CHANEL N°19 Eau de Parfum Spray

Having never smelled this before until recently, I knew it would be something I'd enjoy since I love dioressence, mitsouko, and givenchy III. What I didn't expect was to be transported back to sweet memories of my father's mother. She wore this. NO doubt in my mind.. My mom used to say she wore Halston. But no, it was this. I spritz this on my skin and I'm immediately reminded of her hugs. She was a classic, elegant New Orleans socialite to the fullest. Always looked her best, loved throwing dinner parties, and visiting her friends in New York. No 19 was made for her! I plan to wear this scent for the rest of my life in honor of my meme and of course for Coco herself. It is a true pleasure to be the kind of woman who can pull off these icy cool, earthy scents.. You can keep your sweeties and sweaty ambers. Give me IRIS AND OAKMOSS!

Fantastic. Mindblowing.
I will not reinvent the wheel here in stating that the EDT is sharper, colder, fresher, more "dynamic" while the EDP is slightly less green, and more powdery with a hint of sweetness, fuller and more luxury feeling.
As a man, I would wear both, even if the EDT is for sure easier to pull off than the EDP, and definitely easier than the newest EDP Poudré (that one is definitely feminine).

As a man, I have a slight preference for the EDT, but the EDP performs way better. Dilemna...
To women, I'd recommend the EDP without hesitation.

Spring days, 25+

When I met No. 19 I was surprised. She was nothing like the perfume people talked about. All the rumours about her being harsh, sharp, strong, bitchy and wearing a suit made me think I ran into a wrong perfume. I was expecting to see someone stand offish and rude, instead she looked at me and offered a calm cup of tea away from the crowd.

I had to apologise for my surprise, I said I was expecting her to be imposing and cold. She said she'd heard the rumours herself and finds them slightly amusing.

No. 19 is clearly spoken but quiet, condifent in herself but not making a show out of it, her voice is calm and soothing, and she encourages you to trust your own instincts.

She doesn't wear heels or sharp suits, she doesn't tap red nails on a board room table, she doesn't need that. Instead, she finds a place where she feels comfortable and in peace, she doesn't like attention but she will stand her ground and pick what's best for her.

Often, she will stand looking at a field or a river, breathing in and out the fresh clean air. She doesn't want flowers or bright sunlight, just clear air and calm internal peace.

The only thing I found that makes me sad about No.19 is that she doesn't stay around for long. Maybe a couple of hours and she will be gone, no trace left behind, until we meet again.

So, I deleted my previous review about the longevity of this scent. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have longevity issues, because it truly does, but I found a remedy in my situation. I’m passing it on here in hopes that this may help to spark ideas for you.

I was reading reviews and I came across one where the reviewer stated that in order to correct the longevity problem that they were having, they simply layered this over Molecule 01. That got me thinking. I don’t have Molecule 01 but I do have Perfect Veil in the roll on perfume oil. I thought, what do I have to lose by trying it out? I mean, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? The worse that can happen is that I don’t like it.

This morning, I decided to give it a go. First, I very lightly applied Perfect Veil, then I sprayed this over it. The result? Absolutely DIVINE!

The scent is truly ethereal AND it lasted all day long. I got whiffs of it through out the day. Perfect Veil added just a touch of sweetness to it, but other than that, it didn’t alter the scent. So very glad I tried it.

Edit to add: I read other reviews stating the opinion that this scent smells like it is for a cold hearted, calculating, wire mother, total bitch of a woman who is venomous, poisonous, hissing, and down right vicious who would chew you up and spit you out across a boardroom floor.. I don’t know about Gabrielle Chanel, but anyone who knows anything at all about me knows that description doesn’t fit me at all. The truth is, that is not at all what inspired the making of this scent. I’ve read that this scent was inspired by Chanel’s weekends spent in the French countryside. Namely, the country house that Chanel owned, Bel Respiro. It is no wonder that fragrance in the Les Exclusifs line smells somewhat similar to this. This is an earthy scent inspired by nature and the earth, not by the kind of woman some may think Chanel was. Because of those kind of reviews, it stopped many from even trying this beautiful scent. I don’t find anything evil or cold hearted about this scent. I do, however, wonder about these reviewers’ intentions when writing such reviews though. It’s one thing not liking a scent. We all have likes and dislikes, but to use tactics like expressing that only an undesirable type of person would wear such a scent is a personal attack on those who love and wear this scent,

SKIN. CHEMISTRY.

I have sniffed No 19 at every single Chanel counter I have ever been to for YEARS. always just sniffing the sprayer, thinking it was fresh and gorgeous, but too sharp, too crisp, all lines and angles, too green to go on my skin. It always got loaded on a tester strip and flung in my bag - nearly all my purses smell vaguely of 19.

Today, I left the house without perfume on (horror of all horrors) and all I had in my purse was a rollerball of Chloe EDP, which I just could not face today. So I swung by my friend's store to get a few spritzes of 19 Poudre, my current works-any-day fragrance. Absentmindedly, I picked up the wrong bottle, and I suddenly had four sprays of Chanel No 19 EDP all over me.

I panicked. I thought, oh no oh no, it'll be too strong and too stark and I have a meeting omg omg. I drove with the windows down to try and get it to waft away.

A 30 min drive later... I got to my meeting smelling like perfection. I'm about to use an unexpected word on 19: creamy. Creamy! Were you even ready?! Were you ready for me to call it CREAMY, of all things? Something (I'm pretty sure it's the sandalwood) has softened the edges on my skin, and turned it into everything I had ever wanted it to be. It's green, yes, and it's cold, yes, but it has no 'bite' on my skin. I am so amazed. It's not a hug, but it's a kiss on the cheek. I expected it to be a blank stare.

Elegant and aloof, I feel like maybe 19 is one of those perfumes (or women) who appears cold and unyielding, but warms to a select few, in confidence, with that modest sillage she's got. As for longevity, still on my wrists faintly, and still on my shirt very noticeably, 7 hours later.

I went back and bought 100mls right after.