Gendarme 20 (2004)
by Gendarme

Gendarme 20 is a great soapy fresh fragrance that's perfect for a hot day. Starts with the lavender in the opening and settles into a soapy clean, but masculine fragrance. Great for days when you want to take a break from fragrance but still smell good.

12nd September, 2011.

After wearing my sample, finally, I checked the Gendarme site out of curiosity, and it seems that this doesn't exist anymore. That's a shame, but for the moment, it can still be picked up by doing a little search engine magic (unlike Mojo).

Anyway, it smells terrific. It's clean and fresh, and actually has some potency and longevity. Also, there are subtle things going on here in terms of green, citrus, and leather. And of course the dominant note is lavender. I can't add much else in the description department, but I can say that I had a woman inappropriately invading my space to speak with me today, and since Gendarme 20 does smell delicious, I feel that it is to blame.

16th September, 2010.

G20 is the most similar to the original EdP, but perhaps even more concentrated. This might be nice in theory, but in practice I find it includes too much of the wintergreen-like component that I found traces of in the original. The opening is more alcoholic and sharp than any of the others, and once that goes away, the florals remind me a little of those in the Acqua di Parma Colonia series. Later, as more herbs make their presence known, the wintergreen seems to turn into a very gentle eucalyptus, which would be an improvement except that it also starts reminding me of old-school suntan lotion. I really don't know what to make of it, except to view it as a slight overkill, but I'd recommend it if you like sweet mint or wintergreen.

13rd June, 2010.

I like this a lot, but for me it's the least impressive of the Gendarme line, all of which feature the same "laundry fresh" central accord.

The lavender is pretty strong in this, and unfortunately I think it detracts from the uniqueness and power of the underlying idea. Ultimately, it makes the fragrance smell somewhat more generic.

2nd March, 2010.

I can't think of better frag for a hot Los Angeles day in summer. A great big blast of lavender and a soapy clean smelling scent that makes me glad I'm wearing it. I have trouble with lighter scents fading away fast, but this one surprised me and hangs in pretty good. I'm usually pretty averse to these kinds of fresh scents, but this one I like.

18th January, 2010.

Just to clarify things, Gendarme 20 is the original Gendarme formulation PLUS a formidable Lavender note. Gendarme EDP (the more concentrated version of the original scent) is different - a large "G" graphic is displayed on the bottle. These are two separate products from the same family of fragrances. If you like a clean pronounced lavender, 20 is your scent. Not a hint of sweetness or femininity in the juice. I really like it, but as with all Gendarmes I wish the lasting power was greater. I guess you can't have everything. Nonetheless, a big thumbs up because it smells so good.

17th July, 2009.