WHAT I SMELL: Allure Homme opens with a fresh and intoxicating herbal mandarin and lavender that is peppered with hints of brown sugar. It goes on sexy, invigorating and completely approachable. The perfume soon mellows a bit from its’ exciting entrance, but it remains delightfully confident in it’s persona. As the perfume continues to settle, the tonka and a light vanilla are the radiant center and help to create a smooth and creamy aura that begins to radiate ever so subtly. After some time, the perfume matures a bit with a buzzing pepper coming into play along with a soft, but sweetened patchouli. Allure is neither for the young or the old, but for any man who just wants to smell clean and fresh…and just fantastic.
From the Chanel website:
Difficult to define, impossible to resist. Crisp and clean, warm and sexy, ALLURE HOMME is the expression of a man’s charisma and inner strength. A fresh, spicy and woody composition that reveals the presence of the man who wears it.
Vigorous, fresh top notes of Mandarin and Coriander, subtly spiced, blend into clean, intense notes of Cedar. Venezuelan Tonka Bean and Cistus Labdanum combine for a sensual trail that’s heightened by Black Pepper from Madagascar.
Top notes: Lemon, Peach, Ginger, Mandarin Orange, Lavender and Bergamot
Middle notes: Pepper, Cedar, Patchouli, Vetiver, Brazilian Rosewood, Rose, Jasmine, Gardenia, Freesia and Anise
Base notes: Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Coconut, Sandalwood, Amber, Benzoin, Leather, Musk and Oakmoss
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Allure Homme is aptly named. But I can’t help but call this fragrance a “go-getter” as there’s some real positive energy in the perfume and that when you wear it, it makes you feel as if you really can accomplish anything.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ALLURE HOMME: affirmative, energized, easy-to-wear
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ALLURE HOMME: I only found one review online, but the site was so full of obnoxious pop-ups that I won’t subject anyone to it. I did find plenty of reviews for Allure flankers, but since this was introduced over 20 years ago in 1999, I guess it’s not that surprising that the buzz about Allure has long since passed. Too bad, it’s such a wonderful perfume.
BOTTOM LINE: Allure Homme is a good anytime perfume, which means it can be dressed up or down depending on your mood or situation. And no matter how it’s used, you’ll always smell fresh and fantastic. Plus, it’s not an “in your face” perfume which means that you’ll leave a quiet trail behind you when you wear it without offending anyone. A perfume doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking to be wonderful. Allure Homme is a perfect case in point.
- Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Amber Woody
- Nose: Jacques Polge
- Classification: Leans masculine
- Expense: Starting at $80 for 50 ml eau de toilette
WHAT I SMELL: Eterniris opens with a soft suede that’s lightly sugared and slightly creamy as the iris makes its way in with a buttery finish. It’s incredibly soothing, yet full of life. An herbal tone adds a dimension that moves the perfume towards the forest as a cedarwood follows right behind the mixture of herbs. At this point, the perfume begins to warm and radiate and deepen. As the journey towards the forest continues, the perfume moves more to the chypre with a dry powder that pushes the perfume off of the skin. The perfume is unique, absolutely intoxicating and a rather stunning forcefield of a perfume because it seems to wrap you up in its enticing elixir. After quite some time, a quiet and subdued rose pulses occasionally from the middle of the fragrance adding a floral note as the iris seems to be cocooned in the middle of the wood. But lily of the valley is the floral center that keeps the perfume in the pretty with it’s soft and demure persona. Much later, a light smoky incense oud begins to line the bottom of the wood. Ever so soft, it provides the perfect base for the beautiful florals making Eterniris a serenely beautiful creation.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: An ancient wooden boat that has been infused with the smells of years of the selling of herbs, spices and flowers.
PARADIS PROVENCE – WHAT I SMELL: Paradis Provence opens with a sparkling, yet slightly salty thyme and lavender along with what I found to be just a hint of sweet caramel. Almost right from first spritz, the perfume seems to lift off the skin as if it’s ascending towards the sky. With this airy quality, it’s as if it’s a sheet that has been hanging on the clothesline, soaked in the sun and infused with the herbaceous thyme and lavender from nearby fields. In the most quiet of ways, there’s an orange blossom note that rests within the perfume which helps to temper the stronger aspects of the lavender, making its’ persona softer, while still buzzing with energy Additionally, the perfume also has an interesting textured quality to it, as if it has been painted on with a soft and powdered dry brush. Overall, Paradis Provence has a very calming presence (as I write this, I’m sitting in the dark without electricity as a tropical storm charges through…thanks to Paradis Provence, no worries). Paradis Provence doesn’t change much beyond this point which is a good thing as the perfume rests in this powdery herbal and lightly woody heaven that is quiet, intimate and grounded in positive energy.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Inner peace.
IRIS LUMIÈRE – WHAT I SMELL: Iris Lumière graces the skin with a soft, cottony muguet tinged with the slightest of moistened leaves and tempered galbanum. The perfume is tender and quiet; as if you laid your head on an exquisite pillow which is cool to the skin and surrounded by soft and lilting violet and muguet caressing your head with lullaby whispers. There’s a light earthiness that rests under the tender florals and a dry wood that keeps the perfume just out of the clouds. The opening of the perfume lasts a very long time and the development moves oh so slowly which is just as well as the innocent florals are in a place that begs not to be left. When Iris Lumière decides to walk along the garden path, the green begins to grow and the lightest wisp of frankincense lifts gracefully with each quiet step along the way. Here, Iris Lumière moves from the delicate innocence of the muguet and to a more mature orris root and it begins to warm ever so slightly as it begins to pulsate off of the skin in a lightly woody timbre.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Self assurance.
The Scented Hound 