I wanted to like this. I love woodsy scents and dabble in heavy orientals for evening and I love LOVE Chanel's No. 5.
I got a bottle of this from my aunt after she came back from Paris. She gifted one to many relatives in the family, so I didn't purchase it but it's not that expensive (many full sizes for sale on ebay in the $35-$50 range). I love the packaging, the raised flower on the frosted glass is beautiful. But onto the scent...
It's strong and overpowering at first and takes a loooong time to dry down. Dab this on sparingly, please! This perfume is like the whiskey of fragrances. It definitely seared my nose hairs (lol).
I liked the first few floral notes I detected (rose, ylang ylang and jasmine) but that's about it. (The rose is definitely lost on this one.)
The oakmoss and to an extent the patchouli & sandalwood, I think, are the culprits. They're much too heady and strong. The dry down is nothing but oakmoss and patchouli. A previous reviewer mentioned that it smells like a rainforest after it rains and yes, I totally agree. But there are too many sharp scents in this one that compete for my attention and don't give me any of that warming woodsy tranquil feeling I expect from a scent with this makeup. If the concentrations of oils in this juice were different, say, less vetiver, incense, oakmoss, I'd buy it.
I've since sold my bottle on ebay to a buyer that loves this fragrance. Oh well.
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Dear Clinique,

Why do you hate me? Why? I am kind to animals, I love my family, I am a good friend, I donate to charities and I helped an elderly lady cross the road once when I was in high school. Yet despite this my karma hasn't been strong enough to stop you assaulting my nose with this "scent". Yeah, I went there, I did the inverted commas thing to imply sarcasm. I feel bad using the word I really want to use because although I would rather stick my nose in a racoon's bum all day I appreciate there are people out there who do like it.

How do I make amends with whatever wrong doing you have on record beside my name to warrant infiltrating my life with this? Airports, random people on the train, department store spritz ladies. You know, I can forgive all that but what I can NOT forgive you for is introducing it into the life of the woman who sells me my train ticket every morning. No Clinique, you went too far there. TOO FAR. I now start off my day deprived of oxygen from holding my breath when speaking to her and I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a out on day release from an institution judging by the way she looks at me when I ask for the ticket through clenched teeth and squinted eyes with my head turned to one side in slightly serial killer fashion.

You brought my first moisturiser into my life so I guess I can't wipe you out of my life forever over this. However, you're now officially off my Christmas card list.....the Christmas cards are sold in the area beside the Clinique counter anyway and I'm getting too old to dodge the gazelle-like spritzers!

Yours,

The woman standing in the foetal position sucking her thumb beside the Clinique counter in London after the spritzer lady blind sided her today.

This is a scent that selects its wearer. It's not for everyone. It does trend toward intellectual much as a complex pinot noir or IPA. Used sparingly, with ideal body chemistry, it is a beautiful thing.

Application is best accomplished by sprtizing the atmosphere and ducking under it.

I have been wearing this fragrance for years, and when I say years I mean since around the very early 80's. I have never purchased a bottle of any other perfume since I found this, it truly is my signature scent. From what I gather reading here on MakeupAlley you either love it or hate it and I LOVE IT! It's a very strong fragrance so all you need is a light spritz to smell like a million bucks all day. Just when you think it has faded because you can't smell it on yourself someone will come out of nowhere and compliment you on your perfume..... it has happened to me time after time so I know that Aromatics Elixir does not wear off. I have been complimented over the years from so many people ~ from my dermatologist all the way down to strangers in the elevator. It is a scent unlike any other. Aromatics Elixer has notes of rose, jasmine, ylang ylang and vetiver ~ simply devine!

I would describe this fragrance as ‘intellectual’. It smells like it was created without any unnecessary affectations or ingredients and seems to achieve a herbal, woody kind of natural classiness. On the right person it smells absolutely wonderful . On the wrong person (me) it verges on the austere.

I first smelled this on a young indian woman in a store. She smelled so amazing I stopped her and asked her what she was wearing. She told me "some new clinique scent." I went searching for this the next day and was surprised to learn this is no new scent, it's been around for over 30 years. I ordered a 4ml mini off ebay for 15$ and have been in love ever since. This is very incensey, and it is very intense. I love strong perfumes and will usually just spray once on my wrist and then dab it on pulse points all over my body, but this fragrance is almost too strong for that even. The spray puts out a little too much, I wish it was a stopper vial that I could dab with instead. It is so insanely strong the first hour or two, but then it fades to a wonderful aura of incense, musk, vetiver all mixed in with a bunch of florals like jasmine and rose. I think it's a truly lovely scent. It smells so exotic to me. It's definitely a better cool weather scent though. The 4ml I bought will probably last me forever, which is great, I love when you don't need to over use a perfume to make it last all day or do constant touch ups.

lmao at lepins review! this stuff smells like badly aged coco chanel. its sharp, sour,medicinal,decrepit. i cannot understand its appeal.funny cause i smelled this in a magazine and i thought "wow ive found my holy grail scent" , then i buy it, and i swear this stuff gave me heartburn. i felt like i got punched inside my throat when i first sprayed it. maybe i got the wrong formulation? im not gonna give up on it though,i will try all the concentrations of the elixir and see if i change my mind.

Short story ...I was visiting London several years ago minding my own business....only to be literally surronded by half a dozen ladies demanding to know what perfume I was wearing and wafting down Kensington High Street ..they had followed me all the way down!!! when I told them AE they all dashed off to Barkers (a high end dept store) to buy a bottle each.....this happened so many times to me when I wore AE ...sadly my new husband cannot stand the perfume on me he says smell of dettol disinfectant...charming!!!..but it still imo remains a stunning beautiful perfume ....

I used to love this fragrance on other women but hatad it on my self, it was too animalic on me , maybe it is an age thing but now i absolutely love it, it is a forety woody- earthy- green- chipre marvel.

This is a fragrance that picks its wearers, perhaps more than anything else on the market. It's a highly polarizing experience--upon application it either transports you to a higher plane, or singes your nostrils with a sepulchral, urinaceous death-funk. For years I had the latter response. I would smell this on people and be amazed at its cool, clean, loamy, meditative beauty-- then I'd go to the Clinique counter, spray it on myself and gasp for air.On my skin, the stuff was a jangle of chemicals and manure.

From time to time I'd give AE another try, because I knew the magic this scent could work on the right person. And after 15 years, my chemistry changed and the incredible beauty and complexity of AE unfolded for me. This is a world-class chypre par excellence; don't let the mid-price-point fool you. It's elegant and tranquil, yet spicy and seductive. The patchouli is of high quality and blends seamlessly with the other elements. The scent often gives the olfactory impression of a forest, with its warm woods and leafy greens. You can actually smell the layers of the forest on your skin-- genius! I get so many compliments, and propositions, wearing this that I'm a bit embarrassed sometimes! People can't get enough of it.


Even though AE works on me, it is SO much more potent than most other mass-market scents that it's very easy to overdo. For everyday, I use only the body cream and only on my neck and decolletage. For dressy occasions, ONE spray of the perfume that I walk through rather than applying to skin. For God's sake do not saturate pulse points with this fragrance; you'll die of a migraine!