No. 19 (1971)
by Chanel

This is fast becoming my favourite Chanel fragrance, the twilight counterpart to the sun of No. 5. It is bitter only in its opening, and I find it a very comfortable fragrance to wear all day. I prefer the restraint of the eau de toilette to the more feminine development of the eau de parfum.

8th January, 2012.

Easily one of the classiest feminine scent ever. Chanel n.19, despite its durable angular and mossy crispiness, is  mysterious and decadent as a court inside an abandoned and decrepit nobiliar  building. The smell is extremely classy,  cold, almost sinister, shadowy, moody and silent. This scent pushes in a corner the great part of the womanly scents today on the market regardless the range. The smell, as underlined by many, is multifaceted, boise', aldehydic, floral and slightly leathery (in the dry down tail). The beginning is crisp and angular with a powerful galbanum, some herbs, the final moss's echo, bitter orange and the bergamot. The grassy and almost retro whiff  is soon sweet because of the central floral bouquet where the main  role is played by a victorian rose and a romantic muguet with the reverberation of  the ylang-ylang's almost detergent soapiness. The central part is the sweetest in the body of a faintly sweet scent and in this stage is barely detectable the work  of aldehydes with their typical cool, sparkling and projecting effect. Receding the sweetness starts blooming up a sort of wet, crisp and botanic woody temperament of the scent with the leathery undertone and a plain mossy atmosphere. There are some roots in the general grassy-floral ambience although in the final stage is perceivable a touch of woody powder, some leathery trait and a bit of musky smoothness. Bold, severe, sophisticated and distant.

5th January, 2012. (Last Edited: 9th January, 2012.)

I don't understand why this scent was marketed as a women's fragrance because it smells completely masculine to me. It seems to lack depth and reminds me of nothing more than alfalfa sprouts with dry, dusty, cardboard. It's not a stinky fragrance, so I can't say it's downright bad- therefore, I"m giving it a neutral rating.

24th December, 2011.

Stunning opening of green bouquets and woodsy promises... but the drydown on my skin is too bitter, like rancid dandelion roots.

The "poudre" version had a better drydown, but it was absolutely not the same - overall too polite for my taste.

22nd December, 2011.

An iconic/ aloof/ hissing and venomous green chypre of a fragrance that beckons admiration but only from afar. The anti-thesis of the voluptuously powdery rose-jasmine No. 5, this fragrance is for a woman now characterized by angularity and prismatic sharpness, like a crone, still beautiful but now older and "more handsome" -- even butch. Feminine still, but almost heartless.

Ideal for those that want to project elegance tinged with masked steeliness and severity.

Highly recommended and a masterpiece!

10th November, 2011.

I thought of this one as very green. Maybe crisp is a better word. I get the florals and tart citrus, then the slightly warmer drydown.

I don't get the sex appeal part at all. This is almost cold to me, distant. I'm just not that kind of gal.

I find the overall result to be interesting, but shortlived.

22nd September, 2011.