Posted by Angela
on
29 August 2011
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…
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Posted by Kevin
on
27 July 2011
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…
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Posted by Robin
on
11 July 2006
I am a creature of habit. To this day, I prefer Roger Moore to Sean Connery because Roger Moore was the James Bond I grew up with. Sean Connery may be better, but he’ll never be Bond to me because I didn’t see his movies until later, and by then, well, he just didn’t look like Bond. Forget about the Bonds who came after Roger Moore, they’re not even worth discussing.
So it is with Cristalle. Chanel introduced the Cristalle fragrance as an Eau de Toilette in 1974. It was developed by perfumer Henri Robert. It was (and is, if you can get your hands on the Eau de Toilette) light, crisp, and sparkling, just a little veil of lemon, fresh herbs and oakmoss with lots of green and a few flower petals thrown in for good measure (other notes include bergamot, jonquil, jasmine, honeysuckle, rosewood, hyacinth and vetiver). I started wearing it in the late 1970s and I adored it. The first spritz was always so bright and sharp, it cut right through the heat and humidity of a Washington, DC summer. The lasting power was negligible, but you can’t get that kind of light, crisp and sparkling and staying power, that is just how it is…
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