Find your Fragrance with Chanel Les Exclusifs

When we think of Chanel fragrance, our minds immediately leap to a glowing ochre bottle of Chanel No. 5 or Keira Knightley skimming the streets of Paris on a Ducati motorcycle. We certainly don't immediately think of Les Exclusifs, the hidden gems in the Chanel Fragrance collection, though we should, as the collection is stunning. If you'd like to find your Fragrance with Chanel Les Exclusifs, here is how to do it.

This collection leads you through Gabrielle Chanel’s scented memories. Each richly intricate perfume strives for individuality on the wearer "the reader", whoever you may be.

Find your Fragrance with Chanel Les Exclusifs

Within the walls of the Chanel Fragrance and Beauty boutique at Battersea Power Station you can be matched to a fragrance based on your style, personality and tastes. A person’s signature fragrance must be selected wisely. After all, it's a part of your presence when you enter a room. A scent friends and family will remember as yours. A bookmark for an era in your life where this single scent can transport you back to open pages you forgot existed. 

 Join me as I see a whole new perspective to fragrance through the eyes of Chanel with my own fragrance consultation and find my Les Exclusifs perfume match.

We begin with what makes Chanel Les Exclusifs so exclusive. Every Chanel fragrance is born from a foundation of own grown raw materials. Many of the floral elements such as their six-year grown iris are farmed in Grasse, South of France especially for use in their perfumes. The formula is oil-based, made to increase the projection of the fragrance – meaning how the perfume radiates off your skin.

My fragrance consultation was embarked with a mimosa and a conversation with a fragrance specialist delving into my fragrance tastes over the years – from Davidoff Cool Water gifted on birthdays to my adolescent phases with Miss Dior. A pattern we found here is that I have always been more drawn to sweeter notes, yet I’m currently searching for something with a bit more depth and musk to it. Three different fragrances were then selected from the collection based on my conversation: an ideal, an alternative and a surprise.

The first fragrance that was handed to me, deemed my ideal, was 1932. A cool-toned scent, with the depth of white musk balanced with floral lightness of iris and jasmine. The fragrance sweetens on the skin as it develops, and notes of pear begin to peek through. 1932’s delicate presence is inspired by the pearls and diamonds of Chanel’s first high jewellery collection released in the year the fragrance is named. The fragrance communicates the ‘class of a lady’ - imagine yourself lying on a satin-lined chaise longue in the 1930s draped in strings of pearls, that’s 1932.

My second fragrance to sample was my alternate, named Boy. Inspired by the qualities of polo player Boy Capel, the love and muse of Gabrielle Chanel’s life. This one instantly struck me; I had never experienced any fragrance so unique before. It is spicy, musky and aromatic yet balanced on the skin. I had been drawn to Boy whilst browsing the scent samples, purely because of its individuality and how it encapsulated that musky sweetness and decadence I was searching for.

Finally, Gardenia – my surprise fragrance. In other words, the wild card. Like the smell of freshly laundered sheets, to me Gardenia is a scent that can do no wrong. It’s simple, light and floral. A pure and elegant fragrance for the summer-oriented, lifted with Madagascan vanilla and carried with jasmine and ylang-ylang. Although it’s a scent I truly think is beautiful, I personally saw Gardenia as a safely wearable option when I was looking to be more experimental with my perfume tastes during this consultation. 

I had decided to carry Boy on to the next round due to its intrigue. This is where the secret ingredient came into play – Huile Douce. Directly translating to sweet oil, this wonder product was massaged into my right arm followed by a spritz of Boy on both. The difference was truly incredible. If someone had told me the fragrances on each of my arms were completely different – I would have believed them undoubtedly. It was as if the oil acted as a catalyst, allowing the fragrance to develop into new depths that the same scent on the other arm did not have the power to do without it.

To say my final choice never faltered would be a lie. I did return back to smell Gardenia and 1932 multiple times, contemplating. Yet the ridiculous amount of times I went back to inhale the scent on my arms in disbelief made the choice of Boy clear in my mind. Of course anybody could go into a shop and run their noses by the lids of tens of perfumes, decide on one then leave. However would you be certain it was right for you, or did you just like it in the moment? It can be tricky to realise at what point in sampling perfumes that they all merge into one scented cloud or when your nose gets lazy and stops differentiating one from the other.

This experience gifts you the luxury of selecting a fragrance you can wear the right way, with confidence that it matches you. Visit the boutique for a complimentary fifteen minute initial fragrance consultation and explore the Les Exclusifs fragrance collection.