No 19 No 19

Chanel No 19 is a demanding, old-school green chypre, its sharp galbanum and neroli opening built to clash deliberately with an iris-rose-narcissus heart before settling on a leathery oakmoss-vetiver base. It is one of the harder Chanel compositions to like on first wear and one of the harder ones to convincingly fake at a budget price. This oil captures a soft green-floral impression and a reasonably true iris note in the heart, but the sharpness that defines the original is gone: the galbanum bite is barely there, and the leather-oakmoss base reads as generic woody rather than the real thing's slightly severe, austere finish. What remains is a pleasant, mild green floral, agreeable but a long way from No 19's more challenging character.