Category Archives: Chanel

Nose: Olivier Polge

Notes according to Fragrantica: “Top notes are Cherry Blossom and Aldehydes; middle notes are Iris and Heliotrope; base note is Musk.”

Year: 2024

I love Chanel.

I really, really love Chanel.

I love the design of their bottles. I love almost everything they’ve ever made, even if I have no immediate plans to add ballet flats or a Chanel handbag to my collection for now.

So…even though this is mostly just La Pausa, 1957, Le Lion and…other Chanels…with…a lovely, glowing cherry blossom-iris twist…to my nose…it’s still gorgeous and worth it. Because I love collecting Les Exclusifs de Chanel and it’ll be fun to wear this one too.

So…it’s musky like 1957. Iris like La Pausa. And is it the aldehydes in some sort of ambery hue that remind me of Le Lion? The cherry blossom and the iris combined? It’s…almost boozy like No. 18 is too, actually. And in its favor, I will also say that despite being a bit too unoriginal it has a very nice drydown. It’s a stunning fragrance, just not…that different.

If you want to smell like a musk-powdery Chanel-magenta-iris this is the perfume for you. I really do like it.

Nose: Olivier Polge

Notes according to Fragrantica: Top notes are Aldehydes and Litchi; middle notes are Turkish Rose, Grasse Rose, Raspberry and Peach; base notes are Violet, Powdery Notes, Iris, Orris, Tonka Bean, Mimosa, Benzoin and Vanilla. 

Year: 2015

Named after Coco Chanel’s friend Misia this is a violet perfume perhaps hinting at homosexuality. Violets used to be a symbol of lesbianism. Although, it’s not that every time someone wore violets they meant to hint at being a lesbian. My signature fragrance doesn’t hint at that. I’m not attracted to women. …Coco Chanel might have been though.

Regardless…this is a buttery, sugar sweet, beautifully Chanelesque fragrance created by the great Olivier Polge. The mimosa, raspberry and peach notes are very noticeable too, if you look for them, so to speak. It also has surprising depth for such a sweet perfume.

Sillage is lighter than many perfumes, but for a violet fragrance it’s stronger than is usual.

This is a very elegant Chanel. The drydown is sublime.