MARILYN MONROE Edp Spray, 50ml

Product Information

It might take him weeks to know whether a certain iteration is correct: “I must be sure I won’t become bored of it.”

Marilyn Monroe in 1952 gave No 5 its biggest boost by saying she wore nothing else in bed. Photograph: Chanel At Chanel, Polge tells me, the role of the nose is unique: elsewhere, his counterparts are primarily responsible for product development. Here, however, he also oversees all the house’s ongoing fragrance production. “All those perfumes have very specific raw materials which I have to gather year after year,” he says, “while ensuring we have each of these specific elements available and sustainable in the long term to keep going.” The writing was on the wall when, in a scene straight out of a Hollywood movie, and according to History Today, Monroe found Miller’s notebook lying open on a table. Like seeing a car crash, she was unable to look away: “She discovered that he was disappointed in her, feared that his own creativity would be threatened by this pitiable, dependent, unpredictable waif he had married and was seriously regretting the union. Marilyn told friends that he also wrote, ‘The only one I will ever love is my daughter’.” Vanity Fair later stated: “One of her greatest fears, that of disappointing those she loved, had come true." It’s only once I collect a creation,” he says, “that I begin to truly assess the compound’s composition. And that’s by no means simply just how the fragrance feels initially.” In 2013, Marilyn was the subject of an advertisement campaign by Chanel entitled ‘Inside Chanel.’ In the two-minute advertisement, Marilyn is the posthumous face of the legendary perfume.

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The fragrance featured top notes of citronella, geranium, and greens, as well as middle notes of palmarosa, rose, rosewood and a bottom note of cedarwood. Interestingly, it is widely believed that women tend to be more drawn to geranium essential oil as geranium has properties that regulate hormones. We can only assume that Marilyn might have found the geranium scent soothing too! When it comes to Hollywood icons, very few have obtained the level of fame and success that Marilyn Monroe reached. Even after all these years, Monroe is undoubtedly one of contemporary culture’s most legendary stars. Born Norma Jean on June 1st, 1926, the actor cemented herself into pop cultural DNA through her onscreen performances of comedic ‘blonde bombshell’ characters, a term synonymous with Monroe. From this, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s. Film and society employed her as a statement badge for its re-assessment of sexual expression. So there you have it, Marilyn Monroe’s favorite perfume: Floris’ Rose Geranium Toilet Water! Or at least, that’s a very educated guess (you don’t buy six bottles unless you’re a fan…). Still, the question remains why we are so fascinated by the perfumes celebrities wear in the first place?

One of the most elegant actresses of all time, it’s unsurprising that the fashion house Givenchy wanted to create a perfume for Hepburn, who already was a big fan of their clothes.

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One of the most iconic quotes of all time, when asked about her nighttime apparel, Monroe said she only wears the famous scent Chanel No.5 in bed. Creed is an esteemed family-owned fragrance house, and Grace Kelly’s favorite perfume was commissioned especially by her husband Prince Rainier to compliment her bouquet. In typical teenage fashion, young Olivier spent his adolescence determined to do anything but follow in his father’s footsteps. He loved music, design and crafting, and enrolled on an art history course; during his first summer break he asked his father if they could spend a month in the lab together. “If you knew my father, you’d know he doesn’t speak too much,” Polge says. “That all changed when I arrived for the first time in the lab and he started to teach me.” The perfume industry is organised completely differently to, for example, wine,” says Polge. “People often ask, does No 5 change? Is the annual crop different? But we know exactly what it needs to smell like, and my job is to ensure it remains the way it’s always been.” Polge has no such problems. There have only been four noses at Chanel. After Beaux came Henri Robert, then Jacques Polge: Olivier’s father. He shows me to the small library in the corner of the lab, the books curated and beautifully bound by Jacques before his departure.