Mademoiselle Chanel spoke of beige as a comfortable color, a color of eternal elegance, not à la mode but something that never goes out of style. My inspiration was to translate the idea of this color into a fragrance that was fresh and floral. My vision of the beige color came alive with the hawthorn note in accord with honey.
— Perfumer Jacques Polge on Chanel's latest release, Beige, quoted in Chanel "Nose" Jacques Polge at Vanity Fair. Thanks to zippy for the link!
I think beige is my most hated color for clothing – it makes me look like a corpse. I am interested in smelling the perfume, though!
I tried this at Saks, along with some of the other exculsifs, and I thought it was okay, but it was just honey. A bit prettier than L'Occitane, but pretty similar. Maybe there were too many other scents interfering, but it seemed pretty much plain honey to me.
Love the perfume…the women in my town are falling like flies to its charms. I can confirm Polge's view that it will appeal to different types of women. So far have bowled over a L.A.M.B. and a No 19 lover.
In photos of Chanel's apartment at 31 Rue Cambon, and a lot of the objects (e.g., sofas, etc.) that she described as “beige” I would have described as “peach.” So her (and Polge's) idea of beige may well be different from the general public's.
Speaking of color, why does blue (my favorite color) so often seem to be the kiss of death for perfumes, especially masculines?
With the exception of L'Heure Bleue, of course.
Tama, I can't wear it either. But Beige is a lovely scent!
Oh dear! I like it way better than you. Still, not sure I need my own bottle.
It's true — can't think offhand of any (other) great women's scents in blue. Will come back later if something comes to mind.
But also — now that blue has become equated with aquatic, I probably wouldn't be attracted to a blue perfume!
Lancome Mille et une Roses is nice – and blue!
Angel is blue, and still one of the best-selling (if also one of the most hated) perfumes on the market.
When they brought out Allure, I remember all the publicity said that the colour of the packaging – peach/beige – was Chanel's favourite colour. So I think you may be right about what she really meant by 'beige'. Still awaiting my sample, and feeling intrigued by the diversity of opinions!
Vanessa, I always hated that blue, esp with the bottle shape — reminds me of nail polish remover!
LOL — duh, can't believe I couldn't think of that!
It's really pretty. I don't know that I want any, but it's a lovely scent.
I know what you mean – it feels counterintuitive for a rose scent to be blue!
Duh, as well–I completely forgot that Angel was blue. I guess what I had in mind were flankers that involve blue in some way. But I agree that the aquatic connection is problematic.
I understood it that Coco Chanel never wore anything but navy blue. Apart from being timeless, elegant and stylish, it made getting dressed every morning much easier as there were no major decisions to be made.
So how come Beige is the new perfume and not Navy?
Which ties neatly into your chat about blue and women's perfumes…
Perhaps Navy is next
That's a problem. Because if Chanel introduces “Navy,” I would be physically incapable of stopping myself from buying it. And I really can't afford one of the Exclusifs right now.
…giggles…
And when they introduce “Eggplant”, it will be mine
And mine will be Marigold! Or Loquat.
Seriously, why didn't she name it something pretty like, maybe, “Hawthorn Honey”?
Beige makes me look puke-y, too.
But there's already Navy by Dana (1990).
Loquat! That'd sell
Right!! Completely forgot.