Gabrielle Chanel perfume – a fragrance for women 2017

Wow! I’ve been reading some of the reviews here and some are extremely harsh and brutal. I suspect it has everything to do with preconceived notions and expectations. However, many here are not even THINKING!

When Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel was just a girl, before The House of Chanel came into being or she was called “Coco”, there were no fragrances like this. Women wore soliflores, mostly of rose. Any women caught wearing something like this? They would be labeled as “whores”. So yes, something like this would be “rebellious” if Gabrielle were to have worn it back then. Remember she said, “a woman doesn’t smell like flowers”. She had Ernest Beaux create a composition of the “scent of a woman” freshly bathed with the scent of her powder and cosmetics. This is where Chanel changed the rules in women’s fragrances. Likewise, this is a composition here that smells like what we (one hundred years later) think a good quality triple milled soap smells like. One that would be appropriate for anyone from a teenager on up to an adult of any age to wear daily. Nothing “oh la la, trés sexy”, “tooth-achingly sweet”, no “powdery grandma rose”, “industrial strength astringent cleaner” smell, or anything someone would find offensive unless you over spray it. Just a nice, classy, simple, fresh, semi-sweet, clean fragrance to be worn daily. That’s it. It does smell happy, as some others have said. So each morning it greets me with hope for a sunny, happy day ahead. It can lift your spirits. Btw, a little goes a long way and it does last all day. So, you do get your money’s worth here. If you have dry skin that eats fragrances, I suggest you use Vaseline or unscented lotion/moisturizer.

If you’re unsure about white florals, you may want to test before buying. Can be worn year round. I LOVE an everyday fragrance that can do that because I HATE to change my fragrance because it’s either too light to wear in cold weather or too heavy to wear in warm weather. I just like to have other fragrances to change things up a bit from time to time with what I’m doing. For instance, a sweet sandalwood fragrance at the ski lodge and a citrus floral at the beach house. This can go from day into night if going somewhere casual. If more formal, you can easily change your fragrance by layering it with something like N°5 Eau Première.

This is a love for me! I think for many, if they were to change their expectations and judge this for what it actually is, rather than for what they were expecting it to be, they would love it too. Not every fragrance made needs to be like something worn to a gala, nor is it appropriate to wear such a fragrance on a daily basis either. We need fragrances like this that are appropriate to wear in our daily lives. Then, when we do go to a gala and wear that type of fragrance, it will put us in the right mood, have us feeling wonderful, and won’t ever feel “ho-hum” because we have become so accustomed to it that we become indifferent to it.

Edit: Crazy as it sounds, this can actually start to smell like Chanel N°5 parfum on me. NOT the eau de parfum. The EDP is an olfactory assault on my senses, but the parfum is much nicer, sweeter, and more smooth. I got whiffs of it several times on me and thought, maybe I was crazy? So when a friend hugged me yesterday and said, “Oohhh, you’re wearing your N°5 and it always smells so good on you.” and I was actually wearing this, that confirmed it. Must be the ylang ylang in combination with the aldehydes (I swear, I do smell them here) jasmine, lily of the valley, orange flower, orris, and sandalwood doing that. It’s softer, not as powdery, and a bit fresher, but no denying that it smells like N°5. So, N°5 before there was the House of Chanel? Ok I can see that after experiencing this on my own skin.