Bleu de Chanel by Chanel - New fragrance - Page 6

I won't purchase this, but considering alot of what is out there, I still think it is better quality than alot of the crap.

Are analogies between both so clear? Frankly, I am aghast...

I thought it was clear that i was being cheeky...

Tried this today. Most unremarkable, unmemorable fragrance I think they've ever produced. A triumph of mediocrity.

Massive marketing, nice bottle and a nod to Les Exclusifs for the stopper.

What frightens me most are the two or three inevitable flankers based around a scent that is wholly unoriginal in the first place.

Is this really the house that gave us Antaeus, Pour Monsieur and Egoiste all those years ago?

oddly enough when i smelled bleu it reminded mf of blue seduction ^ ^

Well, that rules out wearing Bandera's Blue and saying it is Chanel's...

There's a thoughtful and generally positive review of this posted at Now Smell This.

you know in all fairness you may be onto something because i gave these 2 a one to the next try and let me say that they both share more similarities than not, the closest are the minty opening and the even more similar drydown (blamy, sandalwoody, fake oakmoss), the mids are not so similar, the other thing is that B lasts longer and BSfM fails there.

now, could we get away in saying that i'm wearing B when in fact i'm wearing BSfM? to the undiscerning nose, YES!!! (in a casual, sure i do way)

points up for Banderas for coming up with this one earlier, points off to Chanel for, well, everything else.

There are so many better and cheaper fragrances out there.

^ Yes - the idea of flankers of this one is unsettling. On the one hand, it would offer the chance to rectify the faults of Bleu. On the other hand, how far removed from Bleu would a flanker allow?

Tried this on today. Smells like it could be the 5th Big Pony. Very disappointed.

The odor of a wet dog is invoked! I rest my case.

(a clean wet dog, but those of us who know wet dogs know that there is no such thing as a good-smelling wet dog...... PERIOD.)

No, seriously, thanks for the link. Although the article does take a jab at the nay-sayers here, I have to say, when you put all of his words in a meaning-blender and average them, it comes out pretty much like the average of this thread. Confirmation of that comes in the comments, where he says, when asked to compare Bleu to Édition Blanche, that he would pick the latter "if you put a gun to my head". We're getting a lot of that here, too, minus the hardware.

An important point is that he says you need to test it on skin and not be shy with the stuff. I've been holding out some hope that might make a difference. Also, it seems that the drydown is getting good marks - I'll agree with that.

I do agree with the point that fragrances are meant to be popular and make money. Bleu will be a winner on both counts.

KMF - I agree with the turkey sandwich analogy. But if my nose can ever turn it into a three-cheese turkey panini fresh off the grill, I'm going for it!

That's true, and very well put.

On first whiff.......this smells like something else.
On second whiff.....this smells like everything else.

With that said, I am sure it will sell like hotcakes.

gianni

in this forum all new releases are totally crap..except exclusive,niche perfumes and classics.

exactly. i dont know why people's expectations were so high for this one...if it's going to be on a counter at macy's, its not going to be some out of this world fragrance.


the only one that hasn't been ragged on is aventus...but thats probably cuz its a creed. im sure if it was a boss everyone would hate it.

yes very well done AXE,

good longevity and nice bottle
nothing special but not totally bad either
it smells like classic cologne, evening fragrance perhaps
nothing groundbreaking!

The Fifth Big Pony of the Apocalypse

Not necessarily. There have been many scents that have garnered the appreciation of most basenoters from the beginning like Bvlgari's PH Soir, Lalique's Encre Noire, Dior Homme (even though that was "controversial" at the time, many thought it was a step ahead) Lacroix's Tumulte, Loewe's Solo, just to name a few...and there have been instances where many niches have bee critically panned (some of L'Etat libre d'Orange for example)...i agree that we have many Creed believers but we also try to look at fragrances in a more objective way, and there are many people here that certainly don't think much of the claims of the Creed company in different matters.(The most critiqued property of the scents is lack of longevity, and the snobbery of the house being the second)
I (and i hope i can include a We) encourage discussion and dialogue.

cheers

Being here a long time, as you have too, I don't like painting with this broad a brush because I know people are just going off their sophisticated nose and I think everyone here is cool about their tastes.........BUT with that said I do think ones like this get slammed pretty easily. It's not groundbreaking, etc but I do think if it was packaged from a niche store you might see some different reactions. I agree with many here about the designer stuff. I went through Macys one day and EVERYTHING that was new smelled identical...Lacoste Sport, Polo Big Pony, etc. But I thought this one was a little more refined and smelled much better than what was out there. I wore it yesterday and it was nice...though it lasted maybe 4 hours, tops, on me.

Got a sample today at LaBaie Centre-Ville, Montreal.

This fragrance is not Chanel. It smells like everything else on the market. At my first snif, first thing that comes to mind is : I have already smelled this somewhere.

A bit of Lacoste Essentials and Drakkar Noir.

Don't get me wrong. It doesn't smell bad. But it smells nothing special, nothing unique.

However, I predict that the ladies will love this stuff.

For a Chanel fragrance, I was expecting something with more personnality.

I won't buy it.

Tried this on a paper strip this week. It's got 3 problems:

1. Overblended to the point of being undisernable. There is no hook note, nothing 'evocative'. It's almost 'anti fragrance' - smells of something but not of anything, if you know what I mean.

2. Smells identical a number of other scents I've sampled recently, found dull, and decided not to commit to memory. I'm sure this is why I'm thinking "this smells like something else", but I can't work out what. Calling it similar to Essential is being unkind to Essential! Any other theories of what it does smell like? Probably something from Boss or CK, I'd expect.

3. Following on from the last part of #2, it smells cheap... when it is not cheap to buy. If I can fathom what it does smell like, I'm sure this alternative will be much less expensive... if that's the case, why buy Bleu ?

And by the way, lasting power seems to be poor.

The way I sample new fragrance, is I sprayed it after my shower at night. So I can "test" it a couple of hours before I go to bed.
Then, the next morning, if I still have a small hint of the fragrance, it does mean that it has a good lasting power.

With Bleu, no hint at all the next morning.

Fragrances that I have a hint of the fragrance in the morning are : Cologne Mugler (very long lasting power on me), Kouros (Even 3 days after I still have a hint), M7, Eau d'Issey, Joop,

I agree with this, and I'll add one more...

Most aquatics try to evoke that "fresh out of the shower" feeling. In my opinion, Bleu comes off much too heavy to feel any type of freshness. Also, there is a shampoo or laundry detergent vibe here that is completely synthetic. It's not an objectionable smell, but it's also not something I would choose to smell like. It's too suave to use as a sports fragrance, but not nearly suave enough to choose it over anything else in my wardrobe for that purpose. It's trying to be a jack of all trades, when it reality, it doesn't do anything well that a good aquatic should.

Longevity is poor on my skin. I had bleu on my left hand and Van Cleef Midnight in Paris on my right hand. After an hour Bleu became a mess of something unpleasant and disappeared after 1,5 hours, while Midnight still smells good after 6 or 7 hours.

I’ve done a complete about turn on Bleu. The first time I sniffed it, I was quite disappointed and I pretty much dismissed it. A week later and I sort of can’t imagine life without it. Hehe.

No, it’s not groundbreaking or daring or anything like that, but I just think it’s a rather simple, lovely, comforting, masculine fragrance that now makes me smile whenever I put it on. It’s funny what a few days of trying a fragrance can do!

No, it's not groundbreaking, but AXE??? Please. For what it is, I think it's well done. For what it's worth, I've gotten more compliments on this in my first few wearings than I'm used to getting when wearing a fragrance. I bought my bottle for under $60 in Orange County, so the price point is not unreasonable either. I think each fragrance concept should be judged on its own merit, not on some preconceived hope that we might have had. I, too, was hoping for a ground-breaker from this house, but since that's not the direction they decided to take (in a very unsettling economic climate, I might add), I have decided to judge it based on the concept that was being attempted. It's done quite well for what it is. If it had been poorly executed I might be jumping in the Chanel bashing waters, but that's just not the case here.

I completely agree. I do genuinely understand the initial reactions of many, which I myself shared last week, but perhaps people will come round to it like I have also. I genuinely appreciate it now. It's a rather elegant, modern men's fragrance. Nothing more, nothing less. Very nicely done though. Beautiful packaging too.

I just put some of this on from a tester at Nordstrom's and had them fill up a sample atomizer for me.

My first thought was that it had a citrusy freshness on the open, but there's a hint of spice in there too. Something I have smelled before but can't put my finger on. Someone up there said Drakkar but I don't think that's quite right. Its something else, but I'm just a fragrance noob so I can't place it. The drydown seems spicy and a little soapy. Maybe that familiar scent that I smell is "every other popular cologne put out in the last 5 years".

The only aquatic fragrances I own are accidents from past girlfriends. CK Free and AdG. I can't stand either one of them and never wear them. But Bleu smells different to me, just a little.

I somehow have acquired a bunch of "event" colognes - or scents that I feel aren't really every day scents for me because they are special and evoke a certain mood. But I need something I can wear every day in the Florida heat, has decent sillage and longevity since my skin just eats up fragrances.

I can't say I'll be buying this (anyone else have some less expensive every day alternatives? I'm waiting for someone on BN to sell me some Mugler Cologne, but I'll listen to advice). But I do need something for every day and aquatics seem to fit the bill. Largely because of BaseNotes I've stayed away from aquatics, but they are really popular so there must be something interesting about them.

My wife doesn't much care for CK Free or AdG. But I came home with Bleu on my wrist and SHE LOVES IT. I mean, she REALLY loves it. She told me to go buy some this weekend.

I'll wear my sample for a couple days and see if I like it. But if the wife is loving it, that may just be reason enough for me to buy a bottle. It's really not all that bad. Plain, yes. Boring, yes. But I already have a lot of really cool colognes, emotional scents, sexy gourmands and refined fragrances.

Maybe it is time for me to have something I can wear every day and still please my wife.

I'll let yas know.

I hope my Macy's has the smaller spray for my birthday bottle! Last time I checked, they only had the big one.

Yea I got the 1.7 myself. I think a lot of reaction here is based on the opening notes, which I definitely understand. It does smell very unoriginal. The beauty comes in the drydown IMO.

Yep. I bought a bottle today, after letting a sample spray dry down for a while. Glad I gave it another chance. This one grows on you. It's easy to dismiss it on the basis of the opening. It wears very well. As others have said, not a groundbreaking concoction, but it's very well done.

And if you like elegant packaging, then yes, you'll like this.

Go for the Aventus Chuck!

Just sniffed this a couple nights ago...and this is exactly what I thought! Exactly.

What I can't get my head around is that something that is perceived badly on this forum, turns out to be a compliment getter from non-Basenoters. This has happened before and I would like to somehow have an explanation for that. I don't understand it. Shouldn't we be able to recognise the good stuff? Are they putting in ingredients that work their magic on people who don't have this fragrance hobby? And why doesn't it work on us?

Don't forget Terre d'Hermes

What surprises me is that you mention Loewe's Solo as a big hit here on Basenotes.

Very well said.

Personally I feel like this destroys just about every other fresh fragrance I've come across. Lasts the whole day, too.

I bought a bottle yesterday and have really enjoyed it. Yes its fresh, but a fresh fragrance has its purpose and this is done well. Its not as "young" or "sporty" as others. I enjoy the nice classy element it brings to fresh fragrances.

What's freaky is how many bottles of this are selling. I'm counting quite a few. Even the most critical bloggers have been saying this would do well, and all indications are that it is. Perhaps this really is the one to kick Acqua di Gio off the throne....

My main reservation has been, as others have said, the absence of a distinguishable hook note. I'm curious what those of you who are reversing course on this one are seeing in it now - what's different? What is grabbing your attention?

What is funny is that the Macy's people were pumping it for Fall/Winter. So there you go on the heavy.

It's a strange bird... It's an aquatic scent that wears like an oriental.

The video can be found on the home page of the Chanel website here:
http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragranc...ragrance-88106

Click on the tab near the bottom of the page labeled "The Trailer". It is a mindless thing, all of 10 seconds long, that seems to be targeted toward the young rather than mature audiences.

As an afterthought, I noticed that in the video the pretty girl is running away from the man who is presumably wearing Bleu rather than toward him. That says something about the fragrance, doesn't it?

I don't like turkey sandwiches...

Bland de Chanel. Characterless. The John Doe of fragrance. A scentless scent. I think it can be used as a disinfectant?
Very harmless. Very nothing.

Agree. My first thought was Eau de Grey Flannel, which can be bought for $15 at Marshall's.

It finally showed up over here and an SA let me have a spritz on my wrist. She gave me a split-second before proclaiming, "Isn't it wonderful!?" I was like, "Eh, I think I should let it sit a little on my skin to see how it develops"...

I just don't feel the need for this kind of fragrance. For what its trying to do, it seems to have been constructed in a sophisticated way with refined nuances, but the overall effect (smelled up close at least) left me bored and underwhelmed. Perhaps the scent has a better focus smelled from a slight distance i.e.on someone else(?).

I've been backing this the last couple of days and liked it from the start. As some might know, or even if you didn't, I don't mind designer stuff. I'm pretty simple. I'm an attorney that wakes up, puts on my clothes, goes to work, comes home and plays with my 2 little girls and wife. I go have a beer and wings with friends. I like sitting with my wife and sharing some wine. I've done ALOT of niche testing...as some might also remember. Fun but nothing ever just makes me think.."have to have it." All of this plays into why I like it. It is something I can spray on, know I smell good, and know it fits with my business look or at home. I like that.

You know when you walk down the halls of work or when you are out and you smell a guy pass by and are like..that smells really good but familar. You can't put your finger on it but you hope you smell like that or people notice it like that. That is what this is to me. Something that may seem middle of the road but it is actually just what an every day scent should be. It smells like quality to me too. Smells like business quality.


Well said

I picked it up a few days ago and while not anything wowing, I kind of like it.

This sums it up for me now. I needed an everyday scent that wasn't Acqua di Gio. This is my second day wearing my sample. And I'm going to say right now that I'm buying a bottle of the stuff tomorrow. And I'll get the 3.4 oz because it's only $15 more than the 1.7 oz.

This stuff lasts all day on me and while it has a "fresh" opening, it has a quality dry down that isn't "sporty", at least not in my opinion of what I consider sporty. Also, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that while AdG definitely says "young" to me, Bleu says "a little more mature". It has a darker more complex crafting to it than the aforementioned boy scents.

Since my wife likes it, since it seems like something I could wear every day and not just special occasions, since I think it is pretty well formulated and since I think it says "simple, understated, familiar" I'm going to go ahead and be the first on my block to own a bottle. I like it!!

I know a lot of you guys have come to expect more from Chanel and I think that is the main source of disappointment here. As mentioned numerous times, this is mainstream stuff meant to generate huge piles of cash and not necessarily a beautiful Chanel fragrance. I can understand why some of you are upset. I don't have a history with Chanel (yet). In fact, this is my first Chanel fragrance and I bet I'm about to get blasted by making this middle of the road, bland, boring scent my first Chanel scent, but that's OK.

This stuff works for me and the wife wants to be close to me as I wear it. Nordstrom's here I come!!

But, in deference, let me ask the Chanel followers here what my next Chanel purchase should be. I'm not all that in to powdery scents (that's what Chanel evokes for me, prove me wrong). Give me a clue and I'll pick up a sample of some recommended Chanel scents tomorrow.

Thanks guys... just remember every is entitled to an opinion and that is what makes the USA (and Basenotes), such a great place to live!

I agree. Also I think of it this way: a trained musician is able to more fully appreciate/critique a musical performance over the untrained ear. While a non-musician may find a performance wonderful, the professional musician will be able to pick out all the mistakes and flubs. I think the more you know and experience about fragrance, the pickier you get. Where Bleu may be a perfectly pleasant frag that garners compliments, to my nose, it smells ordinary. If I am going to put money out to buy something, I want it to be unique and well done--whether it's from Bath and Body Works or Creed.

My opinion of Chanel has not changed all that much after sampling Bleu. I never thought much of their men's fragrances. Egoiste, Allure ( and its flankers) and Platinum Egoiste are all "thumbs down" fragrances for me.

Check this out.

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/258...e-men-s-Chanel

Same situation. Seems like Antaeus was the clear winner.

^^^^ and ^^^^^^^ Great explanations, guys. It all makes sense. Like NEoTY26 says, there are a variety of reasons for rating a fragrance highly, and it varies - thankfully - from person to person. No need to apologize for liking mainstream frags.

I think Chanel was very, very smart here. Releasing it at the end of summer - it's almost like they're "following up" Acqua di Gio both in real time and (attempting to) in the market. The reasons people are liking this are moneymaker reasons, IMO.

I do like the fact that this one feels wearable any time or place. Versatility isn't a bad trait.

I agree that Chanels all have a powdery feel - which I happen to love. Among Chanels, you may want to try Égoïste (the original, not Platinum) or the original Allure Homme - they probably wouldn't be too powdery, IMO. One thing I do like about Bleu is that it's less powdery than Blanche. Sometimes that powder just feels a bit too girlie. I don't feel like throwing on my circular saw woodies - I want something soft - but I don't want something as fluffy as Blanche. Bleu would do.

Hey Red, It's a slippery slope.

I finally sampled this last night at Macys and both them and Nordstom are well stocked on it. This not a scent about the night it is an marine scent. Instead of calling it Aqua de Chanel it bleu. The bottle looks like a hybrid of Allure Homme.

Gosh now even Chanel has a aqua fragrance.

Looking forward to trying Aqua de Guerlain...

Chanel's strategy may be all about filling the need for a niche and color - blue. They wanted their own blue aquatic - everyone else has one. Bleu de Chanel goes heads up with: Hugh Parsons Blue, Versace Pour Homme, Bulgari Aqua Marine, Gucci Homme Sport (its not blue is it?), Stetson All American. Only problem is we all expected more from Chanel, so to satisfy our need for Chanel quality they gave it a first class name and bottle design that is very blue.

LOL! That it is! I've already slipped on the powder of Blanche and Eau Première, and if I'm not careful, Bleu is going to drop me for another big piece of change, and I'll be sliding on my butt down the hill toward Coco Corners!


Yup - it was definitely a hole in their offerings. Homme Sport wasn't blue enough, really.

LOL @ KMF - yeah, if the new Homme Eau isn't enough to satisfy the marketeers, I could see the proposals for Aqua de Guerlain, or even Azur de Guerlain. Oy vey!