Just this week, I had one of the most interesting beauty experiences I’ve ever had and I just had to share it with you as soon as I possibly could, not because I had to (I was specifically told that I didn’t have to blog about this if I didn’t want to but hey, who tells me what to blog or not to blog about eh? 😛 ) but because you too can experience it for yourself! It’s not like a special blogger-only privilege and I know there are those amongst you who enjoy perfumes as well, or maybe just want to learn a little more like I did 🙂
What I did was go on a 3 hour Fragrance Journey with Chanel at their Espace Parfum boutique at Suria KLCC and I was enthralled. Ok, it’s not really a 3 hour journey. It was 3 hours for me because I kept interrupting and making strange statements like “It smells like a salad!” (Les Exclusifs Bel Respiro) that I’m sure quite exasperated Fragrance Specialist, Gwen Chew who was my fragrance guide. Sorry, Gwen 😀
If you weren’t already aware (and I wasn’t), Chanel has a standalone fragrance boutique, Espace Parfum, at KLCC just outside of Parkson. In this store you will find all 56 Chanel perfumes available to date, including the Les Exclusifs range, which is only available here at this store.
It is also here that you can take an olfactory fragrance journey with the in-house Chanel Fragrance Specialist, who can help you pick YOUR Chanel scent or if you are like me, a Chanel fragrance virgin, take you through and see what you might like. The result can be very surprising (it was for me) and if you enjoy fragrances, a very insightful and interesting time, learning about fragrance, Coco Chanel and the influences behind each scent.
The most interesting thing is that the Fragrance Journey takes place, not at the counter filled with bottles of perfume, but at a table filled with these white things in them. You might be wondering what they are.
Well, my friends, these are the Chanel perfumes you and your nose will be sampling. They don’t look like the perfumes? Nope, not one bit, but that’s the brilliant part – you and your nose are erased of all prejudices of sight and design. You have really no idea what the scents are and you only have your nose (and fragrance specialist) to guide you.
These white things are ceramic blotters. Unlike paper blotters most of us are used to when sampling perfumes, the Chanel Fragrance Journey uses ceramic blotters, soaked in the perfumes. I was told that these ceramic blotters will not alter the scent and you will get the top, middle and base notes without having to wait for the dry-down.
Gwen, the resident Fragrance Specialist, taught me an interesting way to sample scents, especially fruity scents. When you breathe in, part your lips a little and draw the scent into your mouth. You will find a whole new sensory experience, and in some cases, almost taste the fruits in the fragrance. It is incredible and definitely something you have to experience.
These are what the ceramic blotters look like and they are only found in very selected boutiques where Fragrance Journeys are offered. As you go along, trying the scents, your Fragrance Specialist will set aside the ones you have an affinity for, for you to choose later.
Being a pure novice to Chanel fragrances, I was open to trying anything. So, my journey started with the fresh florals and went all the way to the strong woody orientals. I learned a few things in the process:-
- I have expensive tastes 😛 – My nose tended to gravitate to the Les Exclusifs or the pure Parfums. Oh boy!
- Chanel fragrances weren’t fluffy florals as I originally thought – a lot of them had a lot of depth and intricacies to them which you may not realise until you smell a few of them
- Eau de Toilette was not a mere watered down version of the Eau de Parfum. It was a whole different scent, even within the same line or family
- I didn’t like strong vanilla base scents – it made me feel sticky like I was dipped in syrup
- I didn’t like sweet, fruity scents – it felt too insipid and young and made me feel old 😛
- I gravitate towards strange woody scents that no one else likes conventionally
- Some florals aren’t too bad, I could see myself wearing them (although I can’t remember the names now)
- I live in the wrong climate for the scents I like to wear 😛
Unless you are going in there with the express intent of picking up a scent, I’d suggest that you keep an open mind. I knew the scents I did not like and we didn’t waste too much time on them. But it was interesting to have my prejudices reaffirmed, sometimes in quite a startling manner.
In between scents, you get a little “coffee break” by sniffing some coffee which is a way to neutralise and clear your head of all the heady fragrances, and it does get headier as you go along. Of course, if you know for a fact that woody, spicy, warm, oriental scents aren’t your thing, feel free to stop the journey and get off the fragrance train because it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
At the end of the day, my choices came down to 2 fragrances that were starkly different in character and scent. It, I suppose, just proved to me what a contradiction I am and can be 😀
The 2 scents I ended up with were Platinum Egoiste EdT and Allure Sensuelle Parfum. Platinum is a men’s perfume, in case you’re wondering, and it opens up with a very sharp, crisp note that is very decidedly masculine. However, when I sprayed it on my skin, it mellowed down quite quickly and took on a rounder, slightly more floral note, and felt light enough for use in the day. I might try to score myself a sample to see if it does work for daily use, because it is definitely an interesting scent (and one that no other woman would wear – hopefully!)
By stark contrast, the other scent I seemed to take to was Allure Sensuelle Parfum. We’re talking here about the pure parfum, not the EdT or EdP, both of which I wasn’t too keen on. They do smell quite different, with different notes taking centrestage and I just preferred how the Parfum smelled.
Allure Sensuelle as the name implies, is a 100% woman’s perfume. It is also very strong, with a strong, spicy, oriental slant rounding down to warm floral notes. It is a fragrance that can quite easily overwhelm and wear you instead of the other way around, and it is a fragrance that I know few women will go for locally simply because the weather here doesn’t quite allow for such strong, sensual scents to be worn. But for an evening, in the cool air, with a tiny dab of parfum on the wrists, this is a scent is heady and sensuous and all woman.
Chanel Espace Parfum at Suria KLCC (outside Parkson)
I found the journey fascinating and it is one I’m happy to go on again. Perhaps on another day, I might find myself preferring a different scent, who’s to say. I’d suggest that you go alone and make an afternoon of it, just you and your journey with fragrances.
At the end of the journey, experience the perfume you just chose, almost blind, and they may let you have a sample of the scent, or a ceramic token of your experience so you can truly see how you feel about the scent as the day wears on.
The only thing I would caution you is to go easy on the fragrances. For some reason, I found that my nose and sense of smell was heightened after this experience for the rest of the evening and the whole of the next day, which can be quite unnerving and uncomfortable. So be sure to take lots of “coffee breaks”, drink the lovely tea offered to you and relax and enjoy the one of a kind experience 🙂
The Fragrance Journey is a complimentary service at the Chanel Espace Parfum and you can experience it at any time, although I’d recommend that you make an appointment as the store can get a little busy on certain days. In Malaysia, you can only experience it at KLCC, and in Singapore, at Marina Bay Sands and Ion Orchard, although I’d suggest you go to the MBS one to experience the ceramic blotters. The full journey I undertook will take about 2 hours at minimum, but if you want something quicker, they can do you a 45-minute to 1 hour session which is the “express” train, as it were. I recommend taking the scenic route but I understand not all of us have the time 🙂
At KLCC, the Fragrance Specialist Gwen is a fountain of information about each of the different scents available and how they can work or not, for you. She is incredibly passionate about the brand and the fragrances and is herself, a fan of Chanel perfumes so there is a lot to learn from her and I’ll be darned if she didn’t make me all excited about the perfumes available. So I plan to return and if I blow my next beauty budget on a bottle of parfum, it’ll all be her fault (although I’d smell good so really, it’ll be win-win LOL! 😀 )
Have you been to the Chanel Espace Parfum fragrance boutique? Have you been on a similar fragrance journey before?
The store has been there for years, I learned. I always walked by because I thought it was just the regular Chanel boutique but I’ve now learned to open my eyes a little more 😛 I can’t say all the Chanel scents appeal to me, but there are definitely some that do and I’m glad I went on the journey to find out! 🙂
Paris B
The Chanel Fragrance Journey is a complimentary service and available at the Chanel Espace Parfum fragrance boutique at Suria KLCC only, Ground Level, outside of Parkson. It’s best to make an appointment before going so you will have the necessary time and attention. Tel: 03-2181 1546
LeGeeque says
I LOVE perfumes. It’s such a complex and subjective topic that there’s no right or wrong answer. The one thing I’ve learnt from my years of dabbling in perfumes is to not only try the scent on your skin (not on a scent strip, clearly!) but to try it at different times of your cycle (for women). The levels of our hormones change at different times of the month/our cycle and this actually affects the way the scent reacts with our skin. It also affects how our nose perceives the scent. So before you plonk down for a $500 parfum, sample it a few times 😉 Just my 2 scents 😉
PS- WHERE CAN I EMBARK ON A JOURNEY LIKE THIS IN MELBOURNE?!
Paris B says
Good tip to try it at different times. I’ve learned not to rush into buying a fragrance. They’re so expensive to start and they can leave such an impression or cause a violent reaction, like some scents make me feel nauseous and when you feel that way in the mornings, it’s really unnerving! 😛 I don’t know if Chanel has this in Melbourne actually. I can try to help you find out the next time I’m there 😉
Fathin says
That’s sound great, wonderful experience, it’s like tour in the world of Oz except instead of colourful view, you get different fragrances 😀 I think this will help customers to choose their own perfumes with more ease and accurately compare to use paper samples or own skin (there are limited skin area that we can use unless you want to use whole body LOL) After decide the best notes, sampling on own skin as last test should be OK instead of sampling many perfumes on skin then forgot which perfumes were sprayed on, haha.
However, the only thing that I don’t like about sampling many fragrances is the coffee break. I can’t stand coffee smell but that’s what always offered at fragrance counters 🙁 I wish I can use chocolate as fixer 🙂
lisa says
You can let the specialist know that you do not like coffee…they do offer some drinks like tea, coffee, water etc. Not sure if chocolate is available. Throughout the journey, short breaks are given to let our nose take a break. However, supposing if one is rushing off for an appointment, they do offer to use coffee ceramic blotters too instead of real coffee beans which is common with other brands. Hence, they usually recommend that one makes an appointment when there’s nowhere to rush off after.
Paris B says
Indeed, it’s an amazing way to introduce yourself to Chanel perfumes and maybe even find one you like! I love that they don’t have the bottles to show you so you aren’t influenced by how it looks, just how it smells and then you can test it a few times coz they dont’ rush you into buying 😀 Oh if you don’t like the smell of coffee, tell them. They do serve a lovely selection of teas and some chocolates so you could perhaps have a chocolate break even 😀
yee says
This sounds very interesting! Can anyone make an appointment to go on this journey, or does one have to have purchased a fragrance in the past first?
lisa says
No purchase required. Anyone can make an appointment. Take your time to experience the fragrances chosen for you at the end and slowly decide if you really like it. In fact, i took months of trying out the scents each time i walked past the chanel counters before i made the decisions to get the fragrances.
Paris B says
Anyone can go, Yee. Just call and make an appointment. The idea is to introduce yourself to the world of Chanel fragrances and if you enjoy fragrances, to talk to someone just as passionate about them!
Fathin says
Thanks, Lisa, Paris B.
I love fragrances but my first stage of decision usually affected by the bottle design *guilty, hehe. Other than the coffee break, I also have problem with strong fragrance or certain smells but I’m not sure which one or name of the scents. And it also depends on my mood. I might need more than one session as I’m very picky and each session probably should be shorter than an hour as too much of fragrances smell tend to make me feel sick, haha.
Can’t wait for my next trip to KL, better for me to try rather than fretting if this fragrance journey will work well on me or not 😀
Paris B says
Haha absolutely Fathin, the key here is communication. So just tell them your concerns and I’m sure they’ll take it slow for you so you enjoy the experience instead of feeling sick at the end of it all. I must say that after smelling about 40 perfumes in one sitting, my sense of smell was totally whacked for the next 2 days! Whew!
Sze Ling says
O.M.Gee! I NEED to go. Why didn’t I know about this earlier? Now, need to go find out where I can get this in the States. 😀
I’m such a novice in terms of fragrances. Hence, I’ve yet to own a full-sized perfume that I really, really adore. The only full-size perfume I own was an impulse purchase and it’s something I’ve regretted. So, this would definitely help. And I love anything Chanel. 😛
Paris B says
I didn’t know about this too Sze Ling and it’s amazing especially if you love everything Chanel because there’s so many stories behind the perfumes 😀 I don’t know where you can do this in the States, but I seem to vaguely recall being told that it maybe available somewhere in one of the big department stores in New York. Not sure about other places though!
Philippe says
Oh Egoïste is amazing but we can\’t get it anymore here..It\’s discontinued now isn\’t it?Never seen those white sticks before, I had no idea what was for 🙂
Paris B says
Hmm it isn’t discontinued, as far as I know. I think I was told they’re repackaging it, but it’s still in the Chanel lineup 🙂 I didn’t know what the white things were for too, initially. I thought they were droppers!
Philippe says
Strange, I cannot find it in shops here.
Maybe it’s gone for Europe (Belgium) but perhaps you can still get it in France etc.
I thought those white stick were for food first, injecting olive oil or something juicy into something else. You can tell what my mind is on usually 😛
ShopGirl says
Sounds like a divine experience but I wonder if I personally have the patience for it.
I think it’s a nice ‘journey’, if you have the time for it and they have had this sort of jazz the world over for wine so why not fragrances.
In fact, I’m sure private sessions like this are probably common practice in France or the Middle East where scents are revered as much as wines.
Chanel’s Gwen is the loveliest though and a rare gem in the industry. You were in good hands!
Paris B says
If you enjoy fragrances you’ll find the time just flying by 🙂 But if you are starved for time, let them know and they could give you the express version so you don’t get too bored 😀 Incidentally, Malaysia was the first place Chanel launched this Fragrance Journey and the Fragrance boutique and the ceramic blotters aren’t even available in France! So, that makes us quite quite special, don’t you agree? 😀 Ooh so you’ve experienced the knowledgeable Gwen! She’s amazing – I have to go back and have a good long chat with her 😀
lisa says
I love the experience too. And i must say the perfumes chosen at the end of the journey were accurate and reliable ones. I picked three. And two years later…now, I’m still loving these choices and i use them on a rotating daily basis. They have overtaken my Jo Malone collection. And most of all, changed my perception of Chanel and perfume. Expensive spending as it is , but I will definitely be making another appointment to experience this in future again.
Paris B says
Oh hey, you’re the only person so far to have undergone the journey! 😀 Which scents did you go for in the end? I, like you, have had my perceptions of Chanel perfumes changed after this experience. I never thought I’d enjoy their perfumes, but now I can see myself heading back to discover more 😀
lisa says
The fragrance specialist narrow down my likes to “Cristalle”, “Bel Respiro” and “No.19 Poudre”. All quite different. Prior to this, i only go for light, fresh, citrus fragrance types as most other fragrances induce headaches for me. I was quite surprised by the flowery/powdery No.19 Poudre picked at the end. And Bel Respiro is an interesting fragrance that’s not quite like the others. Cristalle is similar to what i’m used to… clean and fresh. And i didn’t know that Chanel has so many types of fragrances available. So, there’s sure to be new finds next round.
Paris B says
Eeps! I had Bel Respiro and No. 19 Poudre down on shortlist too! *snap!* Bel Respiro is definitely very interesting. When I came back to it, I kept thinking of green salad and rocket leaves, which I enjoy eating but wasn’t sure if I enjoyed smelling so I put it on KIV list. I’ll probably revisit it next time 😀
Robert c. says
Oh my, this is definitely going up on my to do list. Never had a fragrance journey before and would be lovely if I could one day haha. I say, it would also be very very interesting for me as for some strange reason, I detest the smell of masculine fragrance (e,g chanel : blue de chanel and guerlain’s L’homme) as I find it very overwhelming and just.. Headache-chy. I know, I’ma guy and I should like me but sadly I don’t -deep sighs-. (Caught a sniff of coco mademoiselle and I kinda like the EdT – but can’t see myself wearing it.. The dilemmas ERMYGAD).
I’m also the type of person who when you spray any perfume on me, after 20-30 minutes, it either turns very very very suttle and mild or it’s completely gone. Strange.
Sorry for the long ‘essay’ haha! Hope I’m not the only strange one out there and hopefully will be able to try this fragrance journey someday ;D So many enablers eeeks haha
Paris B says
Never apologise for leaving long comments, Robert. I love reading them so thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts 😀 If you enjoy perfumes, this is something you should experience. Maybe the next time you’re back here? Cos I’m not sure if they have it in the UK. I was actually told that we’re really lucky to be the first of its kind when launched and it still remains one of the rare places you can have a Chanel Fragrance Boutique and a Fragrance Journey experience. Oh and the great thing is that if you don’t like masculine scents, you don’t really have to wear them. A lot of our perceptions of perfumes and who should wear what are formed by imagery and ads but if you like a scent and it works on you, why not wear it?! I know I’m going to be wearing Platinum and it’s by no means a woman’s fragrance at all 😀
Joann says
Wow! This sounds great! I’m not even sure if Canada has a workshop like this, where you can explore and find out more about the Chanel scents etc.
I’m still in the process of finding ‘my’ perfume scent, so I would be really interested in checking out this chanel fragrance journey!
Honestly, I only know of the original Chanel No. 5, simply because my mom loves to wear it.
Paris B says
I’m not sure either Joann, but I think Gwen mentioned something in Toronto. Don’t quote me though! I suppose it’s always worth asking and they’d probably have it if they have a fragrance boutique. I too was only familiar with No. 5 but it’s not a scent I like unfortunately. I just find it too heavy for me but who knows, my tastes could change later 🙂
Constantin says
i just wonder how much they sell the Chanel no 5 EDP ? Need to compare it whether have a same price or not in my country 🙂
Paris B says
I’m sorry, I don’t have the prices.