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Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum Review & Photos

Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum
Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum

Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum ($98.00 for 1.7 fl. oz.) is a recently released scent that was supposed to mark the return to Oriental fragrances for Chanel. It has notes of grapefruit, bergamot, orange, rose, jasmine, geranium, patchouli, tonka bean, vanilla, sandalwood, and white musk.

Coco Noir spends most of the time smelling like sweet berries and patchouli. From beginning to end, a lot of the other notes are barely detectable; if I wasn’t specifically looking for them, I don’t think I’d have caught on that they were, in fact, supposed to be there. Initially, there’s a hint of grapefruit–a little zest–but it fades too quickly. In the first hour or so, the rose and jasmine notes peek through. They linger but disappear beneath a haze of sweetened berries, patchouli, and a hint of musk. On me, there’s some soapiness after four or five hours.

It wears close to the skin on me with two spritzes (one on each wrist), and the fragrance wears noticeably for around six hours and is mostly gone by eight hours. It’s a blend of sweetness and light, berries and patchouli, that never gets too sweet but never reads noir.  (It is a bit like how I felt about Tom Ford’s Jardin Noir collection.) The scent is incredibly well-blended, and on the whole, a wearable, easygoing fragrance that many will love, but if you were looking for something particularly interesting, innovative, or noir, you may not be so keen on this scent.  Coco Noir is soft, lightly warmed up–like a light jacket for the first days of autumn.

Have you tried Coco Noir?

See more photos!

Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum
Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum

Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum
Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum

Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum
Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum

Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum
Chanel Coco Noir Eau de Parfum

33 Comments

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Tyler Avatar

This is a pathetic perfume. Gabrielle Chanel would be ashamed of this release. Mr Sheldrake & Polge need to get the boot; Replace Jacques with Oliver and send sheldrake back to Lutens.

xamyx Avatar

Perfume has *alot* to do with body chemistry, so what may be “pathetic” on *you*, may actually be HG for another. The notes in this may not be very popular, and many find them to not be a good mix, but for others (myself included), these notes are *amazing*.

Hannah Avatar

I think the issue with this perfume is that the notes in it are very popular. It smells similar to a lot of things already on the market and on sale in every mall.

xamyx Avatar

The notes listed are nearly identical to those in Lou Lou (Cacharel), which has been my HG/signature scent for 25 years. As Lou Lou is a bit HTF at times, I’ll definitely check this one out as an alternative.

aurora Avatar

I was at first skeptical about this Perfume but it turned out really elegant and nice. It is not heavy. It is dark and sensual. I am going it to put it on my Christmas list. Nice review, Christina.

ifath Avatar

Good summary. To my amateurish nose, this smells like a darker version of coco mademoiselle, but as noted below – not black (noir) but purple (pourpre). However, I really like it – it’s not quite as strong as mademoiselle, but deeper.

cydoniac Avatar

I’m on the same page with you guys…I tried it yesterday at Sephora and although I liked it, I wasn’t blown away by it…and it certainly didn’t read “noir” to me…

Ellen Avatar

I LOVE this perfume. I was looking for something really sexy, and this was it! Plus, just one spritz does it, as opposed to other perfumes where a few spritzes still leave me with no real scent.

blueraccoon Avatar

I may check this out – I probably won’t buy it, because perfume and I have an uneasy truce in which it doesn’t bother me if I don’t wear it – but this sounds lovely.

Rae // theNotice Avatar

Ugh, that packaging. <3

I think I'll have to give this one a sniff – I like (but don't quite love) Coco, so I'm hoping this one will be a hit with my nose. I was really hoping for a darker, moodier scent from something described as "Noir," but hopefully it won't be a complete miss!

Andreea Avatar

What a disappointment whne you think of the house Chanel with such a good reputation in perfume – but a very wearable and nice scent. It is very expensive, otherwise it is a nice, dark and comfy Version of Coco Mademoiselle, as someone else already mentioned here (I TOTALLY agree!!)

For the same pricetag in Germnay I would get an extrait/pure perfume which is more special to me.

NIce review, you hit the spot – Noir it’s not… noir 🙂

Barbara Avatar

Wanted to love this so much because of the name and the bottle – total scrubber on me! I love Coco and don’t like Coco Mademoiselle. There is nothing noir about this!

niche Avatar

Love the bottle but not the scent. I was hoping for something dark and moody given the bottle. Oh well, you can’t expect anything truly interesting in the mainstream fragrance market.

Patricia Avatar

I picked this up at the duty free on a long layover in London, when it had just launched. I tried it on and was initially annoyed – as a fan of orientals and of both coco and coco mademoiselle it was obviously NOT oriental in a classical way nor does it bear any resemblance to coco the original. As I walked around though and despite my annoyance I really began to like it. I can’t wear coco mademoiselle to my office (let alone coco) – too smack-in-your-face and too girly. This takes the edge off of mademoiselle, softens and deepens it. I can (just barely) get away with it – someone walked past my office the other day and said “this place smells good!”
Coco Noir should have been called “Coco Madame.” It is a flanker for Mademoiselle. But, “Madame” would not have sold well.

Alison Avatar

That BOTTLE. I die!

Apart from that I’m a little disappointed; with this name and packaging, you’d be after something with a bit more drama!

Sarah Avatar

I am using Coco Mademoiselle for past 6 years straight (everyday).
when i found out Coco Noir is coming i was so exited to try it out!
when first day it came out i tried it, seriously i hated it! i got headache immediately, it was nothing close to what i was expecting!!

lebleeks Avatar

I loved this scent. It’s on my list. I loved the way it seemed to change notes as the day went on. Perfect for my gemini nature. And it had great staying power I felt, despite other reviewers comments.

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