Chanel No.5 Eau Premiere

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Commence the raving, Chanel No.5 Eau Premiere makes the regular No.5 and twists it into a modern, clean but still classic smelling fragrance. Eau Premiere was made to capture that lost subsection of individuals who thought the original No.5 was just “too much”. That No.5 smelled too much of aldehydes or far too old. In essence, Eau Premiere is an updated, stripped away, younger version.  Eau Premiere

In Bottle: Bright, fresh citrus over that familiar Chanel No.5 smell. But there’s something clearly lacking. The aldehydes that come up immediately upon first sniff have been toned down. The sparkle is a bit duller but Eau Premiere still has that No.5 base, it’s just less blatant now.

Applied: Citrus and a shout of florals before Eau Premiere settles down. Imagine Chanel No.5, then take away most of that sparkle by toning down its aldehydes. Tweak the florals so they dance and float in the air like a pretty, flighty piece of transparent cloth. The powder is noticeably toned down in Eau Premiere to further “update” this fragrance and make it more youthful. The final dry down also lacks that heady, dense, muskiness in the original No.5. Eau Premiere is a younger class of lady. She’s a pale gown and a diamond necklace compared to Chanel No.5’s sleek black dress and pearls. I get that same, but subdued clean, floral, jasmine fragrance but it’s lighter, greener, more fresh and less dense. Nevertheless, the essence of the old classic is still in there.

Extra: Beautiful as it is, Eau Premiere is a flanker. And flankers are not always bad. Though the ones that come immediately to mind for me weren’t to my tastes. Still, when you think about all the different products Chanel has with No.5’s essence, soaps, lotions, body gels, powders, and on and on, another flanker based on No.5 might seem excessive. But if you love Chanel No.5, it’s daughter, Eau Premiere is worth a try. She’s got the same breeding but is obviously in a younger style.

Design: Presented in a tall rectangular glass bottle with the house name and fragrance name embossed onto the glass. The bottle takes its inspiration from the original Chanel No.5 bottle but in a taller, easier to hold form. The cap is especially familiar, being made of a denser material. Chanel’s bottle designs have always been beautiful and Eau Premiere’s is no exception.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Mandarin, bergamot, aldehydes, jasmine, neroli, ylang-ylang, rose, vetiver, vanilla.

Eau Premiere was tweaked by Chanel’s in-house perfumer, Jacques Polge. Polge was responsible for the wildly popular, and very successful Chanel fragrance, Coco Mademoiselle. He’s also done Cormandel, Egoiste, and Allure Homme.

Reviewed in This Post: Chanel No.5 Eau Premiere, 2009, Eau Premiere.

Chanel No.5

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What could anyone possibly say about Chanel No.5 that hasn’t already been said ten times over? So all that remains to be said is to share my experience like anyone else would have to do at this point. Simply put, No.5 is the perfume people think of when they hear the word, “Perfume”. It’s misunderstood, well-loved, adored, respected, hated, revered, confusing, complex, and familiar. Any fragrance lover worth his or her salt knows what Chanel No.5 smells like. Chanel No5

In Bottle: Loud sparkling aldehydes and florals. Heady but clean and vivid in the sense that the fragrance is immediately recognizable. Chanel No.5 was not meant to be contained to a blotter though. It’s a fragrance that demands wearing.

Applied: Freshness from citrus and aldehydes. There are some fragrances that overdo the citrus but No.5’s initial citrus is tame. It smells very necessary as the scent settles down giving off aldehydes and florals. I can smell the ylang-ylang, the rose, and jasmine. The aldehydes are giving this a very clean, crisp feel. There’s something slightly dry about this, like desert air, as the fragrance starts to age and the florals are joined by powder and this dry airiness. No.5 is not for the lighthearted. It lasts and lasts and will continue to last for hours while it has trouble settling between floral, dryness and floral, powder. The final dry down of this scent may very well happen late into the night if you applied this in the morning. It’s fade loses most of the aldehydes and gives way a clean, sandalwoodsy, musk.

Extra: Chanel No.5 was released in 1921 when it became the raging success it is today. Hundreds of stories surround the creation of Chanel No.5, even more about who wore it and why. There are fan clubs dedicated to No.5, people who have written songs featuring No.5, and people who go their entire lives wearing No.5. Even through its various reformulations, Chanel No.5 has kept its core personality as a classic.

Design: Iconic perfume bottle for the eau de parfum version. Rectangular glass with Chanel No.5 label set in the middle. The cap is a heavier, nicer material that snaps onto the top to protect the sprayer that distributes an even, fine mist. There is a small Chanel logo running along the band on the cap. The juice itself is a dark yellow amber color.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Ylang-Ylang, neroli, aldehydes, jasmine, mayrose, sandalwood, vetiver.

Chanel No.5 is probably the fragrance most accused of smelling like “old lady”. While everyone’s perceptions of old lady smell is different, No.5 to me, is way too fresh, way too sparkling to be an old lady smell. But neroli and powder are the two marks of an old lady fragrance and I cannot deny that it has a certain feel to it that excludes it from being young.

Reviewed in This Post: Chanel No.5, 2009, Eau de Parfum.