Antaeus

I have a "2026 version", made in 2026. Smooth, old school, quite animalic but still weareable. Love this scent. It took my 3 years to realize I really need this stuff on my shelf. Idk about the old 80's/90's/2000's versions, but this one seems to be quite good in terms of scent profile, projection and longevity. Very happy about that. Ofc there's no comparison to Kouros, Kouros is a straight killer, but Antaeus is more subtle and mysterious.

Have vintage 100ml available for sale. Message if interested

Antaeus was the first "big boy" cologne I bought with my own adult money from my first real job in 2012. I remember walking into Nordstrom, and a fragrance associate was super excited to show me this new spicy fragrance in a grenade-shaped bottle called "Spicebomb"...ever hear of it? Well, on our way to that counter, I smelled Antaeus and was taken aback by how raw and masculine it was. That was the one I wanted, and that's what I got. Antaeus became my signature date night scent for years. Yes, it's "old" and I wasn't, but it worked on me. I received so many compliments back in the day. Antaeus was so dark, spicy, and herbal in the opening, with this rich and musky animalic leathery accord that I had never before smelled in a perfume. The pachouli was earthy and camphorus, contributing to the darkness of this profile. The oakmoss added this earthy inkyness that reinforced how masculine this scent was. The rose and other florals were there, but they were getting subdued by the more aggressive aromatics, leaving them to only contribute a much needed soft balance. This was a raw, no-fuss cologne for MEN. Literally Bruce Willis (or is it Wayne?) in a bottle. I was feeling nostalgic, so I finally bought a new bottle a week ago, and ugh...it's not as potent or commanding as my 2012 bottle, which I still have. The shell of Antaeus is there, and it smells somewhat similar, but the raw brooding nature of what it once was is gone. It's so...tame. I have no idea if there was real castoreum in my 2012 batch, but it's way more animalic than the version I just got. This could be due to the fact that my 2012 bottle has been macerating for years, or simply the effects of reformulation (or both). I really have no idea, but will hope my new bottle evolves over time. Antaeus was far and away my favorite Chanel fragrance, but this new bottle dropped it down to 3rd, right behind Platinum Egoiste, with Allure Homme taking the first place spot. No love lost for Antaeus, but I am slightly disappointed. 🥀 2012: 9.7/10 2026: 9.0/10

Layered with Tea Rose, glorious

Unapologetic, elegant 80s masculinity, in the most white collar way possible. Kouros is the Muscle Beach Gym goer who gets all the attention, and Antaeus owns the land, and the equipment.

Bold, complex, and dark style of chypre. Opens up with a sharp citrus that mellows out to something more herbal, aromatic and almost bitter, which then gets balanced out by this smoky rose accord that softens up the composition a bit, you also get this musky & animalic nuance that’s not overly pungent but rather balanced. Antaeus gives off an otherworldly, ethereal and gothic type of energy, that’s very masculine and commanding in character. Smells like a demigod, who inhabits an enchanted forested mountain.

Incredible opening, incredible heart notes, but abysmal longevity. In just an hour it goes from amazing to nonexistent. Maybe the idea is that by wearing Antaeus you can get from entering the club to ending up with someone in your bed in under sixty minutes, and this is exactly the distance at which a skin scent is appropriate, but I wish I could keep smelling like the opening longer.

I remember buying Antaeus in 1981, when it first came out. Does it still have any similarity to the original DNA? If I buy a new bottle will I be let down? That is my fear.

9.1/10 An absolute masterpiece of a chypre. Very reminiscent of Trumper's Eucris.

A fragrance that blends notes of jasmine, animalic musk, basil, thyme and coriander. I thought it might be a bit overpowering, but the jasmine and aromatic notes bring it all into balance. 8/10

Strong stuff this one and very much a classic 80's/90's scent profile. Extremely well blended and worthy of the high score but definitely one to test and not blind buy. I associate this with a gothic/witches store selling incense, tarot cards and books on rituals. Along the same lines as Rien Intense Incense by Etat Libre d'Orange but nowhere near as nuclear. That stuff... my word, you wouldn't want to apply more than 1 spray before affecting the health of people close by you. I score this highly because I can appreciate the artistry but it's not something I would buy because 1) I couldn't pull it off and 2) I couldn't identify the correct type of setting to wear it in. 8.5/10.

Antaeus is the quintessential masculine leather chypre. This is the kind of stuff that many of us will circle back around to after we’ve had our fill of niche houses and high end designers. Unmistakably 80’s, this is a massive perfume with notes of everything but the kitchen sink, herbs, florals, citruses, patchouli, leather, aldehydes, you name it. Its maximalist, all encompassing mountain air like freshness was supposed to compete with the ever present cigarette smoke of the cultural landscape it emerged from. And yet, it doesn’t fully embody that 80’s excess. For something of this genre, this is actually quite restrained, it’s airy, quietly tasteful and stoic. Antaeus is almost cynically refined, and It’s engineered for composure rather than seduction. It opens very bright, it dries down quite warm, it has touch of darkness, the modern version doesn’t actually contain civet, and as a matter of fact, it feels quite tame by today’s standards, it just doesn’t have the same amount of synthetic aroma chemicals that are meant to grab your attention from miles away as many popular men’s fragrances from the past decade. Just look at that sleek, minimalist black bottle and you’ll get the picture. Legions of masculine hygiene products copied this scent profile over the years, which makes it quite familiar. You’ve probably smelled the Antaeus DNA even if you haven’t gone out of your way to try it. That’s the mark of a true classic. It doesn’t mean that I’ll stop wearing weird stuff, but if I had to pick one signature scent, this would be a very strong contender.

Still a masterpiece to this day, whether old or current formulation.

I have a bottle of this to sell, 100ml bottle, 95ml left. UK sale only. Current formulation, bought about 6 months ago. Message me if you are interested…

Extremely good. Man, I love the pre-Bleu De Chanel era of Chanel fragrances; they just never put a foot wrong. It's been all downhill since BDC, with some exceptions (Edimbourg). Haven't smelled a vintage, but the modern is jam-packed with aldehydes; surprised nobody in the reviews below (except @fragrantlyenhanced) has really mentioned it. The modern is basically leather, labdanum, patchouli, and a heap of aldehydes haha. The rose begins to peak out after a while as well. No offense to anyone's personal tastes, but this absolutely eclipses Kouros in terms of elegance and wearability in 2026. I respect Kouros as a classic fragrance, but Antaeus just has that extra-special signature Jacques Polge secret-sauce airiness that puts it on another level compared to the YSL. Edit: I own a vintage Parfums Stern batch of Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui, i.e., a pre-IFRA beefy oak moss and leather nuclear bomb, and I don't think these two smell much alike at all. Antaeus has aged much better than Pour Lui (though I still enjoy Pour Lui in winter). 8.5/10

I just love how in the past, the most spellbinding scents comparable with Magic Noire, were hidden from us under the guise of rock abs masculinity. It makes sense this was loved by gay men, the scholars of the boudoir

A superior version of Kouros with better aromatics. Very mature and gentlemanly. You can comfortably pull this off at office.

This is not discontinued, it's currently available on the Chanel website for $142 for 100ml, at least here in the United States. Buy it!

Vintage 1982 sample review: Fantastic, rich fragrance combining a traditional 80s powerhouse fougere DNA with beautiful florals, rose, greens, and herbs. The animalic component is tamer than Kouros, and while this fragrance has a similar "clean/dirty" vibe to Kouros, it is quite different. Antaeus is more refined, with a more tolerable drydown. This is a scent that can be worn casually or professionally, though may be too strong for the office. One of my favorite wears so far, 9/10.

Dior has Fahrenheit and Chanel has Antaeus. Uncompromising masculine perfumery at its peak.

It'snot discontinued. Yes, it is a masterpiece. A manly man of man, father of grandfather classic perfume. A 10/10 yet... it has his own place and temperature... should not be over 20‐25 Celsius or so. This will grow you a moustache, a beard, of you don't have any. Also hair chest GUARANTEED! CHANEL is still top designer... with classics and slow releases, polarising or not, CHANEL smells like... a CHANEL. I went to 3 concerts wearing this, and I didn't even had a ticket. Thank you CHANEL!

Discontinued Gem. Strong one here. Excellent performance. Love how this one smells. 9.9/10

GOD Approves this Fragrance, strong powerful scent, one of Chanel's best creations.

One of the best of all time. It will find its way to everyone's shelves when the time is right. A perfume ahead of its time. A masterpiece.

I really don't get the romanticizing of vintage formulations. The current version of Antaeus is unmistakable and the quality remains high. I'd even say that it's actually better than the vintage due it being fresher, more wearable and definitely less polarizing than 40+ year old bottles which are more brash, harder to find and have a tendency to turn like most vintage Chanel fragrances (bar Egoiste). For reference, I've tested an 80s bottle with the thick chanel logo metallic cap compared to a black cap/sprayer 2017 bottle.

I hadn't use Antaeus in the last 25 years. I was a huge fan in the old times. Totally lost track of this one. Two weeks ago I saw it in a perfume store in Barcelona and give it a try in a blotter... Why not? I expected to have a laugh an comment how dated it smells..... Not the case at all.... I'm in love again... Now Antaeus is in my perfume vault side by side with the likes of Ganymede, Fumerie Turque and Portrait of a Lady.... Sexy, filthy, elegant. Beautiful combo framed in funky patchouli... Antaeus doesn't smell dated. It's a classic.

this is, and will continue to be, one of my favorite fragrances. while many people describe it as a challenging scent or even a bad one, i see it differently. in my eyes the designer perfumery over the past decade has followed an extremely safe and commercial creative direction, however, that same sense of safety has been walking towards something tedious, lacking personality, generic, and ever more distant from the conceptual and artistic side of creation. this often pushes us to seek truly meaningful olfactory experiences only in niche houses or exclusive fragrance lines. and while Antaeus may indeed feel dated for some, a product of another era, a perfume with such history can never be fairly classified as “bad.”

The “lost brother of Kouros.” Different notes, but the same overall vibe. If Kouros smells like a pissed public toilet, Antaeus smells like a pissed forest. Both are heavy, masculine in a brash, aggressive way, outdated, and clearly from another perfume era. 0/10

ليلة باردة ممطرة في مارس، فرصة رائعة و ربما أخيرة هذا الشتاء للاستمتاع بتحفة شانيل: أنتايوس عطر جلود دخاني بلمسة حيوانية هي مسك القندس مع الكثير من النوتات الترابية الجافة هي طحلب البلوط و الباتشولي اضف لذلك القليل من الورد لتنعيم العطر و لمسة من اللابدنوم ليكون العطر تركيبة شيبرة كلاسيكية، كل هذه المكونات ممزوجة بحرفية كبيرة جدا كعادة جاك بولغ و عطور شانيل العطر دائما يأتي اسمه مقرونا بالعطر الاسطوري كورس من ايف سان لوران، و لكن وجه الشبه الوحيد بينهما بالنسبة لي هو وجود نوتة جلدية مسكية حيوانية واضحة بكليهما القندس في انتايوس و الزباد في كورس و التشابه ايضا في تاريخ اصدارهما، عدا ذلك فالعطر يبدو لي كاصدار محسن و اكثر عملية من عطر فان كليف بور اوم، و ايضا به شبه كبير من عطر اراميس الكلاسيكي خصوصا في توظيف لمسة الجلود الأداء ممتاز جدا يصل ليوم كامل على الجلد مع فوحان ممتاز خلال أول 4 إلى 6 ساعات عطر للرجال فوق الثلاثين و يناسب الأجواء الباردة فقط و خصوصا الاستعمال الليلي التقييم 4.8/5

I'm not sure what you guys are talking about when you claim this doesn't have longevity or last. My bottle was purchased from the Chanel website in 2024, and after roughly 2 years of maturation, 3 sprays offers monstrous performance. Heavy projection for the first few hours and then moderate projection for the next several after that. It's easily noticeable as a skin scent the next morning until a shower.