Review - Chanel No 5 (Chanel)

Originally posted on Dreamwidth on 13th January, 2010

Chanel No 5 is the first perfume in the floral-aldehyde group and the first by the quantity of aldehydes in its composition (another legend says that the Ernest Beaux's assistant overdosed the aldehydes in the composition by mistake). The top notes are composed of aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, neroli and ylang-ylang, the heart of jasmine, rose, lily of the valley and iris, while the base is created of vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, amber and patchouli.

Dear lord it may be a cliche but I understand why people love this.
Rose and jasmine hit straight away but don't spank you. This is soft and powdery. There's a very familiar note here, which I think is the jasmine that fizzes slightly. Something that reminds me of YSL's Champagne. But that was big and brash, this far more subtle.

And gorgeous. Did I mention gorgeous? This is the EDT and already I'm wishing I had the EDP because I suspect my skin is going to eat this all up for breakfast. Luckily I have that coming with my Perfumed Court samples, so I'll be able to compare and contrast.


Oh hai vanilla, I didn't see you there. 3 hours wear and that's pretty much all I can smell, the vanilla, with sandlewood and patchouli. Wow. Very faint now, can't imagine a lot of sillage from this one. Rare for me to want MOAR smell rather than less.

It fades far too fast on my skin and while i dearly wanted to top it up with more, its only a 1ml sampler.

Its very easy to get caught up in the mythology of Chanel no 5, and the beautifully directed Christmas ads, but at the end of the day, this is a wonderful, golden scent, that harks back to a more glamorous time, but still manages to seem vibrant and modern. I'd stayed away from this for years because it smellt "like cats" on MovieMom (her words). That was a shame. Worth the outlay for a special occasion, cheapest price for the EDT I could find was Boots at £47.