This is what I call my Chanel for Bleu Jeans fragrance and I will tell you why. There have been quite a few reviews around Fragrance town decrying Bleu de Chanel as being disappointing. Not up to the standards of pervious Chanel scents. So this is my experience with the fragrance.
While shopping a month or so back for a new Chanel I picked up Egoiste Platinum and while I was looking at the various Chanels for men to expand my horizons and add to my one and only Pour Monsieur the salesperson asked if she could spay some Bleu on a card for me. I said sure, why not? I could take in maybe one more sniff before my nose closed up shop. Well, that one little sniff blew my Bleu socks off! I almost bought it on the spot but had already set my shopping limit for the month. So I filed my Bleu card away for a future purchase.
Last Saturday it was so incredibly beautiful here in San Francisco and on a gorgeous day lots of San Franciscan naturally hightail it for our magnificent shopping district around Union Square. I was moved by sun and blue skies to visit our Chanel Boutique. I dressed for the occasion since I am old fashioned and think one should never leave the house on a shopping expedition looking less than smashing. Black Jeans, black cashmere turtle neck, black spit shined loafers, chunky steel bracelet, a not so chunky yet stylish gunmetal watch and a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers. One quick check in the mirror and I set off for my adventure.
(CHANEL MEN’S WEAR)
I was in and out of Chanel so fast that the door on Maiden Lane didn’t have a chance to close. Then I popped over to have a light lunch at the Sir Francis Drake and following that headed home to un-box my little treasure. I really got a kick out of the bottle, a kind of film noir blue black moderne take on the No.5 bottle design with a really nifty cap that is magnetized so that it clicks back on in the same position with the locked double C’s always facing front perfectly. A nice touch don’t you think? I sprayed my wrist and sniffed…. Hum? Then I sprayed my collar bone. “That’s odd, it’s kind of….hum?” I thought. And a final spritz behind my ears.
(BRAD KROENIG AND HIS SON HUDSON)
It was not at all what it had seemed in the store the month before. What had happened? Where was that oh my god sensation? It was nice, it was interesting, and it was perfectly fine. But something was missing. As the day wore on I discovered it has some wonderful aspects about it. I love how the incense, ginger and peeper all work together and it lasted on me a reasonable 5 to 6 hours. Yet still I was vaguely disappointed. During the week at work it drew rave reviews. And that puzzled me. THEY loved it; they wanted to know What it was that made it so unique and exciting. Why did they find it so wonderful and I found it to be just …fine? To me it wasn’t the magic Chanel we all dream of, what we hope to find in each new Chanel offering. It was just dare I say it, a work-a-day Chanel.
(ANNA WINTUR SMILES!)
Then it hit me. It smelled just the same as it had in the store; the only thing that had changed was me. I had been obsessing over that smell for over a month, and in that time I had turned that sense memory of Bleu into something it could not live up to. No perfume could. I had let the aura and history of “Chanel” out Chanel the Chanel! It was fine and I liked it just fine, and that is fine. Not every Chanel or any other perfume house can hit it out of the park each time. But what Chanel did with Bleu de Chanel was make a good everyday perfume. Something nice to throw on when you feel like being casual and elegant around your frayed edges, like a pair of comfortable blue jeans. They fit well and you know exactly what to expect from them, and they are classics in their own way. So that is why I call my Bleu de Chanel my Chanel for blue jeans.
(MOVIE STAR GILBERT ROLAND 1929 AND MY BOTTLE OF BLEU)
Four Gold Stars. ****
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What a great realization to have. I have noticed this polarization of opinions as well. Bleu is a successful fragrance with those that simply want something that smells great (because it smells great) and many perfume fans and critics simply have unrealistic expectations of anything with the double C logo. I love Bleu and think it is to Chanel, what Terre is for Hermes, in regards to the marketing strategy and customer demographic. Bleu is infinitely more interesting than the string of Allure flankers that have been launched over the past 4 years.
Thanks ! I am so happy you connected with my point of this post. I really admire your opinion so it is nice to be on the same page about this fragrance.
Lol, cool. I had a tossle with Christos from Memoryofscent on this one. He is another blogger I have utmost respect for and this was one fragrance we just couldn’t come to agreement on. He even went back to Chanel to try it after our discussion but could find no love for it. This is one of the intriguing things about perfume. One person’s beauty is another person’s beast I guess : )
I had to give a presentation on colours today at work (unrelated to perfume) but interestingly, blue is the most popular colour among people, it is the colour of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. It is calming and is the colour that represents the heavens in ancient Egyptian culture.
…a bit of random trivia for your Wednesday reading : )
Enjoy your Bleu!
Lanier, You have to do your first save on your post with a heading or a number comes up in our emails.
Portia xx
As soon as I hit enter I realized my mistake. Oopsie! Thanks Miss P. now I know what happens when I save too fast. I will do better.
I’m not sure if I smelled it – that’s how much I was influenced by negative reviews 🙂
Next time I’m at a store I will give it a sniff.
How many times have you tested it on skin befoore you decided to go with a full bottle?
Just once on the day I went to buy it. I was in a worked up perfume frenzy from waiting that entire month to buy it, and that is not a good idea. I was lucky in this case that I grew to appreciate Bleu for what it is and not for what it isn’t.
Wow… Well, I understand: it’s a rare perfume with such a limited availability for testing… 😉
I’m glad you ended up liking it.
It’s nice to know that someone else is as obsessive complusive as I am 🙂
I beg your pardon! I am not obsessive compulsive. I am compulsive obsessive. At least that is what Dr. Tredman tells me. LOL!