• Chanel Coco EDT Perfume Review

    Date: 2013.01.14 | Category: fragrance | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,

    Chanel Coco

    Mainstream Monday – Sniffing a Popular Perfume

    Bored with courtly love I ask, “Why do you wear Coco?”

    My tutor, a woman 18 years older than me, keeps speaking in French. I’ve finally found someone more serious and incapable of having fun than myself. I’m at my limit. No more Arthurian romance. No more French. She continues. I run my fingers across the now blurry words in Érec et Énide and close the book shut.

    This time in French, “Pourquoi portez-vous Coco?” I know that fragrance from only smelling it on paper a few times.

    “Comment savais-tu?”

    “Je sais tout,” finally getting a faint smile from her. She continues to tell me that she bought the perfume in Paris without ever smelling it, a young and awkward graduate student intimidated by elegant, lanky sales associates. It was the only bottle of perfume she ever owned. Years later while hugging her 3 year old nephew, he pushed back her curly hair and said, “Never stop smelling good” and she didn’t. Coco became her signature not because it was the only perfume in her possession,  but because it represented the type of awkwardness one has when in a malapropos situation and the awkwardness one feels from receiving complete adoration. Sometimes we get the same feelings when we feel abhorred or adored.

    I like to imagine that everyone has “their” Chanel fragrance. Mine is Coco. Coco is “my” Chanel. It’s one that I love to wear; it’s the one that has always stood out to me. One thing I’ve noticed with my blog is that I rarely review the fragrances that I wear the most. I wear them so frequently, I fail to analyze them. And with all the hype of Coco Noir, it’s time for me to talk about regular ‘ole Coco.

    The Coco EDT is lighter and opens with more of a fizzy root beer opening than the EDP. It’s root beer and dusty oriental florals mingling with dazzling Southern Californian florals. It’s a spicy fragrance with clove and cinnamon but the EDT isn’t as heavy with the spice as the other formulas. The aldehydes are what attract me to the EDT. It gives this scent brightness, a lift. The heart of the fragrance is a spicy floriental. It all blends together like classic French perfume should. The base is a dry, leathery incense. I love how Coco wears on my skin.

    Like I said, I prefer the EDT over the EDP. The EDP is gorgeous but I tend to like that Coco is an 1980′s style oriental that is lighter and has a sheerness. It’s a beautiful perfume for a early fall that attaches seamlessly to scarves and sweaters.

    Chanel Coco ad

    Notes listed include angelica, mimosa, frangipani, mandarin, cascarilla, orange flower, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, labdanum, ambrette seed, opopanax, benzoin, tonka and vanilla. Launch date 1984. PERFUMER – Jacques Polge

    Give Coco a try if you like oriental fragrances. Or if you like YSL Opium (old formula), Estee Lauder Cinnabar, Aramis JHL, Estee Lauder Beautiful EDT, Guerlain Samsara and/or Cartier Must de Cartier. At one time I viewed Coco as feminine, but as mainstream masculines get sweeter and sweeter I view Coco as unisex.

    Even for an EDT, Coco has above average projection and longevity.

    You don’t have to spend too much to enjoy amazing perfume. The 1.7 oz retails for $68 and the 3.4 oz for $90 at Nordstrom.

    Victoria’s Final EauPINION – A dazzling, warm floriental. This is “my” Chanel. This is perfume.

    Want more reviews? Try…

    Now Smell This – review of the EDP

    The Scentualist

    Katie Puckrik Smells

    Basenotes – Member reviews

    Fragrantica – Member reviews

    *A perfume that will always be in my collection. Product pic from Nordstrom. Shalom Harlow pic from Pixiwoo. Post contains an affiliate link. Thanks!