The Secret of Chanel No. 5 audiobook

The perfume industry calls Chanel no 5 "le monstre" and rightly so. It is and has been for most of its 90 years the best-selling perfume in the world. Marilyn Monroe wore it (and nothing else) to bed. Andy Warhol made a silk screen of it along with Campbell soup. So what's the secret? It's an unusually sophisticated perfume that, unlike many other luxury products, has not compromised over the years. What I wear today (you knew I wore Chanel No 5, of course) is pretty much what Chanel envisioned in 1923 when it was introduced. There is the essence of 1,000 jasmine flowers in my little 1/2 oz bottle, and getting those flowers from Grasse where they are grown to Hackensack, NJ, where Chanel was manufactured during World War II was a matter of black market buying and smuggling at tremendous risk, not to mention the cost.Chanel signed away the rights to the perfume to the Wertheimer family in the 1920s and she regretted it almost immediately. The company had to keep an attorney on the payroll solely to deal with the many lawsuits Chanel bombarded them with. During the occupation of France she tried to use the Nazi law forbidding Jews to own property to regain control. (Not a nice lady, Chanel. Not a lady at all but a demi-mondaine really.) Fortunately the Wertheimers had sold the company to an "Aryan" before they fled France for the United States. After the war when they bought their company back they decided to give Coco a larger share in the profits in order to avoid a court battle that would have made Chanel's collaboration public knowledge and destroyed the glamour of the name, Chanel.So if the book is so fascinating why only 4 stars? Alas, the book is in dire need of a good editor. It is sometimes rambling, constantly repetitious, and written in that breathless manner where every little fact and surmise is "secret" and is tied into the development and fame of the perfume, whether it fits or not. Nonetheless, if you are interested in perfume, or if you read the recent Justine Picardie biography of Mademoiselle and want to know the other side of the story, this is a good place to go. It really is a fascinating story.2011 No 1

History of Chanel No 5 with a bit of world history. Interesting read, the image of american soldiers standing in line at the shop in Place Vendome to buy a bottle of Chanel no 5 it's something that will stay me because it adds a new significance to the perfume, it adds hope.

Well, I do have to admit this is an enjoyable and fascinating read about Gabrielle Chanel. What I am enjoying the most about this book is how the perfume itself came into existence. Starting with the background of Gabrielle's youth(life in the convent) and then the serendipitous meetings with the cousin of the last Czar of Russia and the parfumer Ernest Beaux is compelling. The idea that it could be the ill fated perfume of the late czarina is remarkable! I have had a fascination with flowers and perfumery since I was quite young. So, far it has been fantastic. I am curious to see how much it dovetails with the biography I have previously reviewed on Mme. Chanel,Sleeping with the Enemy.

Chanel No. 5 is debatably the most desirable consumer luxury product of the 20th and 21st centuries. But it hasn’t changed in any of the essentials; rather, decade after decade, we have reinvented it in our minds. At moments, principally since the 1980s, brilliant marketing has been part of what has guided us. But Chanel No. 5 was never the creature of crass commercialism. Instead, something larger, something more timeless, almost immediately made it an unprecedented success.All along, we have been enthusiastic participants in the production and reproduction of its legend. Indeed, we have been the principal agents of it. It’s part of the reason stories about Chanel No. 5 flourish. We have sometimes invented and dreamed our way to those legends, so the true history of the world’s most famous fragrance comes to us at moments as a surprise. And it’s not just with the invention of “new luxury” in the 1990s that we began to map onto it the narratives of our own hopes and desires and sometimes even our losses. Chanel No. 5 has been about the stories we tell of ourselves from the beginning, and that includes all the people who have shaped its history.Some of those people are the characters whose lives were tangled up intimately with the history of this perfume–the characters whose lives this book touches upon. All of them found ways to connect individually and privately with this scent that they helped to make famous, and, of course, no one was as tightly bound to the fragrance as Coco Chanel. It was part of her history and her story.Few products around the world are more beloved than Chanel No. 5, and it inspires in its millions of fans–and there are millions–the kind of passion and loyalty that executives in slick advertising offices on Madison Avenue can only dream about manufacturing. The quandary for any curious historian, savvy entrepreneur, or fragrance aficionado is: what, precisely, is the connection? How did Chanel No. 5 become one of the most celebrated luxury products of all time?If it took decades for the marketing to catch up with the success of the world’s most celebrated perfume, what is the secret of its magnificent destiny? More simply still, why is Chanel No. 5 the most sensual perfume in the world, and what exactly is it that makes this scent so sought-after? This book–the unauthorized biography of a scent–separates the fact from the fiction, and teases out the truths from the clutter of half-truths and enlightening silences, to tell the story of a familiar cultural monument whose history we’ve never really known.

As a fragrance lover, I am familiar with Chanel No. 5's gravitas, but didn't know the history. This book was fantastic at telling me things I didn't know about it. It has a really intriguing history with many twists and turns, and even has a WWII plot line. It's remarkable that it hasn't been turned into a movie--though I'm probably speaking too soon, here. My grandmother wore Chanel No. 5, and I didn't even know this until after she passed away and I found a few bottles of it while going through her things. Because of the popularity of Chanel No. 5 especially around WWII, and the fact that my grandmother and grandfather met and got married while my grandfather was a pilot in WWII, this mostly empty bottle of Chanel No. 5 has an entire backstory that is unfamiliar to me, yet is comforting.The book itself is very good, and reads much like a history or biography would. If you are into fragrances and their history, this is a must-read. For me it was a must-read. And after finishing it, I have a much deeper respect--and now even a connection--to Chanel No. 5 that I didn't know I had before, and I'm grateful for that. Perfume, though it is marketed as liquid sex appeal, is much more powerful that the ads claim. Perfume can make memories and connect you to loved ones in ways that no other medium can. I think this book facilitated that connection with me and my grandmother.

Eu amei! Um livro cheio de informações históricas/culturais diferentes, mas interligadas com a criação e popularidade desse perfume icónico.Eu sabia apenas que o perfume Chanel Nº 5 tinha sido criado por Coco Chanel, porém nunca imaginei que fatos como o local e condições de onde ela passou a infância, suas escolhas de vida, romances e perdas poderiam ter sido o que motivou sua busca pelo perfume perfeito e o que ela pretendia declarar com sua criação.Também não imaginava que a corte russa e a revolução, a segunda guerra mundial, os soldados aliados e alemães, e história de vida de outras pessoas além da Chanel, poderiam ter colaborado de alguma maneira para o desenvolvimento desse "Le Monstre" como é conhecido na indústria de perfume.Acrescente a tudo isso, informações sobre os costumes de uma época, química, cultivo de flores, guerra judicial, Marketing.É o livro perfeito para quem gosta de história geral contemporânea. Esse com certeza vai ser um livro que vou ler novamente.

Bold Prose for a Worthy Bottle of Perfume Since I have favored the fragrance for a half a century, to read the of origins, evolution, and controversies was entrancing. Mazzeo captures the evocative and sensual essence of Chanel Number 5, of Coco, and of the global and historic setting. The perfume is the resilient main character undeterred by mortals, nature, or society, and the author’s prose is as sexy and honest and fresh as her subject.

Surprisingly enough, I did enjoy this book: maybe because I'd known next to nothing about the designer's biography, or maybe because I listened to the audio version of it while wearing the perfume, but somehow all those olfactory journeys to the rich gardens of Aubazine and the austere northern seashores actually worked for me. The success story was also quite interesting and infused with Coco's biography and character in just the right proportion.

Por trás de um produto tão consolidado no mercado mundial, seja ele de luxo ou popular, a certeza é de que neste produto contém muita história/estórias. Neste livro as perguntas são: porque Chanel N5 é até hoje o perfume mais vendido do mundo?Como ele se tornou um ícone mundial? O segredo é a fórmula? A propaganda?O interesse e veneração por Coco Chanel? Um livro fascinante, quase um romance.

As a lover of perfume and history, I very much enjoyed listening to this book via audible. This book has given me quite an appreciation for the most iconic perfume of the past two centuries. Mazzeo includes rich information about Coco Chanel herself, as well as details about the art of perfume creation and promotion. I’ll enjoy using tidbits from this text as “fun facts.”

Mazzeo shows the history of both the famous perfume Chanel No. 5 as well as the person most associated it, Coco Chanel. She shows how the two are perfectly intertwined as well as crafts a beautiful story about how Chanel No. 5 remained relevant in a changing world.

A little hard to read at times, felt scattered in places. But still really interesting story about Chanel no. 5, it made me look at my bottle in a whole new way!

Interesting facts about Chanel no 5 through the lens of Paris, Coco and history. Learned a lot about perfume industry and Coco’s business acumen.

Se hace un poco pesado en los capítulos finales, pero es muy atrapante.

everyone must read