Les Exclusifs de Chanel Beige

There is nothing that beats Chanel perfumes. The craftsmanship, that rounded softness, the unmistakable DNA—it's unlike anything else. Once you discover a few Chanel fragrances and begin to understand that DNA, you're spellbound. Most other perfume houses are starting to feel completely inadequate. Find 2-3 special scents that speak to you and make those your signatures and do not waste your time or money on other brands. This is another magical creation. I don't care that it's marketed toward women. In fact, that's something Fragrantica came up with; Chanel's website doesn't mention gender for any of the Les Exclusifs fragrances. Nevertheless, this is an incredible scent. It smells like sun-warmed skin on a summer evening at sunset—the golden hour, those last lingering rays of sunlight. It's heavy on freesia, frangipani and honey. The drydown is mostly frangipani, honey but also white musk creating something creamy exotic without getting overly sweet or tropical. It reminds me of a sunset dinner by the beach at some exotic Asian destination. Pure serenity. It brings a warm, creamy and soothing aura around you and has a great projection although it stays close to skin but lasts a good 8-10 hours. This is a fragrance I will cherish. It's not something I'll wear to the office—I don't want it associated with deadlines or stress. Instead, it will be my safe haven, reserved for time spent with close family and friends, or simply for myself. I managed to find an almost full 75 ml bottle on eBay for €105. What a bargain.

My sister was in Paris during the holidays and she went a "little" crazy buying me a Christmas gift. She winded up in a Chanel-store and decided to buy me one of the perfumes of the exclusives line. She had named my favorite perfumes to the sales lady and based on that she had blindly bought a bottle of 200 ml of 'Beige' for me. Yes, blindly, not even trying it herself. I had read on the site of Chanel about the exclusive fragrances and based on that, I would have bought 'Gardenia'. So you can imagine that we were both nervous opening and trying it. The first five minutes we thought... Oh no, Beige is boring and generic! But after only a couple of minutes Beige began to develop quickly. Luckily it developed into a very fascinating and unique fragrance. Beige is definitely not boring. It is not stuffy, it is not for invisible librarians who wish to remain unnoticed behind big glasses... Nonono, Beige is made for a lady, a Real Lady. If I would describe the regular fragrances of Chanel in one word, I would say: - Allure & Allure sensuelle = sensual - Chance = charming, Chance Tendre = innocent, Chance Fraiche = sparkling - Coco = sexy, Coco Mademoiselle = sassy, Coco noir = naughty - Cristalle = cool - N° 5 = sophisticated - N° 19 & N° 19 poudré = fresh Knowing that, I would describe Beige as elegant. Effortlessly and timelessly elegant. It's wonderful, just wonderful.

I love Beige. I was not expecting to fall hard for this one. I find it charming, uncomplicated, very feminine, soft, elegant, comforting, understated, powdery, classy. It's like a soft cashmere shawl (...a beige one!). Not aldehydic as you would think, not too honeyed, not sweet buy cuddly. On the other hand you'll find violets and iris, both tender, soft and comfortable. I can detect orange blossom, even if it's not listed and freesia, one of my favourite flowers ever. Jasmine also, but very subdued. I get a hint of gardenia too.. not mentioned either. You see there are many notes, so well blended that I discover a new one day after day! Indeed, this is a comfort scent. ‘I take shelter in beige because it’s natural,’ Gabrielle Chanel used to say. I can totally see that, this fragrance evokes a soft, cashmere lined sweater where you can cocoon in and forget about the outer world. Another well present note is Hawthorne, you know that tree that blossoms in spring with those tiny little white flowers, and has this peculiar, flowery green smell... when I sniff Beige it reminds me of spring. A go-to fragrance when you need to be comforted and reassured, or if you need something feminine and pretty, but not overly so. Great for day wear. Elegant but discreet sillage, average lasting power (I wish it lasted more!). A must try.

This is my review for Les Exclusifs Chanel Beige. I have left it a very long time before writing about this because I wanted to leave a review which was worthy of such a gorgeous perfume. I was given a decant of this some time back. I knew from the moment I first spritzed that I would have to be very careful not to waste a single drop of what I can only describe as the nectar of the gods. Imagine yourself cocooned in a huge vat of honey and frangipani. Cloying you may think. Sickly you may think. But I would say, think again. For me, it is as if someone had tranquilised me with a dart gun of the most relaxing, calming elixir that could be found. But please don't think that this is so relaxing it could put you to sleep, because just when everything is settling down on me I am pinched very gently by a small bouquet of freesias. The effect of the freesia means the whole experience is taken to another level. There may be few ingredients in this expensive perfume but for me the ingredients it does have are perfectly blended and worth every penny of my hard earned husbands money. Try it and hopefully you will be as transfixed as I am. Edit: I also have Flora Nymphea. May be some small similarity but this is in a leagus of it's own.

Sweet, oh-so sweet frangipani. A simple, very sweet, clean frangipani scent! This is a slight detour for Chanel. I've found that Chanel don't typically do very sweet perfumes. They all tend to be of a deeper aromatic scent with more complexity and layers (like an onion...). Whilst this is lovely in its simplicity, the lack of embellishment does not support the price-tag. This is basically a very sweet (freesia helping with that sweetness) frangipani scent. If you're looking for honey, it's not overly abundant. There's no pungent, naturalistic, sourced-from-bees honey here. If there is honey, it's lost in the freesia and frangipani. "Beige" as a name is slightly misleading. This perfume would be more appropriate as a simple yellow. Happy, pretty, uplifting, and straight-forward. To grant credit where it's due - It does have *beautiful* sillage! Hours later, I catch lovely wafts and enjoy the almost-pungent sweet elegance. Longevity is quite the decent. Bottom line: It's a beautiful, sweet, elegant fragrance, yet it's so very simple and so very expensive, that you'd be better off finding a dupe (if you can). P.S. Sorry for the "Shrek" reference. Completely irrelevant, but impossible to avoid. :P *** Kitty rating: 7/10.