Les Exclusifs de Chanel Bel Respiro

(This review is for the Bel Respiro EdT, c. 2008-2009, not the EdP) Spring-time in a bottle. You know exactly what you're in for when you first apply it and you are gently but firmly enveloped in accords of fresh herbs and cut grass. The opening is a bit sharp, and certainly very green, but it's a bracing and invigorating sensation that calms down rather quickly. The heart of this perfume is meant to be the star and deliver the goods. There is a pleasant and quiet pinkish-purple floral accord to the heart that Chanel says is rose, lilac, and hyacinth. Putting my finger on it (or my nose to it), I get more hyacinth out of the heart than the others, with the lilac coming a close second. I don't doubt there is rose to this, but there are thousands (?) of different roses, and roses are known for having a massive range of olfactory characteristics depending upon the species and terroir - so, while I can't really pick out what, to me, is rose, I'll still believe them. But, anyway, back to the hyacinth and lilac - they are beautiful: soft, smooth, airy and light, there is almost a citrusy component to them - something a touch sour - that makes it feel like you're smelling hyacinth and lilac that have just bloomed in a cool and dewy night but aren't going to blow you away with their pungency. This sensation makes Bel Respiro a wonderful hot weather scent. Cooling, smooth, clean, and fresh, for me it does extremely well at staving off the heat and closeness of a summer day. An incense and leather base? Eh, no not really - maybe, but not in the way that you would think. The leather is a very, very light animalic-musky type accord rather than full-on castoreum or birch tar aka freshly-tanned leather. The incense, arguably more prominent than the "leather," is quite a green and resinous incense that is certainly not smokey. Drawbacks to Bel Respiro EdT? Well, it's discontinued, so you can't have it unless you want to pay eye-watering prices on the aftermarket. For a Les Exclusif it's a bit simplistic, and when you could get it retail it was definitely overpriced with that in mind. If you can and are so-inclined to set those points aside, it's a wonderful perfume. It's one of my favorite summer scents when I'm looking for something cooling and light that also provides that smooth and supple chic that Chanel does so well.

I'm pretty convinced that Bel Respiro is the more sophisticated sister of Chanel No. 19. It reminds me of 19 too much since first sniff. Drydown is more delectable with a hint of flowers, though. I always find the perfumes in Les Exclusifs de Chanel to be very intriguing. They are not for everyone, and when they smell great, they are really great, but when they don't agree with you, they could be disasters. Bel Respiro belongs to the first category: it is really great. I'm not very into green perfumes as they could be very dry, but Bel Respiro wins my heart over. It's green, but unlike its more sinister friends, Bel Respiro is definitely fresher, calmer and more innocent. It's not like the other greens I know: this one's very idyllic, possessing to it a quiet dignity. It opens with very green smell which quickly evaporates to let the other notes shine through. A few hours into the application, it smells like how I imagine 18th century garden would be. The feeling kinda reminds me of one of my all-time favourites: Un Jardin Après La Mousson by Hermès. Both evoke the feeling that you're breathing in fresh, clean misty air after the rain. UJALM is more vegetal, though, and definitely spicier than Bel Respiro. If UJALM is a herb garden after rain, Bel Respiro is the frontyard of a mansion after rain. Green, misty and very innocent. Overall, this is one hell of a green perfume and one which I desire most in Les Exclusifs de Chanel. It's soft, it's fresh and it's innocent. The perfect quiet scent which will take you to another world. Rating: 9/10

When you dig down to the basenotes, it turns out the original EDT from 2007 is quite different from the EDP. Both are two of the most photorealistic fragrances I've ever experienced, quite a shock from a house most known for it's abstraction. Whilst both open medias res of a sudden gust of wind, each situate you in quite a different environment. In the EDP, this gust of wind hits you from a clear horizon, in a rolling meadow of freshly cut green grass and daffodils, with the sea in the distance. In the EDT, the breeze is gentler, placing you in a formal garden, the Gardens of Versailles perhaps, full of Galbanum and Iris, but also herbs, green tea and tomato leaves. If you can imagine everything green on the planet put in a blender and then rearranged, you'd get a pretty accurate picture of the EDT, If one could describe a green fragrance as meaty, I think this word applies here, almost bordering on gourmand. The crushed leaves here are dense, whereas the current EDP is light and diaphanous. In short, the gardens of the EDT are further inland, whilst the marine note in the EDP is closer to the coast. The EDT is more complex for sure, but if you're now used to the daffodil note from the EDP, it will feel amiss here. Both are 10/10 masterpieces either way in my view.

Going through the Les Exclusifs Discovery Set. Today it's Eau de Cologne and Bel Respiro. Bel Respiro is instantly recognizable as Chanel...aldehydes, powdery, a certain Chanelade I also recognize from No. 5 and others. This one is topped up with very classy, sophisticated green and fruity notes. Leans a bit feminine from the florals and powder. I'm not sure I'd wear this in public, but I would enjoy this when relaxing at home on a lazy spring or early summer Sunday with coffee and newspapers. Very very nice and love the Chanel vibes but will have to go through the rest of the Exclusifs lineup to see how it stacks up. Scent: 8 / Sillage: 7 / Longevity: 6 6/27/2022 Update: Previous impressions still stacks up...hints of No. 5 chanelade, classy and floral, rich smelling, but too feminine for me. Reminds me of Versaille vibe wise. Rich and decadent with an underlying class.

The first time I tried this I wasn't overly impressed--somehow it made me think "Chanel does No More Tears baby shampoo." But after a few more trials in the right setting, I was hooked, and this has become one of my favorites in my collection. It's natural, minimalist, and elegant, but also casual and versatile enough that it's appropriate for all warm-weather situations (I haven't tried it in cooler weather). It's named after Coco Chanel's vacation home, and appropriately so, referencing fresh air, fragrant grass, and relaxed fun in a beautiful outdoor setting. Before it gets too bland or pastoral, the galbanum evokes dark, waxy crushed leaves, adding a pleasant bitterness, and leather edges in a chewy bite. It needs generous spritzing and wears off quickly, but such is the nature of vacation weekends- glowingly pleasant, but necessarily short-lived.

Bel Respiro is a lovely green, slightly leathery scent with a touch of "iris". I know that iris is not listed in the notes but sometimes I get a whiff of iris. It is similar to 28 la Pausa for me but this one is more unisex. Bel Respiro will smell equally beautiful on a man even though it is marketed towards females, males could easily wear it. Bel Respiro is green and fresh (similar in a way to No. 19 but softer). I love it all year round. It can make you feel fresh and clean like you just stepped out of the shower on a warm summer day. Or it can lift your spirits on a cold winter's day and make you feel happy. If you are a green fragrance fan - you definitely need to try Bel Respiro. I love this fragrance and I love the 200ml bottle as it is meant to be sprayed generously so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Bel Respiro is a “green bean” green. It’s not fresh, it’s not sparkly, it’s not bright. It’s opaque, matte and dense. Yet, it’s light. Light green. Like a pea. If pea was a flower (stay with me). The leather just makes a base, a ground, a floor to that light green opaqueness, but remains separated. The leather doesn’t blend in. This phenomenon reminds me of the tobacco in Dolce and Gabanna Pour Homme: it’s like a side accord, like a note in parallel (for the record, I’m not comparing Bel Respiro with DG Pour Homme - they are nothing alike - but this specific aspect). The result is unusual. Uneven. But very interesting. Bel Respiro is art. Not utility. Maybe it wasn’t conceived to be worn, but to be appreciated. Another “state of the art” perfume by Jacques Polge. 10/10

From the reviews here I was expecting this to be a pleasantly underwhelming sort of fragrance. Now that I've tried it a few times I must say that it's really very good. Yes, there's green grass and citrus and vetiver; and beyond that, if you've ever put your nose to the trumpet of a heritage variety daffodil (i.e. one that actually has fragrance, as opposed to the modern varieties bred only for size and colour), that is Bel Respiro. This is not a big perfume; it stays close to the skin. It's lovely to smell on the neck of someone you like. For me it lasts about 4 hours. What is special about Bel Respiro is its uplifting quality: it's the sort of fragrance that inspires you to breathe in deeply, lift your face to the sky, and smile! Now, how many perfumes can do that?

Lovely elegant green floral, perfect for spring and summer. It's a bit laid back while still feeling sophisticated and refined at the same time. I definitely get an opening blast of green notes and some nice soft florals that are blended but again feel sort of fresh and spring like. It is a bit on the drier side for a spring floral too, it is green but not super dewy and not sweet. There is some nice depth here too though with a nice vetiver and the leaher. It's not strong leather note, but it is a touch animalic, I think and definitely provides a nice slightly richer base to this perfume. So pretty.

The mossy green note conjours up an english garden in a early misty morning smelling the wet orris ground sipping earl gray tea the leather note conjours up an mysterious lady who allways wear black an icy couture an ireapporcible goddess. this is an scent for a girl who has an old soul refind and elegant with an air of agatha christie or the cold ellusive British Aristrocracy stuffy like dust covered grand piano or books of the 19th century.

Nothing says "First Day of Spring" like Bel Respiro. The Perfect Spring Fragrance. Don't ever change, please. Edited on 12/05/2017: I spoke too soon. Chanel has gone and reformulated it in the new EDP version. Oh Why?! what is everyone's thoughts on the new version? It definitely smells different;-(

Being a HUGE fn of green fragrances and Chanel 19 in particular I loved this beauty. It's green and woody, but at the same time very spicy and 'crisp'. Smells of freshly cut grass and spices to my nose, and like any of the Chanel creations it just oozes class and screams 'high end'.

Summer holiday scent. Tender and refreshing smell spreads over myself like pale green veil of misty air. It does not stay so long, woody and slightly spicy smell like scots pine stays long on my skin.

It took me a month to realize that the first note you smell is a realistic smell of a DAFFODIL flower! Mystery solved. Case closed. Love it. Green floral. Lovely.

I love this scent for its green and grass. And I feel powdery when it is dry weather. I love both. Fresh but soft. Elegant.

I had a classic case of Lust for Bel Respiro. Lust because, you know, I've never worn it, never been with it, but I JUST KNEW that I'd love it. I love green fragrances. I love Chanel. But. I was able at least to go on a date, just an hour or two over coffee (read--I bought a 4 ml mini) so I could see what I was getting myself into before I spent $170 on 75 mls of perfume. Bel Respiro does have a welcome, throwback green quality, I don't think that people make green perfumes like this much anymore. I was instantly reminded of a more floral No. 19, or of Estee Lauder's Private Collection but with a tiny drop of leather added. The green notes here are galbanum green, textured, with a hint of grounding leather added. Very nice. The topnotes are all green, and as the perfume wears the green does become sweeter, grassy, meadow-like. The flowers I smell are of sweet honeysuckle and crisp chrysanthemum, the leather note lessening, but still present as a earthy background. Eventually the drydown is just green--here the vintage quality ends, there is no oakmoss or sandalwood or orris root, nothing, just a sweet green dusting on the skin. All in all it lasts about 4 hours until it is completely done, not even a drydown is detectable on my skin, and it wears very quietly, a skin scent for most of it's wear. Luckily for me it was just Lust. If Bel Respiro had more projection, more lasting power, and maybe more depth to it, or at least a decent drydown, I would probably save my quarters up for the price, recently hike way up, that Chanel wants. But that is not the case, and I will not spend that much money on a perfume that won't spend that much time with me and that I don't love anyway.

I prefer to use this as modern-day smelling salts. The first spring-green dab to the wrists really opens the third eye. Heartbreaking clarity. Why can't the galbanum last forever? I have a 4 ml mini of the original formula. With the changeover to EDP, I was tempted to buy the giant size of the discontinued EDT so I could bathe in the stuff. You'd have to—by common consensus it's a weak performer. I have another spray sample of the EDT and I don't know what to feel about it. It seems to flit off in other directions. Sometimes I catch a whiff of my floral-vetiver sillage and think it's wonderful, sometimes too tonic. I've discovered I like leather, but find it more fully expressed in other perfumes. I'm feeling a clash of like and love. There is a kernel of greatness in Bel Respiro, but I won't bankrupt myself for it on eBay.

Bel Respiro greets you like a breath of fresh air—a tranquil walk through a garden just after the rain. There’s something soothing and calming about its floral and green notes, reminiscent of brushing past dew-covered leaves while taking in the scent of blooming flowers. As it settles, the florals soften, blending seamlessly with a light powdery touch that feels as comforting as freshly laundered linens. Eventually, it becomes a quiet, barely-there scent that lingers gently on the skin, like nature’s soft kiss. Bel Respiro feels like returning from a peaceful walk, bringing the serene, floral freshness with you—a calm, pretty fragrance that feels clean, understated, and effortlessly natural. Emojis this fragrance reminds me of 🌿🌼🍃☁️🌷 5.5/10

This is a very unusual scent: it's nothing like No. 19 or other green perfumes it has been compared to. It starts off green, herbal (tyhme + rosemary) and a little "smokey": there is this smoke note that stays up until the dry down; tobacco, or leather? It's almost a masculine note. Bel Respiro is like a summer breeze: it is airy and smells clean, with a lot of iris. It is definitely a dry scent, it has almost no other flowers besides iris. But this can be very comforting and summer-like, and make the scent very easy to wear, for everyone. The only big regret I have is the lasting power: no more than 20 minutes on my skin. I wish it lasted longer! Definitely a must try.

In the right circumstances, this wonderfully light, fresh and green....but, there is something very familiar here. Sadly, it will prevent me from shelling out the money for it. It brings to mind memories of a very popular scent I wore in high school.... In fact all my friends wore it too- cool skin musk. It was only a few bucks and it was the greatest thing going back then. Bel Respiro is almost a dead ringer for it with the exception of slightly more woody- ness. Nice enough but I will save my money for more original offerings.