28 La Pausa, like yesterday's subject, Bel Respiro, is one of the new niche fragrances from Chanel's Les Exclusifs de Chanel. It was also named for one of Coco Chanel's houses, in this case, an estate on the French Riviera outside Roquebrune Cap Martin:
Chanel spent her vacations at La Pausa, surrounded by friends including the Duke of Westminster, Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau, in an atmosphere of happy relaxation and refinement. "Irises grew in the garden and the iris is also a very round, calm and soft fragrance," [perfumer Christopher] Sheldrake says. (via theaustralian)
I have not seen a list of notes anywhere, but it doesn't matter: 28 La Pausa is all about iris, and if you love iris as I do, it is a must-try.
The top notes are bright and mildly citrusy. It is cold, but doesn't quite reach the metallic heights of some iris fragrances. It dries down to an simply gorgeous iris, creamy-buttery smooth, and in a considerably less adorned style than my usual iris favorites (Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist, Divine L'Homme de Coeur, Hermès Hiris, The Different Company Bois d'Iris). It warms up slightly as it develops, but only slightly, and it is only mildly earthy-peppery. I find it the finish to be more velvety than powdery.
The minimalist style accentuates the calming aspect of iris that Sheldrake noted (see above); 28 La Pausa is an extraordinarily soothing fragrance. Still, it smells (as befits a Chanel) like quiet extravagance; the materials are the best that money can buy, and nothing has been added to render it showy or gaudy. The corollary to that, I suppose, is that if you don't adore iris, you may well find it the dullest of the collection.
I said yesterday that Bel Respiro wasn't the show-stopper of the collection, and nor is 28 La Pausa — I'd give that honor to 31 Rue Cambon. But 28 La Pausa is the one that has me closest to reaching for my wallet; I can actually imagine running through 200 ml, and given my current perfume collection, that is no small matter.
I have seen a number of complaints about the lasting power, and they aren't off-base. Like Bel Respiro, it needs several sprays (ok, more like 5 or 6), and even then, don't expect it to last longer than a few hours. If you want an all day scent, you're going to have to decant into a travel atomizer and touch it up during the day.
Chanel 28 La Pausa is $175 for 200 ml of Eau de Toilette, and is currently available at Chanel boutiques; it is to launch at Bergdorf Goodman next month.
An aside: with all the frenzy over the new fragrances in the set, I've seen very little about the 4 re-issued classics. If anyone has tried the new version of Bois des Iles, please comment!
How does it compare to Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist (ISM) ? ISM, although mostly a pure iris fragrance, is not a “dull” one – it exhibits all the facets of iris: rooty, earthy, cool, powdery etc. There is no better iris fragrance on the planet.
Ofcourse ISM not a Sheldrake creation, and I am thankful for that. Else its excellence would have been spoiled by the unnecessary addition of candied apples, honey and sugar notes!
Do you “blame” Sheldrake for the candied apples & honey? I always assume that style comes from Serge…somehow I doubt he leaves so very much up to the perfumers. But who knows?
28 La Pausa is much less rooty-earthy, and less cold than Iris Silver Mist. I would also call it flatter, although that sounds like a criticism and isn't meant as one. Until near the end, when it smells more floral & woody-musky, it honestly just smells like what I imagine real iris root to smell like, perhaps blended with a very soft, pale wood. Iris Silver Mist is a masterpiece, and I'm not sure I'd go quite that far about 28 La Pausa, but you simply have to smell it to appreciate the quality of the materials.
I have tried the four classics and the packaging is only thing that is different. I have the older EDTs (5 years old or so) and the samples of the new ones, and they are pretty much identical.
I love La Pausa, very pretty. It is an accord based on iris, so it is not really a top, middle, base notes composition. I just wish that it lasted.
I have got to give this one a good, long, serious try…if you say that you want that 200ml vat, it must be fantastic!
Thanks V, I had heard the reformulations were very respectful and glad to hear it is true. And I wish La Pausa lasted longer too!
M, the first 20 minutes are so wonderful it is like a drug to me…but the other day, I wore it next to Hiris to compare, and by the end of the day, I had reapplied the La Pausa probably 5 or 6 times, and it was still gone. One good spray of Hiris was still quite evident. That is going to be a serious drawback for many people.
It definitely will. I must say 31 is not lasting well on me either. Bizarrely, the ethereal No 18 has a very good lasting power on me, even thought it is not a “loud” scent at all. None of this bothers me though. As long as I love the scent, the lasting power or lack thereof is not that important to me.
Have to agree…sometimes, dismal lasting power is an inducement, since I rarely want to wear the same thing all day. But $175 is a lot for a normal (e.g. not addicted!) person to pay for such a short experience.
Finally tried Coromandel this morning, and it may not get a 2nd spray from me at all, so we are along the same lines! No. 18 is really lovely though, as is the Cologne. Hey — .when you're spending $175, you ought to get more than 1 mini! Or at least “deluxe” spray samples of all the rest….
Thought that one might be right up your alley.
Have you tried spraying it on clothes? I find it helps make fleeting things last.
You were right then! Yes, spraying on clothing usually helps, as does spraying in hair — but then you've got the opposite problem, it follows you around all day, LOL, and you can't switch scents. I am not easily pleased: I want a scent to stay interesting for 4 hours, then vanish without a trace
Hi Robin,
Had a great time at Chanel yesterday with an array of Les Exclusifs up and down both arms. Please give Coromandal a little time to settle. For me it's the loveliest Oriental l've tried in a long time. Agree 31 Rue Cambon has to be the stand out and the one most likely to end up as an eau de parfum. Bois des lles despite it's age stand up extremely well to “the new kids on the block”
My heart fell for this one, and yes I love the classics. Reminded me of vintage Crepe de Chine.
PS the s/a have me a beautiful book on Les Exclusifs as a “keep sake” despite me not making a purchase
What fun! It is too cold here to put fragrance up & down your arms, LOL.
And Coromandel has had plenty of time to settle, actually, it is still going strong even after a shower. It isn't a bad perfume, it just isn't my style — oriental is my least favorite family, and I almost never like amber-heavy orientals. Just as well, there are plenty of other great scents in this collection, and the last thing I need is to want all of them
I'm a huge iris fan, so I really want to love this one. So far it's not happening, but it could just be that it's still in edt form. On a Russian forum they said that these would be released in parfum form next year. *Extremely* psyched and I'm guessing I may fall hard for this then.
Interesting…personally, will be very surprised if they do all 6 in parfum, but what do I know? 28 La Pausa in particular, I probably can't afford in parfum, but I'd sure love to smell it!
I was a remarkably hard headed realist as a child and never believed in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy or anything else. I'm making up for it as an adult. Tell me a lovely story about Chanel parfums and w/ wide eyed optimism I'll believe it completely.
And I SO want to believe that at least 5 will be released as parfums. Am trying to ignore the nasty grinch of my budget.
Hope you'll turn out to be right! Wide eyed optimism ought to be rewarded once in awhile
I noticed that you mentioned that you have samples of the new line. May I ask how you came about them? It's very difficult for me to get to New York so if there's any way for me to get a sample that would be fantastic. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated.
You don't need to go to NY, just to a Chanel boutique. But if you haven't one near you, try ebay — lots of the ebay stores are selling sample sets.
Just smelled this last night. Wow, wow, WOW. It is exactly as you describe, R.! The world of iris fragrances is really opening up for me. It took me some exposure, but now I'm hooked. A shame about the reputed lasting power, but with 200mL to play with, at least it would take some time to blast through a bottle! I wish I had a zillion dollars; I'd buy every iris out there and play the field. Robin, if you had ONE iris to recommend — the creamiest, least peppery — which would it be?
Hmmm, the creamiest & least peppery? Maybe try Frederic Malle Iris Poudree?
Demure and discreet are not words I usually associate with Chanel fragrances, but it is definitely the first one that comes to mind when I–very happily–wear this. That said, I can see a man wearing it as well.
Agree, a man could wear it easily!
I think it is similar to Bulgari Pour Homme Soir (which as many of us have noted, is very un-soir like indeed) in its soft, smooth, rounded quality which works equally well on women and some men.
This is the first iris-scent that knocked me off my feet.
It is softer then Hiris and yes, the ingredients smell of high-quality beeing very effortless in their way.
I would compare it to a Chanel suit – you could wear any occasion and 20 years and it would still be a Chanel suit, recognizable by its quality and tailoring.
Wow.
Btw: I can’t stand Iris Silver Mist – OMG I think is one of the worst smells I ever had coming to my nose.
LOL…that’s funny about ISM! Still one of my favorite smells. Love this one too though!
Hi Robin,
I don’t know what is wrong with me! I received a sample of La Pausa yesterday, and I’m trying to give it a chance but after the initial burst of iris, all I am smelling is CK One. EEEK . I used to wear that way back when, but it’s not exactly what I wish for to be wafting about me at present time. I read your review of CK One to make sense of things and I’m still perplexed. I wonder what note my skin is bringing out…or what is my nose picking up??
J.
CK One did have some iris, I think, but not all that much. Have you tried wearing them at the same time?
I’ll try next time I’m at a department store counter – thanks, Robin! I think I experience smelling/tasting them both at the back of my throat. It’s very weird.
On another “note,” somewhere in the comments of your reviews I read praise for Diptyque’s Do Son…I tried that at a store, didn’t think much of it but ordered a sample anyway. But I also tried Philosykos and loved it right away. Upon receiving the sample of Do Son, however, I immediately loved it & could not get enough. I ended up purchasing both of these Diptyque frag’s on eBay & am waiting for them to arrive. This very rarely happens to me. To me, they have a similar effect to Prada’s Infusion d’Iris – this “veil” like quality – and everything that I want a fragrance to be: fresh, crisp, unobtrusive…takes me to far away lands & warmer climates. I’m so happy I came across them!
Almost anything else I’ve sampled since I’ve started reading this blog, I find cloying & heady…
Really glad you liked them both! You might also want to the the 4 Diptyque colognes as well, and also wonder if you’d like some of the Jean Claude Ellena scents at Hermes…
Thank you for the suggestions, Robin. I definitely will try…although I’m scared of the Hermes, so scared. I think I’ve tried some of JCE’s and they toppled me. I’ll give it another go…:)
Thanks for your suggestions, Robin!! I think I must have tried Caleche & 24 F. before, but now I am more educated about these things. The ones that Jean Claude Ellena did for Hermes are truly lovely. I just finished the Chandler Burr book and things are more sorted in my head.
J.
From what I can tell, the evolutionary biologists and philosophers are still insisting there’s no way to translate scent into words. But from your description, I easily picked out La Pausa from the several others on my irresponsibly/overly sprayed forearms.
Apparently, those scholars ain’t reading this blog. Glad that I am.
Oh, how sweet! Thanks.
Iris is among my favorite notes, my favorite iris is a tie between Le Labo`s and La Pausa, two entirely different irises though. I have planned to own La Pausa forever, I have owned Le Labo though but heavy hitters are closer to me heart and the Le Labo is dirtier and not as sparkly although the sophistication in La Pausa is amazing and I am thinking of getting it for my Bday finally. Still have a bit in that 5 ml mini bottle I owned from almost all of exclusives. IMHO though the showstopper of the collection is not Rue Cambon but Coromandel but it is definitely a winter fragrance and that along with Rue Cambon are the only two in the collection that are actually heavy hitters (and ok maybe Sycamore and Cuir de Russie which is also great BTW). Most of them are wonderful but the lasting power and sillage can be problematic in case of most and at this price point that is not really good. I end up using 50 ml in 3 weeks then. The only problem I have with La Pausa is that the opening is a bit too sharp for me, I find the same with Bois d´Iris which is also great but that is not as sharp as La Pausa but I guess this aldehydic sharpness is very Chanelesque, some love it and some hate it.