Bleu Marine Pour Lui Pierre Cardin for men

By sheer coincidence, Martin Gras designed both BEST OF CHEVIGNON and the creation I take up now: Pierre Cardin BLEU MARINE POUR LUI. Before addressing the qualities of this fragrance, I feel the need to confess here that I generally steer clear of über-franchised names such as Pierre Cardin, Liz Claiborne, Bill Blass, et al., the list goes on and on, as my distinct impression is that whatever prestige may have once attached to such names has evaporated in a flurry of profit-maximizing gambits. Faced at a crucial crossroad in their careers with the choice: art or wealth, the decision of these sorts of people has always been clear.

That said, the actual quality of the zillions of individual products generated by such corporate machines is in large part a function of the subordinate designers ("consultants") lured in to participate. Some of them are hacks, pure and simple, who want nothing more than to rack up more cash--and fast. Sometimes, against all expectations, they manage to create something both nice and new.

Now, BLEU MARINE POUR LUI is a competent creation, albeit in some ways rather cacophonous and definitely in conflict with its ostensible, misnamed identity. This is not, as the name blares out, an aquatic fragrance. Nor is it really very masculine (pour lui). Instead, after a brief flirtation with vaguely masculine aromaticity, BLEU MARINE POUR LUI ends up as a smooth woody oriental fragrance entirely suitable for women as well as men. For most of its life, this is really a winter perfume, with enough spices and amber to appeal to oriental lovers. But the whole package is all a bit too confusing.

Why use the misleading name and go through the shortlived aromatic stage to get to a completely different fragrance, appropriate for altogether different milieux and circumstances? Perhaps this was a case of trying to be all things to all people--to capture simultaneously as many market niches as possible. In reality, the intersection of those looking for citrus aromatic colognes and those looking for oriental perfumes is rather small, and I'd be surprised if this composition were anyone's "signature scent".

As a final, arguably irrelevant, linguistic observation, "bleu marine," if not a type-o made by a now American company (the über-conglomerate Coty), can only mean "blue Marine" (as in a person who serves in the U.S. Marines). If this were to mean "blue marine," there would have to be an 'e' at the end of 'bleu', to read: "bleue marine," since 'marine' is feminine in French.

The marine aspect here is a musky whale rather than a cool sea breeze.

As warm seas go Bleu Marine is more elegant and healthier than the sickening staleness of Baldessarini del Mar.

It seems a bit more concentrated now than when it was introduced and can be oversprayed as to cause irritation in others.

The phallic romantic-futuristic bottle is nothing short of a masterpiece.

I tried this fragrance years ago, but can't remember much about it except that it was by Pierre Cardin.

I bought a 30ml bottle as a treat to see if I liked it again, but was totally disappointed by it lack of sillage and longevity and can only agree with instantjim that it's not worth paying for scented water that does a disfavour to the wearer by leaving nothing after 15 mins.

I like the fragrance, it's a fougere very much like Live Jazz by YSL, but I just daren't wear it without carrying the bottle in my bag for hourly re-sprays!

In my opinion, this inexpensive purchase was a waste of my money and can't believe the noses at Coty, Spain, could not have improved on the strength and body to this concoction. It's such a let-down to what could have been a good fragrance.

Ok I gave this one another try. After spraying it on it rapidly settles into olfactory obscurity on my skin. After 5 minutes I have to put my nose right up to my forearm (where I put two generous sprays) to detect it. Could it be that it has been reformulated and is now an inferior offering? I initially detect citrus/herbs but it quickly settles into a sort of cheap-smelling generic non-descriptness.

I bought this one at the same time as Pierre Cardin Emotion for men and I really wanted to like it, but it is so short-lived that after an hour I can hardly detect any traces of it. The Emotion however, is still quite detectable after 2 - 3 hours. The jury is still out on this one for me.

For clarity's sake, I must start by saying that this is certainly not an aquatic scent of today's concepts, even though the name might lead one to believe that. No, it is (just to reinforce what's written in the description above) a deep and rich, ambery fougere nuanced with a lot of herbal and spicy notes. This is rather the typical '80-s style fougere fragrance, in that it creates a "marine" sensation with a heavy animalic ambergris and oakmoss aura balanced out with cool greens, bergamot, and an abundance of spices, the style that eventually lost to the high-pitched citric-ozonic-Calone scents that have been dominating the scene since the early '90-s and still thriving in popularity.
I've read some words of disdain concerning this scent on other sites, claiming this being a bore with a cheap musty after-shave smell etc. Well, most fougeres tend to give the impression of dated and cheap because they are living in our memories as being overused and abused and a masculine cliché, don't they? Yet in today's context I think that a classic and well-balanced fougere can bring back some olfactory excitement.
Bleu Marine can be best compared to Drakkar Noir, although I find the former more wearable and less musty and sharp. Davidoff's Cool Water is also similar in style, which it predated only by a year or two, but it is less of a traditional fougere than Bleu Marine.
I think it can be best characterized as a deep and rich amber with a lot more things also going on. It starts out with nice green and herby top notes, then a really dense spicy core comes to the fore. The fougere base is rather rich and mossy, with a touch of dry woods. Overall, the scent might be appreciated by some who are sick of the usual Aqua's.
I have received the "eau de toilette deodorant" spray as a gift a few years ago, and, well, let's be honest, I haven't used it very often since. And not because I find it dated, but I find it a tad too rich and forceful to wear as a day fragrance. I love taking a random sniff from the bottle though.