Chanel Pour Monsieur (1955)
by Chanel

Elegant, refined, absolute classic gentleman's fragrance. Traditional chypre. I'm reviewing the original formulation. CPM starts with a pleasant citrus opening followed by a "sweet" heart with cardamom and ginger most prominent to my nose. The base is a typical oakmoss, wood blend. All in all exquisite. Exudes class and sophistication. Longevity improves if sprayed on the chest under a tee shirt. This is the one I reach for along with Dunhill 1934 and Monsieur de Givenchy when I'm looking for a classic gentleman's fragrance. This will always be in my wardrobe, in addition to spread collar white shirts, a charcoal wool suite and black dress shoes. Great work fragrance, although I wear it anytime, even when I'm wearing jeans and a Nirvana tee shirt. What the heck, why not? Definitely doesn't smell like Teen Spirit. Highly recommended.

19th January, 2012.

This is the highest level of luxury and elegance. For fastidious gentlemen. Stylish attire is a must. Longevity is good, but sillage could be better. One of the best!

30th December, 2011.

Antediluvian "eau de CLOVE" scent accompanied by some powdery woods and spices, that conjures a nostalgic image of a barbershop quartet.

3rd October, 2011. (Last Edited: 17th October, 2011.)

In the same vein of Ho Hang and Equipage this smooth lemony-grassy and silky-mossy juice is an absolutely refined and perfectly balanced fragrance that combines in a masterly olfactory harmony a well equiped hesperidic opening with a grassy-spicy heart (ginger, cardamom, coriander) and a mossy-woodsy distinguished base. All the stages of this clean, airy and exotic concoction are compacted by the linear combination and fusion of the merging notes and all the elements are amalgamated by a touch of animalism and by the fluidity of some balsams in the way that the outcome is one of the most worldwide refined, unresistible and subtle smell of indipendent and beyond fashions gentleman. The formula is very complex and despite not listed i detect in it a touch of tobacco, just a touch of delicate floral essence and benzoin-vanilla. A silky-milky-grassy royal lemonade under my nose. Forever.

16th September, 2011. (Last Edited: 22nd December, 2011.)

I wonder why all the fragrances that last the longest on my skin are the ones which smell like goat's milk soap? Approaching Pour Monsieur is like stepping back in time. I well remember standing at the perfume counter in Simpson's (long gone now), trying the Diors, Givenchys, Chanels and YSLs. Even then I disliked certain elements of perfume, and they still trouble me so many years later.
Of all the drydowns that cause me grief; powdery, soapy scents are anethema. Sadly, despite repeated essaies, Chanel Pour Monsieur falls into this category. I cannot deny the elegance, the complexity, or the masculinity, however, it is simply not to my taste.

14th September, 2011.

Expectation is so often the issue in not liking a perfume. We have an idea in mind and foster a notion of what a perfume will be. We might have read a list of notes or a review. Really we just shoot ourselves in the foot.

But in Pour Monsieur the expectation is Chanel's fault. The top notes of PM are so singingly beautiful, so inspiring. I want to be The Man Who Wears This Fragrance. 20 minutes later if you're close enough to me to notice, I'm The Guy Who Might Have Put On Cologne This Morning.

The disappointment: it simply doesn't last. The shame: it becomes surprisingly indistinct before it fades away to nothing.

27th July, 2011.