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.

I just got around to learning about the rakish nose who created this gem. As I've been searching for a deep Leather, I researched this, and hunted down a modest size. An edt was easily accessible. This potion has the same woman-exclusive scent inherent in Jicky, so I had to laugh after the dry down announced her. Rugged leather, oakmoss, aldehydes, touch of civet, and just a wisp of demure floral & spice makes for a rich blend. This is also fun to layer with other scents of complementary notes, though it certainly stands on it's own well enough. This could be the feral version of Cabochard, bereft of the gentility of Anteus, yet more civilized than Aramis. Not for dilettantes, indisputably butch, and definitely not deserving of the vulgar epithets expressed in some of these reviews. The only testosterone here is dominated by estrogen, or I couldn't tolerate it. Invocations of horsehide and sweat, aftter the fact. As most well crafted fragrances, body chemistry has everything to do with the bouquet. This rates right up there with my beloved old Guerlains and Chanels. Bravo!

I remember finding this perfume for the first time, at Sephora. Ah, youth. I would smell anything you stuck in my face in those days. Probably that is how I ended up, for years, with scent as a bad migraine trigger. Revenge of the nose. There are a lot of crappy, chemical perfumes out there, Gentle Readers. But Bandit isn't one of them. It remains a favorite of mine because it's one of the first I ever encountered that didn't smell like perfume-with-a-capital-P. It smells, as a matter of fact, like sweat. Huh, you are thinking. Why would I pay for that? I can make my own sweat. But here's the thing: you never know what's going to happen to your sweat after it's on your skin, or worse, soaked into your clothes. With Bandit, you know you're going to smell like sexy sweat. Kink. Good kink. It holds its smell for hours, quite unchanging after it dries down. The notes I get from Bandit are, in this order of both time and intensity: leather, vetiver, oakmoss, animal raunch, and pepper-for the sting. A classic by the genius Germaine Cellier, God love her.

Absolutely outrageous opening - lots of definitely-not-vegan dirty animalic notes in stark contrast to the squeaky-clean aldehydes and “shaving-soap” chypre notes, not really balancing each other out so much as standing at odds with each other, really crazy but special. Dries down to a less intimidating leathery musk with a really gorgeous and very French orange blossom note running through it and the aldehydes providing that note that reads like vintage elegance in the 21st C. Overall the drydown reminds me of the story of how Grasse came to be known for perfumery after leather working because of the wealthy planting scented flowers to cover up the smell of the tanning hides. Sprayed it both on a tester and my wrist and the green bitter notes are much stronger on the cardboard, I think it does need skin chemistry to mellow out but imagine a lot of people would be scared to spray it right on! Anyway, what a trip, glad to have finally tried this classic. Not suitable for office wear unless you’re the boss I think.

Bandit is the ultimate leather dominatrix. The one that wears her leather gear, her 9inch stilletos, covers her body in white floral scented cream and takes on the night in search for innocent victims. Along the way she has a cigarette or two, and finally arrives at the dark forest she has cited her victim..er, customer, and starts performing what she knows best; making everyone kneel before her! God what a ride! That's why I love her! Can you believe that this piece of art was marketed to women? Very few would dare to wear Bandit today, let alone adore her. Even men seem to be intimated at times. You gotta love Germaine C. If Bandit lets you into its world, after the hard core show is over, you're in for some more. But what's the point of getting home with her when the best part has only just begun? Wear her, adore her, let her do you, and just enjoy the ride. For once you are under her spell there is no turning back! My favorite leather ever and one of my top 5 fragrances. Absolute masterpiece!

After searching for years for the perfect scent, I came upon Bandit EDT. It was a rather masculine scent and maybe that is why enjoyed cuddling up to it. The EDT was, however, a one night stand. It began to smell like bug spray and I sold it at a garage sale. I'm stubborn and obsessive so I decided to give it another try. This time I found it in Portland at The Perfume House (what a devine experience). I purchased the EDP and the pure Perfume. The combination of these two were the perfect balance. Most perfumes turn very sweet on my skin and last forever so I prefer a scent that has some weight to it. Florals can end up making me ill. Bandit turn warm and deep and sweet. The green notes and the woods have the most magnificent dry down. I own many perfumes but Bandit is and always will be my favorite. It is certainly not for everyone. It's not a girly perfume but if you want something distinctive, wild and sophisticated all in one bottle, go for it.

Dirty, dangerous whore. But incredible. A masterpiece of perfumery. This is for the dangerous woman who does not give a darn. I recently got a vintage - I am guessing an edp, it has lost its front label - in a square bottle with a heavy crystal stopper. Proper, original juice with no alterations. I said it before, Germain Cellier was a genius perfumer - no one did what she did. I cannot believe this was issued in 1944. It is as current today as it was when first came out. The rough leather of the top disguises a truly beautiful blend of florals at the heart. Leather galbanum and artemisia on top but sweet, intoxicating, honeyed florals in the middle making the challenging top easier to wear. For me this is a special occasion fragrance. I can just about pull it off, helped by the civet and myrrh on the base taming some of the bitterness. I am simply astonished by it. This would be on my list of one of the most notable perfumes ever made.

First impressions. Aldehydes'n'funk. I thought it would be more unisex or even masculine, akin to old school chypres like Aramis, maybe similar to Kouros. But wearing it, I got the feeling of wearing Chanel no 5 or Miss Dior or something like that. It is definitely devoid of any sweetness. It is green and bitter. But it also has a lot of aldehydes. And there is a a strong floral aspect to it, maybe jasmine or ylang-ylang. And it doesn't have any warm earthy/woody notes one would associate with masculine fragrances. It is still very interesting, and it is definitely an acquired taste. There's something addictive about it. I'm just suspecting that if you wear it in the public, people around you get only a part of the composition and do that "what's that smell" face, since there is some funk in there that could remind you of body odors, some vegetal matter rotting in the green forest, or some yet unknown delicacy you're not sure about.

This perfume is very green and fresh yet leathery and warm on my skin. I absolutely love it! Were having a surprisingly cold summer here and I have been wearing this perfume a lot, and for me this is my new go to perfume replacing Maison Margilas "untitled" and Pradas Infusion d Iris as my daily full size bottle of juice. Reading the reviews one might get scared of this classic scent...It's naturally of personal preference but for me big white flowery scents like for instance Fracas intimidate me much more than a chypre like Bandit. Bandit is a bitchy, edgy scent that gives me a sense of strength that is uncompromising. There is absolutely n o t h i n g seducing about this scent it yet it's very sexy in it's own masterful way...If that makes any sense to you. It's not saying come to me...it says I'll get you if I choose to. And for reference in the leather note department; I do NOT like Tom Fords Tuscan Leather at all.

If there's a woman's fragrance which would be liked by men.....Bandit is undoubltbley it!!!! I bought it without trying it and don't regret it! I love the aroma of leather with a warm spicy tone. Leather being the main note...both civet, patucchli and myrrh gives it a real luxurious sweet scent. To balance this delicate symphony of complex notes both vetiver and oakmoss helps this fragrance giving a real green/woodsy aroma. To add to this fragrance a floral aroma both labdanum and rose soften the heavy note of leather. Longevity and Silage is excellent lasting well over 10 hrs... Finally thoughts, Robert Piguet was a master creating timeless classics which will never go out of date. To me this fragrance is PHENOMENAL and UNTOUCHABLE. Nothing less than perfect is an insult...this frag is such a deep leathery warm blend definitely worth buying! Rating this obviouse 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, 10/10 ♥ it!

I have a difficult relationship with leather: it tends to sometimes ruin a perfume for me. Imagine my surprise then, when I found out that I love Bandit (EDP)! It was a complete revelation, starting of with white flowers, then turning dark green (the galbanum, oh the galbanum) and then the leather coming out. I suspect I might not love the EDT as it would be probably sharper but here the flowers round it and take off some of the edge of the leather. It's true, it's a very intense scent and for me one spray is enough. I still haven't worn it out and still don't know whether I can actually carry it off - but I do love it. It's not for the faint of heart and you have to like galbanum to like it. PS. Some people did predict that I would like Bandit, based on my love of Silences: one was Elena from Perfumeshrine and the other was fellow fragrantican leathermountain, so a big thanks!

Probably the biggest 180 I've ever done on a fragrance (Shalimar and Angel are the other two). I hated Bandit beyond words for years. I found it absolutely repulsive. I tried it 3 times and each time I thought who on earth would want to wear this!! Then for some reason a few months back, I thought hmmm why do I think I might like that now? So, I dug around in the hoard and found it. And since then I have gone completely bonkers for it. It's probably now in my top 5. I find it remarkable. Bandit is also the most appropriately named fragrance I can think of. You almost know what it's going to smell like just by the name. Dark, dirty, animalic, leather, oakmoss (McMoss now)...with green and floral facets, some fruit, aldehydes...it's literally everything but the kitchen sink. Truly a work of art. Masterpiece in my opinion. Even the current version. 10/10.

Bandit is one of the all-time great leather chypres, paving the way for other masterpieces in a similar vein such as Cabochard. Sadly, I have not had the opportunity to sample a vintage Bandit, but the modern formulation, to me, smells absolutely phenomenal. It opens with a distinct bitter-green galbanum and clean citrus, made bright and fizzy through the inclusion of aldehydes. This soon settles into something more subtle and soapy, complementing brilliantly a green, earthy heart of oakmoss. The leather in here is not distinctive in the way leather accords usually are today, instead it is incredibly refined and classically French. This perfume is astoundingly good. Germaine Cellier’s masterpiece lives on over 80 years later simply because it is so genius. Bandit is a top 10, dare I even say top 5, all-time chypre perfume.

This smells like a Black 1989 Cadillac Deville with grey leather seats and chrome trim, with Nancy Wilson crooning on the radio. It smells like older Italian men in finely cut custom suits, expensive cuff links on french cuff shirts, with large gaudy pinkie rings. I purchased a vintage (1960's) "Cosmpolitan's Collection of Internationally Famous Perfumes" set with this fragrance. Immediately I was reminded of my grandmother in her Cadillac. Not sure this is what she wore but I immediately saw her face and smelled her. But make no mistake this isn't a grandmotherly or old lady scent per se. Maybe it's the leather, civet, and myrrh but I feel this scent would work on men and women. However, it leans more masculine to me. Bandit is alluring, powdery, dark, smokey, leathery, and sexy. Oh my god is it sexy.

Lucky enough to own a '70s extrait de parfum version of Bandit. I don't think there's really anything else much to add about this masterwork that hasn't been said so far. An amazing bitter-green chypre, loaded with civet, leather, and oakmoss. A perfume that much like Mitsouko and Shalimar, and perhaps even more, inspired hundreds of others in this genre. Aldehydic opening, making way to the bitter green galbanum, some white florals, and the heavy base comprised of greasy, smoky leather accord, earthy oakmoss, and civet. An Androgenic bomb, to imagine that this perfume was marketed toward women is shocking. I guess back in those days women had more attitude and balls than most men nowadays who wear sweet candy bombs and do their nails. Old but Gold they say...

My vintage Bandit mini bottle is actually smells very similar to my vintage 1970's Cabochard. It begins with fresh, juicy galbanum and oakmoss with a suede background that within minutes comes to the forefront as raw, worn leather. Half an hour into the dry down the leather backs off slightly to reveal the soft sweetness of amber and a smokey, resinous incense which together smell like a sweet tobacco. I also get the hint of some indistinguishable light flowers way in the background. This is such an amazing perfume. It's bold, daring and fierce and I love it. I'm excited to get hold of and to review the new Bandit to see if they did remake it to smell like the vintage.

Initially I was shocked by how aldehydic it is, when I was hoping for a deep dark leather. This turned out to be a blessing as the bright and sharp elements keep Bandit clean and accessible as the darker tones develop underneath. It’s not sweet but it’s incredibly inviting and it starts to become addicting and easy to wear after a few days. I sampled this first and then got Bandit Supreme yesterday. Still having a hard time choosing since they both share so many of the same features I like. One a bit more playful (bandit) the other more stoic (supreme) but just by a bit. The history of this fragrance is another interesting aspect.

YUM. This is a vintage Bandit parfum and it is *delightful* I don't get a lot of leather, just a swirling floral smokiness backed by civet and some moss. It's very adult. Not incense, exactly, and not like when you strike a match, but more in that space than straight tobacco. It's a glamorous head-turner. I have a tiny splash on one wrist, and over the last hour it's enveloped me in a delicious mini-cloud. Smokers probably think they smell like this. They don't. The drydown is more floral, still very sensual. Unlike the big open, it stays close to the skin. I love this

I dont really think this is all that dirty, but it totally reminds me of a vintage bar illuminated by candles. Theres even some church-like smell in it, but probably not Christian church, but satanic one. It is kinda masculine, but in a sexy way. For me its not badass, but rather dark and mysterious. It depends on the wearers personality. I do not recommend buying this without testing it first. It is very VERY strong. I personaly love it, but only on some occasions and in colder weather. Otherwise my head starts hurting.

if u hate this and are recommending people commodity or byredo or phlur.............. why even try this if you need floatie devices to help you appreciate earthy moss scents. thats how u know this is good. when the byredo girls cant handle it. i have a bottle of american perfumers chypre noir made by rogue perfumeries creator and its identical maybe just a bit more masculine. theres a slight softness that almost smells like bananas to me in this and i wish the AP one i have had that going for it but i dont need both tbh

Bandit will always be my signature scent. I fell in love with it over a decade ago and despite continuing to explore and collect I always come back to it as my favourite. Do yourself a favour if you’ve never tried it. It’s bold and incredibly attractive and dangerous - classic for a reason, in all its iterations. It won’t suit every single occasion but it’s damn worth it when it does. You’ll probably stop caring if it suits the occasion or not because you enjoy it so much. Honestly, just douse me in it when I die.

Love it my no 3 scent after fracas and petit fracas from robert piguet house.. its like a burn smokiness amouage interlude men less origano or may be amouage tribute attar vibes while opening. Dry down so lovely rich in classic way.. and its discontinued. I manage to get 1 from Luxary perfume house in malaysia... yes its a last piece i guess so hard and imposible to find anywhere even in ebay also none selling anymore.. consider last peice gangster germ i bought in malaysia 😅😬

MASTERPIECE Finally got this......after sniffing a vintage decant. However....I purchased a more "current" version,I am sure. IF...mine is a reformulated version...no matter...because IMHO my vintage decant....versus...the bottle I purchased....is 99% the same. I even hunted down a lovely bottle of Bandit Shower Cream too !!! So glad to have this finally in my collection. Reminds me of Cabochard/Jolie Madame/Azuree...but richer and more complex.

oh wow, as soon as it's applied it's a super green scent, but in the best way. this is intriguing! a couple minutes in i get a hint of leather. yesss, i love leathery scents when they work for me and this one is lovely. after awhile it's primarily oakmoss, leather and something a bit leafy. i get slight hints of florals, maybe gardenia? it's a warm night in the hothouse greenery and i love it. i have to have more of this. <3

Last night I put on Bandit, the perfect perfume to add to the mood of the book I'm reading, Elena Ferrante's "Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay." This morning I woke up with my sweet daughter nestled beside me. She had climbed into my bed sometime in the early morning, and it again fit the mood as the leather, smoke, and sexiness had faded away leaving behind the beautiful scent of flowers close to my wrist. Amazing.

I had to change my "like" to "LOVE" after purchasing a mini bottle of vintage Bandit! It was love at first sniff and now I can't get my nose off my wrist. The scent is absolutely divine and so much better than the new version! This is the most seductive leather fragrance I have ever smelt. Deep, dark, earthy, mysterious, wild, alluring and sexy. Oh how I wish I could get a bigger bottle of the original perfume.

I have tried, and own, only the current edp, and adore it. I don't find it aggressive or butch, I think of it as an energetic, sunny, large sort of scent. It is also the best representation of a carnation I have tried by far, the leather somehow making the carnation redder and more powerful. The leather is creamy and buttery, as though it were melting in the sun. This fragrance is genius.

The most beautiful moonlit evening murky languorous glowing swamp beneath trees that you will ever encounter...A fragrant fantasy picture image in dark blues and blacks illuminated with gold and silver in the mind's olfactory eye. All this from a fruity leather perfume. Remains mysterious to me even after 20 years when I first encountered it. A mysterious, passionate, perfect love.

This is back in stock on the Robert Piguet website, so I think it must be the new reformulation. I snapped it up and by god it’s so beautiful. Bitter green, a bit soapy, powdery, with daring animalic base notes. It’s like a glamorous woman’s leather suitcase that is filled with medicines, powder puffs, fur coats, and leather whips. Sexy and provocative. I love it!

I adore Bandit, discovering it was an epiphany of sorts, as far as pushing the envelope.I had already been wearing Cabochard for 40+yrs & Azuree for maybe 30yrs, when I was introduced to this Goddess. Although they could be kissin'cousins, Cabochard is much more ladylike, Azuree maybe a little abrasive (in a great way!)Bandit takes no prisoners...very empowering.

I see Bandit as Kate from Taming of the Shrew. It carries a lot of heavy baggage that simply isn't true when you get to know it. It is, in truth, GORGEOUS! Others have done such a wonderful job of describing the composition of the perfume that I have nothing more to add other than my appreciation, and I definitely appreciate this wonderful juice!