Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel

My sense of smell has very kindly come back to me and my cold is dwindling which is a welcome relief.

I thought I’d treat my olfactory senses as they have been missing out recently so I went to the Chanel shelf at Plush Folly.

Today I am wearing Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel.

I detect so much and yet so little.  When I first sprayed this there was disappointment that I didn’t absolutely love this perfume at first droplet.    Dare I say it’s a little bland and mainstream?  Yes there is a complexity since there is a wonderful array of individual aromas carefully packed into the bottle and such good friends are they that seeking many of them out on their own is not an easy task.

My initial reaction is fruit and patchouli so let me focus on the fruit, we can do the patchouli in a while.  I’d suggest we have some citrus as there is an instant freshness, but it’s feels softer than the usual blast of zesty citrus.  Oranges, I’m getting oranges and a peek at the blurb tells me that there are oranges and mandarin as well as orange blossom which is responsible for dumbing it down and making it less shouty and lively.  Bergamot joins the citrus and rounds the top notes giving them a polished fresh entrance.

Of course this is a Chanel aimed at the mass market (however big that mass market can be given Coco Mademoiselle’s entry price of circa £55 for 50ml EdT) so there has to be some florals.  Enter jasmine and rose (of course, that duo feature in so many perfumes, they are the archetypal BFFs) but in their wake we have ylang ylang. Lovely flowers, but this isn’t a floral perfume – the perfume comes alive on my skin as the base notes join in.

A wonder symphony of tonka, vetiver, patchouli, vanilla, musk and opponax (sweet myrrh) spread over my skin, waft gently towards my nose and surround me in a fabulous smooth, velvety dry down.  Patchouli is the main player here making this perfume flourish for hours after spraying.

So I have changed my mind as the perfume warms up and dries down.  Excuse me for accusing it of being bland and mainstream, it certainly no longer is that.

It is warm and delightful.  I love perfumes that change in front of me; I love the character of each layer coming out to play.  Some are bold, some are shy and some are downright outrageous but they are what gives the perfume character, allure, depth and charisma.

Coco Mademoiselle has them all, she just didn’t trust me at first.  Now we are BFFs too.