Bandit (1944)
by Robert Piguet

This is a review for Bandit EDP and Parfum, but it's also an update on the review I did yesterday for Tabac Blond and Habanita. But first a story that perfume junkie/hunters everywhere can appreciate: Yesterday I had one of those "Oprah Moments" (a term sarcastically coined by my good friend after catching a show where Oprah featured guests who write books on how you can bring anything you want into your life by simply visualizing it). Well yesterday I had an Oprah moment: I had just finished writing the review for Habanita and Tabac Blond in which I said that I would do update as soon as my sample of Bandit arrived (it hasn't). Having already experienced Habanita and Tabac Blond, I was fixated on Bandit which I had yet to smell. Just then a friend called and said that she was headed down to a shop we frequent that sells vintage furniture and other miscellaneous vintage odds and ends. I asked her to look out for some old perfumes and call me if they had anything, even though I really wasn't expecting that she would find anything that I would want. About 2 hours later my friend rang me up on her cell phone from the shop. She said, "I'm holding two black bottles. They're the same, except one has a black top and the other one has a clear top. They're by a Robert (she started spelling) P-i-g-u-e-t." Silence (from disbelief) on my end for a moment. "Spell that again" I said. She does, then says, "They're called Bandit. Bill (the owner) said you can have them both for $3. apiece." I'll be right over", I said.

Sure enough, within several minutes I had my hands on a 50 ml bottle of Bandit EDP and a 30 ml bottle of the pure parfum. I put them both on immediately.

All the posts that I've read about this scent are right when they say that there can be a world of difference when it comes to the EDP and the parfum versions of this scent. On first opening the bottles, the parfum smells more green/floral while the EDP has a spicier vetiver edge. Once sprayed and dabbed on, the EDP was much more aggressive while the parfum, after an initial harsh blast, immediately became a skin scent. After about 45 minutes the parfum had settled into a smooth and dry, subtle leather scent while the EDP became slightly sweet, spicy/vanillic with a leather edge, almost gourmand on my skin.Between the two, I prefer the EDP, but as the day wore on I experimented and found that the two layered, create something even more beautiful.

As with Habanita and Tabac Blond, I am now in love with Bandit and glad I own all three. All are beautiful, dark and mysterious. But how do they compare? Like I said in my previous review, from everything that I had read before I tried it, Bandit was supposed to be the real badass. I'll admit she's a pretty assassin (Angelina Jolie in "Wanted" or "Mr. and Mrs. Smith), but if these 3 leather-clad femme fatales were walking down a dark alley together, TABAC BLOND would be the one leading the way, with either a cigarette or a cigar dangling out of the side of her mouth.

I'm reviewing the EdT.

This stuff makes me feel like a bada**. Seriously, I can't put it any other way. If you have a lack of confidence problem then you cannot wear this. Be warned! Strong leather, musk balanced with mild citrus and a bit of neroli and a flowery scent I think is jasmine or gardenia.

This stuff is not for the weak stomached.

OLD REVIEW: (rating: thumbs down)
I had to try Bandit because of the history behind it and the rumour that Marlene Dietrich used to wear it. But as with vintage scents in general I just don't get it. It smells vintage to me, no more, no less (and I did get a new sample so it's not aged). Sour/dry/musty/sharp/floral/green, that kind of stuff. I can't pick out any notes and the dirty, naughty leather drydown I was hoping for never arrives.
However, a friend put some on to go clubbing and on her chemistry it was a much nicer sweet and sultry floral which suited her cabaret girl outfit.

NEW REVIEW:
Oh what a fool I was! Thank god I had two samples and only swapped away one so I could retry it, though I would probably have ended up retrying it anyway sooner or later due to the legend... I can now do chypres and I adore Bandit! I can think of a number of classic chypres that have more of that sour/sharp/musty "old lady" vibe (which I like nowadays, mind you). I have some vintage Bandit (not sure which formulation, maybe edt?) and that one is more like a classic chypre (think Cabochard), a bit sharper, more oakmoss/galbanum. The modern edp, which I now own a bottle of, is positively juicy! Green green green in a slightly sour-sweet, sunny way like grass and hay and warm animal bodies. I don't even think it's a very "dark" or "naughty" scent - well perhaps just a bit naughty due to the animalic/leathery warmth of it... Naughty as a biker and a society lady together in a meadow or on the hayloft...

Two horses of a different color, the EDT and the EDP, both of which smell like fine vintage perfumes, one striking and the other soothing. How could this be the same fragrance? Question answered: the formula was changed several times, and the EDP that I smelled was from a brief period when Adrian Arpel reformulated it into a sweet, green chypre, very beautiful, but not in keeping with the original character. The following reviews reflect this difference. Indeed, they are for two different perfumes:
First, the EDT which is close to the intent of the original formula, which was to excite and shock. It opens with a sharp galbanum and leather blast before developing into a sweet-and-sour combination, in which I smell gardena and vetiver. If this combination of notes does not seem to jive, that is precisely the point. Sharp green + sweet floral + sour vetiver = olfactory mayhem. Some people smell leather and ashes, and I certainly can agree to that. It is acrid, green, sour, and sweet. I smell marijuana smoke on my clothes the morning after the rock concert. I smell a vase full of flowers invaded by catnip. This is naughty, it truly is. What a joy. And at a reasonable price, too. This scent will turn heads. I can't see how a person could do without a small bottle of Bandit. It's a whole lot of fun.
Now for the Adrian Arpel version of the EDP, now obsolete. This shares alot of notes with Miss Dior, one of my all-time favorites. Bergamot, gardenia, galbanum, neroli, jasmine, rose, patchouli, sandalwood. Compared to the other, it has much less moss and labdanum and more sandalwood enveloping the flowers. Gorgeous fragrance. This one will turn heads, too. But it will be in approval, not in shock.

Bandit starts off with a green peppery note and then develops into leather chypre fragrance with extraordinary sillage. It is *the* perfume to wear when you need a boost of self-confidence as it is strong, sexy and devil-may-care, but yet it is ladylike. If you like Mitsouko or Jolie Madame, you will understand and appreciate Bandit. However, if you like Anais Anais or Flowerbomb, this is unlikely to be the scent for you. Final cautionary note: A little bit of Bandit goes a very long way!

I tested the edp with high expectations, only to crash and burn! This one lost it's punch on me after the first 5 minutes. It rapidly weakened into a sharp, non-descript eau de cologne...I did'nt hate it, but I didn't enjoy it either.