Allure Homme Edition Blanche (2008)
by Chanel

This is Jacques Polge having a bad day at work after a lemon cream pie party the night before.

Very aromatic citrus fruity opening leads into this very generic fresh woody drydown. Soft and smooth with some sharp and tart undertones.

Reminds me of so many other fragrances that I don’t want to even start to name them…

Well made, long-lasting and somewhat pleasant but, also very boring and disappointing in the end.

As much as I like Allure Homme, its siblings have never really endeared themselves to me. Edition Blanche begins with a rather disfigured lemon accord that is both cheap smelling and ill judged. The hollow middle notes are a little more interesting, with a snort of ginger to titillate the palate in the wood themed heart of this fragrance. The base has the the old Allure chassis, but with the veitiver much more prominent in this version. There were phases where I actually began ro warm to Blanche, but this is one fragrance that will probably never get that second date.

Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche

Lemons, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. When a perfumer is faced with lemons they have to be careful not to make furniture polish. One of the most familair scents to many Americans is that of Lemon Pledge which was a furniture spray polish. Every perfumer that tries to use lemon has to worry about being compared, ususally unfavorably, to Lemon Pledge. Even so it doesn't keep the truly talented from taking a shot at it and in the 2008 release Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche, created by Jacques Polge, there is no furniture polish to be found among the polished lemons present. The top of this is a lemon that edges more to the tart and mixed with a little bergamot to keep the tart from becoming sour this is as unlike furniture polish as you can imagine. In the heart M. Polge makes a bold choice by using sandalwood. Considering that most associate lemon with the scent of polished wood it could've been a bad move. The choice of sandalwood turns out to be a brilliant move because this is a creamy sandalwood and along with that creaminess it also brings out the sweet character of the lemon making the heart feel warmer and deeper. The base uses a mix of vetiver followed by vanilla to bring this home. The vetiver sharpens the lemon before the vanilla really enhances the sweetness of the whole thing. Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche is an outstanding warm-weather scent, I love wearing it on the hottest of days as it comes off refreshing on those hot and humid days. It also has a surprising amount of longevity on me for a citrus forward scent. M. Polge has done an excellent job of making Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche smell less like a used dust rag and more like a lovely lemon creme pie which makes it quite the polished piece of work.

Allure Homme Edition Blanche is for those who search a citrus scent with high quality ingredients, good sillage and longevity. A dream fragrance with creamy citrus, a touch of pepper, and a refined woody dry down. But in contrary of other frangrances the citrus remains until the end.
Classy, rounded, fresh but sophisticated AHEB has the classics Chanel atributes: chic and quality. Jacques Polge in his best form.

A very nice lemon/dry herbs/woods scent.
Dare I say an improvement over the lemon/dusty base that is Profumum's Aqua Viva.
If you love the parched drydown of Santal Imperial, and the sweet/sour lemon topnotes of Blenheim Bouquet, I strongly suggest trying this.
It surprised me, but not enough to buy.