Chanel Pour Monsieur (1955)
by Chanel

Originally submitted 4-20-07:

A hale, clean and virile chypre (mossy woods) that just smells great. Never sweet or loud, it just becomes a part of you rather than surrounding you like a halo. Contrasted on clear and moderately powdery notes, it recalls the workshop of a cabinetmaker. The opening is still one of the most confidently balanced and uplifting accords I know: a fresh-floral-woody-herbaceous slightly spicy-balsamic citrus bolstered by the warmth of clove-like carnation. The heart is brisk but refined, involving the low hum of soothing masculine spices, the aforementioned masculine floral carnation, and a few drops of stimulating basil. A subtle wooden breeze of cedar and vetiver move consistently through the evolution, as a light, dry, earthy oakmoss becomes clearer, and a semi-sweet labdanum smoothes and gives a little sweetness. The musk is efficient, but almost entirely clean. Indeed, there's nothing animalic about the fragrance (not the new stuff anyway). Pour Monsieur still feels like a pure chypre. It has the resinous, web-like feel, with all of the main components (bergamot-oakmoss-labdanum) working fairly well to keep it balanced and abstract. Unfortunately, while it still smells good, it’s but half as rich and chypric as many of the older formulations. And even though the overall size feels the same, the current spareness has moved it over into the fresh chypre category, and it isn't far away from being an all out citrus chypre if Chanel does anymore washing. Either way, the vintage juice (the older the better), is some of the best stuff I’ve ever smelled, and it remains one of the most elegant, focused, cerebral, beautiful, and consistently wearable fragrances I own. And as is the case with many chypres, it may be good to avoid PM if you feel as though it has seen more of the world than you have.

Edit: I've never smelled the original Chypre de Coty (1917), but I just read an interview with doyen fragrance expert, Michael Edwards, in which he states that Pour Monsieur is its closest match. He was also asked which one discontinued fragrance he would bring back if he could, and his was reply was Chypre de Coty.

i get a little lemon and the presence of a box of old warm crayons . later this does get better.

Chanel Pour Monsieur instantly took me back to my high school days. This, admittedly is not very long ago (early 2000s), so what's the deal?

CPM is a clean, eloquent, chypre scent that has a light green tone to it. The opening is somewhat citrus-y, but not overpoweringly so. The dry down is muted and slow, until it settles after about an hour into its green base.
Silage is medium, but it lasts quite a while on my skin (lightly applied 5 hours ago and can still smell it while typing this). Recommended for office wear or a day trip; definitely a summer-day scent with a right-out-of-the-shower feel.

And yet, when I put it on, I realized Nivea for Men Aftershave Cooling Balm ('menthol and vitamins' edition) is the EXACT SAME SCENT. I mean, good for Nivea for copying such an elegant, established scent. Walking around as a young teen, I unknowingly projected a classic scent that no student would ever dream of -- including myself!

My desert island fragrance. The one I would not be without. I have worn it since I was about fifteen years old (now aged 50). Pure class in a bottle. No, it does not last forever, but that blast of pure fresh citrus when it goes on is awesome. Clean and so so real. Then it goes all warm and enveloping and eventually dries down to a light powdery spiciness. Awesome juice. Great for summer wear or for memories of summer on dark cold winter days.

This is perhaps the only Chanel I would wear. Smoothe, subtle, mature, but not too mature since I pulled off wearing this in my early twenties and NOT in the most formal or semi-formal settings. The calm clean quality slightly edged with spice make this work.

When I wear Chanel Pour Monsieur, I feel like a little boy playing with my father's after shave. It is both masculine and comforting, with the combination of its very conservative citrus top notes over a soft and warm base. I haven't tried the concentree, and I'm not in any hurry to do so, as the whole point of this fragrance for me is that it's an instant shot of 1950s elegance in a world of dumbed down reformulations. Understated sophistication combined with top quality ingredients and workmanship -the values that made Coco Chanel famous.