Coco (1984)
by Chanel

I struggled in NYC in my mid twenties - trolling for pennies to buy bagels on the weekend....walking everywhere....dating for dinners..faking until I made it in the fashion industry. One Thanksgiving my fabulous mother and older sister came to visit me in my apartment I could not afford. They raved about my courage and my ambition and took me out to eat and celebrated me with a bottle of Coco from Bergdorfs.. It smelled expensive, elite and rare and timeless. Coco gives you confidence that you know who you are and you are going to prevail with grace. And I did. So whenever I am feeling average or doubt my ability, I remember that Thanksgiving of encouragement and embrace the Coco. Life is a cornucopia and its all there for you to enjoy!

Having created the hugely successful No.5 and the beautiful Bois des Iles in the 1920s, Ernest Beaux left behind a pair of proverbial shoes the size that of Bigfoot's. For a long time these shoes were simply too gigantic for anyone to wear. Henri Robert made an admirable attempt with No.19 but I believe it is Jacques Polge who finally nailed it in 1984 with his masterpiece, COCO. Forget about identifying individual accords here for life is simply too short ( and samples too prohibitively costly! ). Just enjoy this luxuriant beauty and revel in the sophistication and womanly charms of a true Chanel classic. A full bottle for my missus for sure!

*** This review is of the EDP ***

Coco is one smart lady! After her initial slug of aldehydes gets your attention, Coco manages to be refined and elegant. She is spicy but not too warm; she is bright but not too arrogant. She goes everywhere with ease and grace. Although she is related to No 5, she has a shine all of her own. I can detect a bit of fruit, a bit of clove, a bit of flowers but no one scent takes center stage. And the sandalwood is of a fine quality that I have missed for decades. I always loved sandalwood, the kind that came close to smelling like dirt but pulled back just in time. I never tried Coco before because I was afraid that she was a loud 80's sort of girl. She's not. PS The pure parfum (too fruity for me) is not at all like the edp.

This is what my mom wears. I normally hate womens' fragrances (no offense ladies) :P however I enjoy the smell of this one. It's strong, and a spray or two is all that's needed. My mom almost never uses fragrance, so occasionally if i feel like making an impression, I spray this on. I feel confident with it on. Very feminine oriental vibe, but at the same time, it feels masculine on me. I like!!! I've also smelled this on several women, and ladies out there reading this, I can not tell you how much I like this scent on a girl :P (except my mom since that's creepy haha)

I think of Coco as being male and female but then if you look at my wardrobe you'll see I'm not held back by the gendering of fragrances which I just find to be so strange anyway, I wear what I like. When I see pictures of Coco Chanel I see a very striking woman who is handsome rather than pretty and I don't think she would be offended by that. But as others have said that's just my opinion.

I've been wearing Coco since I was about 20 years old (shortly after it was released). I find it to be warm, woody, rich and spicy, so I enjoy it most in the winter, but I never find it overwhelming in the way that Opium can be so I wear it year round. It is the only perfume I've ever worn that makes men stop in their tracks to ask me what scent I'm wearing. I occasionally wear others, but I don't think I'll ever tire of Coco.