This year Chanel (and the world) will be celebrating 100 years of this iconic perfume.
Launched back in 1921, Coco Chanel being the trailblazer and fashion icon wanted to push the boundaries on fragrance and move beyond the soliflores (single flower inspired creations, ie it smells like what it is).
Working with French-Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux, he decided to resort to a powerful ingredient called Aldehydes which gave Chanel No. 5 its iconic sparkling, powdery, even ‘lux soapy-fresh out of the bath’ feel.
However as the story goes, Mr Beaux’s assistant had mistakenly overdosed sample No. 5 with too much aldehyde.
Unbeknownst to Ernest he presented the samples to Coco who immediately was bowled over by the power of No. 5. Needless to say he took most of the credit and an icon was born.
Besides for the concoction, with alongside aldehydes, contains a bouquet of ingredients including jasmine, rose and ylang ylang, the fact that very little has changed to the design of the bottle or the label, lends to the iconic cult beauty status that Chanel No. 5 has no doubt earned.
Don’t have a bottle, you can purchase one right here
Dissect the perfume ingredients on Fragrantica