Bandit: Declaration of Badness

Notes include galbanum, orange, bergamot, neroli, jasmine, rose, tuberose, leather, patchouli, mousse de chene, vetiver, musk.

Due to a failed swap of this frag I had squirreled away, I decided to give it another ride.
Let me just say that I have been spending the weekend getting to know Bandit a bit more intimately and I am a much better woman for it!

Based on reviews, I was really eager to try this frag, sure I would love it, and at first sniff I was rather repulsed. Something musty, something not quite proper, something that had been sitting in the dark a bit too long in need of some sun. I put it away, I put it on my swap list. Just couldn't swap the darn thing away.

So I decided to embrace it one more time. Dear God! Either this little elixer has changed or I have become a dark corrupted scentophile who likes things that thrive under rocks. The first burst of scent makes you do a double take, I am guessing it is the galbanum, something sort of like wet grass and dirt, but there is something very pretty and delicate that makes itself known rather quickly after that settles down. There is a muskiness to this with an impression of wildflowers. There is also something incense like here. It's such an unexpected mix of various notes. I guess there is some leather in here too.

This fragrance is beautifully elegant and yet deliciously bad. It pleases me. It is now officially off my swaplist.

thanks, quinpus, took your advice.
now after a few hours, bandit is giving me pepper, incense, flowers and musk. really nice.

would that be the "Basenotes Banditas?"
sign me up, ladies! we can wear leather trousers and t shirts that say "mad sexy banditas" or something like that.now i'm just being silly.

kbe, not sure which version I have, from descriptions, I am guessing it's the edt or edp
it came naked, without the box, somewhat appropos

I told myself I could never wear this to work, but this is all I have been wearing to work all week...love it.
Getting good responses from coworkers
I like the way it makes me feel.

Dimples, I wouldn't force it either, honestly, this bottle sat in my drawer for months, and now suddenly it is like a renaissance or something. Each time I apply it, I hesitate for a moment, recalling how it initially repelled me, thinking, do I really want to do this again? and then I spritz and it is like a new creature... again I got a compliment today at work from one of my toughest scent critics. He once told me he'd rather hang upside down than sniff one of the frags I was wearing. He sampled Bandit and said he really liked it.
I did layer with Chanel no 19 lotion, which is a very subtle veil. I can't help it , I always use lotion of some sort. Maybe that adds a dimension to the Bandit that makes it more palatable.
In any case, I am enjoying this feeling of discovery.
I am realizing that, like dora and moondeva, I am a lover of leather and chypre.

Below is an excerpt by Robin on the Now Smell This blog:

"Guy Robert called Bandit a beautiful but brutal perfume, and that is as apt a description as any: Bandit is not a fragrance for the timid. It starts with heavy green notes, and moves slowly into a lovely floral blend with hints of spice, but the leather is apparent from the onset, and as it dries down, it is joined by an earthy-mossy accord that vaguely recalls a full ashtray. There is the slightest hint of powder, but it adds nothing of delicacy or girliness, and while Bandit stops short of being feral, the far dry down can only be described as decidedly animalic.

I first tried Bandit some years ago, shortly after I fell in love with Fracas (Fracas being another Piguet-Germaine Cellier composition, more on which tomorrow). Like Fracas, Bandit is in-your-face sexy, but it is the dark, rebellious side of sexy, the bad girl, if you will. It is a sophisticated fragrance, mind you, but in spirit it is younger than Fracas, and it has more energy. Bandit is drinking and smoking and leather jackets, and running around at all hours getting into all sorts of mischief. I've been trying to think of what would be the modern version of such a fragrance, and nothing comes to mind: perhaps there is no such thing?

Anyway, Bandit is just glorious stuff. Do try it if you can. ..."

Again, I was repulsed by this on first wearing and went through quite a stretch recently where it felt like Bandit opened her door and let me experience her nuances and peculiarities that are really quite fascinating. My experience of this scent is anything but cold. It seems to have morphed on me over the months of sitting in my dark drawer, neglected.
But I am thinking twice about wearing it so often to work.