Why Our Editorial Beauty Director Is Obsessed With This New Chanel Perfume
Thespotlyte | August 01, 23
In 2018, it’s pretty normal to have a fragrance wardrobe. There are scents I wear to feel like a boss lady (Glossier You was my “clean” pick during job interviews) or sweet (Gucci Blooms, which is straight jasmine), and, of course, damn sexy. It may sound cheesy, but I love choosing a special fragrance to wear before a date with my husband that feels sensual, warm, and feminine. This spring my choice has been the new Chanel® Coco Mademoiselle Eau De Parfum Intense Spray ($110).
This intoxicating scent, featuring a rose gold elixir in a gorgeous gilded bottle, is the latest iteration of the Coco Mademoiselle line. The full collection includes the original scents (there are three others), bar soap, body oil, and even deodorant (chic!). In a time when companies seem to be making lighter and more subtle fragrances (such as the buzzy Byredo Elevator Music perfume), it’s bold to create a scent that’s literally called out for being, “intense.” And I am all for it.
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau De Parfum Intense Spray is unapologetically fragrant, which feels modern in this feminist, girl-power moment in history. Women are doing whatever they want with their beauty routines — be it getting eyelash extensions or not wearing makeup, foregoing shaving their armpits or lasering their entire bodies, paying for weekly blowout subscription services or letting their natural curls air dry, and so on. So if you want to wear an “intense,” womanly French perfume, I say “yes girl!”
But if you’re going to wear a perfume that reminds people you just entered the room, choose wisely. I’m loving warm notes in Coco Mademoiselle Intense that include amber accord, vanilla absolute, and tonka bean. The sweet medley is balanced by patchouli leaves. Also, I’m sensitive to fragrance headaches, and can confirm this doesn’t dry down to a strange, grandma-y finish.
All four of the Coco Mademoiselle fragrances are oriental scents featuring common notes of Sicilian orange, Calabrian bergamot, jasmine, and rose absolute, according to Chanel perfumer Olivier Polge.
“This new interpretation reinvents itself and reveals a fragrance more sensual and full-bodied, which conveys all the sensualities and intensities of Coco Mademoiselle’s personality,” Polge explains, stating he created the fragrance to have a deeper trail with contrasted freshness.
Polge goes on to break down where the brand sources the ingredients. “The tonka bean used in this eau de parfum Intense Chanel comes from Brazil and Venezuela, and vanilla from Madagascar,” he says. “The vanilla pods are processed in Grasse to control the production and guarantee the quality of its absolute.”
The result is my new not-so-secret weapon for feeling hot as hell come Saturday night — or maybe even Tuesday morning (why not?!).
