A Love Letter To Chanel’s Freshest, Most Sophisticated Scent Yet

I remember the first time I ever smelled Chanel’s Chance Eau Fraîche. I was killing time at an airport duty-free boutique, and picked up a tester while wandering about the beauty section; the pale green, round glass bottle fit perfectly in my hand, and one spritz was all it took for me to fall in love. (The other Chance scents are lovely, but I was all in on Eau Fraîche’s crisp, clean iteration of the classic Chanel fragrance.) I got the smallest size of the eau de toilette available — I was barely out of college and on a budget — but nothing made me feel more chic than my new signature scent. 

Years later, Chance Eau Fraîche still a go-to of mine — and as we reported last month, Chanel added a new interpretation of the scent to its portfolio: The Chance Eau Fraîche Eau de Parfum. I, of course, was overjoyed. As I write this, I’m less than a week from a milestone birthday — and just as I’ve grown up, so has my favorite perfume. 

As a longtime fan of Eau Fraîche’s lighter, brighter eau de toilette, I was eager to see how the eau de parfum compared; at first smell, the two are more similar than different, IMO — but definitely not identical. I'm no professional nose, but I do know that scents can smell a little different on everybody based on your unique skin chemistry, and on me, the citrus notes of Eau Fraîche's EDT (that's "eau de toilette") are front and center. Meanwhile, I found that the EDP's floral and amber notes were more present, especially as the fragrance wore down throughout the day. Both are bursting with freshness (it's in the name, after all), but not saccharine sweet.

The Chanel Chance Eau Fraîche EDP comes in two sizes, 1.7 and 3.4 fluid ounces, which retail for $135 and $165, respectively. I don't go too crazy with the spritzes — usually one on my neck and another in my hair — so I imagine these can last a long time with proper storage. (Keeping your bottle out of the sun and heat will help preserve the quality of the fragrance.) And if you're wondering if I have a favorite between the two, the answer is a resounding negative; while it's easy to say "EDT for day, EDP for night," the truth is actually more dependent on my mood than anything. When I'm feeling more laidback (but still bougie), I'll go for the eau de toilette. If I'm going to an event or a romantic date, I'll opt for the eau de parfum because of its woody-floral vibes. In short, it's not every day you're blessed with a new version of your favorite perfume — so to that, I say merci beaucoup, Chanel.