Am I Bleu?

I am a perfume whore. The shelves of my two bathrooms are lined with scents ranging from Annick Goutal’s Passion to Jo Malone’s White Jasmine and Grapefruit.


I like my scents warm and smoky (Jo Malone’s Black Vetiver); they should come from a storied fashion house (Chanel No. 5); evoke a mood (Jean Patou’s Joy); or have been worn by a legendary Hollywood actress (Audrey Hepburn & L’Interdit).

Bleu de Chanel by Chanel only meets one of these requirements. It is a woody aromatic which features labdanum, nutmeg, ginger, sandalwood, patchouli, mint, jasmine, grapefruit, citruses, vetiver, incense, cedar, and pink pepper.

Most intriguingly, it’s a male fragrance.

I gladly missed the 1990s trend of unisex fragrances. Men should smell like fresh cut grass and public library books and women should smell mysterious and powerful. There is nothing sexy or interesting to me about a woman who wears a man’s scent…until Bleu de Chanel.

Released last month, the name is taken from a Chanel fragrance in the 1930s. The advertising features a yummy French actor (Gaspard Ulliel) and is directed by Martin Scorsese.

It’s not a unisex fragrance, but it smells like a man I might like to know – sophisticated, intelligent, active with a slight rebellious streak. And then I thought…those are qualities I might want to develop in myself.

But if I can’t have the man and I don’t have time for rigorous self-improvement, I can always have Bleu de Chanel.