Chanel - French Week Day 7

Well this is the last day of my week long tribute to France and French beauty. I feel like I have covered several amazing French brands but also that I have barely scratched the surface of many of the products and lines that come out of this country. For the last day, we are going back to Paris and to one of the brands that is about as classic French as it gets. For when many women think of France, they first picture Chanel and the iconic Chanel No. 5 fragrance. This fragrance is know as the "now and forever fragrance". This is very true, this is the one fragrance that both my mother and I wear and a fragrance that I can see myself still wearing when I am her age.

Here is the description of the fragrance from Sephora, "The first great abstract perfume, N°5 conjures up no precise floral scent and survives the passing of mere trends because it is beyond them. Coco Chanel wanted "a woman's fragrance that smells like Woman." When perfume designer Ernest Beaux presented her with his 5th composition, the choice seemed simple and obvious. Her perfume would be called N°5. Five was her lucky number". What she mean when she wants a fragrance that smell like "Woman"? It is very simple, Chanel wanted a fragrance that had no instantly recognizable notes and soon after the first aldehydic floral.

At that time in history, perfumes had one or two very recognizable notes and that was what the fragrance smelled like. An example of this would be that if a fragrance boasted lily of the valley as its main note then the fragrance smelled like lily of the valley and nothing else. Chanel wanted a fragrance that was different for every woman and had no notes that jumped out at one. An aldehydic floral is defined as follows, "A bouquet of abstract flowers with an indefinable femininity".

This is the description of the development of the fragrance after initial application, "Launches with bewitching notes of Ylang-Ylang and Neroli, then unfolds with Grasse Jasmine and May Rose. Sandalwood and Vanilla round out the fabled composition with unforgettable woody notes". The notes that I find most evident in the fragrance when I am wearing it is the jasmine and sandalwood. I know that rose is one of the listed notes but I find that with application, the jasmine comes out more and is the heart of the fragrance.

Another claim to fame of this fragrance (like it needs another!)...it was stated by Marilyn Monroe that this fragrance was all that she wore to bed at night. It is also the subject of a series of prints by Andy Warhol that now hang in the Museum of Modern Art.

Style and Chanel...now and forever.

photo courtesy of Sephora