Henri Robert: 2 posts

Chanel No. 19 needs no words of praise because its beauty renders them superfluous. Even its seemingly difficult facets—the aggressive verdancy of galbanum, the woody duskiness of iris—are arranged in such a harmonious manner that one cannot but admire how the green, vibrant top notes melt into the leathery darkness of the base.

The number 19 refers to Coco Chanel’s birthday, August 19th. The story goes that No.19 was her personal fragrance; however, this is unlikely, since the perfume was composed only in 1970, less than a year before her death. No. 19 was created by the Chanel in-house perfumer Henri Robert, who is also responsible for the chypre austerity of Pour Monsieur (1955) and the shimmery bite of Cristalle EDT (1974). Robert created only a few fragrances for the house; however, his contribution cannot be measured by the number of perfumes linked to his name. Being responsible for maintaining the quality of Chanel No. 5, searching out the best quality materials and adapting the formula for the parfum de toilette and eau de toilette, Robert has to be credited for the continuing success of No. 5. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Eau de Toilette

There are some fragrances that one cannot forget, even if for one reason or another, the love affair is suspended, and the bottle is not replaced. When I moved to the US, my perfume bottles were left at the old apartment and, alas, never retrieved. Cristalle was one of them. And then recently I stopped by a Chanel counter and reached for the slim oblong bottle. As the mist fell upon my skin, I was immediately swayed by its luminous clarity. Of course, I had to have a bottle right away.

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