There I was a time I was obsessing over Chanel’s Les Exclusifs Collection, and some of them interested me more than others. I do have samples of most of them, and I found them the other day so I am re-testing.

28 La Pausa is named after Coco Chanel’s French Riviera Estate. She spent her vacations there, and the grounds were full of iris flowers. So yes, this is an iris-centric perfume. It is not the rooty or paper-y kind, though. This is a very refined iris, reminiscent of the flower on a summer’s day – it is bright and cheery, more natural but not earthy. You can tell its ingredients are tops, and it smells ‘expensive,’ if there is such a thing.

It’s also kind of boring, and no wonder it did not make an impression on me then as full bottle worthy. Add to that, it’s very faint. I almost finished my generous sample and an hour later, I can barely smell it. I get a whiff every now and then, but perfume wise, I like to smell what I am wearing.