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No. 5

post #1 of 10
11/25/06 at 1:10am
Thread Starter 
Can anybody tell me why they like Chanel No. 5?

I've heard so much about it. I've sniffed it on a card once or twice but that's it. I found it to be somehow familiar from my past (or at least, a woman in my past) and yet it also made me cringe and turn my nose away. Perhaps it was the synthetic-ness of it.

The very popularity of it makes me reluctant to buy it, should I ever have reason to.

Any ideas?

QE
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post #2 of 10
11/25/06 at 3:51am
I think I have been a perfume addict from the day I was born , but not one of the women I grew up with apparently wore Chanel 5. The first appearance it made in my life was on a woman I utterly disliked, so I made myself the promise to never ever wear Chanel 5. I did not even try it.

Then at least twenty years later at an airport, my DH informed suddenly why I did not have this scent and persueded me gently to give it a try. After all "this is a classic" (famous last words). I tried and wondered how I ever could have lived without this. Maybe the bad memory faded, maybe I had grown up enough to like it, maybe my skinchemistry was just perfect at that moment....I don't know. But I now have the whole bathrange, the EDT, EDP, the cute little bottles for the handbag....and I love it.
Not bothered by it's popularity at all. Why should I? Is a scent only desirable when it is niche, discontinued, very hard to get? That is only telling something about our attitude towards scent, not about the value of the scent.

So, try this one on your skin, only then it will give you the right impression and you will know if Chanel 5 will work for you. Try to forget the name and only 'listen to the sound' of the perfume on your skin (EDP may be best). Maybe, just maybe Chanel 5 will sing for you. And if not...well, at least you have tried.
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post #3 of 10
11/25/06 at 4:59am
Thread Starter 
You're right. Just because it's popular means nothing as far as the value of it goes! Thanks.

The big problem is of course that I have tried very few "women's" fragrances. The ones I have tried or smelt are usually either applied overpoweringly or too floral/powdery for me.

Ah, the long hunt goes on...
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post #4 of 10
11/25/06 at 5:24am
Why not invest in a decant and give it a shot? It's a glorious frag - fresh, sophisticated and very alert...in my never humble opinion. :bounce:

Try the other numbers too - #19 and #22. Your soul will let you know!
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post #5 of 10
11/25/06 at 7:49am
Chanel No. 5 was never for me. I had a bottle of EDT in the 70s, and it was lovely but not stunning on me. Nowadays, it is worse, made weaker by the change in ingredients for safety purposes--probably I miss the old musk. However, I've discovered Chanel No. 19, and I love it. I also like No. 22, but it is quite a bit more subtle on me.
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post #6 of 10
11/25/06 at 10:06am
I'm flying with purplebird. No. 5, which I wore when I was in my late teens, doesn't do anything for me now. No. 22 is a different thing altogether (now that it is so hard to find). To me it is richer and sweeter than No. 5, without the supremely starched, incisive opening. The drydown is also mellower.

Chanel No. 5 is certainly cut from a very striking cloth, but on me it is like stuffing myself into a too-small designer suit, one that I cannot possibly zip up the back.
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post #7 of 10
11/25/06 at 10:07am
I was never in love with Chanel No. 5. Over the years I would sample it now and then, trying to figure out what was so great, and it never did anything but hover over my skin, hanging there like a perfumey cloud, doing nothing at all to interact with my chemistry. I have worn other Chanels - No. 19, Cristalle, and Coco, which was a gift from my husband (but I swapped it away because Coco is not me). I like Une Fleur very much, too. I didn't hate No. 5, it just didn't do anything wonderful for me. It didn't make me feel the way a luxe fragrance should. And I knew that it could smell wonderful because I had smelled it on people for whom it did its magic. Then, last summer, I had a small decant of the edp, and for some reason I got it - or it got me. It was truly lovely - soft, luminous, floral, abstract, and slightly powdery - it just smelled really nice. My husband complimented me on it. For whatever reason, it worked. It's not on my "must have" list, but I like it much better now than I used to. I would wear it if I had it. But I can live without it.
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post #8 of 10
11/25/06 at 10:21am
I really really like it. Tried it for my oh, who had been stunned by it on another woman (which is why, truth be told, I probably don't like it even more). I have the elixir sensuelle, which is gorgeous and the dry oil body spray, which is lovely just before bed. I've had the edp (which got me many smiles from many strangers), the edt - not so nice, to be honest, and am thinking about putting the pure parfum on my Christmas list. So considering that I wouldn't consider it to be my favourite favourite, it is very well represented chez hebe .
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post #9 of 10
11/25/06 at 10:27am
I believe it is a good idea to always let your own nose be the judge. I have given popular or classic fragrances a bigger longer try than others, however, I am the one that will be wearing the frag so it really doesn't matter how many compliments I might receive or how many others love the frag if I don't like it. Having said that, I happen to love Chanel 5, but there are some classics that I actually threw out.
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post #10 of 10
11/25/06 at 10:49am
I totally agree with TDDanae. Nothing but the nose of your own counts. Every frag comes out different on all of us, so even if XX and YY loves a frag, it might not be the right one for you.

My nose tells me that I love n:r 5, even if I selldom wears it today. I used to wear it in the early 70´es, and I did really loved it during those days. I have two decants of the EdT today, and I wear it now and than.

The perfume is the best, IMO.
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