Le Lion de Chanel Chanel 2020

8.3 / 10160 Ratings

Le Lion de Chanel is a new perfume by Chanel for women and was released in 2020. The scent is resinous-smoky. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still available to purchase. Pronunciation

Perfumer

Olivier Polge

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Lemon, Bergamot
Heart Notes	Labdanum, Bourbon vanilla
Base Notes	Sandalwood, Patchouli

Ratings

Scent

8.3160 Ratings

Longevity

8.8148 Ratings

Sillage

8.4151 Ratings

Bottle

8.7131 Ratings

Value for money

7.162 Ratings

Submitted by OPomone, last update on 18.06.2021.

Rate
Collection
Classify
Notes

Reviews

05/12/2021

DoctorIon
6 Reviews

DoctorIon

An unexciting perfume with a brilliant name.

"Le Lion de Chanel" fails to impress.
It is Chanel's proposal to a very specific market of heavy orientals with a pronounced labdanum, oud, leather, smoky "whatever-ness" which lacks distinction and uniqueness.
So many niche brands have one (or more) perfumes of the same kind and do rather well, so I can understand the motivation behind this release but for me personally, this one is a failure not because it is worse than the rest (not at all), but because it presents itself last, without adding anything new to the picture.
I can see an abstract correlation to the amazing "Coromandel" (which I prefer without any hesitation) but it is the legendary "Shalimar" that mainly inspires the composition here (yes, we still use lemon to balance the heavy oriental base of the formula) but if you ask me, "Shalimar" is a better perfume in all possible ways!
Having said that, "Le Lion de Chanel" is well-blended and surpasses almost all other niche proposals of this type that I know of, so go ahead and test it for yourself - but as a blind buy, I simply can't recommended it at any price.
Désolé..

1 Replies

05/07/2021

9.5
Scent 10
Longevity 10
Sillage 10
Bottle

Katniss

Translated Show original

Katniss

Very helpful Review 10

Polge's trip to Italy

Since it's first time everything out what's in it, slays you, and when the alcohol has evaporated comes slowly order pure. This is for me a really good perfume. So also Le Lion.

Initially, I thought the perfume you already know. There is already in very similar form. But which one?
Shalimar with the previous comments compare it?
It's not entirely far-fetched under a very analytical scrutiny. The citrus vanilla accord is indeed an (initial) parallel.
But still, I don't associate it with anything other than - Prada Amber - from 2004, which yes, unlike Shalimar, is also on a labdanum/cistus/patch/vanilla base like Le Lion is now.

But I find Le Lion as less intense, and softer, and phenomenal that a floral accord in the house of Chanel once does not dominate, or is not present.

As a leather fragrance, I do not feel it. Leather scent is for me -Cuir de Russie- , and especially the Extrait.

For me, this is perhaps a softer, revised, so softer Prada Amber, but not necessarily better. Both are very nice fragrances. But it does surprise me that Chanel years later brings such a similar fragrance on the market.

Who loves Prada Amber, will certainly also love Le Lion. It may be a subjective feeling, but nothing reminds me personally of Shalimar.

7 Replies

02/02/2021

10
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle 8
Pricing

Kimm40

Translated Show original

Kimm40

Helpful Review 12

At least the gold Rolex must be....

... to capture you with all force.

Leo, the radiant majesty among the zodiac signs, flaunting with radiance, in his younger years very inclined to femininity in hot nights, grows up and matures. He knows about his powers of display, he likes to flirt, drive a Porsche, wear a Rolex, and the more mature he becomes, the more he has to flaunt and show off his masculinity. And yet he's tamable without losing his soft golden heart, which makes him stunning. And majesty still shines, even when he has come to rest.

Coco Chanel was a lioness and had immense creativity and radiance in all things in life, this fragrance suits her when she was charting her courses and on a course of conquest and success. She was passionate and created so many classics, I love her style, cih love some fragrances by ihe, not all .....you hear it, as a dreamy little fish I love the Chanel brand.

Did Coco need a time out, then she took my beloved Beige, she said Beige brings me to rest.....and Beige has been my classic for many years.

Le Lion is just the opposite...

For me, Le Lion is a wicked oriental slaying spice bomb that makes one dream of sultry hot nights of love with an oligarch on a luxury hunt....

Do I find Coromandel already very sensual and erotic, so here is even more hidden in eroticism and sensuality in it.

It reminds me of a fragrance by Amouage, I just don't know which one, I didn't buy it at the time because it was too spicy for me in the delivery.

Le Lion keeps its sultriness, but becomes very round in the course with me and it remains so, I find it beautiful.

Think, however, that it is rather a fragrance for the more mature in the noble outfit and with a lot of style and class, with the back door to the forbidden.....

I myself could never get comfortable with Shalimar, even more so with leather, but this combination here is beautiful, so extravagant, so mature, so round, a bit bitter, leathery and a certain sweetness paired and fused with 1001 night spice oils.

Certainly not a fragrance for all days, but a fragrance for the grand entrance, for the evening, for a great love.
For me to be worn by man and woman, best still as crowned majesties, because the king of the animal kingdom needs a queen who hunts him down with femininity and whom he adores and worships, then he is tamed without losing his majestic masculine charisma.

This is what fragrance tells me.....

Very successful, very distinctive, very nice, very good in durability and very nice in progression to the end....

Chapeau Chanel
Chapeau Olivier Polge

3 Replies

01/11/2021

8.5
Scent 10
Longevity 9
Sillage

NikEy

Translated Show original

NikEy

Top Review 36

Polge's interpretation of one of the greatest perfume classics

To create a new interpretation based on something that already exists always leaves room for the shadow of the existing and for criticism. But in the same breath, it also honors the greatness of the original, elevating the creativity of the original creator to a new level. While Chanel doesn't cite a reference here, many of you perfumos will have come across a truly great perfume classic that was one of the founders of its genre: citrus, powder, vanilla and resin. A pioneer of the Western definition of Orient: Shalimar!

The structure of Le Lion and its comparison to Guerlain's Shalimar came to me immediately after spraying it on. Especially the radiant citrus head in combination with powder and resin, immediately makes a clear connection for me. It's the overall structure rather than the individual notes in each case. With labdanum, Chanel manages to incorporate an entirely different variation of resin. Often relatively tart and naturally with a dirty, grungy quality, the cistus resin here adds a distinct, almost masculine bass. The combination with vanilla can best be described as a disreputable (smoky) dark powder a lá Chanel-DNA. Draws clearer edges than the opoponax in Shalimar, which can come across as equally animalic in its own way. Whether the subtle earthy tones here are more due to labdanum or patchouli, I can't make out, but I can make out a flattering impression of leather, which comes along without the classic synthetics.

I like the nod to Guerlain's classic. Le Lion seems darker, edgier and altogether more modern. Unisex and in any case for all men who may not have dared to wear Shalimar so far, but actually liked him.
As a small drawback, I personally notice only the very intense sillage, which is almost atypical for a Chanel Exclusif and makes the fragrance relatively difficult to dose. A slightly more discreet impression would have done him good.

15 Replies

01/05/2021

9.5
Scent 9
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Winand
6 Reviews

Winand

Helpful Review 4

Roaring Oriental

Chanel Le Lion is simply brilliant and one of the best (if not the best) releases of 2020.

This is a perfume that you really need to experience. Words come short in trying to explain this beauty.

For me this is a dry amber-oriental! You get a bright opening because of the lemon quickly transforming into a dark smoky, ambery, resinous heart. There is also a presence of vanilla, but only as a supporting note. Never dominant. Same counts for the patchouli that makes it’s way during the drydown, but never too prominent. A well orchestrated symphony of notes!

Smoky and ambery are key in experiencing Le Lion!

This is the easiest 10/10 I ever had to give! I own it for about a week now and it’s the only one I have been using.

Projection and sillage are also off the chart!

11/20/2020

9
Scent 10
Longevity 9
Sillage 8
Bottle

Chanelle
1 Review

Translated Show original

Chanelle

Top Review 39

...awakens the tiger in you!

If I had to take a blind test, I'd have guerlain. The first chanel to go to the djedi. Djedi is not mine in the slightest, no matter how highly praised and glorified he is, but fortunately Le Lion only goes in that direction and eventually slows down. I find this to be quite positive.
First things first.
The top note is just as I would have dreamed of the Rammstein fragrances:
Leathery dirty.
As un-Coco as it gets, but still slightly oriental, so likeable.
The further development has slight hints of my favourite luten, the Fumerie Turque, still a bit leathery, but slowly already spicy incense sticks.
No flowers far and wide, just dry, burnt spices on a leather bed. What a nice surprise from Chanel, whose non-exclusive fragrances are becoming more and more popular and mainstream.
And yes, i recognize shalimar dna too. Bergamot is involved, vanilla also appears at some point, makes the fragrance rounder and actually more wearable for little Chanelli.
This is the fragrance for the hard, fun-less, hopefully never repeating Covid winter 2020.
He rips me out of my lethargy and gives me headaches. Vintage Esso commercial. Roar.

15 Replies

10/13/2020

6
Scent

Susan

Translated Show original

Susan

Top Review 35

"Leather Shalimar" ....

May one talk about an "exclusive" in the way I would actually like to do it? Probably not ;-).....

I will now pull myself together and try to present my impressions as objectively as possible......but still, the reader may allow me at least THIS one exception:

The smell makes me sick.
The same nausea that affects me with Shalimar.

At this point it should also be mentioned that LE LION shows clear Shalimar reminiscences....

LE LION starts with a dominant, cool-bitter bergamot note...... almost immediately followed by the first clear leather impression.....whereby this is concretely evoked, I am not yet really...... partly due to Labdanum, which appears here in abundance..... but can Labdanum alone conjure up such a leathery impression? I do not know.....

Although the leather impression for my nose seems to be masculine throughout (in the absence of any flowers), I still don't find it rustic at all or rough.....I rather think of expensive, elegant, deer-colored smooth leather, as it is often found in luxury cars.....or luxurious deer-colored briefcases, belts or shoes of the well-groomed gentleman on his way to a business meeting......that the leather does not appear black or dark brown to me, but rather "deer brown", may have something to do with the vanilla, which in combination with labdanum produces a resinous-sweet background noise........by the way, it also smokes a little here ;-)....

Little by little sandalwood and patchouli are added........where I notice patchouli much more......

In the course of further fragrance development, the initial shalimar impression finally disappears.....

All in all, LE LION is a resinous-sweetish scent for my nose with a smoky trail and a bitter aftertaste..... and: ZUMINDEST unisex......

My evaluation consists of two parts:

Rating of the creation itself: 8
Personal favor: 4

22 Replies

10/10/2020

7
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 9
Bottle

Annabraucht

Translated Show original

Annabraucht

Less helpful Review 6

Very biting lion

At the beginning it is scratchy fire smoke, later resin and patchouli are added. Softer. Very bold and a completely new Chanel scent; unfortunately not quite mine. Reminds me of Replica By the fireplace!
So if you want to have something inconspicuously light for the background, you are in the wrong place. Campfire à la Chanel.

2 Replies

10/08/2020

8
Scent 9
Longevity 9
Sillage 10
Bottle 10
Pricing

ParfumAholic

Translated Show original

ParfumAholic

Top Review 50

Well and loudly roared lion

Ever since I joined Parfumo, I've been really taken with the Les Exclusifs fragrances from Chanel. I appreciate the high quality and unagitated nature of the fragrances, which for me are classic and timeless. Just like the world-famous bouclé jackets and the 2.55 bags, they will probably never go out of fashion.
The fragrances are never loud or have extreme / special corners and edges. They seem to fit naturally into the Chanel cosmos and skilfully complement / round off the highly noble range.

And so it was of course clear that the new "Le Lion de Chanel" directly got a fixed place on my watch list. However, obtaining a sample / bottling turned out to be very difficult, as the fragrance was probably only launched in the Middle East at first. So I was all the more grateful to a dear perfuma who sold me a bottling.

Needless to say that I have not put off the scent test ;-))

Immediately after spraying on, heavy, dark and very smoky leather appears, which has probably also got some resinous stains. Leather is not listed in the fragrance pyramid, but I can't imagine that only the listed Labdanum could have such leathery properties.
I have to admit that this very opulent leather opening is almost too much for me. Also my thought (my hope) that this will be only briefly in the top note should prove to be wrong. I find this leather to be very brute and dominant. And it might not fit to Chanel at all for me. Rough leather boots / leather jackets to thin Chanel dresses or strict black and white looks might work as style-breakers, but then I would rather imagine the smell of fine suede.
Little by little, spicy patchouli is added, which only minimally reduces the somewhat coarse impression.
Olivier Polge then smuggles vanilla in through the back door. Smoky vanilla that makes me think directly of Shalimar. Not quite as powerful as Guerlain's classic, but a certain relationship cannot be denied So it smokes and steams around me for hours and I don't know exactly how to find it now. Actually I thought that the leather theme had had breakfast with Chanel's Cuir de Russie. Then why this leather scent? And as I indulge in this thought, the leather whip noticeably slackens and the scent changes into a warm, almost balsamic base. Here the smoky leather more or less well-behavedly classifies itself and now also leaves room for the vanilla (which has obviously lost its smokiness) to unfold. Despite all this, it won't be a cuddly scent, but rather a harmonious leather scent with a soft and unsweet vanilla base.
Just towards the end I like the Chanel Lion. Even though the scent still has a rather darker aura. This new one from Chanel is really different and leaves the known Chanel fragrance paths or adds new facets to them. The fragrance will not be part of my collection, but I like to acknowledge that one has dared to try something new.

24 Replies