find it more fully expressed in other perfumes.
I’m feeling a clash of like and love. There is a kernel of greatness in Bel Respiro, but I won’t bankrupt myself for it on eBay.
шлепанец – :
A halfway stop between Vent Vert by Balmain and Heaven. An ethereal fantasy of a garden captured just before the green buds start to bloom, full of prickly freshness, light-pierced dew drops and renewed life. What I would imagine angels or elves that got lost and were stranded on this planet would spray on themselves if they wanted to recall home. Bliss.
Mavemand – :
Fragrance Review For Bel Respiro
Chanel
Notes
Green Notes
Grass
Floral Notes
Leather
*Inspired by Chanel’s country home Bel Respiro
1932
I’m on the train heading into the direction of Gabrielle Chanel’s country house in Garches. She’s extended an invitation to me, a humbling honor. I am an American client of hers, and have never been outside of Paris. The little window of my cabin is open and I look outside at the fleeting landscape of groves of cypress and pines, winding paths that lead into little provincial towns with little chapels and stone houses. The greenery of the countryside releases an aroma of concentrated grass, faint flowers, the scent of barnyards, horses and saddles. I’m a city girl, from Manhattan New York City. For me these smells are foreign smells, and consequently all the more engaging and seductive to my nose, and to my heart, which is palpitating anxiously beneath my own American designed lavender summer dress. Will I be able to make a good impression on Coco? Will she like me as a person and not only as a buyer? It will be another couple of miles until the train reaches it’s destination. The sun begins to set in the horizon casting gold, orange, yellow, pink and violet colors in the clouds. My eyes close in fatigue and drowsiness. I’m visualizing the little garden in Chanel’s summer home where we will have tea, and think about all the things I will say to her.
Bel Respiro (Deep Sigh) is a green fragrance of the French countryside. She is as green as No. 19, but with floral notes thrown into the mix which are discernable compared to No. 19. The first whiff is a natural and very distinct aromatic scent of grass, like smelling actual grass in verdant lawns, parks, fields and gardens. But it’s not well manicured. It’s a wild grass of the wilderness, grasses in general. Blades of grass. There are Provencal herbs which embrace distant white florals, a gardenia, a Grasse jasmine, an orange blossom, and a tiny little rose. These are not very powdery flowers and they are decidedly white florals with a soapy kind of air. There is not enough of it to make it a feminine scent. I would call this perfume a unisex fragrance for both males and females. This is simply an outdoor natural smell.
Bel Respiro smells like a tranquil green place, far from civilization, but where civilized people dwell in harmony with nature. There are dogs lying on little sunlight driveways where there are no cars to be seen. The little cottages are silent but charming and they wait the arrival of their owners who only come in the summer to leave behind the work and humdrum of city life. This is a very beautiful secluded place where one could relax and revitalize.
Besides the green notes of grass, and the florals, there is a dry down of leathery musk. On me it’s not a strong leather. On others I know that have worn it the leather is very noticeable. This note of muscatone just doesn’t seem to match up with the rest of the fragrance. It provides it with the unisex (masculine) touch that the green floral and grass scent might be lacking in addition to also giving it a natural horse leather horse skin scent, outdoorsy and a bit ‘barnyard’ without ever going into the indolic areas of perfumery like Bal a Versailles.
The first part of the fragrance wears like a subdued and simpler version of something like Balmain’s Vent Vert, and has a Irish spring green soap kind of femininity. The dry down is musk and leather which resembles horse saddles, or bridles. This accord of animal musk/leather is a scent of the interior of stables. Thus this completes the countryside setting. Smells so much like a farm with horse stables far from the city. This is a very creative and amazingly realistic natural fragrance.
Bel Respiro is by Chanel house nose Jacques Polge and sells in the Exclusifs line . It’s the same fragrance as the stand-alone Eau de Parfum but it has a lighter texture, or an Eau de Toilette body. The EDP is far more fragrant. This is a long lasting and gorgeous green floral musk which has such a captivating essence that blew me away. It brought me back to when I first visited Provence in France and I went to my girl friend Lysette’s family estate where there were horses and saddles and stables and the familiar country smells. Green grass, warm musk, flowers and herbs.
Thank you Chanel for yet another miracle of perfume.
dadinov – :
Nothing says “First Day of Spring” like Bel Respiro. The Perfect Spring Fragrance. Don’t ever change, please.
Edited on 12/05/2017: I spoke too soon. Chanel has gone and reformulated it in the new EDP version. Oh Why?! what is everyone’s thoughts on the new version? It definitely smells different;-(
yrchik80 – :
So… as a big treat to myself, I went to the Exclusifs salon in Harrods, looking to buy a full bottle of Beige after being given a sample and loving it.
Once there, I naturally start taking a whiff of every bottle, because I’ve never been in the presence of all the entire range before. When I tell the assistant that I already own a couple of the others, including Gardenia, she says I have to try Jersey. On the basis that I already own Gardenia and I’m buying Beige, she (perhaps not unreasonably) thinks that what I want from a perfume is SWEETNESS, whereas in fact Gardenia is at the absolute outer limit of how sweet I can tolerate.
She’s pressing Jersey on me, and telling me earnestly that it’s her favourite and she’s wearing it right now, so it feels rude to say ‘sorry, to me that smells to me like a violet pastille that’s been lying at the bottom of an old lady’s handbag for 5 years.’ No offence to Jersey lovers! But it isn’t me at all…
I’m picking up perfume wands almost at random while she’s still waxing lyrical about Jersey, and suddenly I smell something unlike any perfume I’ve smelled before.
‘Wait – what’s this?’
I could tell by the way she said ‘Bel Respiro’ that it wasn’t one she expected me to wax lyrical about, but wow… it was the greenest perfume I’ve ever smelled, and I love greens. I couldn’t decipher what the notes were, but I thought immediately of camomile and lime blossom. It’s intoxicating like mountain air, a pure, clean and utterly distinctive scent, but at the same time, it isn’t simple, there’s an undertow of leather that grounds it, makes it deeper and sexier. It’s that bare-faced girl whose sexiness is restrained but lethal the longer you’re with her.
I was buying it before I was even sure I loved it (at these prices, les Exclusifs are costly errors to make!) But I’m one week on and I’m thrilled with my reckless choice. Like the best of these Chanels, it isn’t nearly as linear as it appears on first sniff. I love how it wears in, but it’s never less than unapologetically green. Beautiful rather than pretty, it doesn’t grovel to be liked: it’s a perfume that will happily wait to be adored – and I do.
vsn831speagoessenda – :
I love this scent for its green and grass. And I feel powdery when it is dry weather. I love both. Fresh but soft. Elegant.
Jukilogftrent – :
dear All
I am big lover to givenchy insense (the yellow bottle)
is it true that this perfume is close to it???
and does any one have any idea if givenchy insense will be back?
greguls – :
fresh bright green sweet floral leathery scent, in the first sniff i fall in love immediately, Chanel is Chanel, my love is Chanel and Chanel is my love, even i never try any of those Les Exclusifs but i wonder Chanel have a remarkable fragrance, from this experience i started purchasing Les Exclusifs line, furthermore, i don’t want to talk about the compositions because its already listed, Chanel composed the ingredients beautifully and i never expect that leather note was composing here harmoniously….thus, i love the scent very much, really calming, green, fresh, dewy and clean scent, mostly i wear it for work and before bed
kozar.m905 – :
When I first began wearing this fragrance the staying power was not strong. I got about 4-6 hours max. Recently, however, I have applied far more, and it is now staying for 20 hours on my skin.
This is a spectacular green grassy soft floral poem of a scent, like a trip to the French countryside, sophisticated and earthy at the same time. It is fabulous on a hot day, and is very refreshing to wear to this office. It stays close to the skin. The opening gives you a spicy grassy blast, then a few minutes later you detect a creamy orris root underneath the composition. I also get a spicy vetiver in the drydown, but it is quiet. The aldehydic opening is not an explosion like many other Chanels. This perfume feels very much like a shot back in time to the late 20s and 30s, and to the countryside. You picture a group of young men and women picnicing in a field that just arrived by motor car, and dressed nicely. It is not a countrygirl casual feel, but is sophisticated and elegant. You expect to see a big chateau on the horizon and the sea further out. Just so beautiful. I love this.
yegig – :
A very green creation, quite delicate, which I’m in the mood for right now! The sillage is good though and longevity around 4-5 hours, as others say, very well balanced and harmonious. It lacks a bit of Chanelism for me, could be a bit more bold and crazy, but a very decent scent, nevertheless!
alex1 – :
This one is very similar to Givenchy Insense
pahey – :
Bel Respiro is a lovely green, slightly leathery scent with a touch of “iris”. I know that iris is not listed in the notes but sometimes I get a whiff of iris. It is similar to 28 la Pausa for me but this one is more unisex. Bel Respiro will smell equally beautiful on a man even though it is marketed towards females, males could easily wear it.
Bel Respiro is green and fresh (similar in a way to No. 19 but softer). I love it all year round. It can make you feel fresh and clean like you just stepped out of the shower on a warm summer day. Or it can lift your spirits on a cold winter’s day and make you feel happy. If you are a green fragrance fan – you definitely need to try Bel Respiro. I love this fragrance and I love the 200ml bottle as it is meant to be sprayed generously so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
pavlik 1z – :
The first time I tried this I wasn’t overly impressed–somehow it made me think “Chanel does No More Tears baby shampoo.” But after a few more trials in the right setting, I was hooked, and this has become one of my favorites in my collection. It’s natural, minimalist, and elegant, but also casual and versatile enough that it’s appropriate for all warm-weather situations (I haven’t tried it in cooler weather).
It’s named after Coco Chanel’s vacation home, and appropriately so, referencing fresh air, fragrant grass, and relaxed fun in a beautiful outdoor setting. Before it gets too bland or pastoral, the galbanum evokes dark, waxy crushed leaves, adding a pleasant bitterness, and leather edges in a chewy bite. It needs generous spritzing and wears off quickly, but such is the nature of vacation weekends- glowingly pleasant, but necessarily short-lived.
feliks0959 – :
Bel respire smells fresh. Definitely a spring fragrance. Lots of floral notes, followed by greens but I get very little detection of leather which is a good thing. This will work well as a unisex fragrance. Please note, I tested this on a card, It might be better on the skin.
JVN2012 – :
I’m pretty convinced that Bel Respiro is the more sophisticated sister of Chanel No. 19. It reminds me of 19 too much since first sniff. Drydown is more delectable with a hint of flowers, though.
I always find the perfumes in Les Exclusifs de Chanel to be very intriguing. They are not for everyone, and when they smell great, they are really great, but when they don’t agree with you, they could be disasters. Bel Respiro belongs to the first category: it is really great. I’m not very into green perfumes as they could be very dry, but Bel Respiro wins my heart over. It’s green, but unlike its more sinister friends, Bel Respiro is definitely fresher, calmer and more innocent. It’s not like the other greens I know: this one’s very idyllic, possessing to it a quiet dignity.
It opens with very green smell which quickly evaporates to let the other notes shine through. A few hours into the application, it smells like how I imagine 18th century garden would be. The feeling kinda reminds me of one of my all-time favourites: Un Jardin Après La Mousson by Hermès. Both evoke the feeling that you’re breathing in fresh, clean misty air after the rain. UJALM is more vegetal, though, and definitely spicier than Bel Respiro. If UJALM is a herb garden after rain, Bel Respiro is the frontyard of a mansion after rain. Green, misty and very innocent.
Overall, this is one hell of a green perfume and one which I desire most in Les Exclusifs de Chanel. It’s soft, it’s fresh and it’s innocent. The perfect quiet scent which will take you to another world.
Rating: 9/10
max250490 – :
Great green fragrance with a little twist, but the bottle is too much perfume for me, I’d never get closer to a smidge on the top of it. In my country it’s only available in 200 ml, and 19 eau Poudre surpassed this on projection. If I had extra space on my wardrobe and money to throw I’d get it, in the meantime, I’ll try to get some decant of this. It’s like but not love. Has a very good aldehydic base, reminds me of a greener n5
jkn674speagoessenda – :
I had a classic case of Lust for Bel Respiro. Lust because, you know, I’ve never worn it, never been with it, but I JUST KNEW that I’d love it. I love green fragrances. I love Chanel. But. I was able at least to go on a date, just an hour or two over coffee (read–I bought a 4 ml mini) so I could see what I was getting myself into before I spent $170 on 75 mls of perfume.
Bel Respiro does have a welcome, throwback green quality, I don’t think that people make green perfumes like this much anymore. I was instantly reminded of a more floral No. 19, or of Estee Lauder’s Private Collection but with a tiny drop of leather added. The green notes here are galbanum green, textured, with a hint of grounding leather added. Very nice. The topnotes are all green, and as the perfume wears the green does become sweeter, grassy, meadow-like. The flowers I smell are of sweet honeysuckle and crisp chrysanthemum, the leather note lessening, but still present as a earthy background. Eventually the drydown is just green–here the vintage quality ends, there is no oakmoss or sandalwood or orris root, nothing, just a sweet green dusting on the skin. All in all it lasts about 4 hours until it is completely done, not even a drydown is detectable on my skin, and it wears very quietly, a skin scent for most of it’s wear.
Luckily for me it was just Lust. If Bel Respiro had more projection, more lasting power, and maybe more depth to it, or at least a decent drydown, I would probably save my quarters up for the price, recently hike way up, that Chanel wants. But that is not the case, and I will not spend that much money on a perfume that won’t spend that much time with me and that I don’t love anyway.
Yuriklan – :
Bel Respiro is a very happy, cheerful fragrance.
It starts with a blast of “perfumey” fresh cut grass notes and wild flower bouquet. It gets more sweet and floral on the middle and settles down to very clean, fresh leather smell on my skin. At the dry-down I can still smell some fresh cut grass notes here and there mixed with a leather.
This is very fine & unusual “green” fragrance – sweet, sunny, happy and somewhat innocent.
Carcinus – :
This would be a calm bedtime scent — fresh air, flowers, powder…and is that almost a touch of earthiness in the background?
The opening is energetic — a bit of herbal, a sweeter floral. It reminds me of one of my mum’s old colognes, but once those first few minutes passed, the quiet heart emerges.
Sillage is close to skin with one spritz.
212121 – :
In the right circumstances, this wonderfully light, fresh and green….but, there is something very familiar here. Sadly, it will prevent me from shelling out the money for it. It brings to mind memories of a very popular scent I wore in high school…. In fact all my friends wore it too- cool skin musk. It was only a few bucks and it was the greatest thing going back then. Bel Respiro is almost a dead ringer for it with the exception of slightly more woody- ness. Nice enough but I will save my money for more original offerings.
pla4 – :
At first spray Bel Respiro smells like standing in a spring meadow. Green leaves, grasses and soft florals blend to a transparently and lovely freshness. I don’t smell leather but I do smell iris root (cold and soft but not powdery) in the drydown coupled with a touch of crisp vetiver. It is very green, sunny and fresh.
Bel Respiro is one of those perfumes that I can appreciate but can’t really pull off. This is not challenging scent per se, on the contrary its light and airy and fairly comfortable. The true issue for me is that its feel is so overtly ‘look at life through rose colored glasses’ optimistic that it doesn’t suit my personality and style. It is very lovely and I can see how it would make a lovely signature scent for someone with a more extroverted personality.
FeemIrrarne – :
Snappy green grass opening which is a tad soapy and out of the shower clean smelling with a subtle,very subtle in fact,leather note.Vetiver here is heavily disguised which is a pity as I love this note.
Vetiver here is not quite robust enough for me,unlike Sycomore which is a showstopper on my skin and full bottle worthy.
Well blended and oozes class like most Chanel’s but something is missing and doesn’t have an oomph factor.
More feminine than unisex and I’m sure would smell unbelievable on the right skin.
ABAMA – :
I bought this perfume a couple of years ago and, in the beginning, wasn’t really impressed with it. I even tried to give it away, but I made it sound so awful in describing it as smelling like “lemon, wood and leather” that nobody wanted it.
🙂 LOL
It took a few weeks to “understand” this sophisticated, quiet beauty and now that I do, I wouldn’t part with it for the world.
It’s more than the description above, though those things are in it. It’s fresh and bracing when first applied. Just pure lemon on me, but then it softens into something very “balmy” lemon, spice and woods.
I have heard people describe it as a day at the beach, but not on me. It’s an afternoon on an old, cobbled patio somewhere in Europe where the big skies overhead are carrying the scent of a lemon tree and perhaps a herb garden. There are floral notes, but they are not in the forefront. The wood is strong but masterfully blended along with the leather.
It ‘ain’t no kids perfume. It’s actually “aristocratic;” a sophisticated, understated beauty. And it’s actually the perfume that turned me off of “loud” scents. I realize now that it’s not necessary.. Also, the staying power for me is MASSIVE. I spritz after showering and will still smell of Bel Respiro, albeit mildly, until I shower the next day.
But it’s not loud. Can’t say that enough. It wears very close to the skin. It’s not made to “wow rooms” I don’t think. It’s a quiet and perfectly composed beauty. Your husband might take several long moments before realizing that you are even wearing perfume, but when he does, he’d smile. It’s pure class, bottled. 🙂 Perfect for men who complain about us girls being too “perfumed.”
uliay – :
From the reviews here I was expecting this to be a pleasantly underwhelming sort of fragrance. Now that I’ve tried it a few times I must say that it’s really very good.
Yes, there’s green grass and citrus and vetiver; and beyond that, if you’ve ever put your nose to the trumpet of a heritage variety daffodil (i.e. one that actually has fragrance, as opposed to the modern varieties bred only for size and colour), that is Bel Respiro. This is not a big perfume; it stays close to the skin. It’s lovely to smell on the neck of someone you like. For me it lasts about 4 hours.
What is special about Bel Respiro is its uplifting quality: it’s the sort of fragrance that inspires you to breathe in deeply, lift your face to the sky, and smile! Now, how many perfumes can do that?
Awairmjar – :
I am normally not a chypre person at all but I do find Bel Respiro interesting and rather uplifting, a very nature girl scent. I would wear this scent for outdoors activities since it is so green and “sporty” smelling or to make me think of spring on a wintry day. To me it smells very much like the original Estee Lauder Aliage before they messed with the formula and ruined Aliage. This reminds me of college when I wore a scent like this with my “outdoorsy” beau.
When I first tried this scent I didn’t think I would ever want a full bottle, but it is growing on me. I like it more each time I wear it. It is so different from what I normally wear and I love the leather note. Gives Bel Respiro a depth it would lack with only the green notes.
Natalia Hey – :
Being a HUGE fn of green fragrances and Chanel 19 in particular I loved this beauty. It’s green and woody, but at the same time very spicy and ‘crisp’. Smells of freshly cut grass and spices to my nose, and like any of the Chanel creations it just oozes class and screams ‘high end’.
fqtyti1975 – :
Really love the snappy green opening. It’s the super crisp smell you get when you cut into a fresh green pepper from the garden (not the store). Like many of the Exclusif line, though, wish it were stronger/lasted longer.
nizami1984 – :
Pure sophistication. Bel Respiro is a fantastic example of how a frarance can be at the same time discreet and light manitaining an incredible class and character. A graceful green-floral composition that while sharing some similarities with No.19 it also takes the distance from many of the other Chanels because of its transparent, almost weightless, structure. A subtle leathery note adds a necessary extra touch to the gently sweet drydown. Simply delightful
A quet aer glider flying low over a green flowers field. Casual but extremely classy.
Rating: 8/10
DEC020496 – :
Summer holiday scent.
Tender and refreshing smell spreads over myself like pale green veil of misty air.
It does not stay so long, woody and slightly spicy smell like scots pine stays long on my skin.
hig220elipseskism – :
While all the Chanel Les Exclusifs fragrances are outstanding in their own unique way, I find Bel Respiro to be the least memorable.
Perhaps it is the fact that green scents don’t usually appeal to me, with Chanel No.19 being a scent that I truly despised and wished to forget. Bel Respiro although similar in style to No.19 is much nicer, more complex and a touch more floral.
While crisp, dewy and green, Bel Respiro reminds me of the smell of a fernery after a heavy downpour of rain. It has a delightful sense of watery greeness and subtle herbs.
There are some floral nuances throughout the composition that are more like wilted, soggy blooms rather than the bright, lively, overtly scented ones.
The leather features quite prominently during the heart and towards the drydown, however I don’t find this note as nauseating as the leather clashing with the green notes in Chanel No.19.
Bel Respiro is the essence of Spring in a bottle, evoking the sense of a pretty sun-shower. Despite being marketed towards women, I find this fragrance equally wearable for men. The powdery aspect in the drydown is the only thing about Bel Respiro that I’d call feminine.
It’s a fairly polite scent, in other words not as bold and daring as let’s say Coromandel, No.22 and 31 Rue Cambon. However, with that being said, I find it to be a nice additive to the green floral category, one that I can tolerate and enjoy.
KLennethZ – :
The mossy green note conjours up an english garden in a early misty morning
smelling the wet orris ground sipping
earl gray tea the leather note conjours up
an mysterious lady who allways wear black an icy couture an ireapporcible
goddess. this is an scent for a girl
who has an old soul refind and elegant
with an air of agatha christie or the
cold ellusive British Aristrocracy
stuffy like dust covered grand piano
or books of the 19th century.
neteonsismill – :
Chanel BEL RESPIRO strikes me as an entirely unisex scent: very grassy with a touch of citrus in the opening and a comforting vetiver-like drydown. The leather here is very light, more of a garnish than a focus, I think.
BEL RESPIRO compares favorably with some drier, low oak moss chypres beloved to me, but with poorer staying power and lighter sillage. Since this Chanel creation costs considerably more than the grassy chypres in my collection, I’ll probably stick to my old standards, which I can spray away with reckless abandon!
udarnik – :
Such a beautiful fragrance . quite intellectual & sophisticated one yet also care free & sort of young at heart , with fresh green & dewy grassy fizzy notes alittle bit luminous with addition of a hint of faint citrus (bergamot maybe !) to my nose . with such masterful solid leathery-floral accord , & i found the leather note in here to be hauntingly charming quite rounded at all edges by the typical Chanel-y powdery jasmine-rose de May & iris combo i suppose but the overall effect isn’t that powdery atall .
a modern well-balanced interpretation of a classically typical green one .
by the way its very long lasting for an Edt ( on me at least ) with rather good sillage.
For me ,,,, i love it & already bought it.
& it works very well on me especially when working at the hospital, favourably in warm / rainy days .
professional with never annoying / bothersome sillage to others . thanks .