Sneak Peek! Chanel Launch Christmas Loveliness. Plus Gawjus Gift Sets From Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, DKNY and Marc Jacobs

It’s a busy week for Chanel No5 fans as the Christmas collection of bath and body products arrive in stores and the shiny new No5 ad campaign launches tomorrow.

This one features supermodel Gisele (and a Chanel surfboard) and was directed by Aussie film director Baz Luhrmann. You can take a sneaky peek at it here:

Everyone is focusing on how it’s been ten years since the No5 ad Baz did with Nicole Kidman, where she escaped for a night to smooch an arty type on rooftops. Everyone also seems to be focusing on NOT mentioning the terrible, bewilderingly bad Brad Pitt ad of a couple of years ago. *shudder*

Yes, let’s put thoughts of Brad and his mullety hair and turning world far, far behind us and take a look at the pretty (and pretty pricey) trio of Chanel No5 loveliness for Christmas.

There’s the newly curvaceous bath soap (€26), the rich body cream (€77) and the reformulated loose powder (€63) all in the classic No5 fragrance this year.

If you’re a fan of the perfume, and can afford ‘em, the complementary body products can add depth or can be a way to have a hint of the scent without needing the fragrance itself. The soap, at €26, is probably not something a person would buy for themselves but it’s beautifully packaged and would make a good pressie for a No5-loving person.

The idea being using body products in the same scent as your perfume is to give a fragrance longevity, as the different formulations will wear off gradually and at different times. Try a shower gel or soap then a body lotion or cream in your chosen scent and finish off with a spritz of the perfume on top. The process is called layering and some brands - Jo Malone for one - encourage layering or combining different fragrances on top of each other to create something unique. 

If you fancy giving layering a go, good news! We're coming into pressie season and the aul' gift 'coffrets' are hitting the shelves. There should be plenty of opportunity to pick up some new bath and body products in your favourite scent.

Gift sets are often unexpectedly good value too with many of them just costing the price of the perfume itself and you’re getting the other products for free.

Most of the big perfumes have Christmas sets, teaming fragrance with body lotions, body creams and shower gels. Keep an eye out for exclusives in pharmacies and department stores as there may be a few different gift sets available in your perfume/brand of choice and prices can vary a LOT. Need some inspiration? Well…

(We’ve included the recommended retail prices from the brands below but we know that some of these are significantly cheaper in Boots so do shop around!)

• The Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau so Fresh set has the perfume, body lotion shower gel for RRP €68.60

• Calvin Klein Eternity for Women is RRP €63.50 for the EDP and body lotion

• DKNY MYNY Gift Set, a Boots exclusive, has the EDP, body lotion and a sparkly purse for €55

• Vera Wang Princess has an EDT, body lotion and body polish for RRP €50.80

Are you a fan of body and bath products in the same scent as your perfume? Or do you think they’re a waste of money? And is there any gift set that you have your beady eye on? To the comments!