N°5 Eau Première Chanel 2008

...breathed Miss Monroe into the mike for J.F. Kennedy's birthday in 1962, wearing probably
Chanel N°5.
Her dress, the cake and the affair with J.F. Kennedy are legend. Since she told a magazine in an interview that she only wore a drop of Chanel N°5 as her nightdress, the success of this fragrance was unstoppable.
The fantasy of millions of women was stimulated and each one wanted to be as sexy as Miss Monroe and smell the same. Chanel N°5 - that was a little piece of luck
I have no idea what the original scent from 1921 smelled like, but today's Chanel No5 is too strong for me. Yeah, and a little old-fashioned in a way, too. But since I was fascinated by the history of fragrance, I decided to look into it to find out what the scent was all about. After all, next year he celebrates his 100th birthday and that has to be appreciated.

In the late summer of 192o, Ernest Beaux began to develop the first perfume for Mademoiselle Chanel. It was intended as a gift for Chanel's clients. It was to be a perfume for a woman with the scent of a woman.
It is still suspected today that he used the perfume he originally created for Tsarina Katharina as the origin of his developments. Mrs. Chanel herself had probably not correctly assessed the perfume business and therefore ceded all rights very early on. It cost her a lot of time and effort to get back into the business. With none of her fragrances she ever achieved such success again.

The aldehydes, which were new to the world of fragrances at the time, are said to be responsible for the radiant freshness of the fragrance. "Radiant freshness" I ask myself now, I cannot recognize it. But then find out that aldehydes above a certain concentration, or when aging, are often perceived as rancid, fishy or old. The dosage in the laboratory must therefore be done with care. The perfume itself must not only be stored in the dark, but should also not get too old. And this is probably where the problem lies: the bottle, which was almost unaffordable at the time, was only used on special occasions and then changed over the years. Exactly then the "Oma Helga" impression is created.

N°5 contains vetiver as one of the first women's fragrances. The sweet grass is usually used in men's perfumes. Like oakmoss, it is found in many Chanel fragrances and is partly responsible for the tart sweetness typical of Chanel. Vetiver is also found in Coco Mademoiselle. Originally this was probably the handwriting of the perfumer Ernest Beaux. It's probably this charm between the many sweet and floral components and the more masculine and tart ingredients that make up the fascination of N°5.

For our noses used to sweet cake smells this is very difficult to understand at first.

For reasons of species protection as well as for reasons of oxidation of various ingredients, the original scent has been adapted again and again and adapted to the standards. These include civet, musk, jasmine or oakmoss. Even if the many so-called reformulations are a thorn in the side of many, I welcome the fact that no animal products such as musk or civet are used any more.
Many people react very strongly to oakmoss and jasmine, and here too, reworking was necessary, which certainly changed the fragrance
Chanel N°5 celebrates its 100th birthday next year. Surely the house of Chanel will celebrate the big birthday in a proper way. Because in spite of the 100 years, N°5 is still at the forefront, and many people associate perfume with this very fragrance.

I have now tested the various N°5 and have actually fallen in love with one: The No5 Eau Premiere. It's not dewy anymore either, but somehow passed me by. For me this is really a fragrance that is out of this world:

The radiant freshness of the aldehydes with the typical hints of orange peel is much more apparent here than in the original. It possesses the lightness that I had wished for. Maybe it was already like this in 1921? Who knows.

N°5 Eau Premiere unmistakably a granddaughter of the famous great grandmother. But it is softer and gentler than its famous ancestor. Therefore it is also much younger and more modern. It's as if a thick layer of the fragrance has been taken.
Somehow I actually have an idea here of what fascinated Ernest Beaux so much: the tingling freshness of the aldhyde at the beginning. It's like carbon dioxide in water.

On the skin, Eau Premiere develops into a fragrance that after a while reminds me of human skin. The way we smelled as children, when we rode our bikes home from the swimming pool, or the smell of a freshly bathed baby. Also to the fresh air at 5.30am when camping in summer or the fresh breeze on our skin after a boat trip. Fresh, warm and soft and after a lot of sunshine. Eau Premiere hardly changes either. After the initial freshness it becomes warm and soft. It remains on the skin like a delicate veil of scent for many hours. Not spectacular, not erotic or oriental heavy. But so good and so beautiful - or as my husband says: It smells of love