I am a Chanel Baby

 Growing up, no one in my family really wore perfume on a regular basis. Once in a great while my mother wore Chanel Pour Monsieur and that was mostly on Christmas Day. But I don't have any recollection of any adult wearing perfume on a regular basis in my formative years. Mom might have worn no 5 once or twice but can't quite recall. Or was that in middle school when girls would rub their wrists on those perfume ad strips?

It wasn't until I had my first job and some spending money that I kind of paid attention to perfume. At that time, Clinique Happy, Estee Lauder Pleasures and Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon exploded onto the scene and I wore all three. But I still didn't really pay attention to perfume or wear it on occasion. It just wasn't on my radar.

For a few years, I just didn't wear perfume. Didn't have a whole lot of extra funds and nowhere near a mall or a Bath and Body Works. Online shopping was still kind of a novelty in the late 90's and early 2000's. Then, Chanel sent me an email about the Les Exclusifs line. I don't really know how or why I ended up getting on Chanel's email list. I ended up blind buying Cuir de Russie. This was back in the day where I knew next to nothing outside of Pleasures, Happy or Cucumber Melon. Back in the day where a 200ml bottle was about $200 and only came in the 200ml size. Naturally, things and prices have changed. The Les Exclusifs line went sky high in price, went from EDT to EDP (and not exactly for the better, Coromandel smells pretty decent in EDP form), two sizes and parfum versions on some have been released.

At the end of the day, Chanel has been imprinted on me at a very early age. Do I wear Chanel exclusively, no but often enough. Do I own every bottle of Chanel? Definitely not. I haven't liked everything Chanel released but do have a fair bit but it's mostly the classic stuff.