Allure Homme After Shave Lotion 100ml

An after shave lotion is for the minutes just after a razor, and Chanel Allure Homme After Shave Lotion 100ml should be judged on that rather than on how it performs as a fragrance.

Splashed on, it is bracing in the way an after shave is supposed to be, and the citrus of the scent does most of the work in that first moment: lemon and bergamot sharp and clean, mandarin orange sweeter, ginger adding a dry warmth, lavender a herbal calm that genuinely helps on freshly shaved skin, and peach a soft roundness underneath. The middle and base come through more faintly here than they would from a spray, which is correct for a product like this. Black pepper, anise, cedarwood, patchouli and vetiver give a dry spiced structure, rose, jasmine, gardenia, freesia and Brazilian rosewood a soft floral warmth. Vanilla, tonka bean, benzoin and coconut make it sweet and smooth at the edges, sandalwood and oakmoss keep it dry, leather adds a faint firmness and musk and amber round it off.

Expect an hour or two of light scent and a comfortable face, which is the whole job. It layers neatly under the eau de toilette if you wear it. The fragrance behind it was composed by Jacques Polge and dates from 1999, and 100ml will see a daily shaver through several months.

The perfume and cosmetics company at the centre of Chanel was set up in 1924, with Ernest Beaux as the first perfumer working inside the house. He had already made N°5 with Gabrielle Chanel in 1921, fourteen years after she opened the hat shop at 21 rue Cambon in Paris that started the whole business in 1910. N°22, Gardenia, Cuir de Russie and Bois des Iles date from the same early period, and the Chanel suit and the little black dress are as much a part of the name as the scents.