Chanel Fragrance Master Class

I nearly entitled this posting, In Which I Am Invited, as I didn’t see much “infiltration” going on at the Chanel Fragrance Master Class hosted by Sniffapalooza on Saturday, March 1. Trajecting the inner sanctum of Monsieur Karl?––now, that would be infiltrating! After all, I paid my admission just like everyone else. The morning session, which I attended in its entirety, was one of the best-organized events of its kind. After a harrying cab ride from the FDR Drive, I was relieved to be warmly welcomed into a cool, clean, orderly space finished in Chanel’s inimitable white-outlined-in-black. A delicious breakfast was laid out for us, including a near-perfect yogurt parfait from Brasserie 8-1/2. From the outset, this day was going to be as much about the stimulation of the senses as the pampering of them.

Eden McCracken, who conducted the class with a team of five assistants, was a tall, striking presence in a black dress adorned at the waist by a stunning feather rosette, covered in a flowing silk wrap that went all the way to her black leather bottines. She did Karl proud. The session lasted about 3 hours and covered the signature scents, not surprisingly placing the utmost attention on the the rose de mai/jasmin de Grasse accord in No 5. Interesting, indeed, it was to learn that the eau de toilette concentration (engineered by Ernest Beaux in 1924) has a Tunisian néroli top note which is quite conspicuously accentuated by sandalwood in the base. Likewise, the eau de parfum concentration done by Jacques Polge in 1986 accentuates the vanillin.

Eden used a video presentation to explain the oft-used musical metaphor applied to scent, stressing how the higher-toned notes correlate with the highly volatile citrus accords, middle tones with florals, and bass tones with fixatives. She then gave a full-dress presentation on the Les Exclusifs , including a sneak-peek at Sycomore, a lovely vetiver eau de toilette rendition due out in the next couple of months. What continues to amaze me about the Les Exclusifs collection is how pure the scents smell. Minor masterpieces of perfumery (though some would differ with me and push 31 Rue Cambon higher on the scale), they nevertheless betray an innocence-joined-to-sophistication that Gabriele “Coco” Chanel would have applauded. I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to own the entire collection.

And in typical Chanel fashion, the day would not have been complete without a complimentary No 5 EDP, which now adorns my nightstand. Karen Dubin and Karen Adams clearly outdid themselves in making this grand affair take place. If anybody did the infiltrating, it was that duo. Bravi, tutti.

Image credit: Andy Warhol, Chanel No. 5. Courtesy of the Andy Warhol Foundation.