It is one of the few scents that have made me follow someone in a supermarket just to ask them what they are wearing. This has ENORMOUS scent projection on opening spray, to the point I had to wash some off and open the windows, it is just far too headache-inducingly overbearing! I was trying to figure out what it reminded me of and I realized it smells exactly how Sen-Sen tastes. The modern version has a bit more of a masculine leather quality and the powdery sandalwood-patchouli drydown feels incomplete and lacking in beauty, depth, and charm to me compared to the earlier rosy version. Yesterday, I was wearing Miss Dior, and I think I can smell some resemblance in the marijuana note in both of them.

But despite everything I can not let this go, I feel how beautiful it is, there is a reason why AE has been popular for 50 years. I’ve just obtained a bottle of this and I now realise this is the slightly overpowering scent I have smelt before on so many classy mature older women.It is insanely feminine on women, the market it was originally made for, and unlike the more usual sweet, amber, aquatic and flowery scents, on men it is like nothing expected, but insanely masculine.

Some of the classic bitter ones, like Bandit and Magie Noire, I can appreciate but not wear all the time.The funny thing is, this is a loud, possibly ostracizing scent but when I asked my super smeller son what it smelled like he said- I don’t smell anything It just smells like you, mom. At first spray, you get that blast of aldehydes - it honestly reminded me of the aldehydes in Blue Grass. But I'm quite sure that she had been wearing the vintage version, this one didn't pack as much floral punch as that one did.

Rose essence, sandalwood and chamomile have toning and astringent qualities that also give a sense of calm. I began to like it but I was afraid it would run out so I carefully used it once in a while, and that made Aromatic Elixir a more beautiful scent. My 79-year-old mother-in-law (who looks about 50) wears it though, which kinda spoils it on me for my husband and children 😅 but I still love it.Although its pleasant and nostalgic to smell in the air,on my skin it was a complete disaster and I shouldn't had worn it in public much less at work like I did. On first spray (forearm and wrist), the most prominent notes I'm getting are the chamomile and Oakmoss. How does a man go from proclaiming a fragrance to be his favorite, his life essence, for years depleting large bottles with alarming frequency, to a total purge and bitter dismissal of it? Sniff close to the blotter whereon I put two full spritz, it's like bug repellent or stick incense - though of course it's deluxe incense for some elegant restrooms rather than for public toilets. But as I age and start to appreciate the beauties of the true bitter chypres, I realize that this perfume (a reformulation of Chant's original creation, alas, but it smells pretty much like what I remember) does indeed have a pretty floral heart.

Elixir is more feminine to my nose--the rose is noticeable though not obtrusive--but I would happily wear either, though probably not if it were warm outside or I expected to spend any amount of time in anyone's company indoors or perhaps even outside.I have tried it both on my clothes and on my skin, and for me, while it lasts eternally on clothes, I find the scent matures better on my skin.