No. 19 by Chanel, 1971

The opening of Chanel 19 edt is one of my favorite experiences. It is a focused demonstration of the iris. I agree with many of the characterizations of 19: venomous, aloof, off-putting. 19 is powdery, but coldly and bluntly so. Up top, other notes, especially galbanum and hyacinth, accentuate the iris root and add to the wonderfully acetone, dry-cardboard smell of 19. Chanel 19 edt is a floral fragrance, but far les so in the topnotes than in the heart. The chill remains, but the acetone and paper recede, and the rose/jasmine heart continues the green trend right through to a grassy, vetiver drydown that I would ultimately categorize as woody-floral. If I could make any perfume moment last forever it would be the topnotes of 19 edt. (Aside: I feel similarly about Cristalle and Pour Monsieur. Love them. Just want to drink them in. But, sadly, all three edts are brief experiences.) Despite its passing nature, though, I love the whole shape of 19. It is a beautifully worked-out fragrance and has a coherence of tone from start to finish that is both effusive and logical. My dilemma: the concentration. The various Chanel concentrations are notorious for their qualitative differences. The edt is not a dilute version of the edp or of the extrait. It is a different formulation. Ive fallen in easily with one concentration of the other Chanels. No 5: I understand the edp; I enjoy the edt. Cristalle: I dont quite understand the edp (it has a niceness that defeats the pretty brutality of the edt) and want to live in the edt. For 19 I want both the edt and the edp. While there is a similar componentry, the edp is leathery and warm where the edt is a cool, rooty/grassy floral. The evolution of the edp has a much slower timeframe, and gives a warm treatment to its flowers, rose in particular. Though distinctive, the edp winds up a broken-in green, leathery chypre not far from the drydown of Scherrers Scherrer.

I think the re-formulated No. 19 is a success. I'm basing it on the EDT, which I bought. I can't speak to the EDP. It retains the older classic No. 19 undertones, but the reformulation is a lighter, less dense version of that. The galbanum is reduced in the top notes. which makes it less bitter on opening, and allows the warmer elements of the fragrance to come forth from the start-up. But what I call warm is actually a curious mix of very greeened-down florals and old-style feminine leather, non-airy, non-expansive, and thank god, non-citrusy. It seems citrus is one of the things they grab when they want to contemporize a fragrance. That's not what 19's about, and they seem to understand and not mess with that. Which is one reason I call it a success. Another is that it is a very wearable fragrance - I can see it becoming a staple. Subtle and subdued enough for day, but with the slightly non-feminine muted galbanum edge, it retains a certain amount of character - this is an intelligent perfume because of that sense of character and will. Also, it's feel of coolness, which in fact isn't borne out if you smell it with focus at different phases, creates a subtle juxtaposition, as does the combination of bitter green, earthy floral and warm leather. It engages more than smell in trying to embrace it, heightening its sense of intelligence. It becomes a close to the skin fragrance after several hours, though its sillage is never large. It doesn't disappear though. It's one you'd smell coming off someone at close range in an elevator, something on that order. And really, who wants their fragrance to intrude on someone further away than that?