Antaeus is a Jacques Polge masterpiece. Complex, energetic, masculine, herbal, slightly animalic and powerful. And it's a time machine that brings you back to the eighties. To wear it today is a sign of style and masculine timeless elegance. Really like this in depth review with a personal touch. Thank you. By the way, Chanel Pour Monsieur was launched in 1955 and created by Henri Robert. Also a wonderful gentlemans fragrance from Chanel. A lovely barbershop citrus with a herbal musky dry down.
Had never heard of this and smelt it today at a Chanel boutique and your description is very accurate. It smells very classy and familiar, I imagine wearing this in a jazz bar in Paris at night time. Strange but that’s the image it conjures up for me. I shall get a bottle at some point thanks
Great review , Antaeus is something I could imagine Gordon Gekko wearing in 1987 , it reeks of power ( in a good way) , a similar scent for those on a budget is Oscar De La Renta Pour Lui. I love vintage scents, never without a bottle of Eau Sauvage ,Kouros ,Jaguar for men or Quorum
Smashing review, Ash. I completely agree with your assessment. I love the retro ads you selected - they certainly brings back the memories...ah, the nostalgia... CHANEL ANTAEUS (1981) is one of my favourite autumn/winter fragrances. CHANEL POUR MONSIEUR (1955) is another masterpiece: I’ve been wearing it for well nigh thirty years. In keeping with the Greek mythological theme of the immensely successful ANTAEUS, Yves Saint-Laurent followed through with KOUROS in the very same year.
I wore it in 1985 at 12. Used to get crushed on by all the girls. It’s still my signature scent at 49 and women still surround me after one good spray on back of neck. 💪
I remember strolling at a classy department store back in the time and picking this up for the first time ' boy oh boy! It knocked me off my feet ' I lost ground with the earth, sort of speaking I knew this was a special one, my goodness I must have Been 14 years old but I ended up purchasing it, in till recently I repurchased and this old friend came back into my life. Ps. Your video is excellent ! Thank you.
Back in the mid 80s when i was in my twenties, in the clubs where i lived in the states, all the guys wore Polo green. It was everywhere. I didn't care to smell like everyone else. I got a sample of Antaeus and was blown away. Bought a bottle of Pour Monsiour. Not knowning it was different. Finally found a bottle of Antaeus and have loved it ever since. Love the original but the reformulation is a week version. Vintage bottles online are ridiculous in price. Wish they made a batch of the original version. For that matter all the classic powerhouses.
I used to wear Chanel Antaeus in the early 90's also Kourous was another go to aftershave i wore. Do you remember Yves St Laurent Jazz that was quite popular in the 90's also Eternity by Calvin Klein. I had quite a few aftershaves that you've mentioned in previous video's, Aramis, Quorum, Givenchy Gentleman. My list is endless.
I've just sent for a bottle of Antaeus as a blind buy. I really appreciate your fragrance reviews. I may have said this before, but your review of Eucris was the most outstanding fragrance review that I've ever seen. You really did it justice. I'm looking forward to wearing Antaeus. P.S. I may have mentioned it before, but I'd really be interested in your review of Denim which I think, pound for pound, is the best value 80's men's fragrance available today. It's up there with Mandate, if not a little better.
Advertisements were almost always about sexual attraction as if fragrances are only about and used only for that purpose. But fragrances are more than that. They could relax, give enjoyment, envigour, etc. Sex sells is the only Motto companies use, DG and JPG being on top. Just don't get fooled. BTW Chanel has very good products. Always had. My wife has coco. Probably it's risky to wear this in the USA as it's very powerful and might express to some particular woman there toxic masculinity (little joke).
The only other 2 I can think of similar in performance to this is Eucris by trumpers and Creed Aventus, there is others, but it is "a man" in a bottle, and a hard man too. But I love it
Pour Monsieur was the first men's fragrance from Chanel and the only men's fragrance released in Chanel’s lifetime (she thought Pour Monsieur was what a man should smell like and didn't see the point in releasing another men's fragrance) but it wasn't Chanel’s first fragrance release.
Bravo 🥃🧊🍸🍾 Exhilarating hommage to the house of chanel. Loved the historic greek mythology lesson on the labours of hercules. Have a splendid day sir. Will add this fregrance to my collection. 🫡
I got my first bottle of Antaeus for Christmas in 1981 when it first came out. I was 18. It was about $40 to $60 a bottle back then. I found it to be a very unusual and intriguing scent. Dark and rich, super masculine and sexy. Something the Dark Knight (Batman) would wear while in his uniform. Serious and brooding, yet sleek and powerful. I’ve worn Antaeus all my adult life and have appreciated its rich, heady scent. However, I noticed in recent years the formulation has changed slightly. It’s a bit lighter and not as potent or deep as it once was. I believe back in the 1980s and early 90s, the formulation included castoreum as one of the ingredients. Castoreum is obtained from the castor sacs of beavers, as a scent marker. I’m thinking that Antaeus no longer uses castoreum in its formulation, and instead uses a synthetic substance as a substitute. Hence the lighter scent of today’s Antaeus.
Ash, I truly enjoy your channel and highly regard your opinion. If you had to choose one Chanel fragrance would it be Antaeus or Egoiste Platinum? Thanks, John
I agree with you! I also love Antaeus but not the current version! I found is more synthetic & less natural! I prefer the vintage version by all means👍 Cheerio🥂
I own and enjoy YSL Kouros but I very rarely feel brave enough to wear it out. Antaeus, although a powerhouse in its own right, is comparable while reining in those more extreme elements. You still need to be careful within the first half hour after spraying (I remember my wife expressing a few “WTF are you wearing?!” moments after walking into the bedroom immediately after a spray) but it dries down to a beautiful juxtaposition of clean creamy soapy shaving foam akin to Drakkar Noir and sweet smoky dirty leather akin to Shalimar.
I wear Kouros, and sometimes very potently in public too. Tho I never got any verbal reactions about it, one time a girl I was sitting next to in class kept smiling at me every time I looked to her and then offered to help me with something lol, maybe she appreciated the scent. I guess with Kouros it depends on who smells it cause it doesn’t register with everybody. I want to smell Antaeus for myself becuz the description of it is something I can get down with
A bold, leathery, herbal and resinous bomb, Antaeus is a heavy hitting, super masculine frag. Its rather daring to wear in this day and age, and thats fine because to me, I feel like an absolute boss wearing it.
is it a "crowd pleaser" ? that's why drakkar was so popular. hardly anyone disliked the smell and many cheapies such as lynx copied this kind of "shower room fresh" citrus, along with a bit of "barber shop spice". cool water and aqua di gio followed in the footsteps of being mainstream "crowd pleasers"
I saw Antaeus in a shop closing down so I bought both the aftershave and the eau de parfam. I haven't opened them yet as I haven't had the opportunity. How does it compare with Aqua Di Parma Oud I wonder. I have both but just looking for anybody else's view. Many thanks