Yesterday afternoon, I walked a stretch of Paris’s gritty 19th arrondissement with a friend who lives here. “Every neighborhood has its own personality,” he said. “Yet it’s all Paris.” That’s a good way to describe the fragrances in Chanel’s Les Exclusifs line, including the latest, Chanel 1957. Each of the fragrances has its own personality, but each is Chanel. The difference is that 1957’s personality is enough like an aura to complement your own personality, too.
Olivier Polge composed 1957, and its notes include white musk, bergamot, iris, neroli, cedar, powdery accents and honey. In short, 1957 is all about layers of cloud-like musk with a vaguely powdery floral heart and peppery top.
First, let’s talk musk. Some of you probably cringed when you read “white musk.” I understand. 1957’s musk in no way references the Body Shop or Coty. Nor does it smell like laundry detergent. 1957 is a lesson in musk as texture. Its musk builds cumulus fluff barely touched with face-powder iris and tingly neroli, so that you almost feel the fragrance more than smell it.
Delineating the fragrance’s boundary is an assertive helping of pink pepper and bergamot that melts away after an hour, to be replaced by a quieter dose of cedar. Mostly, though, in 1957 I smell a kitten’s belly of layered musk. The fragrance stays close and wears lightly, and by noon I was wanting to spray on more.
1957's elegance and restraint brands it as a Chanel, but it's one of the subtler ones. 1957 is a true skin scent. It’s not a fragrance to wear if you want to make a statement. Instead, it’s the nude lipstick of perfume. It’s something that enhances rather than “styles” you in the name of beauty. 1957 softens your mood and adds a downy halo to whomever you are — charismatic CEO, goth biologist, retro pastry chef or buttoned-up poodle breeder.
This characteristic is exactly what might make 1957 a lousy bet for some people. Given its cost, some perfume lovers will insist on a fragrance with its own voice. They’ll want something with flash. Anyone remember the episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy agrees to buy a couture dress to get into a fashion show? She purchases a plain number meant for daily wear, with the idea that it will be less expensive than the evening dress she truly covets. It turns out they cost the same. The connoisseur appreciates the craft invested in the day suit, even though the evening gown has more splash and sparkle. 1957 might be the day suit. You notice the wearer rather than the garment she wears.
Now let’s return to Paris. I see comparisons to 1957 here, too, in the city’s neutral yet comforting overcast sky and creamy limestone buildings. The city is a background for the theater of life. In the hotel across the street, a couple is having a pillow fight and laughing. In another window, a woman eats something from a tiny bowl in front of a dozen votive candles. A man waters his balcony gardens bursting with geraniums and herbs. Meanwhile, rain splatters over the slate roofs, and the full moon stains pearl light on the clouds.
What links them all is Paris. 1957 is like that.
Chanel 1957 Eau de Parfum is $350 for 200 ml and $200 for 75 ml. See Chanel under Perfume Houses for where to buy Les Exclusifs collection.
What a beautiful and dreamy review.
I thought I would dislike 1957 because I was afraid of the white musk but finally when I got a decant I had to apologize to myself and admit that I quite like it.
I like the multiply-layered structure of bedsheet cotton, neroli scented jersey and crispy-powdery iris.
I like it, too, and don’t find it too white-musky at all. It’s all about texture, though, so it might not please some people.
This review is absolutely wonderful 🌿
I need to see if I can get a sample somewhere ☀️
It’s worth trying. Spray liberally!
Totally remember the “I Love Lucy” episode. I love your description “…it’s the nude lipstick of perfume.” The musks did keep me away, but I’m really intrigued and want to try 1957.
I’m not normally a big musk fan, either, but really this one shows how musk is about so much more than Bonne Bell Musk.
Lovely review Angela. I’ve sprayed this on several times and haven’t made up my mind about it. It’s a bit old lady to me, but also very chic Chanel. It reminds me of the lustre of pearls. Glad it’s not a limited edition, so I have time to decide…
Please be careful with the “old lady” comments. Some of us are old ladies and I think we smell wonderful.
I’m ready to try to convince some perfume house to do an Eau d’Old Lady that smells like heaven.
😃
To be worn to the sounds of Edith Piaf’s ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’.
What was Piaf’s favourite perfume? Bandit, I seem to recall … ?
That sounds very Piaf to me! I seem to remember a Balmain Piaf fragrance–La Some, I think–but I like Bandit better.
La Mome, that is (dang you autocorrect).
Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you! I have no other word for powdery+soft floral+dusty (which I like) yet.
“Old Lady” will soon become a term of those who revere perfume, so don’t worry. You’re simply on the vanguard.
When I hear “old lady perfume” my ears perk; sounds like something up my alley! Lovely review and I was surprised I loved this one, as generally I’m not a musk fan.
Musk is tricky! Sometimes it’s a distinct scent, and sometimes it’s more of a “feel.”
Did you spray on paper or skin? My first try was in paper and I dismissed it as generic department store miasma. On skin, it is quite different.
I agree–this one is made for skin.
Skin is best!
The “lustre of pearls” is a great description!
I think I read it in an interview or ad copy for 1957. This time the description was spot on for me.
It works!
That’s a lovely review, and makes me want to try 1957 properly. I sniffed it on a card about 6 months ago, and got a lot of white musk, so didn’t spray it on my skin.
Yep, have to try on skin!
Agreed!
Must try it on skin! Not that you’ll love it, but it really is one made for skin.
It must be the difference in the perception of musks but I remember trying this and thinking how loud I found it. Odd that because Chanels are mostly the opposite of loud. I will try this again, just to see whether my perception of this scent has altered.
Ah, Paris. I’ll be heading there in about 10 days time. I’ll be staying outside of Paris itself but I plan to spend a couple of days there and do some serious sniffing.
I do love me some second skin scents like Mythique, Musc Nomade and Cuir d’Ange.
I really didn’t find this one loud at all! Are you in Paris now? I’m in the south of France at the moment but will be back this weekend. Maybe we’ll run into each other!
No I travel to a village near Fontainebleau next Saturday (the 7th), will spend a week there (with trips to Paris) and will then move on towards Evian. I think we will miss each other, unfortunately.
Are you having a good time?
I am having a good time, thank you!
Lovely review.
Thank you!
Lovely review, even though I didn’t like 1957. It does indeed smell of laundry musk on me. More money saved!
Ugh, laundry musk. I’m so glad it didn’t come off like that on me.
What a lovely watercolor of a review! Alas, it will be ages before I go anywhere that I can smell 1957, it does sound dreamy.
It’s a rare opportunity that I can smell it, so I feel your pain.
Thanks for this. I had wanted to smell this when I first heard about it, but it wasn’t yet available. Then I promptly forgot. It’s my birth year (yes, I’m THAT old…) so I’ve wanted to try it.
I’m intrigued as well. Only a year later and it would have been my birth year. Yay for us LizzieB!
I adore 1957 for its fashion and style, so the year attracted me immediately. I’d be interested to know what you think of it!
Lovely, dreamy, yet honest review. 1957 has become one of my favorite Chanels, along with Sycomore and Paris Riviera. I find most Chanels wear me. I tried so much to wear Cuir de Russie, I can’t but I appreciate it. The three I adore I find to be elegant yet wearable without being uninteresting.
I’m glad you found the review on point! I know what you mean about Cuir de Russie–it sounds a particular way on paper, very alluring, but it doesn’t welcome the wearer with open arms. (I do love it, though.) It’s a good fragrance for when you’re feeling kind of “I don’t care what you think.”
Another to add to the must try list! The notes didn’t grab my attention, but I’m curious about the texture you’re describing Angela.
For me, 1957 really was more about texture and “feel” than smell.