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Browsing by tag: jacques polge

Chanel Chance, Chance Eau Tendre & Chance Eau Vive ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 3 August 2015 47 Comments

Chanel Chance Eau Vive

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…

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Not a Chanel flower

Posted by Robin on 5 December 2014 2 Comments

"If there is a bunch of tuberose in the room it’s either the bouquet or me," says the Frenchman with a smile and a shrug. "It has an invading crudeness. The same with mimosa. It’s very strong. And it’s not a Chanel flower."

— Perfumer Jacques Polge, quoted in The making of Chanel No.5 at The Telegraph.

Chanel: Jacques Polge to retire, will be succeeded by Olivier Polge

Posted by Robin on 5 July 2013 9 Comments

Perfumer Jacques Polge

Jacques Polge, house perfumer at Chanel since 1978, will be retiring at some unspecified date. Chanel has announced that he will be replaced by his son, perfumer Olivier Polge, who has been at International Flavors & Fragrances since 1998…

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Abstract and mysterious

Posted by Robin on 29 May 2013 7 Comments

Two more videos in support of the No. 5 Culture Chanel exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (you can see the others we’ve posted here). First up here, Chanel house perfumer Jacques Polge, then below the jump, perfumer Christoper Sheldrake.

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Chanel 1932 ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 28 January 2013 103 Comments

Chanel 1932

Chanel is one of handful of perfume houses with a distinct perfume voice. Say “classic Chanel” to perfume lovers, and likely they envision a greyhound of a fragrance — aldehydic, elegant and restrained. If you’re a Chanel aficionado, you’ll likely love Chanel 1932, the latest fragrance in Chanel’s Les Exclusifs line. Really. Start saving up now. If you like your perfume big and dirty, 1932 is unlikely to convert you.

Jacques Polge, Chanel’s house perfumer, is credited with 1932. The Chanel website says “1932 evokes a dazzling array of diamond stars and comets. Created petal by petal, the soft, woody fragrance expresses an enveloping heart of White Jasmine.” The name commemorates the year Chanel first offered fine jewelry. Notes listed for the fragrance are jasmine, vetiver and iris.

Unlike gem-studded jewelry, which I think of as hard and cold, 1932 is tender as chiffon…

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