7
Very helpful Review
The essence of chic, or the chypre that wasn't
I had read some reviews a while back describing this as one of the more "mature" Chanel perfumes, and like Dulcemio, I can recognize the classic touches in 31RC. I just fell in love instantly with it, even with all its kinda-dated sophistication and aldehydes (I'm sure they're there, but for some reason just not listed in the notes).
31RC lacks the oakmoss required of a true chypre, but Jacques Polge does a really good job in evoking the character of chypre even without it. Along with the oakmoss, it lacks the piercing sharpness, but it does pack a punch of its own -- for some reason, it just hits some receptors in my head really hard and make me love it even more for it. I thought I could never love a classic floral, but I do love this one, and 31 rue Cambon has definitely opened my nose to appreciate some other classic perfumes I thought I would hate.
This is definitely one of those perfumes you really have to test before buying, because I can see it is somewhat polarizing -- however for me, it is totally worth the full-bottle even at the Les Exclusifs prices. I am seriously considering going for the big flask.
31RC lacks the oakmoss required of a true chypre, but Jacques Polge does a really good job in evoking the character of chypre even without it. Along with the oakmoss, it lacks the piercing sharpness, but it does pack a punch of its own -- for some reason, it just hits some receptors in my head really hard and make me love it even more for it. I thought I could never love a classic floral, but I do love this one, and 31 rue Cambon has definitely opened my nose to appreciate some other classic perfumes I thought I would hate.
This is definitely one of those perfumes you really have to test before buying, because I can see it is somewhat polarizing -- however for me, it is totally worth the full-bottle even at the Les Exclusifs prices. I am seriously considering going for the big flask.
2 Comments
Sweetgrass 11 years ago
Greysolon, I agree! I think it's also a testament to Jacques Polge's genius that 31 rue Cambon has such high artistic value but is also modern and wearable. As for classification, that sure sounds like an interesting way to conceptualize perfume :D
ExUser 11 years ago
I like when perfumers break the rules of a genre -in this case no oakmoss- and yet 31 still comes across like a chypre. JC Elena has proposed categorizing perfume like music: baroque, classissical, romantic, etc & sometimes I see his point.