Comète

Today, tried it again in the boutique (for the second time), and I finally get why people love this. I collect the Les Exclusifs (like a madwoman) and this one is unique enough to own separately. Yes - it's not a Le Lion or a Coromandel - this is the typical Chanel classy-feminine-elegance without being polarising. To me, this actually smells more like almonds/marzipan (but not too sweet), more than cherry blossom. The iris is also very prominent here. To me, this smells like a mix of a few other Chanel scents: - The iris here smells like the iris in No. 19 Poudre, not the dry-rooty-iris that you get in La Pausa. - The violet here smells like Misia, but a bit more bitter (cool!!!) than the fleshy roundness of Misia. Imagine the bitterness of No. 18 (EDT) with the violet in Misia. Misia smells like lipstick and makeup powder. Comete is surprisingly bitter and almondy, which is really nice. - Dries down to this super fluffy, soft musk. You can almost feel the cushions in how soft this musk is. (Not the same musk in 1957 - which while I love, doesn't have this "pillowy" feel) I know people are saying it's "generic", I would disagree in my experience. The "generic" equivalent of the Les Exclusifs range of perfumes are #1 Beige and #2 Gardenia. Not a fan of those either - but thankfully, this doesn't resemble either of them in the slightest. But this one is really interesting. It's bitter, sparkling, powdery, lightly floral and very classy. Gorgeous. I loved it enough to decide to buy it within two minutes of testing it (at retail price). I've had it on my skin since, and still no regrets. Scent: Fluffy, powdery almond with a hint of bitterness Projection: Arm's length (don't be fooled! This is one of the stronger ones in the Les Exclusifs range!) Longevity: Full day Polarity: Leans slightly feminine, but my skin actually turns this bitter enough to be almost unisex.

Comete starts with a cloud of bitter almond and heliotrope and then shifts towards cherry blossom. The cherry blossom is pink, sweet and slightly sour. It's a mixture of sour cherry and dusty rose, and kind of heavy on the first few minutes. With time the orris butter shines more and more. The concentration of orris butter is indeed exceptional, this is the main character of the fragrance, surrounded by the sweet'n'sour cherry blossom, the powdery heliotrope and the crisp and airy musks/aldehydes combination. The orris butter is so rich, at moments it's a dense and thin vegetal powder, and at other times it can feel greasy, even sticky. It does have a minor ressemblance to Flower by Kenzo (sweet floral notes) but I prefer Comete, the orris in this is so beautiful it elevates the fragrance to another level, adding a nice depth and longevity. One complain I have is I feel the quality varies a lot between batches. I smelled one batch which had almost no almond in the beginning, very little heliotrope and too much cherry blossom throughout its whole evolution. And another had a beautiful powdery almond opening, less cherry blossom, and maybe a little less of the orris butter note. I'm disappointed in that, considering the price point I would have expected more consistency between batches. I wonder if it's inherent to the high concentration in orris butter, maybe there are significant scent variation depending on the harvest ? Nevertheless a beautiful creation, definitely worthy of the Chanel DNA while being refreshingly modern and youthful. The scent evolution somehow embodies a growing path, from girly to sophisticated.

On my skin, it opens up extremely feminine, a blast of Cherry Blossom's and a plethora of other bright florals, almost smells a little rosy as well, but after the Sakura dies down, the Iris comes in, and it becomes a unisex leaning feminine scent,(definitely caught me off guard, as I didn't read the notes beforehand 😅). The Iris in this is very powdered and has a slight hint of sweetness but only a touch, I haven't smelt Heliotrope before (I think?)so I think the unique slight nuttiness is from that accord, but it's quite understated and behind the Iris, and of course, like with other 'Les Exclusifs De Chanel' fragrances, it's accentuated by clean slightly fresh musks, and a fair dose of powderyness to round out the bottom of the fragrance. It's a very simplistic DNA (in a good way), the only changes it goes through on my skin is the transition from the floral Sakura opening to the drydown of the notes I described above, with the florals and cherry blossom's being still present albeit in a supportive role at the base. Smells clean and elegant, something about it smells both old fashioned yet modern at the same time to my nose, both of them are in a good way though. This leans feminine for me, but I love wearing it as a guy to be honest, I'm not sure if I'd get a full bottle personally but if I had it on hand I'd give it a shot, it's a good spring fragrance and/or moderate weather in general, can't see much of a use case in winter or hot summer days though. This can easily be dressed up or dressed down as well, on my skin I get medium projection, with longevity being around 5-6 hours on my skin Final Verdict 8/10

This is one of the few fragrances I have where the strength, projection and especially longevity is nuclear. I have a 200ml bottle of Comete and if you know the pressurized sprayers on these, it practically drowns your whole arm with the juice off of one spray. I sprayed it on one evening and I could still smell it on my skin and clothes the following night. Granted it's a skin scent by then, but it's still fairly strong after more than 24 hours! I don't experience that with many other scents so I felt compelled to share this. I'm sure the longer it macerates, the stronger it gets. It's a great scent. I would never wear this in the summer though. A 75ml would've been more than sufficient for me. This bottle might just get handed down through ages. It's quite magical how it develops on your skin. Initially, I was put off by it because the opening comes off very feminine but the musks in the base interacts and balances out the scent into a somewhat neutral, feminine leaning territory. I swear I could smell cigarette smoke or a ash note in this. Wonder if Polge snuck a note of tobacco in this. Maybe it's just me and my scent memory from the 80's when many of the women would smoke and cover up that scent with the strong musks and intense floral perfumes. It also reminded me of a dusty library with fresh flowers in it. Chanel's les exclusives doesn't disappoint and this would rank right up there with the other great ones. Comete has that ability with a few people I know including myself, that it wasn't something they enjoyed much until it eventually grows on them slowly and then it's a love.

I was surprised how much I love this. I just bought a sample because we don’t have a store where I live where you can test it. I paid way too much for a free sample someone probably got with a purchase from a Chanel boutique. That is my stupidity because when I bought another perfume online from the Chanel store, they offered a free sample of this with the purchase. Anyway, I was not prepared to love it. Cherry blossom? I did not really believe I would care for something that featured cherry blossom, but boy is this nice. It is a bit sweet and I don’t go for a lot of sweetness, but this is done in the best way! Then it gets soft and powdery but there is some excitement and fun here and not dusty or cloying like you have been hit in the face with some bath or makeup powder that makes you cough. Somehow, this is like freshness. Then there is a lovely musk that comes in to ground us gently after our giddy flight on this comet! It stays with me for hours and my skin eats florals and fruits quickly. At times it seems kind of purple. Violety? Maybe the purple smell, as if scent were a color, is actually the bright blue that seems almost purple from the heliotrope. Whatever, it is a lovely fragrance. Olivier Polge did something special here. I am kind of sad to like it so well because other Chanels are already breaking my bank and the Les Exclusifs line is spendy! I will have to wait a while, since I have other perfumes on my want list, but I will enjoy my samples to tide me over until I can buy a full bottle.