Allure Eau de Parfum

Chanel Allure Eau de Parfum is one of the house's quieter successes, never as discussed as the numbered perfumes and worn constantly for thirty years, which tells you something about how comfortable it is.

The opening is fruit over citrus. Lemon and bergamot give a clean bitter brightness, mandarin orange sweetens it, and then peach and passion fruit arrive, the peach soft and furry, the passion fruit tart and slightly sharp, which keeps the sweetness in check. It is bright without being sour.

The heart is a full bouquet and it is handled with a light touch. May rose and jasmine provide the classical warmth, honeysuckle adds nectar, magnolia a lemony floral freshness, orange blossom a clean lift, freesia a peppery brightness, peony a watery softness and water lily something cool and almost transparent. No single flower takes charge, which is why the fragrance reads as smooth rather than as a statement. Vanilla, sandalwood and amber make the base warm and soft, with vetiver and patchouli adding just enough dry earthiness to stop it going powdery and sweet. It is a well mannered drydown and it lasts.

Jacques Polge composed it and it launched in 1996. At eau de parfum strength it gives a full day with moderate projection, closer to the skin after the first couple of hours. It is aimed at women, it works in any season and it is as suited to an office as to a dinner, which is precisely the point of it.

Chanel started in 1910, when Gabrielle Chanel opened a hat shop at 21 rue Cambon in Paris. Its first perfume, N°5, was made in 1921 with the perfumer Ernest Beaux, and the perfume and cosmetics company was established in 1924 with Beaux as its first in house perfumer. N°22, Cuir de Russie and Bois des Iles followed in those early years, and the house is as well known for the Chanel suit and the little black dress as for anything in a bottle.