Most of us have fragrance milestones: the first perfume we bought with our own money, our first “serious” perfume, and maybe our first signature scent, back before perfume mania sank the whole signature scent possibility. My first signature scent was Chanel Coco. Now, a couple of decades and hundreds of perfumes separate me from my Coco days. When I stopped by Nordstrom last week to ask for a sample of the Eau de Parfum, I didn’t hold out much hope I’d still like it. After all, I’ve loved and left my share of 1980s blockbusters.

Silly me. It turns out all those sample vials of scent from drugstores to niche perfumeries I devoured over the years only led me to appreciate Coco’s artistry more. Coco is warm, elegant, beautifully blended, and easy. No, it won’t shock or challenge. There’s nothing funky or bizarre or tough about it. But just as a dinner of perfectly roasted chicken, potatoes, sautéed chard, and glass of Pinot Noir by the fire won’t rock the world, it satisfies far more often than the sous vide-cooked special from the latest darling chef.

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