Bleu is Gloria Naturals' interpretation of Bleu de Chanel Parfum, the 2018 version built on lemon zest, lavender and sandalwood, and it costs AED 120. The single most useful thing to know before buying it is that Bleu de Chanel is not one fragrance. It is three, they smell noticeably different, and the one Bleu follows is the quietest and woodiest of the three.
Three Bleus
| Version | Year | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Eau de Toilette | 2010 | Sharp grapefruit and ginger over incense and vetiver. Cool, citric, a little metallic. The one in the adverts. |
| Eau de Parfum | 2014 | Same citrus, warmer amber base. Rounder, longer, less bite. |
| Parfum | 2018 | Lemon zest and lavender over cedar and sandalwood. Woody, creamy, the most refined and the least loud. |
People who fell for Bleu de Chanel in a shop usually smelled the Eau de Toilette; it is the version with the most immediate sparkle. People who own it and wear it daily often end up with the Parfum, because it is the one that behaves in an office and still smells expensive at 6 pm. They are different enough that a dupe of one will disappoint a fan of the other.
Bleu's notes against the Parfum
Bleu lists lemon zest, bergamot, lavender, geranium, cedarwood, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood and amberwood. The Parfum's published structure: lemon zest and bergamot on top; lavender and geranium in the heart; cedar, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood and an amberwood accord in the base.
The lists match in full, with nothing missing and nothing added. Read it as a pyramid: a short citrus opening, a clean lavender-geranium heart, and then the part that lasts, a dry cedar-vetiver wood softened by sandalwood. By composition Bleu should sit exactly where the Parfum sits, woody and composed rather than citric and bright.
What that implies for the two other camps:
- If your memory is the Eau de Toilette, Bleu will feel too soft and too woody in the first hour. The grapefruit-ginger snap is not in this list, and it is not supposed to be.
- If your memory is the Eau de Parfum, Bleu will feel drier. The Parfum traded the amber warmth for sandalwood, and the list follows.
There is no vanilla or tonka in the list, so Bleu should not read sweeter than the original, which is the usual failing of cheaper woody masculines.
Before you blind-buy
This is the right pick if you want a fragrance you can wear every working day and forget about. The Parfum's reputation is exactly that: never loud, never sweet, always present. Bleu follows it.
It is the wrong pick if you want to be noticed. Sandalwood-and-cedar bases sit close. For presence, Wild Spirit (AED 120), which follows Sauvage Eau de Toilette, is the louder animal by composition.
As a gift, it is the most conservative choice in the fresh-masculine range, which is a compliment. A man who wears anything from a citrus cologne to a soft oud will find a place for it. The only person it fails is the one who wants his fragrance to make an entrance.
What will disappoint you compared with the original: the sandalwood. Chanel's Parfum is admired for a creamy, expensive sandalwood dry-down. Sandalwood is one of the costliest materials in perfumery and an interpretation at AED 120 follows its shape, not its material. Expect the structure and the mood; judge the last hours for yourself.
Bleu, Nobel or Wild Spirit
Three of Gloria's masculines are close enough in intent that people ask which to buy. The differences are clear once the notes are set out.
| Bleu, AED 120 | Nobel, AED 95 | Wild Spirit, AED 120 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Follows | Bleu de Chanel Parfum | Givenchy Gentleman | Sauvage Eau de Toilette |
| Top | Lemon zest, bergamot | Pepper, lavender, iris | Bergamot, pepper |
| Heart | Lavender, geranium | Iris, patchouli | Sichuan pepper, lavender, vetiver |
| Base | Cedar, sandalwood, amberwood | Vetiver, black vanilla, leather | Ambroxan, cedar, labdanum |
| Reads as | Refined, woody, quiet | Powdery, dressed-up, evening | Radiant, dry, loud |
| Best day | Office, meetings, dinners | Evening, formal | Weekend, outdoors, anywhere loud is fine |
If you are between Bleu and Wild Spirit: Bleu is the one you wear to a meeting, Wild Spirit the one you wear to be asked about.
In UAE heat
Lemon zest and bergamot are the shortest-lived notes in any fragrance, and shortest of all in 45 degrees. On a summer day the opening of this style is a few minutes, and the day is carried by the lavender-cedar-sandalwood body. That body is well suited to the climate: dry, not sweet, and quiet enough that air conditioning does not trap it around you.
Because the base is soft, this is a style that rewards fabric. A spray on the inside of a collar, where it is shaded and cool, will outlast two on the wrist.
What people get wrong
Testing the Eau de Toilette in the shop and buying a Parfum dupe. The most common mismatch. Decide which Bleu you actually like before you look for an interpretation of it.
Expecting projection. The Parfum style is the least projecting of the three by design. If a friend's Bleu filled the room, it was probably the Eau de Parfum at four sprays.
Layering it with something sweet. The lavender-sandalwood structure does not want vanilla on top. If you want warmth, Nobel already has it built in.
Questions people ask
Which Bleu de Chanel is Bleu closest to? The 2018 Parfum. Its nine notes are the Parfum's published structure: lemon zest, bergamot, lavender, geranium, cedar, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood and amberwood. It does not follow the sharper Eau de Toilette.
Is Bleu fresh or woody? Woody, after a short fresh opening. By composition the lasting part is cedar, vetiver and sandalwood.
Is it a safe gift? Yes, one of the safest in the range. It is quiet, unsweet and works for almost every taste except a man who wants to be noticed across a room.
Bleu or Wild Spirit? Bleu for work and for people who like restraint; Wild Spirit for presence and the pepper-ambroxan Sauvage signature. They are different styles that happen to share a colour.
Wear what makes you feel remembered.
Gloria Naturals