I know I live in Cyprus now but I cannot resist an event like National Fragrance Week happening this week in the UK. I love fragrance; fragrance in the home, the right fabric conditioning fragrance for my clothes, my husband’s fragrance and my perfumes!
I had heard all sorts of stories that pregnancy could turn me off my perfumes but thankfully this is not the case. I would even say fragrance has become even more important to me and choosing the right one sets the perfect scene for the day.
This week, we will also celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand was a female designer, called Coco Chanel. She was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on 19th August, 1883 in France. Her story is an inspiring one and one from rags to riches. She was born into extreme poverty and to unwed parents which was frown upon in those days. Her mother died when Coco was 6 years old and she was then raised by Catholic nuns in an orphanage until she was 18 years old.
Coco Chanel released her first fragrance on 5th May 1921 which was and is the iconic, CHANEL N°5 . I bought myself my first bottle of CHANEL N°5 for my 18th birthday; a coming of age gift to myself. We will talk about this another time. Today, I want to introduce you to CHANEL COCO NOIR.
I was introduced to CHANEL COCO NOIR 3 years ago by my aunt, a present for my 35th birthday. Since then it has become the scent that I link with special evenings and events. It was also the perfume that I chose to wear on my wedding day.
What strikes me the most when I smell COCO NOIR is that it is intensely feminine with a depth of brilliance, seduction and dark promise like no other fragrance I have smelt before. There is an intense magnetism about this fragrance that never fails to get me comments.
CHANEL COCO NOIR was released in September 2012.
The base notes are cloves, tonka bean, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, white musk, olibanum (Frankincense) and benzoin.
The middle notes are jasmine, rose, narcissus, geranium and peach.
The top notes are orange, bergamot and grapefruit.
It is a modern oriental fragrance. From the list of base notes, we can see that it is a complex fragrance and yet it is beautifully blended by Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake.
With the first spray, I can smell the spark and sophistication of the Italian citrus notes. As it begins to settle, I can smell the warmth and the sensuality of the rose, jasmine and the geranium rose leaf and as it’s presence firmly establishes itself and bonds with the warmth of my skin, I can feel and smell the warmth of the Indonesian Patchouli, Sandalwood , Frankincense and Venezuelan Tonka bean.
I would say that it is a medium to high intensity fragrance and long lasting and more suited for evening wear as suggested by the black intense bottle.
To intensify the fragrance further, I will fragrance layer and use the body lotion first and then finish off with the Eau de Parfum; guaranteed to last all evening.
I reach for this fragrance when I want to feel mysterious, exotic, sexy and intensely feminine.
This is the perfect fragrance for date night!
In Cyprus, this perfume is available in Debenhams stores.
