Reviews of Alliage by Estée Lauder

Current Version - Aliage

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness, that I am writing this review. Today is the 50th anniversary of my original Alliage, given to me by my mother for my birthday.

I loved Alliage. In its day it was unique and although not everybody’s cup of tea, it left a wonderful perfume trail wherever I went. My friends knew I was arriving places before they could see me, and a little went a very long way.

Last week, I stupidly purchased a bottle of Aliage, thinking it would be more or less the same as my long lost friend. I should have known better. Where was the bright green rush, followed by the fresh, masculine, woodier tones……….nowhere to be found. Instead I was hit with an amber like warmth, with a hint of the original Alliage in the background, and within 2 hours, it had gone. Maybe my bottle was a fake? Maybe I am just misremembering Alliage? I don’t know, and I never will.

The lesson I have learned, is never go back. Live with the fond memories, and accept that nothing stays the same.

Older fomulation) Aliage starts off sharp, green, with a bracing vivacity. It comes from an age where master perfumers such as the inimitable Bernard Chant incorporated notes such as galbanum and artemisia to create a this wild, outdoorsy energy to compositions. It comes from a time when clearly "clean" and "sporty" meant something very different, preceding the antiseptic, neutered connotations that would render the green chypre floral obsolete (a load of bosh!).

Aliage is similar to Chant's other classic, Aramis Devin, but consider it two variations on a theme. Both are brilliant, with Aliage emphasizing more green and white floral elements whilst Devin is more pine, carnation and spice. Moreover, what is striking about the former, however, is just how much the oakmoss plays a role in the composition. It is truly an example of how it marries itself to other notes, here with the jasmine and rose. Stunning.

The dry down? Oh, the dry down...animalic lumberjack, mossy, deep forest musky paradise. My heart skips a beat.

I find Alliage the most unusual of the older Estee Lauder fragrances: as it hits my nose when I spray it, I am immediately reminded of the green notes of Private Collection; however, on my skin Alliage immediately becomes far more herbal. I don't smell either the peach or citrus notes in the pyramid. The fragrance remains very green and becomes more herbal, before the chypre, musk, wood, vetiver and oakmoss notes develop. There are definitely some green notes shared with Private Collection, but they are almost completely overpowered by the herbal-green notes; Alliage, though is not fresh-green. Unfortunately after about 40 minutes on my skin, Alliage starts to fade, and after about an hour and a half, I can only detect it very faintly. When it's at it's peak, the overall effect is the rather strange sounding mixture of Parfum d'Hermes, Guerlain's Herba Fresca, with the tiniest hint of Private Collection. I don't dislike Alliage, but it's not really my sort of fragrance; and it's sillage and longevity on me are always disappointing.

Very pleasant, but for an essentially green Estee Lauder fragrance (in fact, one of my all-time favourites), I much prefer Private Collection. Definitely suitable for men too

This isn't a 1980s fragrance, but oh boy, the sillage fills a room and lasts all day for me. The drydown on me acts like a linear fragrance too. It is very green and resinous to me. I am reminded of leaves burning in the fall. I usually wear this with a leather jacket or skirt as summer fades and Indian summer begins. It's getting harder to find at Lauder counters. In some places, you have to order it, and it comes in a generic bottle rather than the original square bottle with silver trim. I have an old bottle, so I don't know if it's been reformulated. I hope they never discontinue this.

Opening with a dark green woodsy note, a touch boozy and lashed heavily with galbanum and brightened up a touch by a mandarin/lemony citrus note. Later on a slightly resinous myrrh impression is added. Very pleasant.

In the heart notes a nice, green jasmine note develops, which, at times, has a herbal undertone. The base adds a mossy note, and the myrrh undertone is still present thoughout this stage; this myrrh, however, never really claims a central rôle in this composition as it does, for instance, in Myrrhe Ardente.

I get moderate sillage, good projection, and seven hours if longevity on my skin.

An agreeable green-citrus-woodsy autumn chypre nlended well whist maintaing good structure. The quality of the ingredients is very respectable. 3.25/5.

Don't really know why this would'nt be sold as Unisex.
It's one of the Dark Green Galbanum vegetal bombs that's anchored with Moss Vetiver Oakmoss. A Peachy Citrus top has an acidic sweetness that almost goes Peach Orange Crystals bright. Through the centre is a stripe of something waxy where the Thyme a little dusty resides.
This is my kind of Sports Cologne

Alliage (which is apparently now called Aliage, minus one L) is a perfect example of one of those filthy green 70's chypres that combine a lot of really unlikeable smells into something charismatic and somehow beautiful. At it's core, it's a chypre, so there's that green bergamot/galbanum/moss skeleton. The stars of the show are an upfront vinegar smell and jasmine fused with clove. It's sort of leathery as well, in that oily green chypre way, and there's a large slug of poopy civet in there, too. As the flowery clove and vinegar fade, a dusty sandalwood takes its place adorning the greens and the scent ends with a typical mossy chypre base.

Somehow, these vinegar/flower dirty chypres seem to smell fantastic on me - I find them quite masculine, though it's worth a warning that this is a bit of a challenging perfume. It's wonderful in its own filthy vinegar and poop kind of way, but I don't think this is going to be much of a crowd-pleaser. My only real criticism is that the concentration feels weak, like an EDT at best, leaving everything feeling unnecessarily quiet after a couple of hours. I would have enjoyed having the sandalwood/moss combination that comes in later be much more prominent, but I guess that's to be expected with the lower price point. That being said, I really like Alliage, so definitely still a thumbs up.

I made a point of tracking this down on a holiday to New York 2012, as it is almost unobtainable in the UK now. Purchased blind, as no tester available. I love this scent but it is just way too strong. Sillage about 1000 yards. I really have to be going outdoors to wear this, not one for the office. I still have half the bottle, which is a testament to how rarely it feels appropriate to wear a belter like this.

Estee Lauder's tribute to the scent of chrysanthemums in her creation of a sports scent for women, the first of that scent type.

Quite masculine in its chypre construction, it influenced the creation of Cartier's Must. It is a very green chypre with a tarragon note. Pleasant but undistinguished to my olfactory senses.

Its success, according to Roja Dove, was "short-lived."

Turin calls it a "powdery green" scent and gave it four stars. He notes that Lauder used a "ton" of galbanum to "make an anisic rose-and-vetiver fragrance feel dry and powdery.

Barbara Herman notes its "fresh and citrusy, with a forest backdrop of resiny pine, thyme, oak moss and vetiver.

Top notes: Galbanum, Peach, Citrus Oils
Heart notes: Jasmine, Rosewood, Thyme, Pine
Base notes: Vetiver, Myrrh, Musk, Oakum's

Genre: Green

Alliage could serve as my reference green floral (or floral green), not because it's the best one out there, or even because it's my favorite (L'Eau de Ryokuei? Chamade? No. 19, anyone?) but because it embodies the crisp white flower and bitter galbanum accord in its simplest and most essential manner. It's also one of the most potent of its breed, so that its archetypical green floral heart is hard to miss if you're in the same room. To my own nose, Alliage is a bit too hard in texture, a bit too blatant in its structure, and more than a bit too loud to be broadcasting such a simple message. That said, Alliage will get the job done for anyone who wants a brisk, clean no-nonsense green floral perfume. I think it's just as appropriate on a man as on a woman, though with the wallop it packs, I'd advise the men to go easy on the application.

Yes, this is a "huge" fragrance, a golden old-school chypre combining hesperides (properly oily stuffs, at least in the vintage formulation), resins and woodsy notes (hints of aromatic herbs, pine needles and resins and lots of oakmoss, musk and galbanum). The beginning is hard to measure yourself with in its almost medicinal, lemony and gin toned approach (I detect in this phase also a sort of weird bitter licorice/roots/herbs vague "burnt type" undertone). Floral and fruity notes (bergamot, jasmine and peaches in particular) enrich the sophisticatation of the trail as they are lurking diligently in the core of the olfactory pyramid. Hints of honey and probably leather (I see the reference to Jules, La Perla and vaguely a resemblance with a bunch of Equipage's nuances) linger in the secret recesses of the deep dry down. The final phase projects such an oily/resinous, boise and lemony earthiness with floral accents and I detect in this phase a stout resemblance with the Mitsouko's earthy/peachy/mossy and vetiver supported dry down (probably in a less spicy and complicated way) and vaguely with Jubilation Woman but without its incensey undertone. I finally detect this strong presence of forest resins, rosewood (notable), sticky bergamot/orange oil and honeyed galbanum with a still lingering secret burnt/bitter spark as an undertone nuance. This final trait is properly golden and extremely woodsy with leather/suede nuances barely detectable. I've tried the vintage version and it's more properly an elegant madame Estee Lauder's classic which requires patience to be appreciated in its conclusive earthy/floral deep dark/green sophisticated woodsiness. Great longevity on my skin.

Alliage is a testament to the power of a signature scent! I wore this thru my 20's. It sure impressed my ex boyfriend, he bought a bottle for his new girlfriend!! Old boyfriends aside, I recommend this scent for an "outdoorsy" woman, or one who likes a green, citrus type with not too much of a floral smell. Youthful, great for girls in their teens & 20's.

I almost don't want to review this because I sort of want it to remain a secret. Albeit an open secret. And on the other hand, if nobody buys it, it will go out of production. I don't know how much better the vintage version is. Of course, when something is around for forty years, the vintage is always better. That being said; I'll take the current version of this ANY day. A dry bitter green with hints of floral. Said to be designed specifically to wear while playing tennis. And it does have a sort of gin and tonic straightforwardness to it...which is why I think a man could wear it as easily as a woman. It shares similarities with Azureee and Lauder for Men. In fact, it could be subtitled "Lauder for Men Light".
To sum: An excellent, forgotten but not gone fragrance from the Lauder house. Perfect for hot weather. And also cool weather. Tennis anyone? No tennis anyone?
Oh, screw tennis! Je' t' aime Alliage!

This is a fragrance I could not wear, but really enjoyed on other people. My sister wore this, and one holiday my mother bought her a gift box of perfume with lotion, and I kept going in and opening the box up and would inhale---it smelled wonderful!

What I remember is a slight sharp green "nature" scent, beautifully blended.

MY signature perfume since 1977. I bought a bottle from my first job. Being in a mostly women workplace, I smelled all sorts of fragrances until I asked a co-worker about the scent she was wearing.. She recommended it. ' Had it since then. I tried white linen which has similar scent, but it still went back to Aliage. Wearing it has a an after the rain, morning dew like experience.

Top notes: green notes (galbanum), citrus, peach
Heart notes: jasmine, rosewood, thyme, pine needle
Base notes: vetiver, myrrh, musk, oakmoss

Estee Lauder's Aliage is a complex and challenging green chypre that caught me off-guard, by kicking off with a remarkably unfriendly but head-clearing blast of bitter greens, peach, herbs and citrus. Helloooo. This opening might make you question, "Why Aliage?"
Ok, if you make it through a few minutes of that without either getting a migraine, and/or scrubbing it off, then you could be in for a real treat.
Aliage then starts opening a wonderful wicker picnic basket of surprises for you, deep in the forest, as you spread out your blanket in the shade underneath the soft fir trees.
Aliage takes some of the bitterness, and slowly start to transform it into piney powdery woodiness, with a hint of jasmine and musk, and I would not be surprised to find out if juniper was in there as well. Although marketed as a "sport" scent, this doesn't smell like a gym, or locker room shower. Aliage to me is about the great outdoors, a cold wet morning in the forest that warms and dries in the sun. Very good.

I've heard about this and was glad to sample it. It is a big scent. Marketed to women but it is so powerful and moderately dry that a man could wear it. The peachy fruit up top gives it a round, plump opening. It quickly settles into a 70's herbal-mossy-leathery brew. It is a sibling to Dior's Jules. Nice enough, some might find it a bit dated in today's market.

New to perfumes (so much wasted time), I'm still learning what I like and the vocabulary to express it.

I have a current formulation and a partial mini of 70's vintage.
The vintage is so much better, surprise huh? On the vintage the nose biters (aldehydes?) fade quickly revealing a mossy, herbal, delightfully woody scent with citrus tops notes and a very subdued slightly powdery base with just a hint of sweet. The wood reminds me of douglas fir pitch, warm, aromatic with a slight sharpness.
Lord, I wish they would re-release this and sell it to men and save them from smelling like Krispy Kreme counter boys.
The newer formulation?
On it's own, it's alright. The resemblance is there but there's a flatness and kind of a musty, sourness to it with just a slight hit of just wrong. It's a dish cooked with poor ingredients and a dash of contempt for the diner.
I've got to get a full bottle of the vintage. I love this stuff.

At first glance, Alliage, one of the Estée Lauder line's inexpensive mainstays might be considered simply ‘cheap and cheerful.' It reads, “Sport Fragrance Spray” in a functional, rather non-stylized bottle. Not exactly sexy. But cheap and cheerful implies an innocent simplicity whose grinning surface advises not digging any further. On the contrary, I'd argue that Alliage is inexpensive but sophisticated and spectacular. One of the impressive set of perfumes in the stellar-but-cheap sweepstakes.

Everyone seems to talk about Alliage's notes, and I will as well, but briefly. I don't get the peach. I don't get the oakmoss. I do get a heavy green (loads of galbanum accented by vetiver) brightened by citrus rind oils (bitter orange, lime?) and florals. But since the green is already firmly in place, the floral tone is a clean, airy white jasmine bolstered by musk and what smells like rosewood. I've heard people lament the loss of a more heavily oakmoss-laden earlier version of Alliage, but I don't miss Miss Moss. Alliage is wonderfully balanced just the way it is.

The cool white florals seem a dry counterpoint to the sweet galbanum. And galbanum's lasting chalkiness lines up perfectly with a resinous base that gives depth and a slow-moving quality. Myrrh? Incense? It all feels very languid and heavy-lidded. I don't need the bitter green that moss might add. Consider Alliage's sibling Devin by Aramis for that.

Alliage has a cool quality that implies poise as much as temperature. Its cool impression is similar in to the effect given by mint/basil or camphorous components, but without their harshness or muscle-balm feeling. In cooler weather, Alliage feels forest-like, a bit moist. In my dry southern California heat, Alliage keeps its cool longer and more comfortably than any other perfume I've tried. It doesn't blend with the skin. It's more like a richly colored clothing accessory, like the perfect tie. It works as an accent and draws the nose's attention. It doesn't blend. I think this is how Alliage remains cool through drydown.

Clean and green, not so much tart as a bit sharp. This is one of the few fragrances I wear to work as an RN in a hospital. It's cool but not quite grass-like, not quite floral. It has wonderful endurance, but after the topnotes, mild sillage. I think it just reads as quality grooming products to my patients and colleagues.

Again the price dilemma. In this case a happy one. Why does this cost so little? It sells at the same department stores that flog haphazardly brewed, blaringly marketed perfumes for 3-4 times the price. Alliage is a distinctive fragrance of high quality and name-droppable pedigree (Bernard Chant) that has been typically well maintained over the years by Estée Lauder. I could wear this forever (were I not so perfume-promiscuous, that is.)

In 1972 I received a packet of mail to tenants who had rented a small house before me. In one of the mass market magazines was a full page (or two page) ad for Alliage. It was just introduced, and there was a scratch and sniff attachment. I still remember the vivid green fragrance that wafted from that magazine, and my memory is a pleasant one.

That is a powerful recommendation for this perfume. I smelled the fragrance from bottles later that year on my skin and on paper. It was the first time I ever smelled a natural, dry, realistic green fragrance. It is the best natural green fragrance I have yet smelled.

At that time I favored Yves Saint Laurent men's clothing, and Zmy fragrance was Yves Saint Laurent Pour Homme, which I wore exclusively until I discovered Tuscany (another Estee Lauder fragrance) and then Tuscany Forte.

I never experiemented with Alliage as a man's fragrance, It was too vivid for me then. And I was not as taken with Devin as I was with Tuscany, so I imagine that it is not green notes that so intrigued me, but Alliage's green notes.

I must point out, however, that when I chose a gragrance for my gir friend at the time, later my first wife, it was not Alliage, but L'Heure Bleu.

Today for myself, I still like Guerlain fragrances, Heritage and Habit Rouge. I also wear and love Kolnisch Juchtern, and I enjoy Elsha 1776 (which is one of the great bargains currently available for men). The greenest I get is the basso root notes of Guerlain Vetiver, but I think I could go for a men's fragrance that used the dry green of Alliage if it were mixed by a master. And to be truthful, I must admit that I recently discovered I like the smell of Irish Spring Sopeed Stick Deodorant, for a deodorant.

The only other fragrance that ever had the same impact on my memory as Alliage was Knize Ten, which i woud wear much of the time, if it were more easily accessible. And if I had not become enamoured so of Kolnisch Juchten by Regence.

I still haven't smelled many Chypre fragrances, so I don't know whether I am a fan of the Chypre category. In any case, I have tried Aliage a few times, and I love it! When you first spray it on it is almost offensive in its strength, but it softens almost immediately. The dry-down is really earthy and feminine in a timeless and elegant way, rather than a classicly cloying way, which is a decidedly rare find among the hundreds of fragrances I have sprayed myself with. Those who describe the fragrance as irritating or overly strong do have a point, as much as I love it. But I think this fragrance softens so much that it shouldn't send anyone into a sneezing fit. I highly recommend it! (vintage formula)

Sourcing a top-quality perfume classic doesn't always require tons of dough or spending weeks hunting down a rare vintage - sometimes it just means a trip over to the mall and a $30 outlay. Alliage is a simple but remarkably solidly constructed green/floral chypre. The green notes are photorealistic, the jasmine/galbanum provide a bitter counterpoint to the sweet peachy topnote, and the whole shebang is wrapped up by a wonderfully rich oakmoss that presents itself upon application and gives this perfume a fuzzy olfactory texture. Alliage is still easy to find at most Lauder counters at most malls. Today's formula is a bit toned down, with a brighter peach note and a less encompassing oakmoss note (presumably they are using low-atranol oakmoss or a substitute). Also, the vintage formula has a 'true' middle stage of development featuring a sweet rose note that fades into the oakmoss base that the modern version seems to lack. Still, even with the superiority of the vintage Alliage the currently available formula is far superior to 98% of what's available at your typical Macy's. Collectors should absolutely keep a bottle of Alliage around as the standard green chypre against which all others are compared. Thumbs way up.

spicy deep greens for cooler climes as can be a bit cloying in hot weather imo.go easy on application too,as it is strong and virile

Just a very odd observation: my mom loves this, but it cannot be found in our country. Once when she tried, of all things, Obsession in a shop, she kept being reminded of Alliage! There has to be some similarities in the mixes. My suggestion for an Alliage dupe, therefore? Sheer Obsession, if you can still find it. Weird but true!And yes, Alliage is quite green, but not as green as many, many other such scents. Actually quite a complicated scent, to my nose, and very unique.