Bandit

I blind bought Bandit from fragrancenet in 2014. A bold move, I know. But it was INSTANT love and awe. Germaine Cellier, the nose behind this and Fracas, should be lauded for the absolutely iconic compositions she launched on the world. This absolute powerhouse of a perfume has since become, what I would consider, my signature. I don't wear it often enough to truly call it that, but it is the fragrance I feel the most...affiliated with*. Bandit is a bold fragrance. Believe the hype. She doesn't care about making friends and she doesn't care what you think of her. She is here to live and live fearlessly. The leather and civet and galbanum and artemisia are front and centre. And those sexy, inky, isobutylquinolines. It is GREEN and leather and bitter and excellent. Bandit is a fragrance for someone who can appreciate the contrast, the delectable piquancy, of the painful and bitter side of life - who can appreciate the delight in restraint, in sensations that aren't instantly pleasurable. There's a very good reason that Bandit is so frequently compared to the allure of "alternative lifestyles" (I mean that in the truest sense of the term). She is the Janus-face to her sister, Fracas. Where Fracas is the delight of indulgence, Bandit is the delight of denial. So what does Bandit really smell like? Well, my initial thought is trains. The opening is a lot. There's the burnt rubber, grease and beastly mechanical terror. It's going somewhere and I don't know if I'm worthy of trailing behind, but oh boy do I want to be. The drydown - like most chypres - is surprisingly approachable. It softens considerably, the leather and galbanum settle down into an no-nonsense partnership. They won't let up but they won't rip you a new one in the process. Like a warm engine, the drydown functions well and is appealing, but god help you if you get in its way: it will plow through you without mercy. I must note I have tried the vintage. We're talking 1948 here - all the nitromusks and Cellier bases intact. It is and isn't a different thing. The reformulation has carefully and appropriately (I imagine) reinvigorated the shocking fragrance it was back in the day. It retains that absolutely brutal and green and sharp opening. BUT. But. The original formula has all that funky stuff the IFRA has disallowed that gives a...smooth and balanced development of notes. The vintage is much more floral. It is SO elegant. The Bandit we have now has risen to the occasion of a culture of outrage - it is appropriate. The vintage Bandit is softer and smoother. It has more complexity. Experiencing the vintage shows just what we miss by kicking out the ingredients that will likely give us a rash or cancer or whatever. But, knowing that doesn't mean I lust after a bottle of the vintage. No, I happily would and have spent many dollars acquiring the modern formula. She suits me, she appeals to me. I love her harsh edges, her bold AF notes. She empowers me to be me, not a version of me for another. I have no need to appeal to anyone else when I wear Bandit, because I appeal to myself. *I should note that, upon my first sniff, she (Bandit) unseated Chanel's Bois Des Iles as the 'arome de moi-meme', who had occupied that role since 2005.

I got a sample of Bandit in a posh London department store, from an adorable SA, one of the rare really interested ones. (I mean really interested in fragrances, not her commission...) She told me the story of Piguet's perfumes, and the fact that this particular one was created in 1944. This in itself blew my mind. 1944...after the rock bottom of WWII in France, Paris gets liberated and someone creates a new perfume. Back to business, life goes on. According to the SA, the scent on the one hand is a reminiscent of Paris in ruins, the smell of smoke and destruction, but on the other hand it is the fragrance of the War Woman: liberated, strong, autonomous, requiring much more from life than ever before. As I work with the elderly in the UK, I KNOW these women...:-) OK, now in their 80's and 90's, but the glory of their past can still be detected in a glitter of the eyes! I know a lady, who was one of the first women operating the radar, and, as she proudly tells, teaching radar operation to much older officers in the army. Most definitely the war years were the time of her life, in many ways. I like imagining my clients in their prime, and Bandit helps me in this. This fragrance is feminine without any trace of human warmth. It is no-nonsense, powerful, self-assured. It is a woman dressed in 40's fashion: wide shoulders, bizarre little hats, smoking a cigarette and living for the day, cause for all we know, tomorrow may never come. I am pretty sure Marlene Dietrich wore it when singing to to troops... In my humble opinion, Bandit is as colossal a masterpiece, as Picasso's Guernica. I can totally enjoy it as a work of art, but as an everyday perfume...no. It is a memory of times gone by, and as such sheer perfection. I put it on yesterday, going to my bank to sort out some issues. The lady clerk was wearing one of those churned-out-by-the-dozen fragrances that are launched these days. The difference was as shocking as it goes! Put Guernica together with a drawing brought back by the neighbour's kid from pre-school. (Not your kids, as that is of course the loveliest in the whole wide world!!!) Also, I had a hard time being my warm and cosy self wearing Bandit...I felt intimidating and haughty, hard as steel and cold as ice. No, definitely I could not wear it, but I will most definitely put it on and enjoy the sheer grandeur of it in the privacy of my home. At least till the little vial lasts...

And now comes my second review for this iconic antihero fragrance: bear in mind this is regarding the *classic* formulation, probably no later than the 60s or 70s vintage. I said before that it was like a dirty-sexy lover that you hate but are hopelessly addicted to. The more time goes on, the more true that has become. She preys on my mind, making me crave her gorgeous filth over and over again. This fragrance is narcotic. And like a narcotic, it may make you seriously nauseous and terrified the first few times you try it. But then you're hooked for life. Don't regret it, though; you've been seduced by the best. It's not subtle. The notes are animalistic and leathery. But they're also masterfully blended with pungent herbs and mesmerizing florals. It smells like sex in a field on a hot summer day after a leather clad motorcycle ride. Now, the reformulation... I tried it. Had to. The vintage is so expensive and so hard to find. And sweet bastard baby monkeys, what a stench! Seriously. I have NEVER... it was repulsive. A mockery. A travesty. A sin. An abomination. An affront to god and man! Basically, it smelled like an unwashed-sunburned-communicably-diseased hippie who spent the night on a polluted beach then got sprayed by skunk. But if that's what you're into, then sure, absolutely go for it. To prove it's not my imagination, my esteemed husband, (talented in many things, but not in wine-tasting or perfume-nosing) smelled it and said, unprovoked, "Wow, that's really starting to smell like BO." But look at it this way: if you want to achieve that "I stayed up all week on a cheap booze and cigarette bender then ate garlic pasta and hit the gym for 2 hours without deodorant" aroma, this reasonably priced fragrance will give it to you instantly, without all the hard work! I will not be changing my my mind on this version, I can tell you. Not after falling in love with the original. They just got it all wrong. It's a perversion, and not the sexy kind.

Ok, I finally got my order from The Perfumed Court (as far as I know, it’s a trusted source of vintage fragrances). Now I have the following versions of Bandit by Robert Piguet: — (1) Bandit Light Pour Homme EDT (Alfin inc.); (2) Bandit EDT (Alfin inc.); (3) Vintage Bandit EDT Original Formula; (4) Vintage Bandit Parfum Original Formula; (5) Bandit EDP (Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, LTD); (6) Bandit Parfum (Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, LTD). — Versions # 1 and 2 (by Alfin inc.) are grossly reformulated, I wouldn’t recommend even trying them, it’s a waste of time and money. Version # 3, Vintage Bandit EDT Original Formula (obtained from The Perfumed Court): A strong green chypre with a pronounced leather accord. Very nice! Version # 4, Vintage Bandit Parfum Original Formula (obtained from The Perfumed Court): an absolutely gorgeous three-dimentional fragrance which olfactorily complies with canonical chemical design for Bandit by Germaine Cellier. Versions # 5 and 6 (by Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, LTD) are currently on the market. Both are very similar to the vintage versions of Bandit EDT and Parfum Original Formula obtained from The Perfumed Court, but Bandit EDP from Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, LTD is darker, stronger, and a little floral I would say. Dry-downs are really similar between vintage Bandit EDT and current version of Bandit EDP (Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, LTD). I’m still interested in trying Vintage Bandit Parfum and EDT Original Formula versions from sources other than The Perfumed Court . For now, I would totally stick to the current versions of Bandit de Robert Piguet from Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, LTD, USA. I’ve heard that their current nose, Aurélien Guichard, trained in Givaudan, was really careful in going back to the perfume formulations by Germaine Cellier and in trying to recreate Bandit as close as possible to its original. Note, they make only Bandit EDP and Bandit Parfum, no EDT!

I have never smelled any vintage version of Bandit. When I started to get interested in it, it disappeared from the shelves and Piguet introduced the flanker Bandit Supreme - which I liked but have never really fallen in live with: I absolutely adore oakmoss in perfumes, and I do like galbanum and leather - so even though I would describe Bandit Supreme as a bit harsh and bitter, I enjoy wearing it, I even find it surprisingly easy to wear and quite comforting. But: I do not get any if its heart notes which makes Bandit Supreme quite linear for me - and I must admit after a few hours it starts boring me a bit. Enter the newly formulated Bandit, now available on the Piguet website. It starts with galbanum but is a lot softer and brighter than Bandit Supreme thanks to aldehydes and some white flowers and fruit notes. The heart notes (with carnation and rose dominating) are exactly what I miss (and long for) every time I wear Bandit Supreme and the drydown is a fantastic bitter combination of oakmoss and leather - again a bit softer than Bandit Supreme. I must say that I do not find Bandit shocking, brutal, provocative or whatever I’ve read about it at all. For me, it’s one of the most beautiful chypre scents I have ever smelled. Maybe wearing it gives me the illusion of being a bit tougher than I am - but overall it’s one of those perfumes that are just making me happy every time I choose it. Some reviewers find Bandit Supreme a bit more masculine-leaning and Bandit more feminine, and I would definitely agree. However, to my mind, BS would be a lot more interesting on a woman and Bandit on a man. One last thing that suprised (and first disappointed) me is the soft sillage. After a week wearing it, I would rate it somewhere between intimate and moderate only. But I’ve decided to be thankful for that - it makes Bandit easily wearable at any occasion.

I was fortunate enough to find a vintage bottle (1950's) of this on Ebay and, simply because as a perfume junkie with a particular love for pretty much anything vintage, including scent and enjoy realizing that I'm wearing a piece of fragrance history ( it was created for Marlene Dietrich and is almost as great a legend as she) I just had to try it. So this review is of the vintage version of this scent. I understand it is quite different now and when this bottle runs out, if I cannot score another vintage bottle, I may have to try the newer version because *this* is my signature scent. It was a blind buy (!! Yes, anyone who has tried Bandit will know how stupidly impulsive or perhaps a better word would be "daring"-- and, after all, what bandit isn't? ;) ) When first I put it on, I was sooo not pleased with how much money I had spent on this acrid, masculine chypre scent that brought to mind a dead animal. But as it settled in over the next little while, I started smelling the floral heart (I get rose, white floral, violet and jasmine?) and the smoky patchouli and leather notes blend in with that in such a unique and...masterful way in this perfume. It's nothing less than intoxicating. It is very strong so a little goes a long way. I do wear it during the day... I just spray it in the air immediately in front of me and then walk through the mist. But if I had to choose, I would categorize this as a nighttime perfume and you should still go easy on it because it could be overpowering. As it is, whenever I wear this fragrance, it will not be ignored. I've never worn a fragrance that receives so many compliments. People, mostly men, ask me what perfume I am wearing and seem...intrigued by it and by me. And my boyfriend loves it on me too. It's almost as though it is ...an aphrodisiac or love potion lol.

I was very lucky to have found a 1950s perfume version of this and since this was created by Cellier and worn by Marlene and Bacall, i decided to try it. I tried it first on paper and got a bitter and funky animalic piss-like smell but as soon as this hit the skin, it totally changed. It opens with this coffee/chocolate (maybe due to how old the sample is) on my skin and is followed by white flowers, rose and violet, always mixed with earthy oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli and a very animalic leather. As it dries down, you have a balsamic scent that warms and balances the bitterness of the base ingredients. It's quite traditional in it's structure yet it is very different from the other vintage style chypres (and i mean VINTAGE). Everyone talks about a dark and brutal butch fragrance but I don't see it. It's mossy and dry as a chypre should, but you have the balsamic warmth and animalic leather that is never sweet and messes up this polished and usually clean style. Certainly not discreet, but what bandit is? On my skin, this is an extraordinarily balanced and intimate fragrance, that both reveals a bold spirit yet allows you to keep your world and mysteries to yourself. A must try if you love an old school style of perfume. 07/22 - Compared the more recent version to the vintage and it's shocking how different they are. Masculine and clean even, gets more curious as it dries with a mix of green/floral heart, slightly makeup-y, followed by the moss and a slightly dirty vetiver with a balsamic quality. This shouldn't be compared to the original, it shouldn't even have the same name because of how completely different they are. Bad? No, i would even say i like it but the company butchered a piece of their own history.

BANDIT, as others have stated, is an acquired taste. It is chic and elegant, you bet, but with a green/leather severity to it that is sharp as a stiletto. We used to say that the ideal woman for BANDIT would be... Cruella de Vil, haha. As in: expensive, undeniably elegant, urbane and chic, but severe and haughty to the point of seeming almost cruel and maybe a little B&D kinky. The current EDP formula offered at the Piguet website is the one you must try, as it is most like Germaine Cellier's original concept, and like her, it is uncompromising. It also features the "prettier", softening notes-- like gardenia and coconut--- which were strangely lacking in 1980's and 1990's releases. BANDIT is a like a fine work of 1950's abstract art... it doesn't seem to specifically allude to things from the natural world... Rather, it is its own Gesamtkunstwerk, its own intellectual idea. As I understand it, in the 1960's BANDIT became the preferred perfume of lesbians, at least of the "lipstick" variety. In fact, the smell, wafted about in an urban environment, became a tacit "code" for that very meaning, which "insiders" recognized. I'm a guy, and will wear BANDIT from time-to-time. Though it may be a little too strident in its declaration to be an everyday scent. It's not warm, cuddly or inviting, but it wasn't designed to be; it was designed to make a dramatic impression of steely, uncompromising "bad girl" chic-ness. In any social gathering, it WILL get you noticed, no question. If you're serious about learning perfumery, then you simply HAVE to experience BANDIT at some point in your olfactory education.

The no-nonsense square black bottle already gives a good hint of what's inside. Don't expect a celestial fantasy garden with little fairies and teddy bears jumping around. Bandit is not like that, it's more the mood of a rainy street in a black and white movie. The fact that it was released during WW2 absolutely makes sense. Think about the fashion of the era. Wide-shouldered suit jackets, strict lines, what we now call business-style. The shortness of cloth meant that clothes had fit tighter. The pencil skirt was born. All in all more masculine. (Dior's "New Look" wasn't born until after the war, when frivolous use of cloth again was a possibility). This was also the time when large numbers of women went out and did "a man's job" like never before. Heavy metal industry, truck driving, anything. Bandit fits in perfectly here with its heavy leather. Fits the lifestyle of women, fits the look of the movie stars too. Actresses looked rather vampy and dramatic during that time, not "cute". I get the leather straight out from the second I spray, though it's not supposed to be in the opening. Quite masculine, but all the flowers tone down the aggresiveness. As it settles,it mellows up very much with a distinct sweetness perfectly balanced with the leather. At the last stage the animalic notes adds sensuality and seductiveness - and a sort of understated femme fatale mood. Bandit is a masterpiece. Depicts an era perfectly, but not by any means dated. (I don't know what "dated" means in perfumery anyway). This type of perfume is so unusual these days, which makes it a real statement fragrance. A beauty.

My thoughts on an early '00s parfum: This is Bandit... Vol de Nuit becomes bewildered with, then disgusted by, the concepts of "heritage," "classic," and "pretty." She rips all of that away, escaping the confines of Guerlain in the depths of the night. Clad in a leather biker jacket, she spends her time at truck stops—though, personally, she knows them as "trick stops," a thought that brings a smirk to her face. She sleeps in overgrown underpasses and the cabs of 18-wheelers. Motor oil and burnt rubber occupy her dreams. Ice, heroin, and hepatitis C course through her veins. Her Bible, a ragged paperback of Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son, these scriptures a reflection of her own existence. Her allure—an unconventional sexiness, a dark beauty—haunts every man she's ever encountered. This is also Bandit... The Witch, a 2015 horror film. Black Phillip—a billy goat, Satan himself—asks that fateful question: Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? You shed your Puritan garb and Puritan morals, retreating to the forest. The canopy becomes denser. Your soul blackens. You join your sisters, each of you Satan's handmaiden, donning only your own flesh and darkest desires. You smell the witches' potions and ointments, carefully prepared from various greenery, herbs, the hides and musks of innocent babes and beasts. Kneeling for this dark prince, your eyes turn to coal with his anointing. This, too, is Bandit... MASTERPIECE.

“Cellier infamously dedicated Fracas – a voluptuous tuberose scent aimed at ‘femmes’ – to the beautiful Edwige Feuilliere, while she promised the butcher Bandit to the ‘dykes’.” Well, whatever, I don’t vouch for the historical accuracy myself. But the point is, Bandit is very dark and leathery and animalic, not conventionally feminine, especially for its time (1944). And that’s awesome. It’s good honest stinky fun. Yes, there’s a brief moment, less than a minute really, when you smell fresh, piercing galbanum and bitter-green wormwood by themselves – but they’re quickly joined by a rich, meaty, stanky-ass leather, a generous helping of cigarette smoke, and ink-bitter oakmoss. Bandit does seem similar to Dusita’s Le Sillage Blanc, a leather chypre inspired by the older fragrance, but where Le Sillage Blanc has a warm ylang-ylang haze and a fair amount of resin, Bandit is resolutely sugar-free. I like it much better. Le Sillage Blanc smelled a bit like it was straining to be ladylike but drowning in cigarettes. Bandit has no intention of being a lady. And I suspect it has more leather relative to tobacco than Le Sillage Blanc – I get more rich, tasty brown notes, almost like the crust on a good steak, which balance out the smoke and make it more full-bodied and less unfriendly. I don’t know if other people are ok with me smelling of Bandit, but I had a hell of a good time.

This is, without a doubt, the most confounding fragrance I've ever encountered. I was fascinated by the description, then disgusted by the sample. Initially, it smelled potently of skunk, with hints of excrement. The civet and leather? Then it reminded me of an almost-past narcissus bloom: A potent, musk-smelling flower with a narcotic and offensive edge. Or perhaps a very skunky marijuana, as another reviewer pointed out. It was fairly horrible. And intensely fascinating. Here's the thing: the fragrance stuck in my mind. It was a scrubber for me at first; the only one I'd ever tried actively to remove. And I couldn't! Those odd, animalic undertones seemed glued to my skin. And weirdly, I wanted to smell them again. To decode just what was so awful about them. There was some note that reminded me of old-lady oriental perfumes; the ancient and unpleasant kind. Maddeningly familiar. I suspect my snarky, gorgeous, alcoholic, jazz-piano-player-grandmother used to wear this. Finally, several weeks later, I went back to Bandit. And loved it. While hating it. It's like that lover that really pisses you off, but you have undeniable chemistry with. This is a very, very naughty perfume. Very atypical. Very challenging. And I love a challenge. I've come to enjoy wearing it under other prettier scents, like my own dirty little secret.

I feel strangely fortunate that Bandit has revealed it's magic to me.This perfume is quite frankly one of the sexiest fragrances I think I've ever put on my skin :) Bandit has a very classical or vintage smell to me, yet it does not feel dated. That may be because the fragrance was ahead of it's time and the fact that it's extremely well-blended. The perfume is complex, smooth, dark, very leathery; I get lots of oakmoss, aldehydes and civet; it's very warm and green and earthy. The dry-down is quite sensual and utterly addicting. Bandit would be perfect for a cold winter's evening :) Both males and females could wear this fragrance as well. A smooth and earthy moderate sillage that fades after a few hours to a skin scent; lasts for about 7-8 hours. I was actually really loving this fragrance, until after a few hours it started to make me feel ill. Bottega Veneta BV, another fragrance which is heavy on oakmoss, made me feel the same way. I thought that maybe the blending was the problem with BV, but after my experience with Bandit, I'm thinking that maybe I am sensitive to wearing lots of oakmoss for a prolonged period of time. It's not good for your perfume to give you a queasy stomach after a few hours and it's such a bittersweet ending as I'm not sure if I'll be interested in wearing Bandit again... oh, well :)

:'( Yes, that was a little tear I shed on my first wear of Bandit. Where's the leather? The femme fatale? The dominatrix? I wanted Bandit to be my superhero. Instead, the most recent formulation of Bandit is polite and feminine. Green galbanum powder, well blended and well bred. Beautiful, not badass. I had imagined she would be similar to Paloma Picasso with some shared notes, but with a pronounced smooth leather. But Paloma's leathery oakmoss presents itself at gasoline levels compared to this formulation of Bandit. Paloma has a big energetic, artful personality. Bandit seems like a quieter well-behaved sister. However, both still maintain a level of elegance. Anyway, enough about Paloma. Perhaps it's the way it plays on my skin, but there is no civet or the hint of anything animalic here. The aldehydes are delicate. I do indeed get a nice brew of carnation, rose, jasmine and ylang ylang tempered with violets -- lovely classic flowers marinating softly in green. This may still have a place in my wardrobe as I'll keep it in my current rotation and see whether she starts to grow on me or performs differently on different days. I'll also try and get my hands on the vintage to see how it compares. She's definitely likeable, perhaps even loveable with her sensual musky green allure.

So, now this reminds me of Tom Ford Noir Anthracite. Cold and strong, ashy and antiseptic. It is also genderless, but not because it is "unisex", but because it's not meant for attracting anyone -- at least not in the conventional way, being pleasant and warm and so on. No, all the human emotions have been washed away with this aggressive industrial soap film that has been rubbed onto the skin so that nothing would stick from there on. Under that, some beast seems to be lurking, but it's being held firmly on the leash and serves only as a reminder that there's still something organic underneath the cold surface. As a sign of overcoming one's human weaknesses, you are also being presented a full ashtray by some white flowers. Similarly to Anthracite, I'm intrigued by the smell, but having a hard time imagining the person whom it would fit. Maybe the protagonist from Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher", the sexually frustrated middle-aged woman with some hidden kinks? This, or some disciplined assassin. But at the same time, this person might not even be human. Similarly to Anthracite, the most important aspect about this fragrance seems to be all the notes that are missing.

The only other time I have had this sharp green knife edge I've experienced with bandit today was a vintage Chanel no 19 opening 26 years ago. The 19 cut slightly sharper. 19 repelled me... Bandit EDP 1999 intrigues me. Its a push -pull of attraction and not sure if I do ...Makes it a remarkable fragrance. Her notes are masculine and strong , yet when you spend time with her moments of gentle floral surface from the strength. There is a beautiful woman in there beneath the mossy humid leather. It captures a butch woman well. Strong , intriguing, sexy, musky, a bit frightening, yet whispers feminine. Bandit is something different and not mainstream. Bandit is beautiful because its different and doesn't try and please to fit in. She's confidently sexy being Bandit. In control ... On a man it reminds me of a gentleman walking in the night with his leather jacket on a cool,rainy foggy,night in Seattle near Puget sound. Definitely a bold unisex choice for unique individuals. I love its confidence. Edit: had the chance to get the parfum. Much better animal. Not as sharp as the edp and its beautiful. Highly recommend...i get bandit now. Try mixing yin and yang fracas and bandit...

Wow. This is unlike any perfume I have ever smelled. I’ll write a proper review once I feel that I get it enough to be somewhat eloquent. For now, I’ll just share my initial impressions (I’ve worn it three times). It opens imposingly, with a full blast of aldehydes, bitter galbanum and piercing artemisia. I love this. I can also see how others would run for the hills. Yesterday I wore vintage Aramis and I can certainly see where it got its cues. (That Bandit was designed for women speaks volumes about the evolution of culture, gender norms, and standards of beauty. But I digress.) I get almost no florals in the midsection. To me, it goes from the super aldehydic and bitter green opening to what becomes its signature: a dry, dry, dry, almost brittle oakmoss that completely saturates... until an equine or bovine smoky hide and an unctuous civet rear their heads, subtending it. This is the purring, growling, seductive beast that will accompany you relentlessly from this point forward. “Neon yellow on a brown background,” indeed. This is something else, really. I’m sort of in awe. FYI, this is from a new, previously unsprayed, late-80s or early-90s Alfin, Inc. vintage EDT.

I somehow ended up scoring three bottles of vintage Bandit EDT, the old black-and-yellow label ones, so I’m now sitting on roughly 300ml of pure witchcraft. They’re all splash bottles, so I decanted some into a Tom Ford atomiser like a civilized Bandit enjoyer. Honestly... I can’t believe it took me this long to finally try this stuff. Bandit in vintage EDT is glorious: a dark, mossy green that still manages to be fresh, sharp, bitter, and unapologetically leathery. Zero sweetness with an attitude which I adore. Think French Lover, vintage No.19, Grey Flannel, but Bandit looks at all of them, smirks, and quietly wins. It’s greener, meaner, and somehow feels more complete. Compliments? Yeah... no. Not happening. People don’t walk around praising a moss-covered leather whip soaked in galbanum. And honestly, that’s perfect. This is strictly for those of us who like our greens feral and our leathers unsanitised. And even though I’ve now got enough Bandit EDT to last me until the next ice age, I suddenly want the vintage EDP as well. Because of course I do. And yes, if a deal pops up, I’ll pounce like the unhinged collector I clearly am

creato nel 1944, questa meraviglia rude e sfacciata è quanto di più distante si possa immaginare dagli attuali profumi femminili. benchè costruito su un'architettura olfattiva complessissima, zeppa di fiori, legni, radici, resine, l'effetto di massima restituisce un'impressione verde e cuioiata meravigliosamente bilanciata, selvaggiamente animale per certi versi, aspra e altera. dimentichiamo le fragranze dolcemente fruttate o floreali, o gourmand tanto trendy per la donna d'oggi :) qui siamo davanti ad un capolavoro concepito per una femminilità da guerra, senza sentimentalismi o smancerie, radicalmente amara. muschio di quercia, cuoio, vetiver, note animali selvatiche, danno vita ad un cyphre legnoso verdissimo senza tempo. e quella che ho sniffato io è la versione corrente: chi ha avuto la fortuna di annusare l'originale parla di estremismi inarrivati. per il gusto attuale sembrerebbe più maschile (ora che i maschili sono profumi tutti dolci e mangerecci); per me è una delle più sensazionali testimonianze di quanto un profumo possa essere senza genere alcuno, ma adatto semplicemente a chi osi indossarlo. ottimo.

The first blast of citrus and smoked tobacco is seriously demonic, so mean and green and dry, it took my breath away. It's incredibly thrilling, it immediately makes you want to grab the day by the lapels with your fists and shake it into what you want it to be! If you're looking for a pretty-pretty perfume-perfume, then this is not for you. If you want to channel your inner James Dean (with that amazing haircut of course!), smoking cigarettes through dark red lips on your speeding motorcycle, and strut around a dusty roadside motel room in your panties and stilettos twirling your butterfly knives, planning to rob a bank, because you can and you just don't give a damn, then this is definitely for you. The leather is not an elegant vintage handbag -- it is a thin, buttery-soft, perfectly worn-in biker jacket that fits and clings to you like a glove, the progression of Bandit is that smooth. The animalic rumble underneath is like a feral femme-fatale on the prowl, not for love, but for trouble and adventure. Leather-lovers and green-lovers: this is heaven in a bottle! Super modern, super chic, uber bad-ass.