There is little to be said about Chanel No5 that hasn't been uttered over the past 101 years... But we love the ways that the clever creatives at Chanel have been coming up with to ensure the fragrance is as relevant today as when perfumer Ernest Beaux first presented his Sample Number Five to the discerning designer, back in 1920.

It was through last year's super-cool Factory 5 installation at Selfridges that we rediscovered the amazing Chanel No5 soap (it was offered in a special collector's edition tin). We realised that incredibly, this finely-milled, cloud-pink soap fragrances the entire bathroom, if you leave it on the soap dish. Wall to wall. Ceiling to floor. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Chanel just launched The Soaps as a set of five (what other number could it have been?), in a divine box which we will NOT be throwing away once the soaps have sudsed their last. The glassine paper they're wrapped in, within the box, is also sealed with a black paper Chanel seal that references the seals on the parfum bottles, an art called baudruchage. (And call us sad, but we won't be throwing that seal away, either.)

They're pricy, for sure, but they virtually last FOREVER (years, we reckon). Use them on hands or body, and you can still smell No5 on your skin hours later.

And as we say, just leave them uncovered and they scent the bathroom (or the boudoir) more enduringly than any room fragrance. (Or slip them between layers of lingerie, in your underwear drawer.)

Honestly the nicest, most luxurious soap we've ever got our (lucky) hands on. Bar none...

£89 for five x 75g soaps – buy here

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