Chanel No. 19 EDT

I've been wearing Chanel No. 19 EDT all week. It's a moody perfume. I reached for it last Saturday morning after a night of rain. And then I reached for it again on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday-- again and again up until today. I find it comforting in a cozy, grey-wool-sweater kind of way.

I've always been intrigued by No. 19. I think my mother had a small sample bottle as a child; I feel like I knew what it smelled like long before I actually smelled it.

It's not an easy smell to like. It's one of my more complicated perfumes. It's not at all sweet or fruity. No sugared vanilla or berries here. And I can't detect any warm patchouli at the end. Wearing it every day for a week, however, I've discovered some of No. 19's subtleties that had previously evaded me. Its most striking feature, I think, is its softness. At first spray, it's all angles and sharp edges; fresh cut grass and hay and crumpled leaves. Then, slowly, a soft leather rises up, followed by a sideways rose-- more of a green, antiqued rose (if such a thing even exisits!). It dries down into a warm, powdery finished, fresh in an earthy way; like freshly tilled earth.

When I got a sample of No. 19 earlier this year, I wrote in my little perfume notebook that it was like jasmine graphite, sophisticated, ladylike and heartbreaking. I certainly feel the same way now except I would add that it's very distinguished and very distinguishable from all my other scents.

Osmoz lists it as a floral green but I've always known it to be the queen of chypres-- an oakmoss that smells earthy and mossy and godly green. I have a small vial of the EDP that I hope to review later; I had a sample made at a Sephora in Paris as they only sell the EDT in the United States. While in Paris I also mustered up the courage to walk into *the* Chanel on 31, rue Cambon (no one hardly noticed me and it turned out to be not as scary as I thought), and was delighted to see a giant spray bottle of the pure parfum. I gave my arm a liberal squirt and spent the next 8 hours sniffing my arm every 15 minutes. It was absolutely gorgeous. No bitter angles at all; just soft, pretty green magic. I kick myself for not splurging on a small bottle of the parfum; a quarter ounce, however, was about 80 euros ... next time!

Samples again

Iles d'Or de Molinard is very, very vanilla, with bits of coconut and tropical fruits. It's nice and warm. Verveine de Molinard, on the other hand, is minty crisp, opening with astringent lemon and fresh verbena. Nice, but a little too minty for my tastes.

L'Artisan Verte Violette is very pretty, if a little ... watery. I can't place it; it's certainly smells like violets and greens but there is something aquatic-smelling to me. Is it the heliotrope? I'm not sure. I'm working from a tiny sample; this one might need a full spray to determine if I should invest.

I was surprised to like Piment Brulent by L'Artisan; anything with fire and peppers in its name certainly sounds more like a taco sauce than a perfume. It definitely smells like peppers, but it also has an unexpected freshness and zip to it. Again, it's definitely worth a spritz.

Finally, Sabi by Henry Dunay was recommended to me by Tracy at The Perfume House because of its violet notes (I'm a big violet fan)- while I can appreciate its prettiness, it quickly turned to dryer sheets on my skin. Comfortingly clean, but too laundry for me. Nieman Marcus lists the notes as "a blend of 250 oils, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang and exotic spices." It's worth checking out if you're looking for something unique.

Tidbits

Today's reviews are tidbits; smells in passing; first impressions of a handful of perfume samples. The first is Diamonds by Emporio Armani. The sample card lists notes as raspberry, lychee, rose, patchouli and amber; all I can smell is raspberry tartlet and sugar. It's very, very sweet.

Next is Diesel's Fuel for Life; notes on the card are mandarine and patchouli; the notes I get are nail polish remover and a sharp men's cologne smell that is rather unpleasant. Speaking of the dreaded nail polish remover, that's about all I could smell when I tested Lanvin's Rumeur. Smelling it gave me an instant headache. I also smelled banana peels, of all things, and later I could pick out icy white florals in the drydown but only after wading through the wallop of that headache.

I tried Missoni's namesake perfume out of pure curiosity (their new one, not the original); the sales assistant at Saks gushed about the chocolate notes when it came out last year. It does indeed have chocolate, but it's so fake I can't take it seriously. It also smells too much like apples. Chocolate covered apples! If the Strawberry Shortcake dolls had a chocolate apple character (would its name be ... Chapple?), this is what it would smell like.

I was surprised that I liked Tom Ford's Black Orchid Voile de Fleur. While I can appreciate the chutzpah of the original Black Orchid, its dirty patchouli notes are simply too overpowering on me. The original reminds me of dirty fingernails; it's earthy, strong, bold and stomps all over me. Voile de Fleur, on the other hand, still has the patchouli, but it's softened by violet, anise and a slight jasmine. It's a clean patchouli, way more refined and soft. Its drydown worked nicely on me and became a pleasant, warm skin scent. If the original is a trashy, vampy party girl, Voile de Fleur is her older sister, way more stoic and refined ... but still wearing slinky lingerie under that cashmere twin set.