In the art world, to call a work derivative is generally a criticism. On the other hand, it is nearly impossible to create something truly new in any medium, be it painting, literature, or film.
In the world of commerce, they call derivative works "flankers." Flankers are de rigeur in current mainstream perfumery. The market bulges with different versions of scents sold by the same name but with added notes or in lighter weight for summer or sleeptime. It's a phenomenon that goes hand in hand with the success of film sequels over original works. When so many films and perfumes are formulaic, the mind boggles to think of the amount of money that consumers spend to see and smell endless repetitions of products with some small, perhaps imperceptible difference from the original.
At least with movie sequels, the tale unfolds. In perfumery, sequels do not guarantee new and different episodes; sometimes all you get is extra citrus or a dash of patchouli.Chanel certainly need not fret for lack of creative perfume history. As Master Perfumer for Chanel, Jacques Polge has a number of individual perfumes to his credit, including the following list from Now Smell This:
Chanel Allure (1996)
Chanel Allure Homme (1999)
Chanel Allure Homme Sport (2004)
Chanel Allure Sensuelle (2005)
Chanel Antaeus
Chanel Bois Noir (1987)
Chanel Chance (2002)
Chanel Coco (1984)
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (2001)
Chanel Cristalle EdP (1993)
Chanel Egoiste (1990)
Chanel Egoiste Platinum (1993)
Chanel Gardenia (reformulation)
Chanel Une Fleur de Chanel
Some truly innovative and individual perfumes are on this list. Yet, in spite of the number and quality of Chanel perfumes with Polge as perfumer, Chanel has fallen prey to perfume sequelae. I like to speak of it that way because it sounds like the dread disease that it is. I diagnose the problem as follows: catering to a public lack of adventuresomeness instead of leading the public to discover new or different creations.
With Allure Sensuelle, Chanel added pink peppercorn, patchouli and incense to the original Allure, a 1996 fragrance known for its innovative structure. The original Allure was unique because, rather than proceeding from top to heart to base within one fragrance family, it purported to be oriental, fresh, floral, fruity, woody and spicy, all at the same time. Jacques Polge created Allure Sensuelle as an "olfactive diamond of six fragrant facets, with accentuated floral notes and a more rounded, warmer character" (www.chanel.com). Allure was creamy and warm and floral but not gourmand. Allure adhered to the abstract bent of Chanel's perfumery. It didn't smell like a particular substance or flower. That made it more mysterious and gave it lasting appeal. In short, it lived up to its name Allure.
Allure Sensuelle lives up to its name, too. I picture Allure Sensuelle sucking on a watermelon Jolly Rancher, telling dirty jokes and then showing how they're done. The newly added notes of Patchouli, incense, and deeper bourbon vanilla give Allure Sensuelle an Angel-like twist, which makes it a more ... well, derivative fragrance than Allure. The tangy floral oriental gourmand orientation also makes Allure Sensuelle resemble Coco Mademoiselle and Chance in certain respects.
It's hard to be present to what you're smelling with Allure Sensuelle. She's tricked out like other perfumes and in spite of her Chanel quality, you can't help but be aware that Allure Sensuelle was nipped and tucked and waxed and tinted to be all things to all people. Let's hope that Allure Sensuelle is the last stage of the current sequelae and that Chanel regains some of its former individuality to write a new chapter with its future perfumery.
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14 comments:
Yes, it seems like Chanel's creativity and class stopped somewhere around Allure andn Coco Mademoiselle. I don't like the watery patchouli of Coco Mademoiselle at all, but at least it had some originality (enough to get some sequels of its own from other houses). Chance was definitley a huge dissapointment (even the bottle sucks, in my opinion. Coco Chanel must be tossing in her grave seeing it, if there are any dead that would carry this perfume to their grave as an annoitment for the afterworld).
He he he
I don't think this is the end (of the Allure saga). Perhaps the end of the beginning... :-) My prediction is that the next one will be Allure Eau d'Ete, and then Allure Extreme. Perhaps Allure Woman Sport too. The possibilities are endless :-)
Dear Ayala,
I have tried to be charitable about these recent Chanel releases, but Allure Sensuelle really is redundant and unoriginal.
Dear Marina,
Yikes. You're right, you know. Funny, I don't feel this way about Guerlain Vetiver Pour Elle, for instance.
hehehe...I go with Colombina. But hey: Those who, after having seen Alien (a classic, seen it a hundred times by now) go to the movies and see Alien II (weird and disgusting) and then bravely watch what no man had watched before ... Alien III (yes, you guessed it right...) and IV and V... those are really big fans and like it whatever comes on the screen or they just don't deserve better than III and IV and V (and VI?)
It seems like all these big houses are aiming to make the next Godfather II, when in fact, they wind up making a whole lot of Godfather IIIs. I can only shake my head at it - it's somehow indicative to me of the corporate culture in general. One of those "we make money, not art" kind of philosophies. A pity they can't be viewed as things that do not exclude one from the other.
Cait, this was awesome to read...I was very impresed with Sensuelle and have become somewhat dismayed to see Chanel doing the perfume sequelae as you noted. A number of the more recent scents - Allure Sport, Chance - have been very so-so; Sensuelle was a pleasant surprise.
marlen
Colombina, I agree with you, only that I think it will be more like "Allure Sensuelle Extreme", "Allure Sensuelle Eau d'Ete", "Allure Sensuelle Eau Leger", etc.
Katie, I adore all the three Godfathers so I will stand up for the third one and defend it from anybody who critics it. I loved everything about it, including the amateur acting of Sofia Coppola, which was very appropriate for that role. I would say the perfume sequelling thing is more like The Matrix 2 when in fact they think they are making a new version of the Matrix (what does Allure has to do with the Matrix? I don't know; But I didn't bother trying the third Matrix even on a blotter stripe he he he).
Cait, another thing I forgot to mention is that you really nailed it down with the obscurity of the notes of Allure that made it so mysterious. I think this is why it didn't work for me. Sometimes I have hard time with very abstract perfumes. That is what happened to me with Narcisso Rodrgieuz - only that I happened to love it in the end. With Allure I am still on the fence, but I think it just may not be suitable on my skin. I smelled it on others and it was lovely. Or maybe I was trying the wrong concentration - I went straight to the pure perfume. Recently when I tried the EDT I liked it, but I will need to go back to it to really judge...
As for my reaction for Allure Sensuelle - it sort of has what the original one was missing, but I repeat, I do not like that watery patcouli. If it was a real hard core patcouli I would have loved it (maybe).
Dear Andy,
I guess you're right; either the people who buy these sequels are either true fans or oblivious to the lack of exploration of the scents. A little grotesquerie a la Alien would have been welcome and more exciting in AS than what I got, though.
Dear Katie,
I agree with you about the seeming mutual exclusivity of corporate culture and art. Though, I must say, what sells is often not what I like in terms art. I love Chanel No. 5, though, and it's supposed to be the best selling perfume.
Dear Marlen,
Curious - did you ever enjoy the original Allure? I was going to give AS a chance until I sampled it and then, the truth of my criticism became unavoidable.
Dear Ayala,
In the end, I would have forgiven AS if I had liked it. Then my "analysis" of sequelae would have fallen like a house of cards. I just didn't like it at all. It sullied what was insouciantly great about the original and that's all there was to it. I have been adoring NR edt and wearing it regularly. It smells like all kinds of things on me. Even beer. And I love it. You can tell I love it when I lapse into sentence fragments.
Was wearing Allure EDT this morning and Allure Sensuelle EDP this evening, and I think I am still where I thought I was: Allure EDT, as pretty of an abstract perfume that it is, does not work well on my skin. It can smell heavenly and creamy on others, but it's disappointing on me - a bit too flat, and when it deepens it becmes powdery and too perfumey.
Allure Sensuelle, on the other hand, smelled like something really dirty (in the dusty sense of it, not the sultry meaning of the word). It's that artificial patchouli, that's for certain. Than the original Allure peaks out for a moment with the florals, and finally - the dry down appears, which is almost what I would have wished the original Allure to be, but not quite - anyways, it's woody with vetiver and creamy with vanilla. But to get to this dry down one must go through a long journey inhaling dusty patchouli. Uhm.
Dear Ayala,
You're a better woman than me to give it a fair shake.
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