CHANEL COCO Eau de Parfum

I am finally the woman that I always wanted to be and I’m celebrating by allowing myself to finally wear this perfume.

This is my favorite fragrance to wear to work everyday. I remember smelling this as a girl in the 80s and I loved it back then, but I knew I wasn’t ready for it yet. My mother wore Chanel No 5 and No 19 and I love these fragrances as well. I told myself that one day I would buy Coco when I was ready. Now I’m 40 years old and married with 2 children, and I got a 100 ml bottle for our 8 year wedding anniversary.

Every time I smell Coco it reminds me of being a little girl in the 80s. It makes me happy and it smells heavenly on me. My 4 year old son said that I smelled like cherry rainbow ice cream! 🍒 🌈 🍨!! I was so glad that he loves this scent as much as me.

When I first spray it it smells spicy and fresh, then as it warms up I smell the orange, rose, and warm powdery base. I live in Hawaii where it is 80 degrees all year round and this fragrance is wonderful in warm weather. It all blends together to an expensive cherry cotton candy haziness with rich amber and fresh floral powdery notes.

This pairs well with pearls, diamonds, red lipstick, wine colored nails, cream, camel, black, pale pink and navy.

Coco makes me feel glamorous, happy, and nostalgic like no other fragrance and that is why I chose this as my signature.

I kept getting whiffs of something beautiful at work this morning. For hours, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly who - or what - it was. Just that it was gently spicy, ambery and altogether delicious smelling; it seemed to be held together by a lovely vanilla, and while it teetered on the edge of being edible, it never quite crossed the line.

Then, **HE** walked by me, in a gentle, perfumed cloud. He smelled like an enchanted forest. Straight as a pin, happily married with children. I cornered him in the hallway and said, “Ok, what is THAT? Your perfume. It’s beautiful. And now I know it’s you.”

“Oh, Chanel.”, with a sly smile.

“Which one?”, just knowing he was going to name one of the exclusifs.

“Coco.”, he answered.

The man’s got style.

I went to get a bottle of the eau de parfum immediately after work.

It was an instant love for me and I’ll likely wear nothing else until spring arrives. Signature scent worthy, for certain.

I’m no Chanel fanboy - but when they get it right, they get it right.

This old school style Chanel could easily pass as a male fragrance in 2023. I've read several women comment that it smelled somewhat masculine to them. In my opinion, wear what you like because it's all marketing. This is a gorgeous fragrance! Happy to own a bottle!

This may strike some people as odd...for I shall write a review on a fragrance that I've never dared to wear. Why, you ask? Read on...

This perfume reminds me of an unforgettable woman who I've seen experience life in full swing. She had it all...admirable successes, intelligence, unconventional beauty, charm, compassion, a sharp wit, a hilarious sense of humor, a family, traveled to beautiful places, had friends through all walks of life, swung from expensive dining with high society to laughing with what some may call riff-raff to enjoy simple homecooked meals or street food. And when tragedy struck as well as the most trying of times, she had a remarkable will to overcome whatever was in her way. Through it all, this fragrance would trail behind her as she pioneered through life with a tender heart and an unbreakable spirit. That woman I speak of, is my mother. It is a fondly remembered perfume not just by me, but others as well. She made this fragrance her own, as they say. And, that is why I dare not wear it, I love that I can remember her with it and ONLY her and if she were to leave this world before I do, it will be with this perfume that I'll accompany my fond memories of her with.

She chose well.
Long live Coco!

ATTACK OF THE GENDER-BENDER

Being a rose-lover, not even Coco's iconic status as a "symbol of feminine class" could keep me away for too long.
The weird thing is that this was one of those magic elixirs a woman could use to seduce me. I was very nervous about even approaching a Chanel counter to sample a female Chanel fragrance, of all things. But diving deeper into perfumery changes things. When I tested this the first time (mid-2010), I brought a female acquaintance with me.

I totally understood why the saleslady who sprayed me was perplexed. A middle-aged woman with a conservative look, she had probably NEVER seen a man want to sample Coco for himself. Well, Coco settled and everything that would have made me putty in a woman's hands was absent. Was my nose playing tricks on me? I asked my acquaintance for a straight-up opinion. She LIKED it on me... I took a mental note of that but was still afraid to buy it and wear it. I still remember that scent haunting me for that whole day. That has haunted me for a whole year.....

Fast-forwarding to the present, I am now a proud owner of Chanel Coco EDP. I recently tried Coco again, was enchanted again and finally decided to man up. I would STILL love to smell this on a woman and it's probably still that magic elixir that the right woman could use to seduce me. But on MY skin, this is PERFECT! Roses, spices and smokey incense take center stage. Longevity is insane and the sillage is STILL outrageous. I love this enough to wear it, regardless of the perceptions surrounding it. Why? Because I love it.

In today's perfume trends, where cavity-inducing gourmands (especially vanilla) and watery florals are the norm, Coco could pass for an extremely sophisticated masculine/unisex.

For those of you who might be wondering, "How dare he?!?", I must state that Coco Mademoiselle passes for a fresh aromatic unisex fragrance on my skin. This was recently the general perception of an all-male staff.

The power of skin chemistry. The power of Chanel...