Jo’s Scent Notes: CHANEL LES EAUX DE CHANEL PARIS-PARIS
I am always happy when a fragrance I love is launched in a handbag-friendly size. And I’m rarely without a Travalo spray or two in my bag, for spritzing on-the-go.
What’s a Travalo, I hear at least some of you ask…? Well, it’s a clever little portable spray bottle that you ‘mate’ with the top of any chosen fragrance (having first removed the perfume’s silver atomiser), then pump it up and down about 30 times, to fill the Travalo. Pop the atomiser cap back on the bottle, pop the Travalo in your bag – and you’re good for a top-up, anywhere, anytime.
Nice enough, and useful. But it never has the pleasure factor of an actual bottle of fragrance – especially when that fragrance has CHANEL emblazoned on it. So: I am pleased as punch that a true summer fragrance love, LES EAUX DE CHANEL PARIS-PARIS, has now been launched in a more portable (and affordable) 50ml size.
With its crystalline, pale pink juice, there is something utterly refreshing about this fragrance, which is the latest in CHANEL’s LES EAUX DE CHANEL line-up – and which a couple of months ago won’ Reader’s Choice in 2023’s Fragrance Foundation Awards.
LES EAUX DE CHANEL PARIS-PARIS is the scent equivalent of a long, cool drink of something delicious on a hot day when you’re baking and thirsty; I wore it consistently all last summer, when PARIS-PARIS first launched, and it genuinely does cool me down and freshen me up in the same way that my favourite non-alcoholic cocktail does. (Fever Tree light tonic water, a few dashes of Angostura bitters and a goodly squeeze of lime, if you’re asking.)
Now, when LES EAUX DE CHANEL first launched, I interviewed CHANEL perfumer Olivier Polge for ‘A Working Nose’, a series that appears in The Scented Letter (which I edit for The Perfume Society), in which leading perfumers share the secrets of their working day. You can read Olivier’s thinking behind the collection on p.32 of the magazine, here – but they were all created to conjure up the sense of places which were important to the legendary couturier Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel.
I’d struggled, though, to find ‘my’ Les Eaux, in the collection – till PARIS-PARIS came along. These light, fresh scents are all gorgeous – and I did wear PARIS-DEAUVILLE for a while, a cool, green, almost humid scent, with mint and geranium in there. But PARIS-PARIS… oooh, this isn’t a flirtation; it’s a proper love affair that could well last a lifetime. (I’m now well towards the end of my second 100ml full-size bottle.)
Damascena rose blooms at the heart of PARIS-PARIS. There’s a vibrant note of pink peppercorn and an almost citrusy, lemony sharpness, illuminating the fragrance when you first spray it: an absolute wake-up call for the senses. Then that rose blossoms – again fresh, never heady or powdery (it’s a steam-distilled ingredient). And lastly, patchouli – like the earth from which that rose grows: tethering, grounding. One of my favourite ingredients, sure – but here, in an airy, dry form that I reckon would appeal even to patchouli refusniks.
And here’s something I love: if you buy direct from CHANEL’s own website, link below, they’ll send you a 2ml size to try before you open the larger bottle, thereby eliminating any chance of an expensive mistake.
I could pretty much spray it all day. And now, with this new downsized bottle in my bag – with all of the CHANEL glamour, less of the weight – I may well do exactly that.
£84 for 50ml – buy here
Click here (or on either of the images below) to read The Scented Letter ‘Flower Power’ issue featuring the interview with Olivier Polge. Sign up here to receive your free quarterly edition of this fragrance magazine from The Perfume Society, starting with the most recent edition, ‘The Perfumer’s Garden’.
