Allure Homme Sport Eau Extreme Chanel cologne – a fragrance for men 2012

I’m that guy who used to overspray Chanel Allure Homme Sport back in the early 2000’s. AHS was one of the greatest releases of all time! It was my signature scent for 15+ years, I love it, and still wear it… but then I bough Eau Extreme. For a long time I used to stick to what I know, it’s only in recent years I’ve started to expand my horizons, so buying Eau Extreme was stepping away from my trusted AHS (which I still own), and my feelings are somewhat ambivalent.

Eau Extreme is built upon the foundations of AHS; the DNA is present and this is a more complex fragrance in about every way. So one might think, taking a great fragrance and building on it is a recipe for success? Yes and no. This is a fantastic fragrance, no doubt about it! It has a rich and creamy quality to it, and the scent profile is excellent. However, given the choice, I would still wear AHS; maybe it’s the nostalgia, or my bias towards my all time favourite, but the things that made AHS so great, it’s freshness, it’s vibrancy, it’s loudness, are toned down. Eau extreme is a more sophisticated fragrance, and my girlfriend prefers this over AHS, in her words “It’s the fragrance AHS should have been”, but I miss that wow factor of the original. On the other end of the scale Chanel Edition Blanche is too citrusy and doesn’t have the balance of AHS (Edition Blanche still a great fragrance though).

Given I’m more grown up and mature, and my tastes have also matured, i really ought to like Eau Extreme more, and whilst I enjoy it, I always wish i had picked up the other bottle. Maybe I need to detach myself from the OG, and consider this a brand new fragrance (which it is), but I can’t seem to do it. AHS these days isn’t all that original (I’m looking at you Versace Pour Homme), but it’s still a MASSIVE compliment puller, whereas I’ve yet to receive a single compliment wearing Eau Extreme, which speaks to its more reserved nature. Wearing fragrances isn’t necessarily about getting compliments, and many will prefer the added sweetness and sophistication this brings; Eau Extreme is a super versatile fragrance and can be worn in pretty much any circumstance (although perhaps not first choice for winter).

In summary, if you love AHS, treat this as something different, it’s not a replacement by any means. All in all a great scent and understandably a cornerstone of most peoples collection 8.5/10