Le Lion De Chanel is the newest addition to the Les Exclusifs line of fragrances and I purchased it as soon as it became available in the boutique. I was so excited for Chanel to release a new fragrance in their Les Exclusifs line because they are some of my favorite fragrances ever. I have so many favorite fragrances from this line and feel like they are so unique and sophisticated.
I have been testing this fragrance out for several weeks now and am now able to give my full thoughts on Le Lion De Chanel.
The fragrance notes are:
Top notes: Lemon, Bergamot, Aldehydes
Middle notes: Labdanum, Amber
Base notes: Vanilla, Sandalwood, Musk, and Patchouli.
Le Lion opens like a roaring lion on me with prominent leather notes, like a rich brown suede coat, with a bit of citrus. The citrus fades pretty quickly and then it’s all leather and the labdanum vanilla like scent starts coming through with a hint of incense. There is a hint of smokiness to the leather like you wore your coat walking near a fire for a little bit. The opening is very intense with a somewhat dry quality about it. The opening moves on to the heart notes within about twenty minutes on me.
The heart of Le Lion calms down quite a bit to a beautiful Amber with vanilla, and hints of the sandalwood coming through. The labdanum is still there but blended in with the other notes. At this point the leather is very faint and in the background. And the smoky quality is gone.
The dry down is a beautiful sweeter warm vanilla Amber and the sandalwood and some musk start coming through and blending together. There is the smallest hint of leather again in the dry down but it is just a whisper in the background. The dry down is more creamy of a scent and becomes softer and more cozy as it wears on. The way the dry down blends together gives me an incense like impression although incense is not mentioned in the notes, I definitely get an incense vibe that makes me think of my beloved Chanel No 22.
As the evening wears on, this scent becomes a warmer and stronger vanilla sandalwood scent that leans a little gourmand and sweet on my skin. I love the very end of this fragrance the most with the beautiful vanilla labdanum sandalwood and hints of incense. The Lion is fierce and disting in the beginning, but by the end, it has become a calm, and cuddly Lion. It’s just exquisite!
The patchouli never comes through on me, which is good because I don’t like patchouli because it usually makes me feel sick. I don’t smell any patchouli at all, even though it lists it as a note.
This fragrance is very, very potent so I only need about a half spray to last all day on my skin. On my clothing, the sweet aspects are more prominent from the beginning.
I have heard this perfume compared to Coromandel, which I also have, and I find them to be very different on my skin. Coromandel is more of a white chocolate type amber scent without any leather and it has floral notes that Le Lion doesn’t. To me they are only comparable in the cozy warmth they give.
Final Thoughts
I really love this fragrance. I don’t prefer the opening as much because it’s quite strong at first, but luckily the top notes fade pretty quickly and then the fragrance just gets better and better on my skin as it changes throughout the day.
It changes several times and is such a gorgeous, warm, comforting fragrance that I really enjoy wearing. This is definitely a cold weather fragrance for me as most Amber based fragrances tend to be. I highly recommend trying this fragrance. It’s definitely a unisex fragrance, but I feel this is still sexy and feminine on my skin chemistry and even though this fragrance is stronger than I tend to wear, I just love it because of the gorgeous dry down and the journey it takes to get there.
Le Lion de Chanel is part of the Les Exclusifs collection by Chanel and is currently available at boutiques and Chanel.com.
Absolutely love LeLion! My husband becomes a lion cub when I wear it. The fragrance is vaguely reminiscent of 1000 OUDS by Guerlain I also like it because it is a niche fragrance,so you won’t experience it to often on others! After decades of Chanel #5 this is my new favorite.
Yes, it is so unique. I’m so glad you love it!
I am a HUGE Chanel fan and own many bottles,but I have to say that Le Lion is by far the most awful scent l have ever had the misfortune of smelling.it is horrendous and I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would like it.I would rather wear nothing than that
Lol I have felt this same way when smelling some fragrances that others love, but I can’t stand, so I can completely understand. Fragrances can smell completely different on everyone. What is your favorite Chanel fragrance?
Thanks for reading!