Have you noticed the trend of young women dying their hair gray? It can be startling to see a baby face capped with grandma’s hair. Sometimes it comes off as chic. But sometimes it’s an epic fail, almost as unsettling as politicians who dye their hair nut brown when Mother Nature clearly determined it should be gray — or gone. Mutton dressed as lamb, and vice versa.
To me, Chanel Chance plays this game. It doctors a big girl’s perfume for little girls by simplifying its heady oriental notes, freshening it up with citrus, and targeting its marketing to younger women. It’s like Guerlain Shalimar drawn as a kid’s cartoon and squirted with sweet musk, or like Thierry Mugler Angel with less verve and voluptuousness. To me, Chance feels off-kilter — or worse, banal. But, like dying your hair gray, it has its fans.
Chance, created by Jacques Polge, launched in 2002. Its notes include jasmine, orris, patchouli, musk, vetiver and vanilla. Chance’s signature is grapefruit plus patchouli plus vanilla plus musk, with negligible florals. The grapefruit and patchouli are clean, and the musk is sweet and vaguely nauseating. In the heat (and we’re under a heat advisory right now), it’s a loaded pistol. It dries down to ambery patchouli, and it wears a long, long time.
Chance is the sort of fragrance that could entrance a young woman looking for something “sexy” before she has the confidence to understand that sexy isn’t something you put on. It’s also the sort of fragrance you can find in a dozen knock-off versions at the drugstore, although they won’t have Chanel’s elegant packaging and cachet.
Chance’s flanker Chance Eau Tendre came out in 2010 and was also developed by Jacques Polge. Its notes include grapefruit, quince, hyacinth, jasmine, amber, cedar, iris and white musk. Eau Tendre is a soft, sheer fragrance that smells to me like banana, strawberry, sweet musk, and a touch of pepper. It has a gentle sillage and would suit a shy teenager. Or a shampoo. Eau Tendre vanishes on my skin within an hour, even with the whole sample vial dumped on. I smell little relationship between it and Chance, Sr.
Chance’s latest flanker, Chance Eau Vive, just came on the market this year and was created by Chanel’s new house perfumer (and Jacques Polge's son), Olivier Polge. Eau Vive is a sheer fresh grapefruit and is my favorite of the trio. Its notes include grapefruit, blood orange, jasmine, white musk and vetiver. Eau Vive is tart and citrusy with grapefruit and orange, but it’s not as bracing as a cologne. It holds a touch of its fruit’s sweetness, but it’s tempered by pepper.
As Eau Vive fades — and it fades fast — it settles into a clean musky vetiver with none of Chance’s cloying sweetness. In fact, besides grapefruit, it has very little to do with Chance. To use Robin's test, would I buy it? No. But I'd use it, probably to freshen my sheets, if it were given to me.
I have a lot of respect for Chanel. They’re giving their fans what they want, I guess, and keeping their market broad. Clearly, I’m not their target market. If you are, please comment!
Chanel Chance and Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Toilette are $122 for 150 ml, $97 for 100 ml, $77 for 50 ml, and $60 for 45 ml. Chance Eau Vive Eau de Toilette is $97 for 100 ml and $77 for 50 ml. Chance also comes in Parfum, and 7.5 ml is $115. Chance is available in most department stores.
I laughed so hard at the comment about young women dying their hair grey
I have seen very few, that really can pull it off 
Oh Chance. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with it. First, there is too many who use it, second, they use too much of it (body wash, lotion and edt/edp). Many don’t seem to know that with Chanel’s scents, even in edt, they are highly concentrated and have a big heft. I think I have smelled it on one or two, that seemed to just give it a little opmf and I absolutely adored it. I have used it a bit myself, but I got bored with it and luckily it was around the time were everyone else start using it
For some strange reason Eau Tendre smells like rotten appels to me
I feel like I can’t breathe when someone around me is using it 
Eau Vive is lovely. I do wish it lasted a bit longer. The first 20 minutes is lovely and the, as u write, it is barely there.
I do love Chanel, but I wish they were a bit more daring, as they sometime is, when it comes to the exclusif line. The other lines seems to be flat (unless we talk about the classics).
I adore many of Les Exclusifs, too, as well as nearly all the classics–or what I think of as classics!: Nos. 5 and 19, Coco, Cristalle, etc. But I can live without Chance (in case you couldn’t tell).
I don’t think I’ve ever smelled regular Chance. I considered buying a bottle of the Eau Fraiche long ago, and it is pretty true to it’s name – a fresh floral. And I have a friend who did the granny hair thing – it was freaky because she ended up looking exactly like her mom. The new color didn’t last very long, as that was not what she was going for!
Eau Fraiche is the one I didn’t try! It really is nice to have a fresh floral around, though.
Now that makes me laugh: looking just like her mom!!! ROLF!! Not what most stylish people are striving towards, unless your mom is Carmen Dell’Orefice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very true!
Eau Fraiche is the only one of them I don’t hate.
And Lord knows, I sure don’t love it. I want to slap Chanel upside the head for making these. The best of them is inoffensive and the worst (Chance, imo) I find baffling.
And yet I bet they’re making money off them! That said, they baffle me, too.
Have you tried Eau Vive yet?
I haven’t – will give it a sniff next time I’m in Sephora!
When I was at the London airport a month ago, all the TV screens were playing the advert for this perfume over and over. I’m the age they’re trying to target & I think they totally missed the mark… Bowling?!? What exactly is aspirational or even appealing about this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhdZcBsa-dk
I love me a cheap bowling alley martini and some chucking the ball at the pins, but doing it in a swarm of Chance-scented models wouldn’t be my first choice. Now, an Eau de Bowling Alley might actually be nice. Imagine wood wax, a hint of the oil of the machinery that resets the pins, lingering cigarette smoke in the lobby rug, corn dogs…
I want some EdBA!
Think of the marketing copy! “You’ll be STRIKE-ing in Eau de Bowling Alley. SPARE no one your stylish stench.”
Somebody STOP me!!!
In the interest of saying something nice or nothing at all, I’m pretty sure that I would at least smell better in a Chance flanker than I’d look in one of those outfits in the photo.
I actually think you would look great in those outfits
Now you’re talking!
Put me in one of those outfits, and you’d have some serious Mutton Dressed As Lamb.
My older sister wore Chance years ago, but I think she got rid of that bottle. Your review sounds interesting, but I’m still holding out hope for the next great Les Exclusif – I want Chanel to do something brave.
Chanel doesn’t strike me as wanting to slash new paths in perfume. I guess No. 5 was revolutionary when it came out, but otherwise they seem to stick to conventional takes–many of them elegant or better, but not much that’s going to epater the bourgeoisie.
Chance was my thing back in the day. I was in my mid twenties, new to the city, and still going to the clubs four nights a week when it came out. That scent defined an era. It was one of the only fragrances I’ve ever completely drained and had to replace. Now, I can see the half full bottle on the shelf next to me, the metal ring outside rusted from the leaky nozzle, and the juice darkened from evaporation and air exposure. I haven’t worn it in 11 or 12 years, I don’t think I could stand it now. (But I can’t bear to throw it out.) To this day it’s the scent I received the most compliments on. And I wear much better stuff now. Go figure! Ahhhhhh, memories.
It sounds like an important part of history! That’s how I feel about Coco, although I do still wear it sometimes.
What a waste of talent. They really should spend time figuring out how to make 28 La Pausa last longer and/or create a parfum extrait!
That would be wonderful!
I’m in the minority, since i love Eau Tendre, especially in the summer.
Not into citrus, so Chance and the other flankers are not for me.
You might actually be in the majority, since lots of people are reading this and not commenting. I bet Eau Tendre’s sheerness is fabulous when it’s warm out.
Possibly I am!
I do love shampoo scents. JLo Still, Eau Tendre, Burberry Brit Sheer are all in the summer rotation. Herbal Essences trained me well, lol!
That famous Herbal Essences commercial *was* pretty convincing!
I just tried Eau Tendre and really like it! (It is extremely hot here…)
Nice!
I was in my local Ulta a few days ago and they had a teeney tiny shelf of some of the Chanel offerings, No 5 (only the EDT version) was on the bottom shelf but the Chance offerings and Mademoiselle took up all the available space. Naturally, had to sniff all of it. Still don’t like Mademoiselle one bit and holy crap with the Chance stuff. This is not the best that Chanel can do, they can do way better than that. They just smell like everything else mainstream these days.
Worse–Chance smells like everything else mainstream *yesterday*. On the other hand, I’m finding a new love for No. 5! I always thought it was fine, but not me, then I found an old bottle of parfum in an antiques mall and am falling in love with it. Never say never, I guess.
I’ve tried the older version of the EDT and that is the only way that I can smell the sexiness of what no 5 is supposed to be. But I will check back when my vintage parfum arrives.
Hurray for the vintage parfum! Lucky you.
Goodness there’s a lot of grapefruit around isn’t there? Hermes too. When Hermes does a fragrance for the youth market it comes out with Kelly Caleche. When Chanel does it, we get Chance and its flankers. Hmmm …
I didn’t notice that…
First time commenting (loooong time reader!). I love this site and check it every day. Thank you!
Chanel no.5 was my signature fragrance since I was 19. I changed a few years ago to Chanel no.19. So obviously Chanel perfume has a special place in my heart but I absolutely loathe Chance (Coco Mademoiselle too actually) and never really understood why it was created. Your desciption of Chance and the comment about young women dying their hair grey had me laughing out loud, literally!
Welcome!
I feel the same way you do. I wouldn’t wear Chance or Coco Mademoiselle if you tied a $100 bill to them. But I do love many of the other Chanels!
I love this article. I’m squarely in mutton territory, and I wouldn’t dye my hair again if you paid me. I’m gray and proud! And that’s all I’ve got, I can’t even remember what Chance smells like.
Your gray is so gorgeous that you’d be doing us all a big disfavor to dye it!
It’s so nice to see patchouli or white musk listed as notes in a fragrance I’ve not tried. That’s how I know I can keep walkin’ on by.
Even so, I recently asked someone who smelled nice what fragrance they were wearing, and it turned out to be Chance Eau Vive. It smells like expensively perfumed furniture polish on me.
High-larious review, Angela!
I’m glad you liked it!
Eau Vive is nice–really nice, but not special, you know what I mean? (And who wants to smell like a freshly polished buffet?)
I want to start out this comment by saying that I love my Chanels. Not only do they smell good on me, but I’ve always found the scents to be polished, sophisticated – with a twist of sexy. (Think original Coco).
I was recently making my way through the Chanel area of the local department store, and the salesperson urged me to try out Eau Tendre. I remember thinking that it seemed pretty “common” for a Chanel – like the typical safe fruity/floral scents. I don’t know why, but the entire chance line makes me think of the Vera Wang scents that came out a couple of years ago: safe fruity floral scents. Nothing dangerous, sexy, or even slightly weird. Very mainstream.
I’ve always liked Chanel just fine, but lately I’ve been especially loving some of them. I had the exact same reaction to Chance and its brethren. Oh well. I guess they’re trying to grab that less experienced market. I’ll be just fine if I never smell it again.