From Chloé, the Love, Chloé purse spray in a rose gold finish with a chain attached to the cap. 72€, comes with two 10 ml refills…

Read the rest of this article »

Finding out when men start Christmas shopping is simple - sales of Chanel No.5 perfume go through the roof.

It’s the most popular fragrance bought by men every year, and signals the beginning of their annual Christmas splurge, says high street store Debenhams.

— Read more at How to tell when men start their Christmas shopping... sales of Chanel No.5 go through the roof at the UK's Mail Online.

If you missed them, here are links to part 1 (scented body products), part 2 (travel sizes & coffrets), part 3 (more travel sizes & coffrets), part 4 (home fragrance), part 5 (men’s fragrance) and part 6 (solid perfumes).

From Thierry Mugler, the Angel by Thierry Mugler Extrait de Parfum Signature Brooch: “The art of refined perfume meets the delights of feminine indulgences when the Angel Extrait de Parfum comes to life, adorned with a signature couture brooch designed by Thierry Mugler to adorn your décolleté! Made of zamak, the brooch is punctuated by a dramatic spike and embossed with the Thierry Mugler signature. The heavenly and delicious notes of Angel are concentrated into a rare and exclusive formula: the extrait de parfum, dedicated to fulfill extreme desires. Produced in a small quantity by Brosse in France, each Angel Extrait de Parfum bottle is engraved with a unique number, showcased in a luxurious box and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.” A bargain at $198 for 10 ml at Nordstrom…

Read the rest of this article »

I was not excited when I heard Chanel’s latest addition to the Les Exclusifs collection, Jersey, featured lavender. It is not a favorite note of mine, although I love Guerlain Jicky, and oddly enough, also the first fragrance I thought of when I smelled Jersey, Brin de Réglisse. Like Jersey, Brin de Réglisse is a niche-from-a-mainstream-house sort of thing, in this case from Hermès, and the reason I thought of Brin de Réglisse right away is not because they smell alike, although I suppose perhaps they are the distant-est of distant cousins. No, I thought of it because of the lavender note in Brin de Réglisse, which as you may remember, was a molecular fraction (is that the term? I don’t know the term, and admit I am not very concerned about it either way). I’ll repeat a quote I used then:

[Perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena] asked them to slice natural lavender into 50 distinct groups of molecules, sniffed them all, discarded five and reassembled it. “My lavender had a much purer, cleaner smell,” he says, comparing it with the natural scent. “Then I had to find something to dress it up that would be a little unusual. I chose a touch of licorice.” (via Los Angeles Times, 10/28/2007)

As near as I can tell, they do something similar (presumably using cheaper methods) with many fragrances notes, which is why notes you used to hate — patchouli! — don’t bother you anymore, and why smelling materials in their natural state is no longer necessarily helpful to the budding perfumista…

Read the rest of this article »

Chanel has launched Jersey, a new introduction to the Les Exclusifs de Chanel collection…

Read the rest of this article »

No matter how many fragrances Chanel’s line up features, Chanel No. 5 hogs the limelight. Yet supposedly Coco Chanel’s favorite, the one she named after her birth date, was No. 19. Rumor is she kept No. 19 out of mass production so she could wear it herself and give bottles to special clients and friends.

In 1971, after Mademoiselle’s death, Chanel released No. 19 to the public. Chanel’s website describes the fragrance, developed by perfumer Henri Robert, as “A rich blend of floral and green notes, followed by May Rose and Iris from Florence. The finale: a chime of Chypre with a subtle, woody Vetiver note.” It goes on to say No. 19 is “Audacious and assertive. Never conventional.”

If No. 5 is the grande dame with pearls and Champagne, No. 19 is the ingénue. While No. 5 sits in the living room with nattily dressed suitors, No. 19 is getting back from a ride through the forest on a summer day…

Read the rest of this article »

As a teenager, I was tightly wound: aloof, careful, “tart” (but certainly not a tart!) My parents were always telling me to loosen up — “Get a tan!” “Go on a date!” “Learn to dance!” I remember the night my attitudes about myself started to shift. I had just turned 18 and was preparing to go to school at night for a yearbook meeting (where my “tart” comments were always expunged from photo captions of fellow students). On that spring evening (what got into me?) I did several things out of character: I wore jeans, I put on a tight white sweater (without a t-shirt underneath, risqué!), I used gel in my hair…and I wore perfume — Chanel Pour Monsieur. Back in those days, there were no “makeover” shows on TV, but the reactions I got to the “new” me were very What Not to Wear — post-consultation. Several friends stared at me as if I were an alien. I got compliments. I began to understand the “power” of appearances.

Swirling around this incident were feelings of freedom ahead. In several months, I’d head off to college in New York City. I could start living the way I wanted to live. I was about to begin my exploration of the world. When I wear Chanel Pour Monsieur, I always remember that night, and I associate the perfume with youth, spring, hope, and transformation…

Read the rest of this article »

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sheldrake's take is less extreme. "It's important to remember that No 19 was created at the beginning of the 1970s, an era notable for the fact that women's emancipation was at its height. The original No 19 was created in the spirit of the first wave of feminism and it therefore has something of an 'I'll walk all over you' aspect to it, I agree."

No 19 Poudré , as perhaps befits the time, "is a more obviously feminine fragrance," Polge argues.

— Perfumers Christopher Sheldrake and Jacques Polge talk about the upcoming Chanel No 19 Poudré.

Update: huge apologies, I inadvertently left out the link to the original article! Here it is: One green bottle: Meet the brains – and noses – behind Chanel No 19 at The Independent.

Chanel will launch No. 19 Poudré, a flanker to 1971′s Chanel No. 19. The new fragrance honors the iris pallida note, and reportedly reveals a new powdery-musky facet…

Read the rest of this article »