Bleu de Chanel — more like bl-ew de chanel. Or bleh de chanel.
Or maybe just ew de chanel?
Launched in 2010, Bleu de Chanel has made a name for itself as a professional office scent more than capable of keeping any man smelling savvy, and for grabbing the occasional compliment. To its credit, it does all that.
So why, as you may have grasped from the opening few sentences, do I dislike this fragrance so much?
The answer is one word, and this one word will spoil the rest of the review: Bleu de Chanel is boring, and spectacularly so.
It fails, in my mind, to break any sort of boundaries, push any sort of limits, or challenge any conceptions. It smells like guy, generically so; imagine a bland businessman, inhale, and there you go.
However, if you’re just looking for a professional office scent that is mass-appealing, won’t offend, and will have you (admittedly) smelling pretty good, this cologne is worth a try. In this Bleu de Chanel review, I’ll be walking you through my personal opinions, the overall smell and vibe of the scent, where it can be worn, and who I think this scent is for.
Let’s dive in.
Personal Impressions
I despise boring with a passion — which could be why I seem to be so down on this juice.
This is one of the first men’s fragrances I ever smelled, and I was expecting fireworks to go off in my head upon first spray. Instead, I distinctly remember thinking, “now what?”.
When I was reviewing Bleu de Chanel, I realized I don’t hate this fragrance for the way that it smells, I just don’t have any strong opinions either way — and that’s what I hate. I’m a love-it-or-hate-it kind of guy, and if something doesn’t excite any sort of real response in me, I’m inclined to let it slide by.
However, if you’re looking for a scent that subtly enhances your overall esthetic without being in any way loud, noticeable, daring, or forthright, Bleu de Chanel is a great option for you.
Scent
Bleu de Chanel is a “blue” fragrance, meaning that its a lightweight “sea and sky” scent. As such, there are a number of notes here that elicit images of open space and airiness. Here are the notes that make up Bleu de Chanel:
Top Notes:
- Grapefruit
- Lemon
- Mint
- Pink Pepper
Middle Notes:
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Jasmine
- Iso-E Super
Base Notes:
- Incense
- Vetiver
- Cedar
- Patchouli
- Sandalwood
- Labdanum
- White Musk
Quite a few notes there.
In the opening, you get grapefruit, lemon, mint, and pink pepper. This leads to a sparkling burst of energy up top, and gives the scent a tremendously zingy feel.
In the middle, the ginger and nutmeg start to make themselves felt, adding a fresh-spiciness to the composition that really compliments the mint in the opening, and adds a touch of manliness. The jasmine adds a floral, breezy touch, while the iso-e super opens the cologne up, adds the smell of open air, and makes you think of empty skies.
The base adds some much needed depth, and a lot of it: incense adds a smokiness that counterbalances the sparkling citrus and compliments the spice, while vetiver, cedar, patchouli, and sandalwood add a manly woodiness. This part of the scent smells incredibly masculine, and quite expensive.
The labdanum uplifts the base, preventing it from becoming too heavy, while the white musk brings in a sense of softness and helps smooth the rougher edges.
In all, Bleu de Chanel smells like open sky and expensive navy suits. It’s clean, slightly soapy (in a masculine way of course), and has a hint of mysteriousness hidden behind the generalist facade. I blame the smoke from the incense.
One thing to note is that Bleu de Chanel is a much better scent in the air than it is smelled up close. Sniff your scent trail, and you’ll pick up citrus intermingling with woods, smoke, and subtle musk. Up close, however, and the aroma becomes something more pungent, exuding a more sour, chemically smell. Not ideal.
Performance
Performance on this guy is middling at best. I found that four sprays lasts me, on average, around five to six hours, maybe a hair more on clothing.
That’s not great, but it’s also not terrible. It should be enough to cover most of a day’s work without the need to respray, even if you won’t be as pungent towards the end of the day.
Projection is similar. You get a nice scent bubble of around two feet in radius for around one to two hours; afterwards, Bleu de Chanel becomes more of a skin scent.
This is a little bit disappointing, as, like I said before, Bleu de Chanel smells best in the air around you.
Overall, performance is okay, and you can spray this on (just two or three sprays) without worrying about having to reapply throughout the day (because who wants that? Ew).
Who Is This Scent Good For?
This cologne is good for the unapologetic businessman, someone who isn’t that into men’s fragrances, or a minimalist who just wants to smell good.
Also included in this list are people who like classic “blue” scents, love the open sky, or just want to smell good in an elegant professional way. I will say that this fragrance gets a fair few compliments, even if they are from Earl sitting at the desk adjacent to you.
That said, there are more interesting men’s perfumes on the market that manage to be just as versatile and inoffensive while boasting a more dynamic scent.
When To Wear It
This is, in my opinion, the best part of Bleu de Chanel: its versatility. You can pretty much wear this fragrance anywhere and you’ll smell like you belong. Maybe not raves or rock and roll concerts, but you get the gist.
However, where this scent really shines is in the spring and fall, when the days and nights are still cool. The woodsy smokiness of the base plays really well in the air at this time of year, and the “blue” factor really comes out.
This is also a great office scent, so it follows that it excels in professional settings: business meetings, conferences, or just as an everyday scent for the office.
Wear it out, wear it in, where it wherever.
Similar Fragrances
If you’re looking for a scent similar to Bleu de Chanel, we have a few options for you to choose from.
- Versace Dylan Blue is a very similar fragrance that costs a fraction of the price. Smoky, blue, and a bit of a compliment hoarder, Dylan Blue is much more accessible.
- Dior Homme is a better version of what I think Bleu de Chanel tries to achieve, in pretty much every way. It’s similarly elegant but much deeper, more mysterious, and polarizing. Plus, the compliments it pulls are wild.
- Terre D’Hermes is another classy scent that brings a heavy dose of woods into the mix. It’s also less warm and more elegant. Read our full Terre D’Hermes review for more.
- Dior Sauvage EDT is a scent similar in use case and profile — a straightforward, mass appealing cologne you can’t really go wrong with.
If This Was A Color…
It would be a navy blue, like that of a sample paint card or a small pond at dusk, without the pretty reflections. Glossy, but not in a good way.
Where To Buy
Conclusion
Overall, we think Bleu de Chanel smells good, but have a hard time recommending it with all of the more interesting, less chemically smelling scents on the market. That said, if you want a spray-and-forget scent, there’s none better.
We hope you enjoyed this review of Bleu de Chanel. Happy sniffing!
