Chanel No. 19 perfume was first marketed in 1971. The number 19 was chosen to commemorate

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

's birthday, 19 August. The perfume was launched a year before she died. The scent was created by

Henri Robert Henri Robert (1899, Grasse – 1987) is a French perfumer and chemist, he is best known for his role as Chief Perfumer at Les Parfums Chanel from 1953 to 1978. Early life and career Robert's father, Joseph Robert, was the Chief Perfumer at Chiri ...

. No. 19 is a balsamic-green scent, compared to the aldehydic

Chanel No. 5 Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...

, the floral Chanel No. 22 and ambrette-green Chanel No. 18. The pure perfume and eau de parfum have a slight greenish tint, and the eau de toilette is pale green. In a recent (c.2000) revamp of No. 19, Chanel has drastically reduced the products available: in the UK the original splash bottles and refillable sprays of Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum have been discontinued, as have the two sizes of refillable Parfum spray. The Parfum is now only available in 7.5ml/quarter ounce size bottles. The range of bath and body products, which was previously identical to the comprehensive range available in No. 5, is now reduced to Body Lotion and Bath and Shower Gel. In a number of reviews, ''Bel Respiro'' (a 2006 Eau de Toilette from Chanel's ''Les Exclusifs'' range) is described having a certain similarity to No. 19, especially in its top notes.

Notes

Chanel No. 19 contains fragrant notes of

galbanum Galbanum is an aromatic gum resin and a product of certain umbelliferous Persian plant species in the genus ''Ferula'', chiefly ''Ferula gummosa'' (synonym ''F. galbaniflua'') and ''Ferula rubricaulis''. Galbanum-yielding plants grow plentifull ...

neroli Neroli oil is an essential oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree (''Citrus aurantium subsp. amara'' or ''Bigaradia''). Its scent is sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic with green and spicy facets. Orange blossom is also extract ...

, bergamot, jasmine,

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' (), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to '' Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such a ...

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

and

musk Musk ( Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial sub ...

. The galbanum and leather on a musky base makes the scent very difficult to classify. Some call it a green floral, others a

chypre Chypre ( or ) is the name of a family (or ''concept'') of perfumes that are characterised by an accord composed of citrus top notes, a middle centered on cistus labdanum, and a mossy-animalic set of basenotes derived from oakmoss. Chypre perfumes ...

. The different foci of each concentration (

eau de cologne Eau de Cologne (; German: ''Kölnisch Wasser'' ; meaning "Water from Cologne"), or simply cologne, is a perfume originating from Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in 1709, it has since come to be a g ...

eau de toilette Eau de toilette (, meaning "grooming water") is a lightly scented perfume. It is also referred to as aromatic waters and has a high alcohol content. It is usually applied directly to the skin after bathing or shaving. It is traditionally composed ...

eau de parfum Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and livin ...

, parfum/extrait) also make classification difficult. The current EdP, for example, has a softer floral character, while the classic parfum and extrait are much darker, leathery chypres. Chanel announced the scent "Audacious and assertive. Never conventional".. During the 1970s and 1980s, Chanel No 19 was advertised with the slogans "The Unexpected Chanel", "The Outspoken Chanel" and "Devastatingly Feminine". Number 19 Eau de Parfum is a floral-woody-green fragrance, a white and green floral harmony. It is a unique blend of light-heartedness and sophistication, not simply a different concentration, but an olfactory reinterpretation, which is faithful to the spirit and base notes of the original composition.

Chanel N°19 Poudré

In 2011 Chanel introduced a flanker to No. 19 calle
No. 19 Poudré
Jacques Polge, Chanel's house perfumer, is credited with creating No. 19 Poudré. The Eau de Parfum is described by Chanel as "A bold re-imagining of Coco Chanel's signature scent" and describes it as including

, jasmine,

, white musk,

, and tonka bean. In No. 19 Poudré, the sharp galbanum and aldehydes of the original are dialed back, and sweeter neroli and iris take their place. The iris is described as lush and fruity, and despite the fragrance's name, less powdery than the iris in No. 19. Chanel No. 19 Poudré comes in 50mL and 100mL Eau de Parfum,Listed on the Chanel website as a limited edition as well as Eau de Toilette, deodorant, bath gel and body lotion.

References

{{Chanel Perfumes Chanel perfumes