CHANEL Limited edition N°5 EAU DE PARFUM Review

Hi guys, today I'll be sharing my thoughts on Chanel's limited edition Red No 5 Eau de Parfum.

In 2020? That's right! A little back story, I first saw this ages ago during my trip to Japan. I came across it in the airport duty-free but I skipped it because of the price in Japanese yen. I couldn't stop thinking about it so I decided to buy it in Malaysia, but when I reached home it was sold out everywhere.

Before this red bottle was launched in limited quantities back in 2018, I've actually never been drawn to buy No 5. I've always thought of it as slightly mature and, dare I say, too old for my tastes back then. I remember first smelling it and thinking, what is this bougie toilet scent. I know right?!

As I went about buying more perfumes to add to my collection, No 5 has always popped up. As an iconic fragrance, No 5 always tops people's best fragrance lists. After re-smelling it, I do think that I've lost that old/toilet impression (lol), but I was still not keen to buy it as the normal bottle seemed quite plain + I had other scents I was eyeing to buy (or is it nose-ing to buy haha)

However, that red bottle was still in my head. As someone who loves taking pictures and is fairly into luxe items, the red No 5 was a collectable I couldn't have. It slipped my fingers, and as a general human rule, we tend to want things we can't have even more.

A simple Google search will give you tons of festive photos and flatlays featuring the red bottle, and it annoyed me to no end that I couldn't get my hands on it.

Fast forward to my birthday this year! My friend Jerine actually sells a few perfumes as she has a legit source. Won't disclose more as it's her business, but she sells legit and authentic perfumes. It just so happened that her supplier had a few bottles of this red Chanel No 5, and she was super generous enough to get one and send it to me as a surprise birthday present. Thank you so much Jerine!

As I mentioned, this red bottle was only available in select quantities, and even Jerine doesn't have any left. I can't remember how much it was when I first saw it in Japan, but a Google search gave me this blog post, where the author says that the 100ml bottle retailed for USD160/£130/RM679 here in Malaysia.

Here are some unboxing shots + shots of the bottle/packaging:

Luxurious and mysterious, 2018 was actually the first time that Chanel cloaked their legendary glass bottle with red. 

They released two red bottles: N°5 L'eau Eau de Toilette and N°5 Eau de Parfum - both in 100ml.

There was also a more exclusive collectable: 55-numbered red Baccarat crystal bottles of the N°5 Parfum in 900ml made for a special collector's edition. If you didn't get it, Chanel made 55 900ml bottles of this red No 5 for collectors. Extravagant to the max!

For those who have yet to smell No 5, here's its composition:

Top notes
Aldehydes, Ylang-Ylang, Neroli, Bergamot and Peach

Middle notes

Iris, Jasmine, Rose and Lily-of-the-Valley

Base notes

Sandalwood, Vanilla, Oakmoss, Vetiver and Patchouli

I don't really see myself using this on a daily basis (because I prefer light, citrusy scents for the day), but I think it will be nice for events/night time. Obviously, everybody wants it because it's a limited edition item, but aside from the red bottle, it's actually the same fragrance as always.

And that's it for this post! I hope you guys found it helpful and informative.

See y'all in my next post!