Bleu de Chine (Eau de Toilette) by Marc de la Morandière
Bottle Design:
Serge Mansau
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Bleu de Chine 1987 Eau de Toilette

7.1 / 10 27 Ratings
A perfume by Marc de la Morandière for women, released in 1987. The scent is floral-woody. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Floral
Woody
Green
Chypre
Powdery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
TuberoseTuberose Lily of the valleyLily of the valley JasmineJasmine BergamotBergamot
Heart Notes Heart Notes
OakmossOakmoss SandalwoodSandalwood VetiverVetiver
Base Notes Base Notes
BalsamBalsam VanillaVanilla Tonka beanTonka bean MuskMusk

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
7.127 Ratings
Longevity
8.122 Ratings
Sillage
7.422 Ratings
Bottle
7.127 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 04/19/2025.
Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Bleu de Chine (Eau de Parfum) by Marc de la Morandière
Bleu de Chine Eau de Parfum
Todd Oldham (Eau de Parfum) by Todd Oldham
Todd Oldham Eau de Parfum

Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions
Minigolf

2533 Reviews
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Minigolf
Minigolf
Helpful Review 4  
Strange Art Deco - Surrealism....
....this time NOT by Salvador Dalí or Yves Tanguy... but just as fascinating. What one person's nose may immediately reject due to the ingredient list of this fragrance, intrigues another all the more, mine, with all due respect!
What wafts from the little drop on my wrist is quite peculiar, also very fascinating. That's just what surrealism in painting and drawing has to offer! There are long-shadowed white flowers frolicking on the evening meadow, from which a winding path meanders into the forest covered with giant grasses and gnarled trees. The sky glows in several colors, reminiscent of the Northern Lights at the Arctic Circle.
Violet streaks of indolic jasmine, bright green leaves of lily of the valley shine at the roadside, illuminating the dark, woody brown of the tree bark with a subtle shimmer. Giants of oaks and beeches carry long greenish-gray trains of ancient moss on their branches. Cedars radiate their peculiar, spiral-shaped needle attire with herbaceous, woody aromas. The darkness of the advancing evening should now envelop everything, yet the sun slowly wanders to its "morning position" in the east, drawing out balsamic scents from the sandalwood forest opposite. "Morning mood in the late evening, filled with crystal blue light"... like the setting moon on the dark side of early night!
Anyone who finds the latter sentences surreal and strange, I must agree with! For this fragrance is just that and conjures such images.
"Fascinating"... would Mr. Spock say. And right after: "That seems to lack any logic!"
Exactly THAT hits the mark ;-))
1 Comment
Medusa00

844 Reviews
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Medusa00
Medusa00
Top Review 26  
When Grandma Summered the Beds


My grandma (1914 - 2007) summered her beds every year on the first day that it was really hot and sunny. This meant that they were stripped and laid on the windowsill. Pillows and comforters too. Because especially the heavy comforters enjoyed the fun of tumbling out the window, sometimes tearing off parts of the climbing roses with them and occasionally being slashed by them out of revenge, Grandma decided to air all the bedding on the lawn. I later laughed so hard during "Papa ante Portas" when Loriot threw the beds out of the window. It brought back memories, especially of my grandpa and me cracking up whenever a bed took flight and Grandma shot us a poisonous look.
How did I come to think of this and what does it have to do with the strange brew? The beds were filled with goose down and half-down, which Grandma was particularly proud of. Especially the sweaty pillows (with sweat stains on the casing) emitted a rather unpleasant smell that consisted of goose cheese feet, dying mites, and indefinable mustiness. Perhaps it was also an excess of tuberoses that were at play here.
The bedding was boiled in the laundry room in huge cauldrons, heated with wood, in a soap solution, and I honestly can’t remember if it was pure soap. Anyone who has ever used pure soap knows what I mean. The fumes wafted over the entire yard, and the starlings left the starling box for a day and even forgot to steal the cherries from the tree. In any case, the bedding had to be whiter than white (you know, schamöweiß) when it finally hung on the line. Later, it was passed through the hot mangle, and before that, Grandma sprinkled it with flower water, which then combined with the heat of the mangle and smelled just like that chinablue thingamajig.
In the meantime, all the scents of the meadow (grass, herbs, grasshopper droppings, meadow flowers) penetrated the summered beds. This did the scent good and also benefited the beds back then.

“Discover Bleu de Chine in its original 1987 bottle, hand lacquered and in limited batch.
Exquisite blue of china designed by sculptor Serge Mansau in 1987, inspired by the Ming Dynasty. This bottle comes in a splash for an authentic perfume application. It comes also with a spray applicator for everyday use.
Sensual and hypnotizing. A timeless sillage from the Orient.”
This is the statement of the creator. The Ming Dynasty is quite a while ago now. Hypnotizing? More like quirky and strange. Besides, I don't have much to do with the Chinese anyway, as they eat everything (including dogs) except their furniture.
13 Comments
Scorpio

118 Reviews
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Scorpio
Scorpio
Top Review 14  
Never seen and never smelled - Part 1: The garish Ming vase from China
Part one of my trilogy is dedicated to "Bleu de Chine" from 1987. For over 400 years, oh nonsense, days, the quirky Ming vase has been resting in my souk. Unnoticed and unloved. Who can understand perfume lovers! No one has shown even the slightest interest in it so far. Just look how pretty it is with its blue lacquer! Such an exotic bottle! Quite a delight to hold! And its scent, so, um, exotic and one of a kind. Well.

The delinquent, excuse me, the *cough* creator of this strange concoction has not set his workshop in the far east but in beautiful Paris. A certain Monsieur Marc de la Morandiere. Never heard of him. Have you? It was definitely not mainstream. A niche fragrance in the late 80s. Thin ice! In my opinion.

The thought on which the creation of this fragrance is based, according to legend, goes like this: (Douglas Journal 1990) ---Author's notes = *---

To promote fashion during his world tour, the designer (????)* Marc de la Morandiere felt the urge to create a perfume for women that opens new horizons in scent and design. In China, he achieved his goal (?? - Ni Hao)* and, based on old perfume recipes, discovered a scent that symbolizes his aspirations. The fragrance is characterized by a personal and mysterious expression without boundaries.

The discoveries of new moods and feelings, whether romantic or cool, whether refined or direct. An extraordinary perfume (indeed !!)* - Bleu de Chine - A perfume that emerged from secrets and memories. (and would have been better off staying there)*

Oh man, kids. I do love the stories that dear old Aunt Douglas tells us about her fragrances. Kitsch novels to spray on. How she finds the flowery words even for the most rancid cheese. Amusing. Do they actually exist as collected works? What a schmalz. Does anyone have a sandwich?

But I digress. Let's get to the point. How does Bleu de Chine smell? Short and sweet? TERRIBLE !! In the first seconds, a cornucopia of the most opulent flowers overwhelms you. Not so bad, I thought after the initial shock. But unfortunately, the spectacle only lasts a few minutes. After that, it hits you like a ton of bricks. My three "Special Friends" Jasmine, Ylang Ylang (according to the manufacturer) and Tuberose blow into the tuba until I felt faint. Additionally, a piercing sharp hairspray note joined in. This smell stays put. It doesn't change. Headaches are knocking at the door. Surely something else must come!

No, this is just not going to work. I tortured myself for an hour for you, but I couldn't notice any change in the scent progression. Cloyingly sweet flowers, a biting scent of rose soap, and on top of that, a juicy spray from the good old Elnett with propellant. PFFFFTTTTT --- 80s super disaster !!

A sillage and punch that would have left even Opium and Poison (together) breathless. I had to scrub my wrist with pure soap three times to get rid of the worst of it. Even after that, I still smelled Bleu de Chine. According to the manufacturer, the version I tested was the EDT !! The Eau de Parfum (30ml DM 265.00) would have had to be stored in a safe for safety reasons back then. Just imagine if the bottle fell on the carpet..... The cloud would have rivaled Chernobyl.

No, Mr. Morandiere, no! That was a grab into the Asian toilet bowl. I cannot imagine for the life of me that a woman would willingly spray this tear gas on her décolletage. Not even in the wild 80s !! I would even go so far as to claim that "Bleu de Chine" is by far the most unbearable scent I have ever smelled. Right after the original version of Weil's Antilope. (excluding all the gag fragrances like "Sécrétions Magnifiques"). A scent with a penetrance and sillage like an exploded incense stick factory is unmatched.

I hereby relinquish the exotic concubine to the first person who responds. Take her, whoever wants. Just send me a PM and off we go.
5 Comments
Florblanca

1168 Reviews
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Florblanca
Florblanca
Helpful Review 6  
Something is not quite right here!
No, this scent is not blue! Neither sky blue, nor pale blue, nor royal blue, and certainly not China blue. It is dark green with brown veins. And it is quite intense.

I really don't like the top note; it is piercing and burns my nose. But that fades after about 7 - 8 minutes. Then the scent becomes dark green, meaning vetiver, moss, woods, bergamot, and spices - coriander fits in quite well - take center stage! The flowers, apart from a minimalist dose of rosebud, have been suffocated and covered by the bergamot-vetiver-moss accords. So they play no role.

The progression is linear - there is no significant further change. If it weren't for this biting top note, the scent would be quite nice, but as it is, I just can't warm up to it.

In the end, I don't have to like them all, so it’s no big deal. On to the next one!!!
3 Comments

Statements

4 short views on the fragrance
3
Indolent surrealism in a Chinese Art Deco bottle! Very interesting mix of flowers, resins, woods, and mosses. Beautiful? --OWN!!
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0 Comments
23
18
Loud and shrill floral announcement, typical of the '80s - quite flashy. Underlying indolic and pretty cloying. Has something, but can get annoying quickly.
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18 Comments
15
11
A typical 80s floral explosion with plenty of punch. It starts off rather harmless, then there's a lot of everything. I like that sometimes.
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11 Comments
6
An incredibly beautiful iconic floral scent. Highlights the feminine side. High-quality and exceptional!
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0 Comments

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