The Chant

There is nothing groundbreaking about this perfume. Maison Alhambra The Chant is very clearly doing its best Gucci *A Chant for the Nymph* impression, and at first spray, I was not convinced. The opening is strong. Alcohol spritz. Blah. Slightly chaotic. Like someone thought they ordered a luxury summer cocktail, when actually, you could clean the bar with it. And then. AND THEN. Holy shit. It becomes heaven in a bottle. Once that sharp opening settles, The Chant turns into this soft, creamy, sun-warmed floral that smells far more expensive than it has any right to. White flowers, frangipani, tiare, ylang-ylang, and a little vanilla softness underneath, all floating around like someone rich just walked past you on holiday smelling effortless, expensive, and deeply unavailable. It is a summer’s kiss, but not sunscreen. Elegant, but not uptight. Feminine, but not basic. Pretty, but not stupid. A shaky first act. A stunning second act. Wrapped and presented in a beautiful bottle that completely defies its price tag, The Chant is one of those fragrances you have to let settle before you judge it. Suddenly, it is white florals, sun-warmed skin, an elegant cocktail in the Palm Beach sun, and a bottle that has absolutely no business feeling this good for the price. This one grows on you. Quietly. Annoyingly. Elegantly. For the price, this is genuinely one of the most beautiful things I’ve held in my hands. It smells like a flowing silk resort dress, warm sun-kissed skin after swimming in the infinity pool, and someone saying, “No, don’t worry, I booked the villa.” Is it original? No. Do I care? Also no. Because sometimes the dupe walks in, fixes its lipstick, and does the job beautifully. In Miranda Priestly terms, you think it’s just a blue sweater. But actually, it’s cerulean. That’s all ;-)

It's freezing cold and snowy outside, and wearing The Chant might seem counterintuitive, but I find it just perfect, an olfactory escape. Frangipani, take me awaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Seriously, though, I can't imagine why this pleasant fragrance in the exquisite bottle is so polarizing. Too strong? Easy fix: spray less, or just spray once and walk through. I would recommend this to people who love the original Gucci but can't justify the obscene price gouging, as well as to people who enjoy sweet, beachy, tropical, yellow-floral-forward frags such as Guerlain Terracotta and Patou Sira des Indes. One of my favorite aspects of The Chant is the woody drydown: I know there is more in the base than just plain vanilla. It's probably synthetic sandalwood or possibly ambroxan, but it tempers the tropical sweetness somewhat. I have owned this bottle for a couple of years now, I think, and have detected none of the signs of wear that other reviewers have noted. The bottle looks luxurious and high-quality, although I do keep it in its little protective pink bag inside the pretty pink box. This would look very nice on a dresser, but I like to keep the original packaging when it's as lovely as this. I don't know how Maison Alhambra does it--I'm sure I would prefer not to know, lolsob.

I purchased The Myth, The Serpent, and The Chant together because I smelled similar but more expensive perfumes and I wanted them all. When I found this line and saw the reviews I ordered three of the four in the collection. The other perfume in this group called The Trial has a cedar note and I don't need any more cedar at the moment. I love The Chant! I don't know what all of the notes listed above smell like isolated but this scent is just lovely! To me it smells like a floral that is very, very slightly woody, and a little creamy too. I do smell the vanilla. It smells rather unique to my nose. It is described as tropical floral which I agree with. I don't spray this heavily, just maybe two or three sprays. I think it performs quite good for a tropical floral. I would call this a unique exciting floral, maybe even an erotic floral! Anyway....five stars! —— I have returned a year later to add, I still love this fragrance, and I can confirm I enjoy this on spring evenings😁

This is such an intense sweet, creamy floral scent. It feels like you’re at a beach resort on a gorgeous island in the pacific. It screams high class and elegant. It also gives a more old fashioned vibe. It could either be that of a victorian princess or a pearl wearing high society lady from the 20s. I don’t think it has much of a modern appeal but if you’re going for something more unique and loud then this is for you. I’m a guy in my mid 20s and I absolutely love girls my age that choose floral scents like this because most choose warm sugary or bright fruity scents. I also think this could work very well as a layering with some type of tropical fruit scent such as pineapple or passionfruit.

I haven't smelt the OG of this fragrance dupe, but I love this! So beautiful and feminine. People complain negatively that it smells old lady ish but I think of it as more a retro smelling fragrance that's a staple classic. It actually gives me echo's of Casablanca Lilly from Byredo (which I own), just without the touch of plum in Casablanca, and I'm delighted as I haven't found any dupes for Casablanca yet and it's REALLY pricey. This is giving the same vibes. The dry down in this is exquisite. Way longer lasting than Casablanca and just sophisticated feminine hints of white and yellow flowers all the way. Apsolutely thrilled with this addition to my collection. 😍