Scent-Off: Dior J’Adore vs Chanel Gabrielle Essence
Welcome to Scent-Off! In this new series of articles, I’ll pick 2 fragrances often mentioned as similar, and compare their impressions. There might be a “winner” (best quality / scent), or a simple consideration of which fragrance you might enjoy more, depending on what you’re looking for.
Let’s begin with a golden duo of white florals: Dior J’Adore versus Chanel Gabrielle Essence.
Mục lục
Luminous White Florals
Today’s Scent-Off is all about white florals with a luminous aura: modern classic Dior J’Adore, and Chanel’s latest launch, Gabrielle Essence – a better-received flanker to (over) critizised citrusy white floral Gabrielle.
I’ve written a full review on each of these fragrances where you can read about them in detail (just follow the links in the previous paragraph! 🙂 ). So, here, instead of describing them in full-depht, I’ll concentrate on where they smell similar, and where they smell different.
Here’s a quick overview on our “contestants”…
Dior – J’Adore
- Year of Release: 1999
- Concentration: Eau de Parfum
- Perfumer: Calice Becker
- Notes1: (Top) magnolia, melon, peach, pear, bergamot, mandarin orange; (Heart) jasmine, rose, tuberose, lily-of-the-valley, freesia; (Base) musk, cedar.
Chanel – Gabrielle Essence
- Year of Release: 2019
- Concentration: Eau de Parfum
- Perfumer: Olivier Polge
- Notes: (Top) citruses, petitgrain, black currant, red fruits, peach; (Heart) white flowers, jasmine, ylang ylang, tuberose, orange blossom, coconut; (Base) musk, sandalwood, vanilla.
Fragrance Comparison
J’Adore and Gabrielle Essence are white floral fragrances with a clean, bright character. They’re uplifting and fresh, but not ethereal or chilling-cool – there’s a sense of warmth in them which makes them feel… luminous! Both also come off to me as signature-style (versatile for all types of weather and occasion), very feminine, easy to like and elegant.
Sharing a few key notes (most noticeably, jasmine), they both open with sweet fruits, which subtly support a floral heart. The base notes in both fragrances are also relatively discreet.
Now, for the differences. With J’Adore on one arm and Gabrielle Essence on the other, I can tell they have a very similar “feel”, yet each one shows their own flair:
- Gabrielle Essence feels, overall, more complex. Coconut, sandalwood & musk give it “layers” with fresh, soapy and woody aspects, and the scent changes a bit as hours go by. J’Adore is more linear – there are still many notes, but they’re blended into one accord, and the scent is pretty much the same from opening to drydown.
- While they share a general fresh-yet-warm, luminous quality, bewteen them, J’Adore is fresher and creamier, almost “liquid”, while Gabrielle Essence feels warmer, and “drier”. There’s a raspy texture in its base (which I don’t fully like).
- J’Adore is notably fruitier, with melon & pear giving a sweet, juicy touch to its florals. And, speaking of florals – while you can get a subtle sense of each flower, to my nose, jasmine is THE centrepiece of J’Adore. Base notes are very muted, and I almost don’t get the cedar.
- Meanwhile, Gabrielle Essence has a woody undertone – sandalwood and sugarless coconut are there with the flowers, more noticeable than the opening red fruits. In the heart notes’ bouquet, no particular flower stands out. They’re blended into a very balanced (if also a bit bland) “non-specific white floral” accord.
- Finally, J’Adore opens quite velvety (yay for ylang ylang!), but as it dries down, it becomes… a bit too soapy and shrieky. Gabrielle Essence, on its turn (typically of Chanel) is somewhat harsher on my nose in the opening, but has a perfectly smooth far drydown.
Conclusion
In my original reviews, I gave J’Adore just half a star more than Gabrielle Essence, and testing both side by side, I actually hesitate about which one is my favourite. In one hand, I prefer J’Adore’s freshness and texture over Gabrielle Essence‘s… but, as they dry down, the balance tips the other way.
In the end, I’ll mantain my star ratings, with a slight preference for J’Adore – but to me, this is practically a tie! I do like both these fragrances, with J’Adore‘s florals being more fruity-fresh and jasmine-centric, and Gabrielle Essence being warmer and drier, more complex, with a fuzzy sandalwood base. It all depends on which nuance you prefer!
So, J’Adore or Gabrielle Essence: which is your favourite? Both? Neither? Are there other clean and fresh, “Luminous White Floral” fragrances you know and like? Leave a comment!
1 Since its launch, J’Adore has been (*sigh* of course…) reformulated, and I’m not sure it still has all original notes listed on Fragrantica; yet, I don’t think it has as little as currently listed by Dior, either. So I did my best and tried to make out the ones I think might still there, going from the Fragrantica list and ommiting the ones I can’t smell at all (namely violet, orchid, vanilla and blackberry).
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