Coco (1984)
by Chanel

This review is for Coco EDP

Coco has been a long time favorite of mine. It was released in the mid-80s, and I wore it in the early-to-mid 90s. At the time, my only other "signature" scent had been Coty's Wild Musk. I really wanted something more refined and mature with an oriental vibe--amber, musk and spice. I wasn't really looking for anything with strong floral notes, but Coco won me over with husky, boozy, spicy florals and an amazing amber drydown.

On first application, I smell aldehydes, rose, carnation and powder. The aldehydes are mild, and have the effect of brightening the composition. These are not the same soapy aldehydes that are in No. 5, rather, they are more fruity and citrus-like. The rose is dry and boozy at the same time. It is like a rose bouquet--some roses smell dusty, but sweet and powdery. Others smell like a fine rose liquor, complete with raisiny, spicy, sweet and tart qualities. The carnation is fresh and spicy, like a mixture of garden pinks which smell like cloves, and florists' carnations which have a sort of frosted rose petal effect.

As the aldehydes burn off, the rose and carnation come forward even more, and the sweet base of amber and vanilla start to deepen the impression of these two floral notes. The rose and carnation seem dark and mysterious. The boozy, preserved fruit quality of the rose is very penetrating, and taking deep inhalations, it feels like it goes straight into my heart. My experience with combining resins and rose is that the rose truly sings, and the combination of resinous base notes with the rose notes in Coco is no exception. The amber and resin base is a beautiful cushion which perfectly supports the rose. As the rose begins to fade, the sweet base seamlessly absorbs the rose and becomes more prominent. It is amazing that the spicy carnation keeps going strong through this phase, and is instrumental in the transition from top to middle to base.

The powder comes out again in the drydown, along with the spicy carnation, the dried fruit aspect of the rose, amber and resins. The vanilla and tonka are not dominant, but typically notes like this are very important in amber, and the amber accord is what I smell more than anything. I used to think that Coco had musk in the drydown, but I don't have that impression today. The overall effect in the drydown is floral spice with sweet, powder and delicately resinous amber. I find Coco to be gorgeous at every stage--even the drydown is amazing in its beauty. What a masterful use of natural and artificial rose notes by the perfumer--it gives such a vibrant "better than the real thing" quality from start to finish. It is as if the volume and saturation of a damask rose are turned up to the maximum. I love the intensity.

The EDP is a very long wearing, slowly developing fragrance. Sillage is enormous, and longevity is amazing--I have smelled Coco 10-12 hours after applying, and it is still more than a skin scent by that time. I have worn this fragrance in almost every form it takes: Parfum, EDP, EDT, powder, lotion and bath products. I think the EDP is one of the best, and it is also best on skin rather than paper or cloth. I didn't realize what a ground-breaking fragrance this was at the time I wore it regularly. It does seem a little bit dated (think big hair, big shoulder pads, big fragrance), and it shares some similarity with Estee Lauder Knowing (another big rose). However, it was Coco's spicy and boozy rose over a cloud of amber that stole my heart.

For all the perfume I tried this is my favorite.
It represents the woman, it defines her.
It is the perfume as I imagined it before knowing it. Warm, sensuel, extraordinary feminine.

It is a perfume that you cannot wear in the summer (or maybe if it is a cold one).
As soon as you wear it, it gives you elegance and confidence.

A honeyed, balsamic Oriental which almost could be considered as unisex, but falls a bit short on that after all. Must be the civet mixed with flowers that keeps this definitely on feminine side. Guys, don`t even think about wearing this, hand it to your lady instead. It should be wonderful to smell it.

THE oriental! I wear it when I want to feel unstopable. Feels like wearing a suit and red lipstick, even if I'm not. I must always have an EDP of this fragrance. Power in a bottle!

I've had a small bottle of Coco in my collection for a years and I've just decided to try it. I've held off all this time because I assumed I wouldn't like it because of the aldehydes (the main reason I'm not a Chanel fan). It started out smelling a little too perfume-y or what you would expect a good perfume to smell like. It smells very nice and well made, but there was nothing really exceptional about it that set it apart from, and above all others for me. I was patient enough to let it play out, but as I smelled my wrists over the next couple of hours my opinion of it didn't change. I liked the things that were happining in the drydown ,and I can see why it was popular in the eighties and why so many people still like it, but I prefer scents that are a little more quirky, challenging and thought provoking. I don't know, maybe it was groundbreaking in the eighties, but it's much to "proper" now.

This is the perfume my students love, and they are twelve! Whenever I wear it everybody compliments me.Somehow it is very 80s but it has become a classic. In my opinion the best chanel.