N°5 Chanel 1921 Parfum

One's self has had the privilege of smelling the modern iteration of Chanel No 5 Pure Parfum, as well as having the incredible luck of getting hands on a vintage bottle of the pure parfum from the 1960's. One drop of the vintage parfum yielded the most incredible cloud of scent wafting around me for nearly 18 hours (your mileage may vary). To describe the scent itself, it opens with sparkling touch of citrus and brilliant fresh florals, as the wear progresses, it warms to introduce a powdery floral element, as if the florals are sun warmed and gently sweetened. Slowly a spicy note makes itself known along with the warm vibrant floral until it reaches the next iteration, further warming and sweetening into softly vanillic musky amber base. In the vintage parfum, it wore a bit darker at the dry down, probably the inclusion of more natural ingredients that have since been replaced by synthetics in modern iterations. Nonetheless, the DNA of the fragrance in the current formulation has not been compromised, it is still the same masterpiece, no lesser than it's older counterpart, one perceivable the main difference in the final dry down, the modern formulation came across as more of a softer creamy musk, while the vintage had a darker touch of animalic musk.

On a side note, in one's personal experiences, the current edp wears with louder projection from the skin, whereas the parfum stays closer to the skin but has the most incredible sillage ever smelled.