No 18 is named after the address of the Vendome palace which Coco Chanel walked through every morning and here, jewel-like Ambrette flowers were grown. Described as a 'radiant floral bouquet as precious as fine jewellery' we were expecting something bold and complex with a feather-like touch.
At first sniff the first hit is of iris so it's certainly delivering on the floral element...... but we are unable to get any other floral element so this bouquet is a huge hand tied bunch of beautiful iris flowers. As the perfume settles we get a kind of wet paper fustiness courtesy of ambrette (our aroma of the week) - not unpleasant but imagine if you will a large box which has been left in a dark corner of a theatre store room, upon discovery a young actor takes it into the light, there is staining on the box implying that at some point water has been spilled on it but not caused a huge amount of damage. Inside is a large period costume, lots of layers and trim, that had been carefully cleaned and put away for the next performance .... but it was cancelled and the costume long forgotten. That old dusty, fusty theatre smell is what this perfume reminds us of, not the make up and grease paint but the curtains and costumes that have witnessed so many wonderfully dramatic moments.
Hiding in the background is a hint of unripe fruit but so well hidden we can't identify which one, just that it adds another element.
This perfume doesn't have the boldness we have come to expect from Chanel, but it is elegant and understated, absolutely perfect for a busy lady of the 20's and 30's making her way to work through the grand old buildings of Paris.
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