bleu de chanel | bestmenscolognes.com

Chanel keeps chugging along with its Bleu de Chanel line of perfumes for men. The original EDT, has been immensely popular for many years now, and show no signs of slowing down. The most recent release has been, BdC Parfum, which gives the formula a newer take.

The question is, which smells better? EDT vs. Parfum? Which lasts longer? Which is the best one to buy?

Tale of the Tape: BdC EDT vs. Parfum

Bleu de Chanel Parfum

Notes include: sandalwood, cedar, lemon, lavender, mint, bergamot, tonka bean, amber, geranium

Click here to try: BLEU DE C H A N E L PARFUM, 3.4 oz./ 100 mL

Read my Review: Bleu de Chanel Parfum

Bleu de Chanel EDT

Notes include: lemon, grapefruit, ginger, mint, pink pepper, incense, cedar, vetiver, patchouli, jasmine, and more

Click here to try: Bleu De_Chanel for Men Eau De Toilette Spray 3.4oz NEW in BOX

Opening

BdC Parfum kicks things off with a duo of citrus notes: lemon zest and bergamot. It does take a somewhat different direction from the other Bleu fragrances, by those citrus notes being tempered by mint and the woods.

All in all, it still is pretty similar in the beginning. Later, Bleu de Chanel Parfum will become a woodier and warmer scent, with plenty of sandalwood and cedar coming into the fold.

Bleu EDT is also a citrus affair up top. The grapefruit and lemon, get blended with softer spice notes, and a smoky incense. This BdC entry, also has the mint note, but ginger is the more prominent of the two.

Which fragrance has the better start? They’re both pretty close at the start, and I do really like either of them. But, I’d say Parfum gets the slightest edge, with its added woodiness. I do, really enjoy the ginger in EDT, though.

Edge: Parfum

Projection

Sillage wise, again, they’re actually very close to one another. Neither is an absolute beast in terms of strength or projection ability.

Parfum starts off pretty strong, but goes into its moderate phase pretty shortly thereafter. EDT does the same. The opening of Parfum, I’d say, hits a higher high. But it’s so short-lived, to not be a major factor.

You’d think that Parfum, would have better sillage, as the higher concentrated fragrance. However, that’s not actually the case, in my experience with each.

Edge: Push

Longevity

Bleu de Chanel EDT will go anywhere from 5-7 hours, on my skin. It doesn’t really have that insane performance. Decent? Yes. Not elite, though.

Parfum, while not having a super powerful sillage, actually does have really good longevity. For me, it lasts over 10 hours. It just seems to continually hang around. It’s easily the winner, in this category.

Bleu de Chanel Parfum is really low key with its performance. You don’t always notice it, but you will catch whiffs of it during the day, and those around you will be able to pick it up.

Edge: Parfum

Versatility

Alright, both of them are highly versatile scents. Bleu de Chanel can work in a wide variety of situations, meaning, all of these releases under this name.

Parfum, might be more refined and formal, in some ways. But, it’s not really something that’s going to move the needle here.

The only real distinction here is that, the EDT version, is better in the heat. Parfum cannot stand up to the high heat, while the EDT can. As such, its getting the edge.

Edge: EDT

Overall Scent

For me, I don’t think you can actually go wrong with any of the choices from the Bleu de Chanel line. They are all high quality and smell wonderful. Naturally, each shares a common DNA with one another, but each stands alone as a distinct wear.

What I enjoy about the EDT version, is the fresh and clean aroma. The citrus is very nice, but I absolutely love the ginger note. It does get a smoky aroma in there as well, but the ginger led spice accord is the highlight.

This is the best of them, at handling the heat. I’d go with the EDT, if I lived in a tropical climate…possibly the EDP. Even then, the amber in that one can be wonky, in the hotter temperatures and humidity, especially.

However, when it comes down to which of these two is better, I’m going to say Bleu de Chanel Parfum. The performance is better, it has enough of an overlap with the EDT, but brings in more of a woody freshness.

The lemon zest, isn’t as intensely citrusy as the EDT version’s plain lemon, but it brings enough of that character. I like the lavender, amberwood, and sandalwood.

Actually, especially the sandalwood. To me, it is the highlight of Parfum, and what takes it to another level.

I have gone back and forth between liking the EDP or Parfum better. As of today, I usually lean EDP. In this contest? Parfum beats EDT. There are also a ton of alternatives to Bleu de Chanel that have been released, but that’s not the case yet for Parfum.

Winner: BdC Parfum

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Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.

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I’ve been on a bit of a testing kick, over the past few months, and I have plenty of new reviews coming down the pike. As such, let’s get things started with a somewhat new offering from Chanel released in 2018, Bleu de Chanel Parfum. Now, this is of course, a flanker fragrance on the BdC line. How does it stack up? What does it smell like? How’s the longevity? Is it even different enough, to warrant a try?

What does Bleu de Chanel Parfum Smell Like?

Notes include: sandalwood, cedar, lemon, lavender, mint, bergamot, tonka bean, amber, geranium

Click here to try: BLEU DE C H A N E L PARFUM, 3.4 oz./ 100 mL

My Full BdC Parfum Review

Bleu de Chanel Parfum opens up with the usual citrus infusion from this line, lemon and bergamot. However, it is joined by mint, and the ever present wood notes. It’s a very smooth freshness, right from the start, and starts out pretty similar to the other Bleu de Chanel scents.

However, I think the differences really begin to show, later on in the wear. Though, in the opening act, I’d say it more resembles EDP versus the EDT.

After a few minutes, I start to get more lavender, and the mint fades away some. The citrus here isn’t as sharp, as in the EDT version, and its really tempered by the wood notes. There is a slight herbal quality to this fragrance, but it’s mostly about the clean cut cedar and sandalwood.

Once past the opening stages, this has a pretty noticeable shift into a warmer sort of scent. The sandalwood takes full control of the scent, but the lemon note sticks around for the whole wear, just not to the same degree. The citrus accord, becomes much more of a zest.

During the dry down, I get a good amount of amber wood, lurking around. I think that it added some depth to the composition and pairs well with the tonka bean. Mostly at this stage, you get sandalwood, lemon zest, cedar, lavender.

I really enjoy the dryness and freshness of the wood, it feels like those notes have been ‘soaked’ by the more familiar ingredients of the Bleu line of fragrances from Chanel.

Sillage, Longevity and Versatility

Projection wise, the sillage here isn’t crazy. It starts off pretty strong, but then, will stick closer to the skin for the rest of the time. It does create a nice little scent bubble around you, it’s not a complete skin scent, or anything. At least for over half the wear.

I honestly expected a bit more from the sillage and that is the weakest point, in terms of BdC Parfum’s performance.

The longevity, was actually fantastic on my skin. It lasted for over 10 hours, which is better than what I’ve experienced, from the other Bleu colognes. I will get a 3 or so hours with really good sillage, before it becomes a lighter scent.

Some reviews I’ve seen report it not having that level of performance, but it hasn’t disappointed any time that I’ve used Parfum.

Seasonally, it can work year round, except the absolute hottest of days. I wore it out in the desert heat, once, and it got absolutely blasted.

However, this is a great option for colder days, through a more temperate climate. The woodiness works amazingly well, when the temperatures, are in a moderate range.

That is a bit of a change of pace from the EDT version, which holds up better in the heat, and the EDP to some extent. This is the most cold weather appropriate of the lot. The woods and the general warmth of the base notes, lends itself well to that time of the year.

Bleu de Chanel Parfum, smells like a classier fragrance. It can be worn casually, but I think that it is great for formal events, or the office. It is quite versatile, because it has a certain appeal into the nightlife, also. It’s going to get complements and is a really attractive aroma.

Overall Scent

Overall, do I like Bleu de Chanel? Yes, I think that it is a wonderful scent. It has enough of that original EDT or EDP formulas, running through it, but takes it in a more refined and woody direction. The Parfum formulation is very well done.

The sandalwood note in here, is spectacular, and really sells this one for me. The performance is great, in terms of time it lasts, while the sillage is solid enough to enjoy.

It’s been awhile since I’ve worn the other BdC fragrances, however, I’m pretty sure this is my new favorite. I will go back and forth between this and EDP, as to which one is tops…both great, though.

Update: After coming back to both for another round, I’ve squarely settled on the EDP version of Bleu de Chanel as my favorite. This takes the second spot. It never does a full imitation of Bleu de Chanel EDT, but I definitely like the changes its made to that formula.

If you’ve enjoyed any of the fragrances in the series, you will have a good idea of what to expect with Parfum. If you have a bottle of one, you probably won’t need a bottle of another.

Yes, there are plenty of differences, but not so great that they demand having the entire collection. Unless, you really just want to have the complete set.