Chanel Allure Eau de Parfum

Launched in 1996 by Chanel and developed by perfumer Jacques Polge, Chanel Allure Eau de parfum is an oriental, floral blend of soft sweet spices and orange flowers with fruity notes of fresh citrus. Chanel claim that Allure is different to most perfumes with their traditional pyramid structure according to Chanel it is "Multi Faceted" and "cut like a diamond with 6 facets which overlap, with no single note dominating". These facets are:

Imaginary Floral: Honeysuckle, Water Lily, Magnolia
Fruity: Mandarin, Passion Fruit
Fresh:Italian Citron
Timeless Floral:Egyptian Jasmine, May Rose
Oriental:Bourbon Vanilla.

Now I know this is not six but despite many Internet searches these are the only ones I ever find.

The packaging
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As with all Chanel packaging whether it is for perfumes or cosmetics it is simple and elegant. The box is pinky beige with the Allure name and Chanel logo on. I think this must part of their marketing to make it look timeless and sophisticated. The rectangle bottle is clear with Allure written on it in gold. Top is a dusky pink with a gold band. The clear bottle lets you see the yellow amber colored perfume inside the bottle. Whilst this does make it look timeless it does make the bottle look rather plain next to some of my more elaborate bottles of perfume like the Marc Jacobs range. The atomizer for this perfume works very well and I have never had any problems with it sticking or not giving a lovely fine mist of perfume in all the time I have used it.

Wearing the scent
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On the first spray of this perfume it gives a very strong alcohol smell which I found off putting the first time I tried it, but within a minute this fades so do bear with it when you test it for the first time as I did as the delights of the rest of the fragrance soon become apparent.

The fresh notes at the start include mandarin, bergamot and peach and are the first notes to that I pick up and this fruity and citrus note gives a nice wake up buzz feeling to my senses.

The fruity notes last a few minutes on their own before becoming layered with the floral heart of this fragrance jasmine, magnolia and orange blossom. These seem to mix in delight with the citrus notes and the headiness of the jasmine for me is balanced out by the sweetness of the peach. The light notes of the orange blossom waft across my sense charmingly and remind me of warm summer days. Rather than the base notes coming along after a few hours they float in and out as if carried by a sea breeze. The warm notes of sandalwood become noticeable though where this fits in with the perfume notes Chanel give I am not sure. The vanilla whilst strong is not a dominate smell that overrides things and leaves you smelling like ice cream. Some days I notice the honeysuckle and the rose and other don't and I think this is down to the layering that Chanel do and how the perfume reacts to the different temperatures on my body. On the warm days their notes are more noticeable I find.

I do find that this is strong smelling perfume but absolutely heavenly to smell and wear and I think that the scents just grows and becomes more alluring and complex as it develops on the skin. I also find that a couple spritz is all you need to last the day and the perfume lingers well on the skin and I notice that I keep catching myself smelling different notes through out the day.

I do think this is a more scent for a woman rather than a teenager as it is more complex and sophisticated than a lot of the more youthful scents out there such as the Tommy Girl and the like. Given that this was introduced in the 90's and still going strong I do think that Chanel have achieved their aim of a timeless scent as is still to me is as appealing as the first time I wore it a few years ago.

Overall
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Allure is a delicious blend of peaches and mandarin in the first few minutes of wear, this then is accentuated by magnolia and jasmine. Before the headier notes of sandalwood and vanilla are added into the blend. This perfume has real staying power so you don't even have to re-apply this perfume at the end of the day because the lasting power is so good. I personally think this perfume is more suited to evenings whether formal or relaxed than a work perfume. However I have been know to wear it when I want to feel empowered and full of confidence such as job interviews and I think its classy notes must come over to help me feel better and hence perform better in these situations. This isn't a cheap perfume but it as it last well and is such an elegant fruity floral that I would say that it is worth its money. It currently sells at £45 for a 35ml bottle at Debanhams