Cabochard Eau de Parfum 2019

I’ve blind bought this fragrance a year ago, and reading the reviews here I believe the scent doesn’t smell remotely as described on my skin. On my skin this fragrance smells very clean and soapy with just a hint of powder and a little Smokey leathery scent. Mostly it’s soapy though. It’s VERY light and clean, in a dry soapy way, with a bit of a vintage feel to it. It’s a pleasant scent, but not one I use often, as I lean more towards warmer, deeper scents. Yesterday I decided to wear this fragrance and was once again impressed with how long it lasts. Strangely the scent doesn’t seem to change on my skin at all. It remains the same all day long, which makes me think that only a very limited amount of ingredients come through. Last night in bed something very interesting happened. I suddenly got a whiff of the fragrance and it smelled EXACTLY the way I wish it would smell. It suddenly had depth and warmth and smelled a lot less dry and clean. Turned out that I was breathing on my wrists where I had spritzed during the day and the warm moisture in my breath activated all the warmer and deeper notes. It was absolutely amazing and I wish with all my heart the scent would smell like that on my skin. Alas it does not, but I now know that the notes are there and can be activated with more warmth and moisture. I am guessing this scent smells better on skin that is less dry than mine, and expresses itself better in warmer weather, although it’s definitely not a scent I’d think to wear in summer. I think I’ll layer it with other scents to add the base notes that don’t express themselves on my skin in its normal formula. It’s not a perfume I’d buy again though, simply because it lacks depth for me and I now know all the depth I’m missing out on too 😭 I would not recommend buying this blindly since there’s such a vaste difference in how this scent expresses itself on your skin. That being said if you’re into light soapy scents this might be a great option for you if it happens to smell similar on you as it does on me. However you need to test it to know. If you do like the scent (which I actually still do even though it’s not the kind of scent I prefer on my skin), it’s amazing value for a scent with amazing longevity! On me it’s not complex at all, but I know that it can be on different skin, so absolutely worth considering and trying out. UPDATE: I’ve been looking for something to layer this with, because I wasted to bring out all those lovely green and mossy notes. For some reason the super clean smell from cabochard would completely take over any scent I tried it with, and would just turn everything into that squeaky clean scent without a hint of dirt, even when the other scent was sprayed liberally. It was like spraying cillit bang on it and “BANG, and the dirt is gone” 🥲 Well I finally found something out layers well with, and it’s Maroussia! Am even cheaper cheapie too! They work amazingly well together. Cabochard tones down the nauseating headache inducing metallic sweetness I experience from Maroussia, and Maroussia tones down Cabochard’s extremely clean freshness, turning it into a dirtier kind of soapiness and it brings out all kinds of herbal mossiness that I’ve been craving in cabochard. The next morning a tingling herbal scent remains that’s reminiscent of the dry down of mitsouko 😍 I’m so happy I can finally make this scent work for me!!

So Ive started collecting more "Vintage" fragrances and many are marketed towards women because well, they just dont make em' like they used to.. (God I'm old)!. Im really glad this one made it into my collection! The first thing that struck me was that beautiful, luxurious bottle! Then the gorgeous, slightly smokey, slightly leathery vintage concoction that again, just isn't being whiped up by perfumers nowadays. Many reviewrs say that Cabochard leans quite unisex for todays pallet, but I think it's more like unisex leaning quite feminine.. still wearable by the fellas tho. This scent pretty much transported me back into the days of the glamorous hollywood 50's. So elegant yet not the easiest for folks to pull off. Some will probably say it smells grandma-ish and I can see that, but the more you wear this throughout the day, the more you really come to invision what Bernard Chant had in mind at Cabochard's inception. Beautiful, sophisticated, formal, daring! 9 outta 10 timeless fragrance in my book.. great addition😊yay --------UPDATE 10/29/2024---------- So, at first when I tried this back in July, I found that the Aldehyde amd Leather combo came accross quite "Tinney" and leaning feminine, thats why Id said it was challenging, but after maturing for.almost 3 months, those tinney edges have certainly rounded out to a more "Crystaline and Airy" experience instead, Its definately gotten even better with time! The leather note seems more pronounced and rounded as well! This is something Id GLADLY wear with a nice suite and tie, or just a nice, white dress shirt and Dockers. it would be very fitting for an up-scale formal occasion because Grès just seems to make me feel more "Put together" somehow. Also, the longevity has quite improved and is now easily noticable on clothes the following day! This thing is under $20!? It belongs up there with Chanel imo! Grès truley makes poo me think "50's Hollywood Glamour"! When this one's gone, people will be clamoring for it, just watch! Im seriously considering grabing a back-up bottle.. Thank you to whomever took the time to read my thoughts on Gres by Cabochard! Timeless classic for men or women (And WAY better than Aramis) which I also own😉

I cannot imagine a time when I would ever not want to own Cabochard. I have the modern version; the vintage - and everything in between ! My oldest is from the year I was born ( 1966, if you must know dahling 😉 ) , my newest from just a few weeks ago - I have colognes, parfum, EDP & EDT'....and I adore them all ! I cannot describe notes in great detail like many on here - until I joined Fragrantica barely a year ago, I had never heard of Bernard Chant, never mind that I had nearly all his creations in my "Top 10" ! Thing is, this information just wasn't out there, we bought perfume, we wore perfume. Clearly I had a "groove" but I had no clue it was so obviously for the same "nose". I will say: The older ones are softer, rounder, more floral & better blended - I think ?! I get dry,earthy, herbal, leather, & smoke notes in both - the only smoke I indulge in these days ! Maybe the newer is harsher, at least at first, but still dries down beautifully. I was a teen when I first smelt this - it scared the bejeezus out of me - but I'm glad I preserved. Choose old, choose new - just try it once - you may fall to earth and be glad you did ! EDIT: Having given this latest incarnation a proper wear, I agree with a lot of other reviewers: it is a closer match for Cab of old - softer, more floral but still with lingering, leather base. I've also just bought the current ( black label ) Bandit which has gone through just as many revamps and, yes, it is similar ( not identical but in the same vein ) As a leather lovin' lady, I have room for both but, if you fancy dipping your toe in, for less than 20 quid: buy this ! EDIT 5 years later: because I sadly feel an obligation. I've now bought the latest, LATEST Bandit. Don't bother, it's left the building and taken it's leather jacket with it. Save yourself a fortune , just buy Cab, for Bandit is no more 💀

I do not know what happened, but suddenly this scent has changed completely on my skin. I used to get nothing from this scent but a paper dry clean note with a hint of leather. Nothing else ever... I’ve had the bottle since 2021 but only wore it a few times because the scent didn’t work for me. It was just too clean. Recently I’ve been trying to layer it with several fragrances to bring out the mossy notes, which was hard, because the clean note was overwhelming and made it’s impossible to smell anything else. But now.. suddenly out of the blue.. all the notes I’ve been trying to bring forward by layering are blooming all by themselves without having to layer it. Perhaps my hormones changed, perhaps the juice has been in contact with just the right amount of oxygen to ‘mature’ (I feel like the scent I get from the bottle has more depth too now), or maybe my sense of smell has evolved, but this scent is amazing now. It gives me mitsouko vibes. Like a mitsouko with a very clean top note layered over it and a leathery note underneath.. it’s the mossy note that has bloomed.. like mitsouko it had this damp earthy, herbal moss smell of wet moss being warmed up by the sun. It’s absolutely intoxicating! Now I can smell the jasmine and ylang ylang! Why wasn’t it there before? Why did it go from squeaky clean to intoxicatingly sensual? I don’t know, I don’t understand, but I’m loving it! It’s like Chanel no5 and mitsouko had a baby! The cleanliness is still there, as is the leather, but now they’re not the only detectable notes anymore and it’s absolutely gorgeous! If you have this fragrance and you are also struggling to bring out the moss and warmth, don’t give up. It might be to age or test with layering.. I don’t know how it happened, but it did and it’s glorious!

Its funny, I purchased Grès in the beginning of my frag-collecting journey a couple years ago and remember being taken a back by the super strong aldehydes and what I had back-then perceived as a "Grandma smell". Wrel, as a man I trepidatiously gave her a chance, sprayed some on and really enjoyed the dry-down, but it was still NOT a "LOVE" for me and found it a bit challenging to wear tbh. Fast forward to this morning, pulled out Grès after months of not wearing her and my pallette must have evolved bc NOW besides the Aldehydes (Which I now look for in fragrances), the Patchuli REALLY stands out whereas before I suppose that Grès was just way too much for my nose to really appreciate! I am NOW falling in love with the Glassy-Crystaline Aldehydes where as before I found the aldehydes "Tinney", metallic and off-putting, I'm loving the Smokey leather and ESPECIALLY That freakin' GORGEOUS Patchuli! Id left an edit here a couple months ago mentioning how Grès had improved with some "Maturation", but in this edit, Id say that my nose has improved bc I am definitely loving this fragrance so much more nowadays! A beautiful, classic, long-lasting (UNISEX) fragrance and a total STEAL for about $20! Freakin' CRAAAZY! Oh and the bottle is really beautiful, thick glass base and neat black bowtie/ribbon.. The gold cap is plastic, but it's a thick "Heafty" plastic and does NOT feel cheap whatsoever..Tres-Chic!😉 An 8 outta 10, classic/classy GEM of a fragrance which is perfect for business attire, office use bc it smells like you should be wearing a nice, pressed white button-up shirt along with a slick Tie!.. Look, just go getchall some GRÈS before its gone, GONE!