Chanel "Coco Mademoiselle"

It was an impulse buy after hearing many good reviews on blogs and from friends -- a whole 50ml bottle off the shelf at the pharmacy, and without even testing it first. Madness, I know. Then again, as I was waiting for the clerk to process my payment I did quickly blast some edp on my wrist -- and half an hour later, some random guy chatted me up at my coffee shop. (For those who wonder if I'm giving the perfume too much credit here: I was wearing running shoes, jeans, a misshapen gray shirt and a thermal vest. Sex-aay.) So on a high from the unexpected flirtation, I tripped along home with my lovely new bottle to apply a little more and give it a good run-through.

First thought: This is my aunt's perfume. Second thought: Ugh! PUG!

Interestingly, these things are linked. My aunt always wears perfume, and in a concentration that makes me wonder if any of it touches her skin at all. Only after getting a sniff of "Coco Mademoiselle" straight out of the bottle did I realise that this is certainly her fragrance of choice. On my wrist it changes, of course, and I apparently didn't notice the correlation in the pharmacy test.

The second thought is completely related to the fact that my aunt has two small, meatloaf-shaped hellbeast pugs. Apparently, my mind is so used to catching the unadulterated whoosh of fragrance that it supplied the smell of dog all on its own. Thanks, brain. Gah.

Anyhow, down to the actual scent. I'm wearing it again today, having carefully NOT inhaled it until it was well and truly blended with my skin. I was alarmed to smell something sharpish and stingy for the first time, and then cucumber, and then a sort of rot... Very odd. Luckily this swiftly changed over to what I can only describe as the inside of an old, warped blanket box in a cottage, where someone's just reached in to get a well-used patchwork quilt. A warm, secure scent on me. This is, along with "Romance", one of those scents that makes me think of being in a familiar, comfortable relationship.

It's shallowed out now to a powdery scent, but thankfully lacking the sugary residue that so put me off "Flower". A lingering, floral talc. Very nice, and probably something I'd wear for a day out -- but it does strike me as a tad intimate for the office.

And we do have a Canadianne result: the streak has been broken. On her, "Coco Mademoiselle" smells exactly like the powdered grit in my grammar school's soap dispensers. Ha!

Verdict: A long lunch out with the girls