Perfumer Christopher Sheldrake of Chanel talks about iris and the new Chanel No. 19 Poudré. Found at J'aime Le Parfum.
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Chanel No. 19 and No. 19 Poudre ~ fragrance review
No matter how many fragrances Chanel’s line up features, Chanel No. 5 hogs the limelight. Yet supposedly Coco Chanel’s favorite, the one she named after her birth date, was No. 19. Rumor is she kept No. 19 out of mass production so she could wear it herself and give bottles to special clients and friends.
In 1971, after Mademoiselle’s death, Chanel released No. 19 to the public. Chanel’s website describes the fragrance, developed by perfumer Henri Robert, as “A rich blend of floral and green notes, followed by May Rose and Iris from Florence. The finale: a chime of Chypre with a subtle, woody Vetiver note.” It goes on to say No. 19 is “Audacious and assertive. Never conventional.”
If No. 5 is the grande dame with pearls and Champagne, No. 19 is the ingénue. While No. 5 sits in the living room with nattily dressed suitors, No. 19 is getting back from a ride through the forest on a summer day…
Chanel Pour Monsieur & Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree ~ fragrance reviews
As a teenager, I was tightly wound: aloof, careful, “tart” (but certainly not a tart!) My parents were always telling me to loosen up — “Get a tan!” “Go on a date!” “Learn to dance!” I remember the night my attitudes about myself started to shift. I had just turned 18 and was preparing to go to school at night for a yearbook meeting (where my “tart” comments were always expunged from photo captions of fellow students). On that spring evening (what got into me?) I did several things out of character: I wore jeans, I put on a tight white sweater (without a t-shirt underneath, risqué!), I used gel in my hair…and I wore perfume — Chanel Pour Monsieur. Back in those days, there were no “makeover” shows on TV, but the reactions I got to the “new” me were very What Not to Wear — post-consultation. Several friends stared at me as if I were an alien. I got compliments. I began to understand the “power” of appearances.
Swirling around this incident were feelings of freedom ahead. In several months, I’d head off to college in New York City. I could start living the way I wanted to live. I was about to begin my exploration of the world. When I wear Chanel Pour Monsieur, I always remember that night, and I associate the perfume with youth, spring, hope, and transformation…
I’ll walk all over you
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sheldrake's take is less extreme. "It's important to remember that No 19 was created at the beginning of the 1970s, an era notable for the fact that women's emancipation was at its height. The original No 19 was created in the spirit of the first wave of feminism and it therefore has something of an 'I'll walk all over you' aspect to it, I agree."
No 19 Poudré , as perhaps befits the time, "is a more obviously feminine fragrance," Polge argues.
— Perfumers Christopher Sheldrake and Jacques Polge talk about the upcoming Chanel No 19 Poudré.
Update: huge apologies, I inadvertently left out the link to the original article! Here it is: One green bottle: Meet the brains – and noses – behind Chanel No 19 at The Independent.
Chanel No. 19 Poudre ~ new fragrance
Chanel will launch No. 19 Poudré, a flanker to 1971′s Chanel No. 19. The new fragrance honors the iris pallida note, and reportedly reveals a new powdery-musky facet…
