Chloé Absolu de Parfum Chloé 2017

First of all: long intro full of uninteresting life story! Here it goes:
As a teenager, I wore "Chloé (eau de parfum)" and didn't like it. Tempted by a pretty, oversized, and no less impressive, far too perfect face on a rose gold advertisement and a harried saleswoman who rightly suspected a lost, directionless person like me to be an easy target, I bought this bottle without much hesitation from my hard-earned Christmas money.
I wore it extensively, regularly, almost obsessively, always carrying the perfect face in my mind, full of hope to transfer some of that beauty onto my lackluster appearance, perhaps to convince the right man for life that I was a top candidate.

But we never really matched. And it worked, as one might suspect, only in my head. Several years have passed, the time for searching for a partner is over (thankfully! Hopefully?), and Chloé became a forgotten relic of another time in my life.

Until I found a sample of this fragrance here. It had sneaked into my collection despite being on the watchlist and was already threatening to lead an unnoticed existence until I read more closely. "Absolu" ah... probably like the original, just with a lot more volume. Or like so many Absolues, Intenses, extraits, and whatever else is out there, just throw in vanilla and tuberose, shake vigorously, and re-market.
Nevertheless, I tested the sample. Just like that. And I was transported back to another time. Uncertain, full of overwhelming emotions but also full of passion.

And like me, Chloé has grown up. The Absolu presents itself clearly but not strictly, minimalist but not overly structured, warm but not lulling. Like a woman who has simply let go of much that she long believed she needed.
The Chloé DNA, that typical strict rose, shines through clearly and doesn't lose itself in the fragrance, yet the vanilla softens it right from the start, rounds off the edges, tames the thorns, and gently accompanies it to a grounded, unspiced, and soft base.
Don't get me wrong: the fragrance is still clean, it fits perfectly in a dentist's office, an office, or a car dealership. It's just that it's no longer the pretty lady with a center part, pressed blouse, and white nails at the reception; she's more like the warm, friendly, and well-groomed woman from administration, the one everyone likes to have around, who always has an open ear and occasionally brings the best cookies for everyone.
But one doesn't really know much about her life, as she always remains professional and clear.

I find it dreamy.
And it's the first fragrance in my life for which I will probably get a bunker. You never know with these Absolus, limited, extended, anniversary, special, and other editions...