I thought I would share my impressions of the new No. 19 Poudre, since some of you might be as curious as I was.*
The bottom line is that I don’t think purist fans of No. 19, particularly older No. 19, will be wowed by No. 19 Poudre. Chanel has done exactly what they said they were going to do: made it softer, added a little more iris (in the opening only, I think), and warmed it up. In the process, it’s my opinion they have lost some of the magic and distinctiveness of No. 19. But, for some people that might translate to greater wearability. I consider No. 19 Poudre a mainstream contemporary version of No. 19, but I can see the brand’s point that it’s a modernization. Potato, potato right?
What Chanel has done well is generally maintain the overall character of No. 19 in this flanker. The top notes especially are very similar to me. Unfortunately, as No. 19 Poudre dries down it becomes more obvious how much less vivacious and less commanding it is. It is very soft and very warm, which I don’t like as much as the cool incisiveness of the original. I also think it flops (literally) in the drydown, whereas No. 19 gracefully unfolds like a well-spun story.
But this is all rather vague, I suppose. In terms of details, the SA said they have added iris, added “powder”, and put No. 19 Poudre on a base of tonka. Hmmm. If they say so! I don’t find it much more powdery, and I don’t smell tonka at all. So for details we will have to wait for a real review (from someone else)!
Meanwhile, I’m glad I recently scored a tiny, pristine, 60s-era mini of No. 19 on eBay.
*A caveat: No. 19 Poudre is on preview at Selfridge’s in London, and I only had the chance to smell it on skin after spraying it in the store and wearing it for the remainder of a day. They didn’t have samples. So take my impression with a big grain of salt.
Do they sell it already? Or is it only for testing?
They are selling it already. They have a 50 ml and a 100 ml, if I recall correctly. Both bottles are the “traditional” Chanel bottles (the more square ones), rather than the tall rectangles that No. 19 Toilette comes in. If you want it and you have trouble ordering, let me know, I can pick it up for you.
I’ve asked a friend who is on a business trip in UK to buy it for me. I’ll know in a couple of days if it happened. If no, I’ll ask for your help (this will be my “unsniffed” purchase for the year
).
Sounds good! I will be leaving at the end of this week.
Thanks for the review – really interesting. I did not have high hopes. No flanker I have ever met has improved on the original. All you can hope for is an interesting variant, like Eau Premiere. I like your ‘cool incisiveness’ description for No 19 – very apt!
I think the analogy to Eau Premiere is apt for this, with the difference for me being that I was “the customer” for Eau Premiere. I am that person who had never been able to really enjoy No. 5, so a flanker that took the idea and made it very approachable worked for me. Since I actually like No. 19, my review is certainly colored by that. Thanks for bringing this up, because I hadn’t thought about it that way. Thank you for the compliment, too! It means a lot to hear you think I’ve described something well.
Oh lord, pay no attention to me. Olfactoria is the genius at capturing fragrance in a few words.
She’s good, but so are you!
I will certainly try it. Thanks for the heads up!
Hurrah! After your No. 19 review I was so wishing I could read what you thought of this. I should have bought a bottle and played fairy godmother, sending out samples to all the bloggers and asking them to review.
Aw, c’mon… you can still buy a bottle and send out samples.
Right?
Kidding. But I enjoyed the review and, although I’m happy that No. 19 is still alive enough to be spawning a flanker, I suspect that I will be disappointed with the flanker itself.
I like Eau Premiere, and I certainly find it easy to wear but less impressive than the original. And some days my vintage No. 19 edt is a little, well, demanding. It needs a certain mood. However, I think the edp concentration is softer and more easily wearable than what I have on hand, so I’m a little bit puzzled that any more tweaks were considered necessary.
Ha ha. Yes, I technically could. : ) I agree that N19 requires a certain mood; that is a good way to put it. The edp that doesn’t work as well on my skin as the edt, so I don’t have that as a point of comparison. But it will be interesting to see if it finds a market. I guess the fact that the edp isn’t readily available in the US (as far as I know) might help?
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Chanel No 19 Poudre is almost identical to Prada..does anyone else agree?
Jules
Hmm, I’m not familiar enough with either to say. The person to respond to this would be Undina – she knows both, I think.
I’m not sure if Jules will ever come back here to read the answer (in my experience people move on after commenting and, maybe, reading host’s reply), but I’ll post it anyway.
I’m constantly analyzing scents I come accross in terms of finding smell-alikes – this is like a hobby inside a hobby to me. I have 1/3 left in my Infusion d’Iris by Prada bottle and I’ve been testing and wearing No 19 Poudre by Chanelfor a while now. Chanel’s new flanker didn’t remind me Prada’s perfume at all. But I didn’t want to rush my answer, so I waited until I could try them in parallel.
I’m comparing two EdPs (I have Prada Infusion d’Iris EdT sample as well, but I decided against wearing tree different perfumes to the office
).
There is a reason I’m not writing real reviews: I’m still learning how to express what I smell in actual words. But since it’s just a comment, I’ll try – please don’t judge!
In my mind, iris note in these two is much closer than in some other perfumes (for example, Iris Poudre by Frederic Malle or Iris Ukiyoé by Hermès) and I do see some similarity in the drydown phase (3 hours into wearing). But for the first couple of hours they are unmistakably different: No 19 Poudre’s iris is very buttery and soft, almost sweet and iris in d’Iris is very dry and cold, with some metallic quality to it.
Well even if Jules doesn’t come back, *I* enjoyed this comparison!
Thank you for taking the time to do a detailed breakdown.
Thank you, that was so helpful. I was a little startled at the possibility of similarity to Prada infusion D’iris. ( I prefer the EDT of it) but still I hope Chanel 19 Poudre is different
Undina did such a great job of comparing! Thanks for checking in and letting me (and her) know it was helpful.
YES!!!!!!!!!but maybe less interesting
I have heard this comparison in several places now. I don’t know them well enough to compare, but it’s definitely interesting to hear everyone’s different impressions. Thanks for commenting!
How am I so far behind on my reading!? This is a great review, Natalie, because it tempers my expectations, which have been fluctuating between madness (as in insanity) and ambivalence. Now I’m floating in hope-full anticipation, with a dash of, “Come what may.” LOL!
(need some more coffee before I comment
)
xo
I believe you are wise to be cautiously optimistic.
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