Chanel N°22 Chanel perfume – a fragrance for women 1922

FRAGRANCE REVIEW FOR CHANEL NO 22

WHITE WEDDING BY CHANEL

This is my all time favorite Chanel fragrance, well, when I’m not wearing No. 19 that is. Ernest Beaux (1881 to 1961) who brought us Chanel No. 5 in 1921 outdid even himself when he created No. 22 the following year in 1922. What a stroke of pure genius. This is a perfume of incredible heartbreaking beauty. I’m going to break down the notes from the 1922 orignal formula which sadly does not exist anymore because it’s been reformulated by Jacques Polge (from 2007) and now selling as Les Exclusifs De Chanel No. 22, although I’m not complaining or knocking it. The new one is a sweeter softer version that kept the heart of the fragrance at least. I love both versions of the fragrance. No. 22’s original formulaic structure was as follows:

Head Notes: Aldehydes, Orange Blossom, Neroli

Heart Notes: White Jasmine White Rose White Tuberose Lilac

Base Notes: Sandalwood Vetiver Oak Moss Incense

These notes were available as fragrance accords found in Grasse France at the time: jasmine, orange blossom, tuberose, lilac, sandalwood, vetiver and oak moss. The innovative “new” notes that had not been used in fragrances before 1921 were in No. 22 and they were aldehydes and incense. Aldehydes had previously been used for Chanel No. 5. The aldehydic opening in No. 5 and No. 22 are similar, but No. 22 is far more excessive. It’s a sparkling champagne.

And that was the whole idea it starts off like someone pops open a bottle of champagne at a wedding. The white flowers are dominant in the heart of the fragrance: jasmine, tuberose and white roses. It’s a wedding floral bouquet. The original had some green notes as well that blended with the white floral accord and it progressed into the dry down. The sandalwood made it a chypre which was already an established structure in fragrance by 1921. It’s a lovely soft scented sandalwood. The most prominent base note of the old formula blew everyone away and sealed the deal: INCENSE!

This was the perfumed incense at a Catholic Cathedral during a White Wedding. It’s not dark smoke. It’s pure church incense that totally takes you to a church wedding. It must have been so beautiful to smell on an actual bride during the 1920’s. There is no doubt in my mind that this fragrance was especially created for brides to wear with their wedding gown on ther wedding day. Coco Chanel, never the motherly housewife type, didn’t care for floral scents in her perfumes and would never have worn this one. She preferred oaks and woodsy notes and green notes in her chypre perfumes and was into No. 19 towards the end of her life. I have never smelled a more perfect, luxurious fragrance than No. 22 the original thanks to a good friend in France who has a very old worn fragrance like a trophy that adorns her grandmother’s dresser.

REVIEW OF THE NEW FORMULA FOR CHANEL NO 22

Jacques Polge reformulated No. 22 in February 2007 and they are still selling with the Les Exclusifs De Chanel line. This is what you’re getting when you purchase it in the Chanel boutiques:

Head Notes: Aldehydes Neroli Lily Of the Valley

Heart Notes: Jasmine Tuberose Rose YlangYlang

Base Notes: Vetiver Vanilla Amber

Although amber is not listed on Fragrantica’s list of accords, I can totally smell it. It’s clearly there in the dry down and gives it a very clean soapy scent and warmth. It’s also commonly found in most of today’s formulas for fragrances even if they don’t bother to list the note. The new formula retained the original aldehydes as the fragrance starts to wear on your skin.

They kept the white floral fragrances of jasmine, tuberose and rose but added a new flower: ylangylang. And it’s a HUGE ylangylang and clearly the most dominant floral note. They spent a considerable amount messing with the base notes.They dared to take away the incense! And instead of that incredible incense they added what? Vanilla. Oh it’s delicious and sweet and blends well with the amber but it was created merely to soften the fragrance. The vetiver retains the green notes of the original and also makes it somewhat masculine, and this is why men today also wear No. 22. It has a cologne type of smell and can easily come off as a man’s night cologne to wear to formal evening wear events.

The white flowers are the true attraction of this fragrance. I wish however that they hadn’t rid this fragrance of that beautiful incense. The incense was what made No. 22 such a winner. I like vanilla, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just not appropriate to a Chanel fragrance. Even as such, this is a magnificent masterpiece that has stood the test of time as much as No. 5. But for me it’s superior to No 5. It is far more beautiful. If No. 5 is the fragrance a woman wears to bed, No. 22 is the fragrance the same woman wore to her wedding day with her wedding gown. It’s a fragrance that exudes class, sophistication, feminine beauty, and romance.

This is a romantic fragrance for romantic women. I’m single and love to stay single and don’t even dream about a wedding day. I also don’t intend to get married hundreds of times like Elizabeth Taylor or women who marry more than one time LOL. Although this is definitely a wedding gown fragrance, it doesn’t have to be. It’s a night cologne that you wear with formal evening gowns, ball gowns, and expensive couture for dinner parties, galas and the like. It’s also suited to fancy dinners, romantic restaurants, romantic cruises, a honeymoon in Paris, a wedding anniversary, a relationship anniversary. This is also a perfume to wear to the ballet, the theater, the symphony, the opera.

This is as far away from a relaxed casual cocktails-and-lunch or everyday day time fragrance as possible. It’s a fragrance that is so special, so beautiful that it can only be worn very infrequently once in a while, even once a year. I have a large splash bottle and it will be a long time before I finish with it. The fragrance has a lot of strength and lasts for hours. It’s my favorite Chanel fragrance along with No. 19. I love how this smells. Theres nothing remotely like it in the world and I don’t care who wears it whether it’s a bride or my next door neighbor in his pajamas picking up the newspaper.