New Perfume Review Bleu de Chanel Parfume- If It Ain’t Broke
New Perfume Review Bleu de Chanel Parfum- If It Ain’t Broke
Back when Bleu de Chanel Eau de Toilette was released in 2010, I wrote on CaFleureBon, “Bleu de Chanel is very likely going to be a huge commercial perfume and make a lot of money.” It doesn’t prove any prescience on my part to state that.
It has become true because then in-house perfumer Jacques Polge created a perfume consisting of building blocks which represented the greatest hits of famous perfume trends.
As I also wrote in that review if I judged Bleu de Chanel on a scale of innovation it fails. If I decided it on the ability to be more generally pleasing to a broad swath of consumers it succeeds. Time has proven that as ever since its release, it has been one of the best-selling masculine perfumes in the world.
Chanel has been protective of its brand over the past eight years only releasing one flanker, an Eau de Parfum strength version in 2014. Jacques Polge also oversaw that in one of his last releases before retiring from Chanel. In that release, it seems like the intent was to amplify the cedar heart while mellowing it a bit with amber leaving most of the rest of the architecture in place.
When talking with others, I facetiously call it Cedre de Chanel. I could see the appeal to those who are more attracted to clean woods over fresh citrus and ginger accords. From a consumer perspective, it was successful if not quite as much as the original.
Now for 2018, we have the second flanker, Bleu de Chanel Parfum, another increase in strength. There is also another change which made me interested as Olivier Polge has taken over from his father as an in-house perfumer. M. Polge freshening up of the Chanel aesthetic without becoming boring has been a success story I have enjoyed following.
I was curious to see how he would approach Bleu de Chanel Parfum. The answer was he followed the old maxim, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
What that means about the perfume is if the Eau de Toilette was all about the fresh opening. Followed by the Eau de Parfum focus on the cedar heart. Then Parfum amplifies the sandalwood in the base.
Bleu de Chanel opens with much-attenuated fresh citrus almost like the sun setting. It is dialed way back from the original. Still enough to be recognizable. The amber heart captures that last bit of warmth before the sandalwood comes forward and dominates. The cedar is there to provide a bit of the apparent contrast, but this comes off more like something I could call Santal de Chanel.
Bleu de Chanel Parfum has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage. I realize if I did call this Santal de Chanel I forget one of the greatest sandalwood perfumes ever; Chanel Bois des Iles. That is a perfect counterpoint when I say there is artistry versus populism. Bleu de Chanel Parfum is the latter.
It is like providing three versions of a similar perfume and allowing the consumer to choose which part they prefer. I return to my original judgment from my review of the original. This is an excellent choice for the man who wants a single bottle of perfume on his dresser. Now he has an option to go Fresh (Eau de Toilette), Clean (Eau de Parfum), or Woody (Parfum). There is a reason these are greatest hits of masculine perfume and having three different strengths does nothing to change that.
Back when Bleu de Chanel Eau de Toilette was released in 2010, I wrote on CaFleureBon, “Bleu de Chanel is very likely going to be a huge commercial perfume and make a lot of money.” It doesn’t prove any prescience on my part to state that.
It has become true because then in-house perfumer Jacques Polge created a perfume consisting of building blocks which represented the greatest hits of famous perfume trends.
As I also wrote in that review if I judged Bleu de Chanel on a scale of innovation it fails. If I decided it on the ability to be more generally pleasing to a broad swath of consumers it succeeds. Time has proven that as ever since its release, it has been one of the best-selling masculine perfumes in the world.
Chanel has been protective of its brand over the past eight years only releasing one flanker, an Eau de Parfum strength version in 2014. Jacques Polge also oversaw that in one of his last releases before retiring from Chanel. In that release, it seems like the intent was to amplify the cedar heart while mellowing it a bit with amber leaving most of the rest of the architecture in place.
When talking with others, I facetiously call it Cedre de Chanel. I could see the appeal to those who are more attracted to clean woods over fresh citrus and ginger accords. From a consumer perspective, it was successful if not quite as much as the original.
Now for 2018, we have the second flanker, Bleu de Chanel Parfum, another increase in strength. There is also another change which made me interested as Olivier Polge has taken over from his father as an in-house perfumer. M. Polge freshening up of the Chanel aesthetic without becoming boring has been a success story I have enjoyed following.
I was curious to see how he would approach Bleu de Chanel Parfum. The answer was he followed the old maxim, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
What that means about the perfume is if the Eau de Toilette was all about the fresh opening. Followed by the Eau de Parfum focus on the cedar heart. Then Parfum amplifies the sandalwood in the base.
Bleu de Chanel opens with much-attenuated fresh citrus almost like the sun setting. It is dialed way back from the original. Still enough to be recognizable. The amber heart captures that last bit of warmth before the sandalwood comes forward and dominates. The cedar is there to provide a bit of the apparent contrast, but this comes off more like something I could call Santal de Chanel.
Bleu de Chanel Parfum has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage. I realize if I did call this Santal de Chanel I forget one of the greatest sandalwood perfumes ever; Chanel Bois des Iles. That is a perfect counterpoint when I say there is artistry versus populism. Bleu de Chanel Parfum is the latter.
It is like providing three versions of a similar perfume and allowing the consumer to choose which part they prefer. I return to my original judgment from my review of the original. This is an excellent choice for the man who wants a single bottle of perfume on his dresser. Now he has an option to go Fresh (Eau de Toilette), Clean (Eau de Parfum), or Woody (Parfum). There is a reason these are greatest hits of masculine perfume and having three different strengths does nothing to change that.
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