31 rue Cambon (2007)
by Chanel

The top note has an affect on my nose like burning, like menthol does. But menthol has its aroma. This one is rather like naphthalene. It reminds me the old chests full of old lace dresses, mothballs and a rag with few drops of bergamot on the top. O.K i know no one would use naphthalene note in a scent ; it must be the pepper which must be very hot one i think.
In the middle when florals rise the scent becomes more modern and debonaire. But with that sandalwood naphthalene (pepper) bergamot oil accord it is impossible to get that old chest out of my mind. I have to try it sometime later for a final decision.

I've this over the last couple days, and regardless of how I try I cannot articulate a review of the fragrance itself. All I can say is that I was captivated from start to finish. At one point I dozed off reading with 31RC on my arm, and I woke up smelling my wrist. Even in my sleep I couldn't help but explore this fragrance! Coromandel might be the most wearable (for a man, at least) of the Exclusifs, but this is by far the most beautiful.

This is one of the best things Chanel has unleashed on the world in a long time. Perfectly blended, approachable yet mysterious, radiant, classy. It reminds me a bit of Après L'Ondée, but slightly more piquant thanks to the pepper and a touch sweeter. It's also quite feminine, but it smells so darn good that I just want to run out into the street and yell "To hell with these arbitrary gender distinctions!" and then douse myself with it. I decided to throw caution to the wind and wear this out in public today, and I swear to God some woman was following me, no doubt unable to part with the celestial aroma emanating from my person. She didn't have the courage to ask me what it was, though. I'm sure the memory will haunt her for a long time.

31 rue Cambon is one of the most elegant yet versatile perfumes I have ever owned. It is a light chypre in the style of Diorella but does not have its intense citrus punch. Rather, 31 rue Cambon is a chypre/floral that smells very original and quite feminine, I think because of the lack of oakmoss. Other reviewers on Basenotes and elsewhere have commented on its notes of iris, rose, jasmine, sandalwood and pepper which I did not necessarily catch but maybe you will! In any case, A+ for 31 rue Cambon!

Add this one to my short list of new Chypres that I love, falling into the category of "pink chypres" but avoiding the pitfall of the sour, fermented note that ruins most of them. In contrast, it starts out spicy-floral and ends fruity-sweet. 31 Rue Cambon begins, like all great Chypres, with a strong bergamot top note. It moves into what I would describe as a floral phase, with an impressive type of mellow, warm, carnation, or maybe a floral bouquet garnished with clove and other spices. After that, a sweet, soft, base becomes apparent, carrying a note that I can only describe as a teriffic kind of peach-apricot accord, which creeps in, increases, and remains until the end. Throughout its development, this perfume maintains a spicy characteristic that teeters on the edge of Oriental territory, indeed reminding me of the great Coco.

This is one of the best of the Exclusifs line. A chypre without oakmoss. A chypre based on an iris-pepper accord. Iris, rose, jasmine, sandalwood, pepper. Polge says he used a variety of patchouli he likes to replace oakmoss in the base, which he finds too bitter. An oriental chypre.

These are things one reads about 31 Rue Cambon. It does come across as a chypré scent; but without the oakmoss it leaves you hanging, tantalized to figure out if this chypré scent is a true chypre or not. The equivocation on the genre theme is central, but the overall impression still satisfies. It is modern: not too rich, but making allusion to the old familiar richness of other chypres we have known. With expert fancy footwork, it dances around the chypre concept and leaves us gaping at the mystery of its construction. With all the fragrances in the Exclusifs series, Chanel is playing the notes very close to the chest. Skeletal descriptions of the pyramids, mere allusions to this or that ingredient, when you know there are dozens of elements in the mix.

Conclusions? Beautiful, captivating, tantalizing, allusive, mysterious... Everything a perfume should be. Everything the wearer would like to be.