Chance Eau Vive

Chanel describes a floral-zesty fragrance, awakened by grapefruit and blood orange, whose freshness bursts out at the top. A jasmine heart unveils its femininity, according to the house; cedar and iris accords shape its base and its elegance.

Top

The launch announcement, in June 2015, puts grapefruit in the foreground, lifted by a touch of blood orange. The house names the same two citrus fruits and credits them with the burst of freshness that opens the fragrance.

Heart

Jasmine forms the heart that Chanel describes. The notes released when the fragrance came out place it at the center of the composition, between the citrus of the opening and the woods of the base, without naming any other flower.

Base

Cedar and iris form the accord that the house highlights at the base of the fragrance. The notes released at launch add vetiver and white musks, which Chanel does not repeat in its current description.

What the label declares

The list published in Europe begins with alcohol, fragrance and water. It shows a UV filter, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, along with a red colorant, CI 14700, and a yellow one, CI 19140; the printed formula code is IL79-1.

The rest declares twelve allergens: limonene, linalool, citronellol, benzyl salicylate, alpha-isomethyl ionone, hexyl cinnamal, citral, geraniol, eugenol, coumarin, benzyl alcohol and farnesol. Neither lilial nor lyral.

For Latin America, the house declares a more complete list, under another code, PS000070A. It names the essential oils of bergamot, bitter orange, lemon and orange blossom, patchouli oil, rose, santalol, vanillin and tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, a woody, ambery synthetic material.

What stays out

The mandarin, peach, aldehydes and vanilla sometimes attributed to Eau Vive appear neither in the house’s description nor in the launch notes. Rose appears only in the detailed ingredient list, never among the declared notes.