Amazon.co.jp: Chanel Bleu de Chanel EDT .03 fl oz (50ml) : Beauty

Long review incoming but i believe it’s warranted so bear with me!…

Bleu de Chanel is one of only a handful of mens fragrances that can be worn throughout the year regardless of the weather or social setting. It works well when worn to work or a wedding as it does in those casual outings. Part of its success is because this fragrance has a lovely blend of fresh citrus notes (come on to this later) and quality rare spices, not to mention the authentic jasmine note which can be found in EVERY Chanel fragrance.

Presentation wise the bottle comes in a dark blue and silver cardboard box albeit it has been finished nicely, the bottle itself is indicative of Chanel and their thinking when it comes to presentation…. less is more! You get a heavily smoked dark navy bottle with “Bleu de Chanel” written on the front, nothing more… needless to say it looks classy. You get a magnetic top which has polarised magnets in it, meaning the chanel logo on the top ALWAYS lines up with the bottle and to ensure a good experience when applying this you also get a quality atomiser which provides enough juice over a decent area. All information regarding the fragrance is on a label underneath the bottle with the serial number engraved on the reverse of the bottle (which should match up to the serial number on the bottom of the box).

Firstly it is important that you know there are two types of Bleu de Chanel available in different sized bottles, the Eau de Toilette version (which this is) and the Eau de Parfum version (which is suppose to be stronger although the parfum version does smell slightly different). Personally having tried both i believe the Eau de Toilette (EDT) version has the better top note. The top note to any fragrance is the smell you get just after you spray it and before it dries on skin, so effectively the first 10 minutes.

Firstly i’ll give you a list of component scents used and then i’ll tell you what i actually can smell at various stages throughout the day (in no particular order): Labdanum, Nutmeg, Ginger, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Mint, jasmine, Grapefruit, Lemon, Vetiver, Incense, Cedar and Pink Pepper.

My personal notes:
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(Top note – first 10 minutes): As soon as you spray this on skin you get a massive blast of ripe and fresh grapefruit, it hits your nose squarely and shouts loudly and proudly “i’m here”. You simply can’t escape it! At the same time there is a lovely yet not overpowering note of Frankincense and Ginger, both of which provide a sensual note to this fragrance and stop the grapefruit from taking over completely, indeed, the Frankincense blends remarkably well with the grapefruit and stops it being overly sweet.

(After it has dried on skin and up to the first 4-5 hours): This fragrance quickly settles on my skin, the blend of Grapefruit and Frankincense continues, you’ll get a lovely scent bubble around you of a 2-3 feet but no more, the sillage (trail) of this fragrance isn’t anything to write home about either but people that walk past you will notice the fragrance especially during the first 3 hours. After the first hour other notes such as jasmine and Lemon start to pronounce themselves more although the original notes still remain dominant.

Between 5-7 hours: You’ll notice a drop off in performance, the scent bubble will randomly come and go and so will the trail. At this point the scent sits very close to your skin. All the same notes can be detected, i guess i would say the extent to which you can detect this fragrance will depend on how much you sprayed it. Over spraying is not a problem and won’t cause offence to those around you. A good 4 sprays to the neck and one to a pulse point like the elbow joint are required if you want this fragrance to last over 5 hours in my honest opinion (certainly on my skin). Come the 5th hour this fragrance becomes a skin scent meaning unless you sniff your skin directly you won’t smell anything. Indeed after 7 hours you won’t even detect anything on skin.

This brings me on to this fragrances only real downside and that is it’s performance to last the distance. Spraying your shirt once or twice does increase the longevity by a few hours but that can be expensive if you’re doing that every day.

VERDICT: The presentation and bottle is first class and this fragrance is sensational when you first spray it, the spices mixed with the frankincense blend incredibly well with the grapefruit note which dominates this fragrance. As i said earlier it can be worn to any occasion throughout the year, it’s very pleasant and won’t cause offence to anyone around you. Some have said (if you search the enthusiast forums) that this fragrance is a little generic, i disagree, i’ve yet to come across another mens fragrance that uses both citrus notes like grapefruit but also uses vetiver and frankincense, very much contrasting individual scents yet they work so well together, besides most other fragrances that use citrus notes tend to use Orange or lemon… the grapefruit in this is unique, so is the use of Jasmine! I will say that while this can be worn year round it would be better suited to the warmer months but that’s just my opinion.

Literally the only downside from my perspective is it only lasts around 4-5 hours before dropping off considerably and becoming a skin scent, if it lasted longer and projected a little better this would have got 5 stars. To finish on a plus note, It is a compliment getter and the lady in your life will be pleased and happy when you wear this, i’ve yet to encounter anyone that doesn’t like it!