Perfume Imprints
When I was expecting my daughter and for a time after she was born, I wore Coco by Chanel. I had a beautiful lacquer-black refillable eau de parfum that looked so glamorous on my dresser. I tried a sample recently and my daughter exclaimed, “You smell like the 80’s!” I’m not sure if that was a reaction to a genomic imprint left on her when she was not yet fully whole or whether she really meant the scent DID smell like the 1980’s because of its cinnamon-y, big hair and Opium-esque notes. No matter…I had to go to the mall to explore.
I scored another sample of Coco just to see if the perfume would be a happy remembrance to the pleasant and bittersweet long-ago days I spent as a new mother. I’m still not sure. But while at the mall, I had a chance to sample Chanel’s three new highly-heralded indie fragrances: Biarittz, Vernise, and Deauville. Each scent is a sensory souvenir to Chanel’s favorite vacation spots.
The bottles reminded me of flasks – the kind that would slip easily into a man’s silky inner breast pocket. Like all Chanel’s perfume bottles, they are utilitarian-looking (she designed Chanel No. 5’s to look like a laboratory bottle), with her signature black and white label – very chic. But within a few minutes, I had all three as mixed up as if I had watched a magic act of Hide the Walnut.
Accompanying the scents were sister bottles of shower gel and body lotion. Here’s where I thought it was interesting…the body lotions seemed very emollient, redolent with full-bodied fragrance, and far less expensive than the perfume. Also in that great flask-like bottle, they held the scent tightly and seemed quite luxurious.
Playing in the back of the merchandising stand for the scent trio, was a loop of music that I remembered from the lovely 2009 film, Coco Before Chanel. It was moody and melodic and I felt I was in a private room of Chanel’s atelier on the Rue Cambon in Paris.
In the end, I was able to sniff out that I probably preferred Chanel Vernis, named for Venice – the city Chanel cited as providing her with jolts of creativity. Its wispy floral at the end of the highest top note really reached out and looped itself around my throat like the warmth of a soft wool scarf. It felt familiar to me and yet it didn’t…like a happy premonition of good luck that you so want to be certain of but aren’t quite sure. I was told Vernis had a touch of vanilla with its feminine iris accord and when I finally left the mall, I realized it had woven a spell and in fact, had became so irresistible that for the rest of the afternoon, I kept burying my nose in the neckline of my blouse.
If I splurge on a bottle of Chanel Vernis, I have no idea what my tomboy daughter will have to say. But I have a new granddaughter who may just be ripe for the imprinting.
6 Comments
galant
Chanel 19 is still my favourite Chanel fragrance, and the famous No 5 a close run second. But I think, of all the fragrances I've used over many, many years, Hermes' Caleche has to be my favourite although it's not as good as it once was. 2nd to that would be Hermes' 24 Foubourg, and after that Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue. I'm not at all keen on modern fragrances which are too sickly-sweet for me.
Margaret P
http://www.margaretpowling.com
Donna Macdonald
I bought Caleche last year at the airport in Hawaii and I loved it. It's a beautiful winter perfume.
Kathy B
Those Chanel fragrances! My favorite. I have not sampled the new ones but I will. Still, my all time lifelong favorite is Chanel No.5. I feel feminine and pretty every time I use it.
Donna Macdonald
Me too Kathy!
Amy
My fall fragrance is Coco, and my winter fragrance is Allure and I tried all three of the new Chanel fragrances – ended up loving Biarritz…think it will be great for summer with all of those citrus notes. Last summer I wore Chance Eau Vive and although it wasn't my favorite, I received continual compliments on it. I could take it or leave it but strangers were stopping me and remarking how lovely it was!
Donna Macdonald
Amy..you are truly a Chanel woman!