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Chanel

Bois des Îles

1926WoodyParfumFrance

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    The canonical Mysore sandalwood masterpiece of twentieth-century perfumery, composed five years after No. 5 by the same hand and over the same aldehydic-floral architecture.

  2. 02

    Named after the spice islands that supplied the Mysore sandalwood at the heart of the formula. The wood is now CITES-protected; the current version uses a sustainable Australian substitute.

  3. 03

    Part of Beaux's 1924-1926 experimental output for Chanel. Like Cuir de Russie, it remained a Paris Salons exclusive until reissued in the 2007 Exclusifs collection.

  4. 04

    Composed by Ernest Beaux in 1926 around bergamot, iris and rose over a sandalwood and tonka base, the prestige sandalwood standard of the inter-war period.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Exclusifs collection.

A creamy Mysore sandalwood with aldehydic floral.

Composed by
Ernest Beaux
Founder
Coco Chanel
Country
France

The pyramid

Top
bergamotmandarincorianderpeachaldehydes
Heart
rosejasmineylang-ylangiris
Base
mysore sandalwoodtonkavetivermuskvanillabenzoin

The brief

Beaux composed it as the first prestige fragrance built around the warmth of Mysore sandalwood, framed by the same aldehydic floral structure he had pioneered five years earlier in No. 5.

Name'Wood of the Islands' — referring to the spice islands of the East Indies that supplied Beaux's prized Mysore sandalwood.

Footnotes

  • Bois des Îles is widely considered the canonical 'sandalwood masterpiece' of twentieth-century perfumery; its current formula uses a sustainable Australian sandalwood substitute since Mysore sandalwood became CITES-restricted.

The Curator's Note

The smell of a vanished forest, kept alive by duty-free.

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