31 rue Cambon (2007)
by Chanel

Hmmm, a patchouli-centric scent which I can endorse??? Must be very well made.
It is.
Starts off with an aromatic, slightly sweet note in which fruity bergamot plays a large role. At times metallic, other times fresh and bracing. Then (surprisingly) the merest touch of a sweet chocolate / vanilla note appears. The crisp metallic balances this rich note. Hints of a leathery patchouli emerge... and yet all is sprightly and even translucent. The scent simply does not get heavy or cloying in the drydown (which I often find in patchouli scents). Indeed, the dry-down is quite interesting, as the herbal rather than the leathery notes of patchouli emerge, slightly refreshed by revived citrus notes. OK, the scent at times has slight powdery aspect (to be expected) and hints of floral sweetness. Eventually the patchouli settles into its usual nutty-earthy chord. Yet even here, it is handled with restraint.
An intriguing, complex scent. Try it and see how it works for you.

13rd January, 2012.

Beautiful - men, don't shy away. If Caron's Trosieme Homme can call itself that, there is no reason to enjoy this Chanel offering.

Absolutely wonderful, and on my skin, a spray lasts 4-5 hours, the last 2 of which are a subtle, but elegant experience.

3rd September, 2011.

Bergamot (and citrus in general) and I tend to not be friends, and 31 Rue Cambon confirmed it. All I get is ashy-burned-medicinal citrus--in other words, floor cleaner. No. 5 Eau Premiere and No.19 did the same exact thing to me, so I'm not surprised, just disappointed.

27th August, 2011.

31 Rue Cambon for me is like an exercise of which creative direction would Coco Chanel follow if she was still alive and if she was trying to shape the heritage of Chanel to modern tastes but without falling into fads. Like her apartment on Paris, Rue Cambon seems to have everything that a classical Chanel has: aldehydes, jasmine, iris, a soft powderiness. But it doesn`t go straight into vintage lands. Instead, it takes those aspects and marry them with a sweet resinous base that is very well doused. The aldehydes on the opening are the most interesting part to me. They seem to give a different aroma to the opening according the day your nose smell it. Sometimes you`ll detect a bright citric aura paired with the beginning of a flowery bouquet, and other days they lend you to an abstract fruity aroma. The iris and jasmine on the heart of this one gave the discreet powdery and flowery aura, with a warm, barely there, indolic touch. When it reaches to the base, you`re left with a delicious sweet creamy woody aroma, with the sweet part played in a serious way, avoiding gourmand intensities and matching perfectly the soft resinous aura that you seem to get sometimes when the scent warms on skin again. For me, Rue Cambon is not purely a Chypre fragrance, having parts that would be perfectly intepreted as floral or floral aldehidic too, and where everything seems to have a kinship so natural and common to find nowadays. Rue Cambon has a elegance that is totally out of tendencies, focusing on what really matters on a fragrance: quality.

7th July, 2011.

A chypre with NO oakmoss! I wouldn't have thought it possible that I would like this fragrance - being the fan of oakmoss that I am. But I must admit I love this fragrance!

If this is the start of a new trend in chypres, I must say I am impressed.

Viva 31 Rue Cambon!

11th June, 2011. (Last Edited: 12nd June, 2011.)

At first, it smells overly feminine and powdery, but only after four hours, it reaches it's nicely subtle dry down. A bitter-sweet fruity smell from bergamot and vetiver. The vetiver in this one smells like they used the same material as molecule 03 by essentic molecules.

Molecule 03 was an interesting take on vetiver; it took only the light, fresh, citrus-rind qualities of vetiver. And not to forget the iris: it reminds me of Dior Homme (not similar in smell and not lipsticky, but the combo of bitter-sweetness with iris just reminds me of it).

It's a really nice, competent chypre that is typically Chanel. I dont think it's something I will pull for too often but I definitely admire it.

9th June, 2011.