Gendarme (1991)
by Gendarme

Gendarme opens on a delightfully refreshing and unconventional (by modern masculine fragrance standards,) assortment of grassy green and light floral notes. Over the first few minutes of wear the sunlit, blooming meadow accord gains depth and support from some bolder herbaceous greens, very light spices, and soft woods. The resulting structure is so delicate, buoyant, and charming that it’s almost impossible to resist smiling at it. Gendarme starts as a “fresh” masculine among throngs of “fresh” masculines, but it establishes its crisp, clean profile without any calone, stereotypical aquatic notes, or tired fruity fougère gestures. A magnificent entry!

Then, after thirty minutes – nothing. Poof. Gone. Gendarme deflates so fast you can practically hear the whoopee cushion noise as all the gas escapes. In mere moments the scent plunges from its promising introduction to a barely detectable, slender, gray, woody drydown of little distinction and no presence. Did the nose responsible fall ill or die before completing the composition, or did the cash just run out?

Were Gendarme merely another banal masculine aquatic, I’d probably just forget about it, but by starting out so well and then imploding, the scent actually irritates me. I resent being teased in this manner, and I’m frustrated by the thought of what might have been. Unfinished compositions by Bruckner and Mahler are tantalizing, but this torso of a scent is just dispiriting, like interrupted sex.

Rather new to the game, I am just now discovering Gendarme, thanks to those here on Basenotes! Though it took a little while to find it (even in NYC's perfume district), I have secured a bottle of this refreshing scent.

My first impression is that it is clean, sheer and crisp. I agree that it smells a bit like freshly-laudered shirts, but that's ok with me! The feeling is a bit short-lived as it seemed to have disappeared on me after a couple hours, but I hear that the scent gets quickly lost on the wearer but others can still smell it. I don't know if that's true, not comments yet from friends/ co-workers.

I have experimented with other "clean" scents such as Clean for Men, Showerfresh Clean for Men and Banana Republic Classic -- all of which just didn't "click" with me. Gendarme "clicks." It's a great pick-me-up scent for a briefcase or gymbag.

Gendarme starts with a sweet flowery note. The jasmine dominates the “overture”. I can also notice a very light verbena note, which gives a whiff of freshness, but is drowned out by the heavy floral note. I would not describe Gendarme at this stage as “clean” or “soapy” at all. As SirSlarty said it’s more a smell of a mild baby lotion or powder. This might be the reason for the appealing effect of Gendarme on women: No woman can resist the smell of a baby :-)

The rest of the story is quickly related. It doesn’t happen much anymore. It seems to be linear without great development. The floral notes persist for another 6 hours. Staying-power is quite good (6 hours minimum on my skin) with defensive sillage. Regarding all these complaints about the poor longevity I expected different!

For a floral masculine it’s lacking of a real counterpart (woody or balsamic accords) in the base or middle notes which is a precondition for this class of fragrance. I can hardly imagine a man wearing Gendarme, but perhaps could be suit to a young woman (between the age of 0-2 years ;-).
By the way, where is the leather which is mention as a base note in the description? I can’t detect it.
Due to the imbalance: thumbs down (rating 4/10).

Review for the "cologne spray": Clean, slightly soapy scent. If Nivea's unscented aftershave had any smell, I bet they would use this. For a clean scent, I'd rather have Mulger Cologne.

Review for the EdP: Definitely much better! Not just because it's stronger but the formula seems to feel much better on the skin. Instead of a fresh out of the shower scent, you get an invigorating CLEAN AS HELL smell. Fresh lemons, soap accords and... leather? OK not really. But the EdP makes me like an alternative to most other aquatics that throw in sweet stuff or woody stuff into their fragrances. This stuff I gladly have next to my Mugler Cologne.

Yes very soapy and light, non offensive, doesn't last long....Next...........

A beautifully clean and musky, jasmine-based scent that somehow doesn't smell floral or feminine - in fact, it's perfectly unisex. Also crisp and slightly citrusy, Gendarme is equally soapy and airy. Not much to say that hasn't already been said here, but I absolutely must state that this lasts a very long time - easily 24 hours on clothes and at least 8 hours on skin. The beauty of this is that most of the time you can't smell it, because for some reason the nose gets habituated to the smell rather fast. Thus, many will think it's gone in an hour - it only seems that way. Just wait a bit and you'll notice that it gives off gentle whiffs throughout the day. Furthermore, you can ask others to smell you, or give your day-old shirt a sniff the next day - you'll notice it's still there. And so, it never bothers or distracts from your day, while emitting a cool, calm and clean aura.

Boring? Maybe, but Gendarme is also completely inoffensive (it's actually known to be hypo allergenic even for the most allergic noses) while bring incredibly enjoyable at the same time.

9.25/10