Chanel Allure Homme Sport Eau Extrême Decant

Eau Extrême is the version of Allure Homme Sport that people actually rave about. It keeps the clean mandarin-and-mint freshness of the original but pushes a warm tonka, amber and cedar base underneath, so instead of evaporating by lunch it turns into something soft and slightly sweet that lasts into the evening.

The balance is what makes it work. It is fresh enough to wear to a gym in July and warm enough to wear to dinner in November, and the transition between those two moods happens on your skin over about ninety minutes. Very few fragrances at this price manage that range.

It is also one of the great crowd-pleasers — compliments come easily and from a wide age range. If someone asks for one safe, versatile, non-boring masculine fragrance to own, this and Bleu Parfum are the two we name most often.