Coromandel from Chanel Les Exclusifs - For Men?

I think it leans on the feminine side - but so what?

My DH and I both wear it, it smells quite different on each of us and I must say I LOVE it on him.

Maybe find a beautiful woman to wear it. I haven't found any of the Les Exclusifs to be unisex/masculine but I haven't tried Bois des Iles and Cuir de Rusise yet.

I wear it frequently and really love it. I even have a small atomizer in my office and if I spray a couple times, my whole team comes in to enjoy it.

Definitely unisex. I've worn it, my sister has worn it & I smelled it on men. It smells differently to me on the guys, definitely more masculine.

I had the same feeling about it ! I really liked it but felt it was just a little bit too feminine to be comfortable with , but I guess it is all about what you think you can get away with, while not feeling too self conscious !! I think that Eau de Cologne and Sycomore are the most unisex in the range , I have EdC and it is one of my all time favourite purchases !! (despite the price)

Hell yeah , its great stuff I tells thee

I don't really understand why this would be a problem ... unless you're worried about other people getting turned on by it too and mistaking you for the kind of beautiful woman you associate the fragrance with?

I'm joking, of course - I only mean to say that if you enjoy the way it smells - and especially if it turns you on! - then you shouldn't feel any compunctions about wearing it whenever and wherever you like. I do happen to think that nearly all fragrances have the potential to be unisex in that it's more about the attitude and individual chemistry of the wearer that anything inherent in the fragrance itself. As Andy Warhol once said, "I'm sure the right hormones can make Chanel No. 5 smell very butch."

Unisex

I don't know if I'd call it feminine, but it is definitely very, very sweet. The notes themselves don't scream feminine to me. Masculine and feminine scents can be as sweet or sweeter.

Anyway, gender irrelevancy aside, it's too sweet for me.

I personally like it and wear it.

I'd say unisex. I adore it.

Very unisex. Coromandel was in my Top 5 this past summer. It's just really fun wearing a patchouli fragrance and still feeling like it wears in an opulent, sparkling manner.

Hell of a fragrance. My girlfriend wears it a lot and it smells excellent.

It's too radiant for me, but it's ok for anyone as long as they don't use too much.

Very well done fragrance, very feminine side of unisex to me though.

Coromandel is a fantastic fragrance that anyone can wear.

It might be leaning towards the feminine spectrum, but so are many "masculine" fragrances nowadays.

Just wear it and enjoy!

I find it a more chocolatey take on patchouli that works nicely in cool weather. It's a 'polite patchouli' . . . pretty unisex IMO but I can understand it might be a bit sweet for some tastes - best used lightly.

I agree that it leans more feminine, probably due to powdery/perfumey chanel style. I owned it before but replaced it with the more raw/in your face/hairy chested/ but sensitive inside Borneo 1834.

I know this is a male discussion, but from a female's prespective I totally love my husband wearing Coromandel. He is a real alpha male type and gets lots of positive comments when he uses it.

I find it a little too 'confectionary' for my tastes but that's probably why many others love it. Without more prominently masculine/unisex elements acting as counterweights I too feel it leaning towards the 'feminine'. Would thus expect to smell it off a woman.

. . .

If that's the case, just keep a small amount around for periodic samplings for your own enjoyment.

It smells nice, but I'm not so keen on it. It's pretty floral and I don't reallyget too much patchouli from it.

A scent like Coromandel would normally sour on my skin - getting too cloying and unraveling into a mess of overly-sweet notes that almost gag me. Sadly, Heritage EdP and a handful of others do this on my skin. Coromandel approaches that point but never gets there.. I love the transformation to the earthy (almost like wet mud) dry-down that is patchouli.

As an aside, I wore this to a physiotherapy session and one of the staff went door-to-door until she found "THAT smell". It was Coromandel, my SOTD, and she wouldn't let me leave without telling her exactly where and how to get a bottle!

Short Answer: Yes

Slightly Longer Answer: Yes, with a caveat. I find the smell completely unisex, but it has an odd texture. A certain weightiness, a plushness that I associate with feminines moreso than with masculines. It's very opulent, and because of this can, I would assume, through some wearers off.

Its just Chanel and their marketing...these are the same people that market Sycomore to women and to me Sycomore is more masculine than feminine. Its all just a marketing scheme. To me Coromandel smell EXACTLY like Musc Ravageur, yet Musc Ravageur is marketed as unisex...hmm, so if Musc Ravageur which is essentially Coromandel, and Musc Ravageur is unisex....then Coromandel is UNISEX!!!

Unisex

the woman of my dreams wear this. This makes me the woman of my dreams. oh well at least i always agree that i am great and always understand my feelings, am thoughtful and caring and we never fight over what program to watch

Unisex. A fragrance this beautiful shouldn't be kept to just half the world. Beautiful patchouli drydown, and I'm not even a fan of patchouli. Wear and enjoy.

It's feminine, but with an unisex touch. One of the few feminine scents I feel comfortable wearing.

This one, along with Sycamore, smells more masculine than feminine to me from this line.

It is throat-achingly sweet on me, so I don't enjoy it, but that sweetness doesn't exactly make it feminine. There are plenty of sweet masculines out there. Overall, I would say this is perfectly unisex in its construction.

Also, I agree strongly with your Musc Ravageur comparison. Maybe remove that hint of animalism and add bit more honey and spice, and you have something very close to Coromandel's base.

I don't like Coromandel because it has an off-putting, sharp medicinal note in it that I find very disagreeable.

I had the chance to try the whole (?) line in Dublin. I didn't find one which I wouldn't see on the feminine side.

I wear it all the time and find it to be one of the best of the houses offerings, male\\female\\unisex or whatever corporate arbitrary classification it falls under.

Bumping this thread because I wore Coromandel (from a sample) to work for the first time tonight and it was interesting.

It was a very hot day. I had to work in the evening-- I wanted to wear something new, so I looked through a bag of awesome samples given to me by a very generous Basenoter (thanks again, Joe! ) and was almost going to wear Penhaligon's Love Potion Number 9, but I decided to give Chanel Coromandel a shot.

I'm a bit leary sometimes of wearing fragrances marketed to women, but I like the patchouli note in Coromandel, though I'd never given it a real wearing before. I just decided to go with it-- and even though it was a hot day, I decided to not be so chicken and actually take a chance of possibly overapplying by spraying once on one forearm and twice on my upper chest, right under my neck.

I got to work and as I walked past two female coworkers at semi-close range, they both told me I smelled great and asked what it was. I asked them if it was too strong and they replied "no, just right." One of them added "oooh, I smell patchouli--sexy!" It was kind of a hot day to be wearing such an oriental scent, which reminded me a bit of Heritage-- but it actually worked really nicely. As time went on, I did feel the scent start to move in a softer, more feminine direction, but I wasn't freaked out by it. My male coworker liked it, but he did think it skewed a little more to the feminine side, but not overtly so.

I kind of wish it would have kept the sharpness of the patchouli as it dried down, but the patchouli does soften very much. Over all, I got five different compliments-- three of them completely unsolicited-- the other two were "hey, what do you think of this new cologne?" type situations. I felt very sexy wearing it.

A very good scent.

Any good european site to buy les exclusifs online?

Unfortunately, no! The European Chanel website
doesn't offer shipping - only the American one.

I've gotten some on eBay, you can buy them
with confidence, as the Exclusifs hasn't been
faked ... yet!

Thanks Duc!

How on earth does someone get Musc Ravaguer from Coromandel is beyond me. They are not even similar.

I think this one is definitely unisex and that it vears slightly towards masculine.

The only Les Exclusifs I wouldn't wear are the two very feminine ones, No. 22 and Gardenia. I think all the other ones are fair game for both sexes. And the real gem in the collection is Bois Des Isles.

Just reviewed a sample of this yesterday. Absolutely stunning in my opinion. Very much unisex and very much getting purchased!

I rock Coromandel. The drydown is fantastic.

Too much patchouli for my taste.

It makes me cough - too much powder or patchouli? not sure which ingredient. LOVE the smell though.

It centers around patchouli, so yes, on one hand. On the other hand, it has mega sillage and mega longevity, usually that characterizes many classical female fragances.

Wrapping it up, try it and judge by yourself.

I don't find it to be feminine. Its very fragrant.

My favourite patchouli scent. Smells divine.

Coromandel by Chanel is a high-quality composition that is definitely unisex, if not leaning masculine. Its elegance will shine in the fall and winter.

Skin chemistry is everything - a bit sweet but can be pulled of by men too.

Keeping in mind that the designation of "male" versus "female" is an arbitrary designation, I don't think Coromandel has many characteristics one would typically consider as hyper-feminine except for, as someone mentioned, sillage and longevity. I've tried quite a few from the Exclusifs and have liked them all very much, and own 3 of them (Coromandel included). I definitely think you can wear this and not feel like you're wearing a women's perfume. It's absolutely worth trying.

I read your reply to the question on Basenotes of whether Chanel Coromandel may be fit for men--by your reply I gather your are a man. Your replay was very valueable because you own the cologne and I have been contemplating the purchase of Coromandel myself for a long time as a blind purchase (no access to Chanel boutiques). I have a very alpha male look and character, pretty close to Dwayne Douglas (The Rock) who like to purchase colognes that are niche (above those main stream department store, designer colognes). I own Chanel Sycomore which I find quite masculine, fitting of my look and personality, and meeting my criteria of cologne (niche). Now I'm looking to replicate my successful encounter with Chanel Sycamore (really like the Vetiver in it) and get a Pachouli based one that meets the quality of Coromandel. So here is the question. Do you feel this cologne is for a type A personality man or a B type? I hope you dont' take my question insulting, not my intention at all, it is just that it is hard for me to appreciate the answers given by men on the Coromandel question unless I ask this detail. Thanks and regards, CR

Just checked Douglas Johnson on google images. I dont think that Coromandel would be perfect fit for that guy, unless he wears suit and tie all day long.

Thanks Dreamer for the answer. I do wear business suit and tie most of the days due to my profession and social life. What I tried to say is that I am quite heterosexual and SOME, not all, of the positite reviews given by man about this type of cologne (unisex) and type of question come from homosexual men, which make colognes leaning of the femenine side suitable for what they might be looking for, but not quite for me.

If you like and can wear LIDGE, you can wear Coromandel, IMO.
I don't think 'The Rock' asks for other folk's opinions, on what he can or can't wear, though.