Chanel Bleu de Chanel vs Guerlain Shalimar

96 facts in comparison

Based on 500 Reddit opinions. Guerlain Shalimar leads by 13 points.

500 opinions
Guerlain Shalimar leads by 13pts
Chanel Bleu de Chanel
69%
C+
Based on
517 Redditors

Chanel Bleu de Chanel

~$123
213 opinions

tldr; Chanel Bleu de Chanel EDP is widely regarded as a versatile, all-year-round fragrance suitable for various occasions, though some users experience anosmia.

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VS
Reddit's Pick
Guerlain Shalimar
82%
B+
Based on
653 Redditors
Winner

Guerlain Shalimar

~$175
287 opinions

tldr; Guerlain Shalimar is an iconic and historic perfume, celebrated for its unique vanilla notes and rich, sometimes controversial, past, with L'Essence being particularly praised.

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Scent ProfileLongevityProjection & SillageVersatilityUniqueness
💨SCE
⏱️LON
PRO
VER
UNI
51
Points
75
Points

Score by Category

Scent Profile
53%68%
Longevity
46%82%
Projection & Sillage
50%50%
Versatility
100%67%
Uniqueness
15%100%

Why is Guerlain Shalimar better than Bleu de Chanel?

  • Higher Reddit score (82% vs 69%)
  • Better scent profile (68% vs 53%)
  • Better value (82% vs 40%)
  • Better longevity (82% vs 46%)
  • Better uniqueness (100% vs 15%)
  • Iconic 1925 oriental - perfumery royalty
  • ⭐ Shalimar L’Essence is "indescribably good" &
Based on 1,170 Reddit opinions
Clear Winner

Reddit prefers the Guerlain Shalimar

Winning by 13 points (82% vs 69%)

Better scent profile
Better value
Better longevity
High confidence (1,170 mentions)

💬Reddit Sentiment

Based on 1,170 Reddit mentions

Overall Rating

de Chanel
6.9/10
517 mentions
Guerlain Shalimar
8.2/10
653 mentions
VERSATILITY
de Chanel10.0/10
Guerlain Shalimar6.7/10
SCENT PROFILE
de Chanel5.3/10
Guerlain Shalimar6.8/10
UNIQUENESS
de Chanel1.5/10
Guerlain Shalimar10.0/10
LONGEVITY
de Chanel4.6/10
Guerlain Shalimar8.2/10
PROJECTION
de Chanel5.0/10
Guerlain Shalimar5.0/10
VALUE
de Chanel4.0/10
Guerlain Shalimar8.2/10
⚔️

Head to Head

Head to Head

de Chanel: 1|Guerlain Shalimar: 4
Versatilityde Chanel
de Chanel100%
Guerlain Shalimar67%
Scent ProfileGuerlain Shalimar
de Chanel53%
Guerlain Shalimar68%
UniquenessGuerlain Shalimar
de Chanel15%
Guerlain Shalimar100%
LongevityGuerlain Shalimar
de Chanel46%
Guerlain Shalimar82%
Projection
de Chanel50%
Guerlain Shalimar50%
ValueGuerlain Shalimar
de Chanel40%
Guerlain Shalimar82%
de Chanel69%
Guerlain Shalimar82%
Guerlain Shalimar wins by 13 points

Key Specs

SpecChanel Bleu de ChanelGuerlain Shalimar
Fragrance Type
Woody Aromatic
Top Notes
Grapefruit, Lemon, Mint, Pink Pepper
Middle Notes
Ginger, Nutmeg, Jasmine, Iso E Super
Base Notes
Incense, Cedar, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Labdanum, White Musk
Perfumer
Jacques Polge

Key Highlights

Chanel Bleu de Chanel
⭐ Highly versatile, suitable for anytime
✓ Considered worth the pricier side.
⚠ Some users may go anosmic to it quickly.
Guerlain ShalimarWinner
👑 Iconic 1925 oriental - perfumery royalty
⭐ Shalimar L’Essence is "indescribably good" &
⭐ Considered by as "the greatest perfume" from
⚠ Users express regret over limited editions

Topic Battles

de Chanel: 1|Tied: 1|Guerlain Shalimar: 3
💨Scent Profile
Guerlain Shalimar wins
de Chanel
53%
Guerlain Shalimar
68%
⏱️Longevity
Guerlain Shalimar wins
de Chanel
46%
Guerlain Shalimar
82%
Projection & Sillage
de Chanel
50%
Guerlain Shalimar
50%
Versatility
de Chanel wins
de Chanel
100%
Guerlain Shalimar
67%
Uniqueness
Guerlain Shalimar wins
de Chanel
15%
Guerlain Shalimar
100%

Based on Reddit sentiment across 5 categories

📈Where They Rank

💬What Redditors Actually Say

What Redditors Say

Best praise vs top criticism for Guerlain Shalimar

Best Praise
+150 pts
I've told versions of this story on reddit over the years so I swear I'm not a bot, I am the authentic "wore Shalimar to jail" girl: My late teens and early twenties were the definition of a cautionary tale, but I got lucky at the final hour and was able to clean up my act with only moderate damage. I'm a very different person now, but I raised a lot of hell when I was young. After I got clean I wore Shalimar as a daily driver during what was arguably one of the most peaceful times in my life. Unfortunately I still had to pay off some of the debts I incurred during my dumbass era and that eventually involved turning myself in to get rid of my warrant for walking off probation years before. Now, I was naive enough to think that because I'd legitimately turned my life around, been doing volunteer work, all the right things, that even with priors I would just be ordered to attend classes and pay a fine. But what ended up happening was I served ten days out of my ninety beginning immediately. So I was all made up pretty as a picture and instead of going to lunch with my dad afterwards, I went directly to jail. If you've never been (and I can't say I recommend it, though between jail and psych I'd choose jail) there are a few funny things that happen when you're incarcerated. One of these things is that you and everyone around you achieve this nearly zenlike state of boredom. *Everything* mundane that isn't just sitting around becomes exciting, even sweeping the floor. Another is that you revert to this high school mentality of making fast best friends, because since there's nothing to do but talk you end up hearing everyone's life story in short order and getting paper for passing notes or doodling is *the shit*. The strangest and most relevant to the funny part (it's coming I promise) though is that everything and everyone start to smell the same. All of your personal products are the same, because they all come from commissary. All of the blankets and clothes are washed in the same industrial laundry. Everyone is eating the same food. It's very odd and slightly maddening if you're a scent driven person. Pretty much the only personal belonging you keep is your underwear, and your bra if it doesn't have an underwire. I prefer sports bras or no bras, so I got to keep my bra... And the dirty little secret that while it wasn't exactly funky it had been worn a few times, and each time with Shalimar. I was using the EDT at the time and what I didn't realize until then was that when you remove every other source of olfactory stimulation, several day's worth of drydown from even just the EDT built up on fabric is definitely noticeable. I started to get this light whiff of almost a spiced almond vanilla pudding, and while we were flopped in our boats just doing nothing I casually mentioned to my cellmate that my bra was the only thing on the whole block that smelled good. So she came over and invited herself to smell my boobs and then dragged me out to the common room to tell everyone else to smell my boobs. For the rest of the day and into the next couple I had random chicks coming over like "Can I get a hit of that?" and sticking their nose into my nonexistent cleavage, then exclaiming that it still smelled good. The male guard was like "Knock that shit off, ladies" at the bizarre pack of wild dogs act but the female guard was entertained as hell by the whole thing and gave us a piece of paper to tear up so I could write down the name. There are probably still scraps of paper floating around metro Detroit with Wayne County on one side and "Guerlain—Shalimar—EDT" in my chicken scratch on the other lmfao. As a note I've attempted to recreate this by spraying it directly into my bra daily and wearing it right to the edge of "Ew wash that thing" and I've never been able to get it to hit as noticeably as that again. It really was a phenomenon born out of the homogeneous scent-deprived nature of the setting. But it's still by far my favorite goofy jail story. Tl;dr: Did not pass go, went directly to jail, became an olfactory prison bitch (thanks, Mariah)
r/fragrance
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Top Criticism
+38 pts
I had a NIGHTMARE experience with Guerlain recently so even they’re not immune: I ordered a bottle of Shalimar l’essence and I came with something like a bug leg floating in it. I don’t think I’m being unfair to ask for an exchange but it took more than a month (with zero apologies or niceties, multiple emails and calls on my part to get them to respond) for them to decide that the only thing they could do was give me a refund once I sent it back. Maddening all the way around. (And yes, definitely provided photos and videos of the offending problem)
r/fragrance
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3 more quotes available below

What Redditors Say

Best praise vs top criticism for Chanel Bleu de Chanel

Best Praise
+66 pts
Aventus and Bleu de Chanel EDP are both hits in my opinion
r/fragrance
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Top Criticism
+25 pts
like douchy kind of guys that only want to use women for sex, may even try and manipulate you and make you think/feel they’re actually into you when they just want to get in your pants, the colognes most associated with them is sauvage, versace eros and personally the fboys in my life wear chanel bleu and a black burberry cologne. Hope this helps! 😂
r/fragrance
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3 more quotes available below

📈Historical Price Data

Chanel Bleu de Chanel
Guerlain Shalimar
$80$120$160$200Jun '25Aug '25Oct '25Dec '25Jan '26Feb '26Mar '26Mar '26Apr '26May '26Low: $123Low: $77.73Current: $198.99Current: $127.86
Chanel Bleu de Chanel
All-time low: $95(2022-12)
$25 below 90-day avg
Guerlain Shalimar
All-time low: $74.09(2025-06)

Which is Better?

Guerlain Shalimar Wins
82%
Shalimar
vs
69%
Chanel

Guerlain Shalimar leads by 13 points based on 1,170 Reddit opinions.

Why Guerlain ShalimarWinner
  • Better Value for Money (82% vs 40%)
Why de Chanel
  • ⭐ Highly versatile, suitable for anytime
  • ✓ Considered worth the pricier side.

❤️The Love/Hate Breakdown

Sentiment Breakdown

36%Positive
Positive
36%
Neutral
56%
Negative
8%
Based on 653 Reddit opinions

Sentiment Breakdown

28%Positive
Positive
28%
Neutral
59%
Negative
13%
Based on 517 Reddit opinions

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Guerlain Shalimar or Chanel Bleu de Chanel?
Based on 1,170 Reddit comments, Guerlain Shalimar is the preferred choice with 82% positive sentiment vs Chanel Bleu de Chanel's 69%. Guerlain Shalimar leads by 13 percentage points.
Should I buy Guerlain Shalimar or Chanel Bleu de Chanel?
If you want the safer choice based on community sentiment, Guerlain Shalimar has stronger approval ratings (82% vs 69%). However, Chanel Bleu de Chanel may still be better depending on your specific needs, budget, or use case.
What do Redditors love about Guerlain Shalimar?
Reddit users highlight: Iconic 1925 oriental - perfumery royalty. Shalimar L’Essence is "indescribably good" &. Considered by as "the greatest perfume" from. With 653 mentions and 82% approval, it's a well-regarded choice in the community.
What do Redditors say about Chanel Bleu de Chanel?
Reddit users highlight: Highly versatile, suitable for anytime. Considered worth the pricier side.. Some users may go anosmic to it quickly.. With 517 mentions and 69% approval, it remains a popular alternative.
How many Reddit reviews were analyzed?
This comparison analyzed 1,170 Reddit comments: 653 about Guerlain Shalimar and 517 about Chanel Bleu de Chanel. Data was sourced from Perfumes & colognes community discussions.
How accurate are these ratings?
Our sentiment analysis is approximately 80-85% accurate compared to manual review. Well-discussed products with many mentions tend to have more reliable scores than niche items with fewer data points.
Why trust Reddit over professional reviews?
Reddit users bought products with their own money and have no incentive to mislead. You're seeing hundreds of real opinions across different use cases, not just one reviewer's take. This crowdsourced approach surfaces both common praise and recurring complaints.

500 Reddit opinions analyzed · Last updated 6/24/2026

Chanel Bleu de Chanel vs Guerlain Shalimar | reccs.co