Old School: Fragrance
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| Chanel No5 |
I’m not sure what’s happened, whether it’s something in my body chemistry that’s changed or something in my brain, but as of the last few weeks most of the fragrances I was wearing and loved even a few months ago now seem gimmicky or cloying or sour. Lately, this is the only fragrance I can wear and still be happy with hours later.
I guess classics become classics for a reason.
Do you find that your “nose” and fragrance preferences change over time?
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It’s a gorgeous fragrance; love it still! Agree that many modern frags are gimmicky and candyish; it is the style and also what happens when accountants run the parfumeurs. Drop the quality of the juice, sign up a star to promote it, make more money.
I have worn Chanel # 5 since a teenager! Always classic!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
I think I’ve finally “grown into” Chanel No. 5. It is a classic for a reason. And although I’ve tended to wear green scents, more and more I find that I am drawn to powdery, flowery — or for evening, incense-based — fragrances.
For warmer weather, you might like Elie Saab Le Parfum. It starts out with jasmine and orange blossom, and works its way down to cedarwood. Saab was thinking of his native Lebanon when he created it, but it has a lot in common with Southern California, too. It’s very feminine, in an understated way.
JVS: Chanel No. 5 has been reformulated a mess of times, so while it might have stayed true to the spirit of Beaux’s creation, it certainly hasn’t stayed true to the letter. (for more info: http://www.basenotes.net/threads/239233-Chanel-No-5-Parfum-Reformulation)
In the book The Secret of Chanel No. 5, it’s revealed how the fragrance triumphed not because of any particular brilliance (though it is/was a very good juice) but through a masterpiece of juggernaut marketing. It’s definitely worth a read.
As for everything smelling off, I know the feeling and suspect it’s body chemistry. Ormonde Jayne Woman has been a go-to favorite for years, but sometimes it’s turned positively cloying on me. Same thing with some of Jean-Claude Ellena’s offerings, and Lord knows there’s nothing cloying about them.
About the only juice I can use reliably is Alan Cumming’s Cumming, by Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume (I think it’s available at his shop as “Second Cumming” now) because it’s so dry and smokey without turning into a huge smoke bomb like Lonestar Memories or some of the other Tauer fragrances.
Yes, some of my old loves – including, sadly, Chanel No. 5 – don’t smell as wonderful on me anymore : < I have a "new classic" that I adore, though: Prada Infusion d'Iris. It's like therapy for me!
You just know when something works and why try to change it?
Mother wore Shalimar for her early years and it’s been Chanel No.5 for the past 40 or so…give or take,
she’s 85 so whose counting!!
Perfume is a great accessory…
years from now when your son has the occasion to sniff that scent it will take him right back to you.
My grandmother and Noxema are inextricably linked forever in my memory.
Happy Birthday to you on Monday fellow Pisces!
I always go for classics in perfume. No5 is lovely, I prefer Coco though, and other favourites are Samsara or Shalimar by Guerlain and Reve Gauche by YSL. Classics can’t be beaten.
As I mentioned in your previous post, I’ve worn Chanel No. 5 for a long time, and it hasn’t changed on me. I learned from my mother that perfume is one place you do not want to budget. Quality is all!
But beware! Many of the great perfume producers are now owned by corporate brands and profit seems all. So far, the House of Chanel remains true to Madame Coco’s original formula. Guerlain also seems to have maintained their quality.
The best way to know whether a fragrance is right for you is to sample, sample, sample. Take those little free-be phials at the perfume counters and spritz. A month or two will tell you whether it’s right for you.
April
I’m a Guerlain fan, even knowing that Shalimar, L’Heure Bleue, and Nahema aren’t the same. Only Chanel I wear is Bois des Iles. But, in aldehydeland, I wear Arpege quite a bit, especially when I’ll be in meetings with lots of folks whom I don’t know, or when I want to project a confidence I may not exactly feel.. As Arpege and No. 5 are similar, I think I can say these are fragrances one tends to grow into, and seem kind of strange on a 20-something. Not bad, as that’s a woman or man with some confidence, but definitely not the fruitchouli of the day. It’s classic for a damn good reason.
I don’t like No. 5 on me at all. I’ve never understood the attraction. But I like something very light, so I wear an eau de toilette made by L’Aromarine. I first tried it at a gift shop and bought one scent. As I was driving home, the scent kept developing and I didn’t like it. I drove back and exchanged it for a different one, Oceane, which is all I wear now. It’s very light and clean. I can only find it online now, and I hope that source doesn’t dry up!
Maybe it’s just me, but my Mom wore Chanel No. 5 and I did too when I was younger. I keep thinking I want to buy some again, but when I smell it at the shops it doesn’t smell how I remember it. Not like it did as late as 1990, the year of her death. Might they have changed the formula? I always thought sense of smell was from an older part of the brain, tied to emotional memories, etc. But Chanel No. 5 – nice as it is – doesn’t do that for me any more. Sadly.
I hate when brands re formulated their perfums…
Since 20 years (I’m 40) I wear Mitsouko, Aromatic Elixir, Fracas and Aimez-moi…For me most of new fragrances are lacking personnality.
N° 5 is perfect, “indémodable”
Paddychat
As we enter menopause and after menopause-land…our scent changes. For a fact. And, our olfactory senses also change. I cannot stand wearing most of what I wore even a decade ago…I was a Coco wearer for ages, and now I cannot wear it for more than a few hours without getting a headache…and sometimes feeling slight anxiety…until I can get the scent off. It is just something that as you accept it, becomes norm.
Oh dear. Another menopause issue to make life more difficult. But I was wondering if hormones do indeed make things smell differently–if not actually, possibly to our “paused” olfactory sense?
Definitely… and I am so much more sensitive to scent…
I have reverted back to Gardenia Passion.. one I love from Annick Goutal… just seems to work… xv
I have sniffed Chanel 5 over and over at the counters, but I just don´t like it at all. Gives me a headache.
I want a breathe-through scent, and after my latest post on perfumes, when I wrote, having found my favorite, I´ve changed it yet once.
The scent will remain a secret for anyone else but me. I like it that way.
I love Chanel No. 5 and have it in parfum and eau de cologne. I also wear Chanel’s Cuir de Russie and Bois de Iles (both parfum) and my husband gave me Arpege for Christmas. Guerlain’s Jicky parfum is on my ‘want’ list. I love the classics–and almost all of them have been reformulated. I buy, wear, and love what is available now. I have no way of obtaining these perfumes in their pre-reformulation versions except as samples. My favorite sample was some very old Chypre du Coty. Perfume is something that makes me feel very womanly. I love wearing it, and just a little bit is sufficient, since I use parfum.
I once loved Diorissimo. It’s too sweet now.
Most perfumes give me headaches, but I can handle Pacifica’s “Malibu Lemon Blossom.” I keep meaning to check out Jo Malone’s fragrances…and L’Occitane’s verbena fragrance this summer.
Strange that you would say that, but I have noticed now I dont get any compliments on my perfume. Over the past 5 years, I’ve tried some of my old favorites–that always garnered compliments and tried some new ones. Not a word! (other than my husband)
What has happened?
I adore Chanel and especially the updated lighter version. I’ve had no problem with scent although have developed an allergy to hair dye!
I have only recently been able to wear perfume… as my life has calmed down. When I was so busy with three kids, my mind could not take in another stimulus… it would just add to my over load. Now as my life is transitioning back to more about me, I have found COCO noir to be one I like to wear. I bought it in Paris as I wanted a scent I could put on …. and be instantly be transported back… to my ‘good’ memories of Paris!
Over the years the EU has introduced stringent new standards for perfume manufacture. It’s a result of people complaining about sensitivities to a wide range of ingredients. So it comes under “health and safety” regulation and there is no appeal against it. I believe that citrus based materials are going to be next thing banned. It’s a bitch – but you will see that nothing is going to unaffected. There are all kinds of classic perfumes on sale which are nothing like their originals whatever the manufacturers claim. Annick Goutal’s Eau du Hadrien is the one I miss.
When I was young, high school I think, I loved Shalimar. I cannot stand it now. In my twenties, I loved but could not afford No 5 so I wore an Estee Lauder fragrance, Knowing, and Anais Anais. I continued to love Anais for years and bought No 5 when I could afford it. I found Estee Lauder’s Pleasures in my forties and still wear it. I found Chanel’s Chance in my early fifties and wear it in place of No 5 just because it’s all so expensive. I will eventually trade out one for the other but I think my fragrances are set for life. I love the scent bars & folds in magazines but never enough to buy a new one.
I now tend to like lighter floral scents now and Eau de toilettes as opposed to the full perfume. I no longer like anything too heavy.
Occasionally I wear Givenchy’s L’interdit, but I honestly find it very heavy for everyday use. I’m dying to get a whiff of the new Marchesa scent d’Extase but it’s not available locally. My everyday scent is…Bath and Body Works Moonlight Path! Very bourgeois, I know, but it’s light and fresh without being juvenile.
Spashionista (Alicia)
I go through periods where I wear a perfume, and then a much longer period when I wear nothing. And yes, everything changes on me, more as I’ve gotten older. I wear a unisex fragrance when I wear one, as everything tends to go “sweet” on me anyway. I do have Chanel No. 5 in the perfume, and occasionally wear it.
I find it a bit heavy for a warm climat. I go more for lemony floral smells.
Have a lovely Tuesday, my friend.
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Though I formerly enjoyed very much to wear perfume, I’m one of those horrid folks who more immediately experience very real health consequences when exposed to toxic chemicals, including many perfumes and heavily-scented personal care products. I am glad for emerging scent-free policies and the kinds of regulations Araminta describes which prioritize health and safety, particularly in the context of declining quality and fewer natural ingredients in scents. People feel very strongly about this, as they did before smoke-free spaces became the norm.
It is so kind and much appreciated when people have a care to avoid or even not overuse fragrance, especially when air space is shared in enforced close quarters over time – airplanes, theatres, workplaces, schools, waiting rooms, hospitals. Being now on the other side, I’m sorry I was ever so impolitely stinky and subjected others to potential harm. I agree with others’ observations of how our experience of scents can change so much with hormonal shifts, as well as adjustments in diet and lifestyle, according to health status, etc.