I've sampled the EDP twice now, and still don't see what the fuss is all about. The initial blast of aldehydes just makes me feel like I've stuck my nose into a just-opened can of ginger ale. It's really, really fizzy and that's mostly all I get for the next 30 min or so. At this point I don't understand at all the appeal of spending so much to smell like soda pop! :) The perfume doesn't stay very strong on me after the first hour. Thankfully the fizziness goes away and it's just some pretty, fairly mild, soapy white flowers for several hours. I like that the drydown is clean, elegant and not too sweet, but it also doesn't particularly interest me. No 5 is definitely not for me (a shame as the bottle is beautiful!). I did try Eau Premiere before I tried No 5 -- I liked that a lot and will possibly pick it up some day.

way too expensive for the price and honestly it doesn't even smell that great

A beautiful classic bottle and a lovely scent, but at times it can be a bit too sharp. I only wear this at night or during the winter/autumn times, it makes me feel elegant and beautiful when I wear it! Very expensive, but in my opinion worth it. The bottle will last me a long long time!

Too commonly worn (by everyone and their mother- literally), too aldehyde, too stuffy. Not as soft and sensual as it could be.
Oscar makes an improvement on this one. Oscar isn't a favorite of mine but I do wear it for formal occasions. Oscar de la Renta definitely perfected this recipe.
To me this situation is kind of like soda: People generally say they are loyal to and love Coca-cola but in a taste test they actually prefer Pepsi. Same thing with Chanel and Oscar.
I have a feeling if this fragrance didn't have the design house, history and romance behind it that it does, it might just well be a relative flop, available in drugstores as a special during the holidays on the same shelf as White Shoulders and Emeraude.

i really wanted to like this!but honestly it has an awful smell.

Oh, Chanel no 5. For a long time, I thought I "knew" what this smelled like. I was so wrong.

The aldehydes make this absolutely sparkle. I love rose, but jasmine is a so-so for me. In this perfume, it is exquisite. It stays close to the skin and smells so feminine, so absolutely womanly, that I feel it is exactly what Coco Chanel wanted it to be: the scent of a woman.

I have worn no.5, the EDT, not the perfume, for over thirty years as my signature scent. I have lost count of the number of times people have asked me what scent I am wearing. It seems universally pleasant. It is essentially a floral, but manages to be clean and crisp nonetheless.

If I have one complaint, it is not the product but in general the "ladies" who work the Chanel counters. Despite having worn the EDT all these years, and knowing exactly what I want, each and every time I try to purchase it the old warhorses behind the counter insist I upgrade to the perfume.
[ps, they insist it is "parfum", to which I point out "parfum" is simply French for "perfume" get a life] So, yeah, a bit overbearing. Still, I'll put up with the snotty staff to get my no. 5 fix.

Best botlle ever but this is horrible on me. There is something with my body chemistry that make all scents come across differently. In short, this smells like well poop - must be the indoles.

Light Clean Classic floral powder real fragrance but It dosent stay long Although I enjoy this perfume it smells a little notes of soap on me on the dry down This is crazy but the perfume smells better on me than the edt I f i had to review the edt I would give it only 3 lippies

I've long resisted Chanel No. 5, because neither a floral bouquet, and certainly not one that features jasmine, nor strong aldehydes really appeal to my personal taste. But while the EDP is hardly a pale rendition, the parfum is revelatory, a glorious skin scent that banishes the trace of harsh, urine-like indoles that mark the EDP. Its heart is so lush and fine, featuring true jasmine de Grasse and rose de Mai (shown at left), from Chanel's own fields in the south of France. The resulting bouquet is well balanced, but the heady, indolic character of jasmine is perhaps more prominent than the salty austerity of rose, because the supporting notes cast a warm glow on the whole: a candied floral top of neroli and violet, the tropical humidity of ylang ylang, and a sumptuous vetiver-amber drydown, supplemented by creamy sandalwood and a hint of animalic musk. What makes No. 5 tick, however, is that slug of aldehydes that hits you straight from the bottle. Stylistically, they remove No. 5 from the raw, natural beauty of Caron Bellodgia, which smells exactly like a Provençal flower market.The effect of aldehydes is not unlike that of a bottle of champagne, what Jimmy Stewart calls "Cinderella's slipper" (hic!): the powdery, pearl-like, waxy texture, the volume of its sillage, a scintillation of candlelight gleaming off endless silver.



A dab of the parfum transports you into a world free from the taint of cynicism, which, in my view, is the idea behind a floral perfume in the first place, like some magic universe populated by fantastic heels that never, ever hurt, that instant transformation of the ordinary to the regal. Is this an alchemical subterfuge? Most assuredly. Is it also a carefully designed, tightly controlled propaganda machine that uses imagery like Marilyn Monroe or Catherine Deneuve to boost sales? Absolutely. Is it accessible and easy to wear? Surprisingly, no. And not in that elusive, intellectual way of Guerlain Mitsouko, but more akin to a tiara: Chanel No. 5 seduces the inner princess in all of us. continued >>