Coco

Chanel describes Coco as a lush amber symphony that gradually reveals contrasting notes. The house publishes a breakdown in three tiers, from a Sicilian mandarin to a base of Indonesian patchouli, benzoin, and tonka bean.

Mandarin at the top

The opening rests on a citrus note of Sicilian mandarin. Angela of Now Smell This finds instead the aldehydes of Chanel’s classics, softened and thickened by a touch of orange.

A heart of jasmine

The heart is a jasmine absolute, which the house calls voluptuous, enhanced by touches of ylang-ylang from the Comoros and orange blossom from Tunisia. These three flowers carry the sunny side that Chanel attributes to the perfume.

Patchouli, benzoin, and tonka in the base

The base pairs Indonesian patchouli, benzoin, and a tonka note, which Chanel describes as a vibrant trail. Benzoin, a balsamic resin, brings a vanilla-like sweetness that the coumarin of the tonka bean extends.

The notes of 1984

Michael Edwards details a denser composition: jasmine, peach, frangipani, mimosa, and orange blossom at the top; cascarilla, rose, clove, and angelica in the heart; labdanum, sandalwood, tonka bean, leather, and opoponax in the base. Cascarilla is a West Indian shrub whose bark flavors liqueurs.

What the label declares

After alcohol, fragrance, and water, the list published by Chanel declares bergamot, patchouli, orange, geranium, lemon, clove, and Atlas cedar oils, ylang-ylang, jasmine and rose extracts, and sandalwood oil.

It also lists vanillin and coumarin, a synthetic amber wood, eugenol and isoeugenol with clove accents, and anethole, with a scent of anise. The list includes three colorants, red, yellow, and blue, a UV filter, and a stabilizer.

These substances say nothing of dosages: only those that must be declared appear. They nonetheless bring back the clove, rose, and sandalwood of the 1984 composition, absent from today’s official notes.