Bleu de Chanel has been on my bathroom shelf ever since it first launched in 2010. It is often in heavy rotation – I often opt for it lately. It’s a classic in my books. Whenever I wear the scent, someone stops to ask me what I am wearing. And a friend or two have been known to steal this scent and add it to their repertoire. Which I am fine with, after all, I want a better smelling world too.
Bleu’s fresh opening is beautifully balanced. Mint, grapefruit and citruses are sweetened with jasmine; it is spiced with ginger, nutmeg and pink pepper. The fragrance moves quickly to its drydown which is a wonderful accord of wood, musk, incense and vetiver. In short, Bleu is a purplish shade of blue. Fresh citrus and spices, a floral accord of jasmine with a fruity violet hue. The base is a powdery sandalwood note overpowered by vetiver.
What I like about Bleu is that it feels like a combination of the best of men’s fragrances from Chanel. It feels like it blends the metallic freshness of Allure Homme Sport (which I used to wear all the time) with the spicy effervescence of Egoïste Platinum and Dior Homme Sport. Bleu is bright, vivid, and clean but with the ambery-woody core of the composition. I also love that it has a good lasting power – you can still get a sweet whiff of it at the end of a long day without reapplying.
This isn’t a groundbreaking scent – it’s not charting new territory. Rather it is a solid men’s fragrance; It just might be the best scent in the woody-citrus category. If you are going to own one fragrance in the citrus-woody category it should be Bleu de Chanel.