Why do so many men not like Chanel's Blue de Chanel?

[senore01]

I could never understand why this fragrance receives so much hate in the fragrance community. Really, is it that bad? I can think of far worse scents than this. Or is it that the fragrance is too safe, too non-offending? I think this can make an excellent signature scent for the right guy. What is your opinion?

[Livingdead]

My gf gave me a bottle; I love it.

[Jack Hunter]

I don't have any strong feelings with this one either way, I just find it ok.

[MonkeyBars]

Or is it that the fragrance is too safe, too non-offending?

this. there's no "there" there . . . it smells like a demographic chart of all the most successful recent trends in men's frags, with no "twist" to give it a personality of its own.

i much prefer Cartier Declaration Bois Bleu -- a drier and leaner composition with a more interesting take on the popular ginger-cardamom-grapefruit accord.

[elmalo]

I love it, and so do the people around me.

[amw9490]

It's because a lot of people find it too generic, there's no real spark to it. If you are looking for something that is different, Bleu De Chanel is not it. It is, however, a nice scent that would be a good day-to-day fragrance.

[danho]

It is great stuff. It will be my next buy.

[hednic]

Not my favorite from their line but I have it and enjoy it too.

[döfä91]

I've noticed that it's that type of scent which smells much better when sniffed the sillage as somebody other wears it, say the distance of some meters. (It does have a great sillage and projection, several meters / feet) It doesn't smell as good when smelled on your own skin. Anyway, i do like this frag, yes.

[del]

I like/enjoy it. Clean, fresh, inoffensive, and surprisingly, it has a lasting power.

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

Personally, I don't care if a frag smells like other frags. I judge each on its own merits. For me, the problem with Bleu is that it smells awful on some people's skin. For example: mine. I have a sample. For me, it's one big yuck.

[1280adam]

On me, it's a more mature Polo Blue, which I used to wear non-stop in high school.

I really like BdC and it and ever ceases to garner compliments from everyone around me.

[tracerbullet]

I don't love it...but I own it and use it on occasions when I want people to think, "He smells good". I feel it's not very unique but the ladies seem to love it, so...lol

[ChuckW]

I like it. It smells great on me. It is a keeper.

[heperd]

I dont like it because it does smell good on me. No other reason.

[mrcologneguy]

Love it. Get lots of compliments from women when I wear it. More complex than you might think at first; takes several wearings before you really get it. Reasonably priced, long lasting, and a beautiful bottle, too.

So I guess the reason some guys don't like it is it has a tendency to come across as a generic fresh scent, if you're not paying very close attention. Give it another try.

[dmb6473]

It smells nice enough, but its very generic. I'd wear it for work, but that's about it.

[teemas]

It's because a lot of people find it too generic, there's no real spark to it. If you are looking for something that is different, Bleu De Chanel is not it. It is, however, a nice scent that would be a good day-to-day fragrance.

Exactly what I wanted to post. Its a nice smelling fragrance that could be worn anytime. Only thing is that it is a little generic. I have friends around me that love it.

[skism]

like this one,my favourite chanel..

[noirdrakkar]

it's not that i don't like it; it's that i don't LOVE it. and for $90, there are much better options in my opinion.

[elmalo]

I've noticed that it's that type of scent which smells much better when sniffed the sillage as somebody other wears it, say the distance of some meters. (It does have a great sillage and projection, several meters / feet) It doesn't smell as good when smelled on your own skin. Anyway, i do like this frag, yes.

This once happened to me with Ed Hardy's Hearts and Daggers. I blind bought a bottle of it bc it was cheap. I thought it was alright. I ended up giving it to my wifes cousin because he was obsessed with anything Ed Hardy. Anyway, about a week later he wore it to a family gathering and ist smelled amazing.

[mesaboogie]

I like it a lot. It's my favorite from the Chanel line.

[MonkeyBars]

I've noticed that it's that type of scent which smells much better when sniffed the sillage as somebody other wears it, say the distance of some meters. (It does have a great sillage and projection, several meters / feet) It doesn't smell as good when smelled on your own skin. Anyway, i do like this frag, yes.

I agree with this.

Also, I do not own any frags that don't smell good both close-up and in sillage. After all, I'm always close-up and never in the sillage of frags I wear.

[Awakening950]

It was the first Chanel I sampled and didn't like it at all. I've as yet to find a Chanel I like but Blue was the worst. Chanel get's a lot of love on this forum though so I think it's just a personal preferance.

[MFfan310]

Though I like Platinum Egoiste the most of all the Chanels, I can understand the appeal of Bleu de Chanel. I don't wear it myself, but I have a close friend that smells really good in it.

[gmm150]

I just don't like it for some reason. I actually don't like Allure homme sport either. I would rather wear several Bods (those cheap frags they sell at walmart and such) than this.

[Indie_Guy]

Love it. Get lots of compliments from women when I wear it. More complex than you might think at first; takes several wearings before you really get it. Reasonably priced, long lasting, and a beautiful bottle, too.

So I guess the reason some guys don't like it is it has a tendency to come across as a generic fresh scent, if you're not paying very close attention. Give it another try.

+1.

Everytime I wear this, women notice it and they love it. I have about 300 scents in my drobe, but Bleu de Chanel just has that "something" that works for it better than 95% of the other scents I wear. A lot of people dismiss it as being generic and fresh without ever really spending enough time to see how it interacts with skin. Besides the compliments, I enjoy wearing it because I like the smell of it and it makes me feel good. On my skin it smells dark with a nice suede feel and some late breaking vetiver.

Also, it's one of those scents that makes an impression because it has good longevity and presence. I happened to be wearing Bleu the first time I kissed my current girlfriend and later in the night her dad wanted to know who she was out spending time with-- because he could actually smell my cologne on her!

[My_pep_pep]

It's great for work, like someone else said. In fact, now I can't wear it anywhere but work, because it reminds me of work.

[Redneck Perfumisto]

Good comments and explanations!

I own it and love it. I agree - great for work.

I went through phases. At first I didn't get it, but it wasn't bad. Then I decided to go really large with the number of sprays, and I started smelling some really nice facets. I wore almost nothing else for something ridiculous like half a year. Then I cooled it, and eventually just wore it occasionally. That's where I am now. I have the humongo bottle, and will probably get the travel spray. I own both aftershave lotion and balm, as well as the shower gel. I like the shower gel a lot.

My final opinion is Bleu:

It is a rather complex, powdery, boozy, vetiver and woody amber scent, down underneath a white tornado of freshness. That freshness, however, is *almost* over the top. To love this scent, you have to be able to sense the other stuff easily, and like it, and also be able to ignore the freshness.

[MikeJ]

I like it. I just wouldn't pay the Chanel price tag for it.

[G.303]

It did not do well on my skin.....the longevity is below average IMO!!!
Gary

[Renato]

I rate it as just okay - their second best scent after Egoiste.
There's nothing in it to greatly dislike, I don't know why anyone would hate it.

My wife, however, thinks it's really great.
Regards,
Renato

[Winterbourne]

I don't hate this one. I just find it a little too bland and not appealing enough to warrant a purchase.

[FooDog]

I, too, could see this as a signature scent for the right guy. I have been trying to get a work friend to think about wearing cologne and I got a sample of Bleu for him. He seems to like it and feel comfortable in it. I thought he smelled wonderful it in, and the other women in our department unanimously agreed. Pretty sure he's gonna buy a bottle.

[Bigsly]

Here's my review: "I gave this one last try and I agree with Michael over at his fromtoptobottom - perfumepatter blog, in that I view this fragrance as "a formula that includes generic, slightly synthetic citrus, sweet cola-ish musk and that iso e super, slightly buzzy cedar accord." It's got too much iso e super for me, so right there is a "deal breaker." If you want something beyond "safe," this is for you. You can smell like generic "man" in a "modern" nation. Beyond the iso e super, this "blobs" up for me, and generates a unpleasant sensation. It doesn't smell good to me, just "synthetic." And if you think I just like vintage or niche, let me point out that I like Joop! Jump Summer Temptation. If you want a recent "men's" fragrance, that is at least somewhat interesting and without any major issues, I suggest trying that one. If I did like BdC, I'd just buy some iso e super and a couple of other accords from the perfumer's apprentice and make something like this for myself, probably for less than $20 per 100 ml. Plenty of household products smell quite nice, but they are not "perfumes." Chanel seems to understand this and cranks out fragrances like BdC for the "oh that smells nice" people of the world, of which there are a huge number (hence great profit potential), obviously."

[starace]

It smells nice, but there are way too many fragrances that go beyond nice. It could be much worse. I don't think it warrants a purchase, but I am biased, because I do prefer Antaeus and the original Egoiste over this.

It is not wrong to love it/wear it-I just can't seem to find anything to be excited about it. Compliments are nice if you love the fragrance, but wearing perfume just to get people's nod of approval does nothing for me. I am sure many of you love the scent, though, and that's all you need to know to realize whether it suits you or otherwise.

[Kron]

Its incredibly bland and only garners compliments because the average person finds it inoffensive and easy to recognise. Its the scent equivalent of painting by numbers.

A lazy scent for people who don't care enough.

[pluran]

It's made well and uses quality ingredients. Other than that it's a good example of the vapidity of woody aromatic hell and a lot of things that are wrong with modern perfumery. It's an awkward thing that's more radiant than it needs to be. Smells like "Mr Cologne Guy" personified, regardless of how many random women may say they like it. Women like all kinds of unbelievably bad smelling fragrances. If that's your primary reason for wearing fragrances you probably need to get a new vantage point. Waste time wondering which “cologne” pulls better, and your genes will spread only by lucky accident. A perfume should be right for the man, not for the job. My girlfriend dislikes it intensely, btw. But she wears and smells all kind of good things, so her frame of reference is better than most of the random women out there.

When I smelled it on a guy at Nordstrom I felt sorry for him but more than anything I was just relieved when the smell had left the area. The stuff is anything but chic. The Exclusifs are amazing but Jacques Polge has probably spent a lot of time over the last ten years imagining what it would be like to do his own thing.

[Mr Berghia]

If I had 300 fragrances or so and money to spend, then I would certainly but Bleu de Chanel and use it 3 times a year or so as a fresh scent.

[Ken_Russell]

The hype, the notoriety may have something to do with it.

[gandhajala]

The Allure line and Bleu suggest to me a kind of cynicism which I find vaguely offensive.
Maybe it's time for Chanel to raid the back-catalogue again...

[drseid]

Its incredibly bland and only garners compliments because the average person finds it inoffensive and easy to recognise. Its the scent equivalent of painting by numbers.

A lazy scent for people who don't care enough.

This pretty much sums up my view on the scent. I find it very boring and bland with a "me too" personality. Pass.

[nfn1983]

+1.

[Spoombung]

It smells dull and boring.

[kalli]

At first, I kinda liked it..then I noticed, I swore I smelled a note of women's Coco in there. Became unisex on the skin. Didn't like that. The lady at the Chanel counter told me many women buy it for themselves..so, idk.

[silentrich]

It's a great everyday go to fragrance. Smells fantastic, but nothing that's going to change the genre. Plus basenotes is full of snobby, too good for the mainstream opinions. Some of the snobs on here are actually useful. Everything they turn their noses up at, I know that I'll love.

[Redneck Perfumisto]

At first, I kinda liked it..then I noticed, I swore I smelled a note of women's Coco in there. Became unisex on the skin. Didn't like that. The lady at the Chanel counter told me many women buy it for themselves..so, idk.

Interesting!

I was speculating that women were buying it for husbands who were basically in need of the human equivalent of Febreze.

My wife loves it when I wear it. I'll just leave it at that.

[gandhajala]

I was speculating that women were buying it for husbands who were basically in need of the human equivalent of Febreze. ...

Funny !

[Diamondflame]

It's not a bad scent. I'd wear it if someone were to get me a bottle, but there are always other Chanels I'd rather wear. Don't believe all the hoopla you read on BN. For instance, the comment about BN 'snobs' borders on the 'hysterical'... imho.

[kumquat]

This perfume feels like a simple marketing ploy. It was created not because they had a good idea for a new scent- but because it was time to release a new men's fragrance. And they thought it would be neat to give it a sexy french spelling- with the e&u switched in the word 'blue'. That makes it seem mysterious and unusual. Really, it's nothing new or unusual at all. Just another aquatic. (Yawn).

[hedonist222]

It's not bad but it's not stupendous either.

[alfarom]

Good quality and hard to really dislike yet it reads as a simpleminded masculine...

[Oslo-Fjord]

It`s not a bad scent. It`s just so tiresome and un-original. From a house like Chanel, we expected much more.

[vinramani09]

Compared to the original Egoiste and Anateus, Bleu de Chanel is a synthetic bore frankly speaking.

[Jonty Coppersmith]

Well I guess you can count me as a lazy person who doesn't care enough because I think BdC smells good.

[Mrnybluesman]

Being a fan of Chanel I have owned Bleu...more than once, and will probably own it again somewhere down the road. I think it is a quality scent and smells good to me.

[MrFragranceReview]

Compared to other Chanel offerings people find it dull. It's very pleasing, and done very well. I haven't spent a lot of time with it although, it doesn't seem to jump out and excite me.
Usually if it doesn't smell too unique or odd the community shuns it.

[dreamer81]

I dislike it because it gives me lot of sneezing. Fortunately I found way how to make it wearable and better smelling to me. I made myself decant of Avon Crisp Forest + Bleu De Chanel mixed in 2:1 ratio.

[SculptureOfSoul]

I once called it soulless. I now think it anything but; in fact, it seems to capture the soul of 'classic man scent' and refract it through a modern lens. A great great scent that I am very glad I gave a second chance to.

[ChoppedGarlic]

Wore it again a couple of days ago and it bored me to tears. Maybe it would have been interesting if it had higher quality materials. Certainly an underachiever. Funny that women find it exciting, probably shows the differences between the sexes' olfactory perception.