Coromandel Les Exclusifs de Chanel Eau de Parfum

10 Reviews

1. 

   crushedLeopard4

   Reply

   Wow. I adore Coco, my sig scent but had to try this! BOLD!! Not for the timid. You can read about all the notes in the others reviews but for me, I just know what I like and I have to add the fragrance to my arsenal. I bought a decant off ebay and just adore it! Very sensual and deep. Warm like a sweater on a cool fall day! If you love the Orientals and don’t want to smell like everyone else I highly recommend this frangrance!! It’s in your face but then dies down to a very sophisticated fragrance!

2. 

   guiltyGnu2

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   Just got this as a 10ml decant from eBay. I paid £23.00 & p&p. It is one of the most beautiful perfumes I have ever had. I am not a perfume analyst, I either would wear it or I wouldn’t. This I would wear all the time.
   It is about £175 for 75ml. It really is expensive but exquisite. I may have detected the slightest touch of no.5 but only a touch. Maybe a touch of caraway having worn it for 30 mins. Definitely need a sample before you
   Splash out!

3. 

   betrayedGranola8

   Reply

   Unfortunately, Chanel and I never really got along. No. 5 is all aldehydes. Allure smelled wonderful on a stranger in 1999, but smelled annoying and sharp on me. Madamoiselle smells great on my sister, headachy on me.

   Then came Coromandel. My first reaction was, “Well, I could just wear this the rest of my life.” I dabbed a teeny amount on my wrists and my husband – who in 10 years of marriage has never noticed a perfume – said, “You smell nice. Is that a new perfume?” And then repeated the compliment a week later after I came home from work.

   It does get noticed, even in teeny amounts. The patchouli dominates but it is, to me, very wearable. Even when it is very warm out, I crave this scent. I will likely continue purchasing/hoarding small samples of this, as I don’t want to get tired of this scent by overwearing it.

4. 

   yearningDove4

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   Gorgeous woody patchouli. Slightly camphorous and spicy. Good sillage and fairly long-lasting, especially for an EDT.

5. 

   dearGelding8

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   At first spray, a truly gorgeous scent. Coromandel would have been just about perfect if it weren’t for that one sugary sweet, cloying note (chocolate, perhaps?) that dominates all the others. Like a reviewer below, I felt a bit self-conscious wearing it, as I would wearing Flowerbomb, Angel or other sweet, look-at-me fragrances. Not the scent for me, but I can see why other people love it.

6. 

   gloomyCur9

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   EDIT: I retested on the back of my forearm and got a strong cedar opening with a dark chocolate patchouli gourmand dry down. IMO it’s not milky, but I am not familiar with chocolate gourmand fragrances. It is rich and dense in a way that I would expect more from a Guerlain rather than a Chanel. In my review of Guerlain Samsara vintage EdP, I found it arguably more Chanel in character with ylang ylang somehow mingling with sandalwood in a very Chanel fashion.

   ——

   IMO, unisex, strong, rich, powdery Amber oriental with a strong cedar and sandalwood sensibility. The orris, benzoin, frankincense and incense lend a smokey powdery dusky note, IMO, similar to the powder level in SL Fumerie Turque which is a touch too powdery for me. Frankincense also supposedly is lemony and that plus the citrus lifts the fragrance a little. It’s dry down is also a little evocative of Lagerfeld for men (not the bottle marked classic which is sold today).

   Some reviews I have read reference milky chai or chocolate. I am not sure I get that strong of a gourmand point of view. IMO, the original SL Borneo is more chocolate gourmand. IMO, the patchouli isn’t moist. It’s not head shop. Very clean patchouli that straddles the line regarding a gourmand sensibility. Not sweet, per se, but far sweeter IMO than the original l’artesan Patchouli Patch (I have read that later renditions of PP are sweeter). Also this is weighty, not airy, like PP.

   Accords citrus, bitter orange
   Jasmine rose patchouli orris
   Incense, frankincense, benzoin, musk, vanilla

   In character, I think it’s related to FM musc ravageur but obviously without Lavander.
   This lasts a very long time – hours- on the skin. Dab, don’t spray. A little goes a long way and creates a ton of Sillage. (I am not a fan of Sillage). If you want to play it safe, the usual spray would be too strong for offices, planes or enclosed spaces. . . I personally think it’s best if I put it on my wrists before I take a hot shower and then don’t use soap on my wrists. . . It mellows fastest that way. I don’t get any green as per a reviewer below. With respect to MUA reviewers, I tend to agree with Wyrmiax — this is “heavy like a brocaded cloak,” but I don’t always come to the same conclusions.

   If your powder tolerance is low or straddles the line, I do NOT recommend this. I cannot imagine buying such a large bottle (200 ml!) of anything, but that is because I rotate many fragrances and own too many full bottles already. If I were starting a fragrance wardrobe, I still wouldn’t buy such an enormous bottle – at least not before I tried some of the combos MUAers suggest below.

   Note: re ratings. I realized I gave the body shop sandalwood as well as Avon Persian Wood a three star also. These are very different in character, ingredients, finish and obviously expense.

   The body shop sandalwood is more Boho chic and fuzzy sweater and essential oil kind of thing. It’s not head shop, but it does have a hippie sensibility ( this was never my aesthetic, so I am just speaking figuratively). In comparison, the Coromandel is a much more imposing fragrance, that has gone to finishing school so to speak.

   Avon Persian wood – I wrote extensively about PW in my review of Samsara and in its own review. My interest in Persian wood was piqued when I smell therefore I am blogspot praise it as the highest quality sandalwood. I bought five bottles before I understood that most PW, even labeled NIB, light colored, etc, is in skunked, spoiled condition, if it smells even faintly musty green chypric or at all old lady, then it has turned. A good vintage bottle should smell of straight sandalwood, with a leather nuance, and it should be neither green, nor oriental nor powdery. I have a darker PW that is perfect and a lighter one that is skunky, so it’s a gamble. However, for its reasonable price and accessibility, it’s worth the effort to obtain. Definitely lean, minimal, austere, simple, unisex. I smell therefore I am blogspot also commended AVON occur as the most raunchy fragrance that blows MKK out of the competition. I have not yet found a bottle of occur that does that; however, since MKK is arguably more raunch than I can handle, it may be for the best. There is also incense in the far dry down.

   I am not a fan of modern Avon, but I read somewhere that for every hundred euros a fragrance bottle costs, only 5 euros today is spent on raw material (rest is advertising etc), and factor in the limitations today’s perfumers face re IFRA and scarcity of ingredients, then hunting for quality vintage can be very rewarding.

7. 

   crummyFalcon3

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   Coromandel has a reputation as being a patchouli and white chocolate scent, yet I don’t get much patchouli and I get no chocolate. I get a lot of amber. also vanilla or toffee. Warm, cozy, skews a tad masculine. Reminds me a lot of Boyfriend, which I already own.

8. 

   jubilantOwl1

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   I was lucky to buy Chanel coromandel brand new bottle for half it costs now. The bottle is 6.8 oz huge, will probably last me lifetime, since I only use it when I’m in mood for it. First I bought tiny sample of it, and used it up in 1 week, had to buy full bottle. The smell is absolutely beautiful. If you like oriental, woody smells, you would love Coromandel . I didn’t have a chance to explore full les exclusifs line, only Coromandel and Beige, and I love them both. I only like to use it as a dab, not spray, so I pour it in my miniature dab bottle. Little goes long way, I only wish staying power was little better.

9. 

   culturedBagels6

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   I am a huge fan of Coco and Coco Mademmoiselle perfumes thus it’s no surprise that i fell in love with ‘Coromandel’. Apparently they are from the same family/genre of perfumes. That being said, my husband found this very sexy as he does with all my Chanel perfumes especially ‘Allure Sensuelle’ and he said that this smells exactly the same as that. I actually agree with him because both exude the warmth, sensuality, spicyness, and complexity of a woman. This is different from the others in the collection because it is a strong perfume for an EDT hence a spritz is enough to last all day. I definitely think this is worth the money but if you have ‘Allure Sensuelle’ then you don’t need this. I love both so i will repurchase them both (at different times of course). This is definitely more of a special event perfume!

10. 

    artisticIcecream3

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    I totally get it now, why my BFF is raving and raving. Chanel Coromandel is mind blowing. I’m in love. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever smelled. The patchouli is not only earthy, but it’s sharp and green and dirty. Underneath, there is a softness, like vintage, perfumed dusting powder, but I also get white chocolate and something…minty? There are so many stages and I’m enjoying each one. I’m shocked some of the reviewers said this is too strong. I find it quite soft, but it lingers for a while, which I’m happy about.