Stinkypenny

This was the second Chanel in my collection. I had been turned off by the heady aldehydes of no 5, but boy am I glad I did this fragrance.

First thing is first, on me, this fragrance needs to be applied on recently cleaned skin It’s top notes are fresh and citrusy with a sweet floral note that comes through as the fragrance warms. The lime is clearly identifiable in the bergamot and makes it quite a fresh but comfortable scent. just 4 sprays, once on each wrist and in the crook of each elbow.

It’s about 2 hours after I first applied the perfume, it has taken a slightly sweet, slightly edible, slightly bleachy scent. The bleach effect fades leaving the smooth sweet scent of a cocoa and patchouli aroma in the crooks of my elbows. When i first bought this(as a safe blind buy) I wasn’t wowed by it but needed a fragrance that would work for spring and the office... which this does i believe. Some people might find it too much in a close setting, but it’s butter smoothness and inoffensive composition makes it a remarkably safe but noticeable concoction.

After 4-5hrs it becomes a skin scent to my nose, however others tell me it is still there, and beautiful. After 8-9 hrs the scent bubble is much smaller but whiffs of it catch you at random moments. It becomes a lovers perfume, one where only those in bed with you can smell it too. I took a shower, my OH can not stand fragrance in bed sadly.

This was a blind buy, a very risky impulsive blind buy. My only recommendation is that you do not blindly buy this. To me, it smells like I am 20 years old again, the night before my 21st birthday. I am doused in Elle by YSL and have Cocoa butter all over my body. The smells have combined into something sickeningly sweet. It's now 2 AM, I have drunk far too much tequila, but I am finally 21! I leave my friends to have a cigarette outside. I can still smell the cocoa, mixing with the smell of the cigarette smoke and sweaty student bodies. It turns my stomach. The next time I open my eyes I'm in A&E being chastised by the doctors for drinking so much. I can still smell the cocoa and vanilla musk, now mixed with the faint smell of nauseatingly sweet vomit.

Described above is the opening smell and heart notes. I am in two minds as to whether I wash this off and try to sell the fragrance or leave it on the inside of my elbows to get to the base notes and let the cocoa see itself out. May update.

This is a masculine scent, but as a woman, I am obsessed with how this smells on me, especially when layered with a lighter floral fragrance with an animalic note. Gorgeous in winter with leather and cashmere. However, on my skin the fragrance disappears very abruptly after 4-5 hours. The sillage is insane, some people might not like the fragrance, on women or men. I think they are weak. This is a strong statement fragrance, warm and comforting through the herbal and woody notes, and the fresh opening stops it from being immediately too cloying. Highly recommend, but if you are planning to be out all day take a wee purse spray or apply it to a scarf or cardigan so the fragrance can continue to radiate.