Bandit

I bought an EDT version of Bandit, hearing that it appealed to men (I am a male). I began reading reviews, and discovered that for a time frame in the 90s prior to the 1999 relaunch of Bandit, the formula was under the control of Alfani, Inc (or some name like that), and the formula may be different. Now that I know that your friend has the crystal stopper version (released after 1999) I am very curious as to what it smells like, and why you describe it as smelling more like the original vintage formula--I need to get me some!

Oooo. Oooo. I know the answer to that.
First came the Germaine Cellier Bandit for Robert Piguet. Then came a middle phase during which Adrian Arpel made a version of Bandit. Finally in 1999, came the version we now have, again Robert Piguet. I have never smelled the original, but the final version smells like it attempts to meet the original intent--pungent greens and smoky leather, wet tobacco.
I have smeled the Adrien Arpel version, and it was pretty, but it veered away from the original. It shared alot of notes with Miss Dior: bergamot, gardenia, galbanum, neroli, jasmine, rose, patchouli, sandalwood. It had much less moss and labdanum and more of an airy sandalwood enveloping the flowers. This version, which existed for a short time around 1996-1997 was different, but very beautiful anyway. In fact, I loved it.
So, your answer is this: the current version (post-1999) comes close to the first verson. . I quote from Perfume Shrine:
http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/20...by-piguet.html

"Therefore, for clarity we state the following: The original vintage composition came in parfum, eau de toilette and eau de cologne. The eau de toilette is the sharper of the lot, while the eau de parfum is greener. Parfum is sublime and smooth, but I am perfectly happy with my eau de parfum. This was a later, indeterminate addition, resulting in two versions of Bandit eau de parfum circulating in the market: one is the certified "new" version (which I have) which is close to the original, vintage formula that bears a certification on the box; and the other is the "reformulated" version that got issued before 1996 under Andrian Arpel. That intermediary version manufactured by Adrian Arpel is the one that was sold until 1996/1997 and older stock on etailers might be it. The bottles do not present visual differences in their opaque black with yellow edge around the label, apart from the box."

I went through a similar confusion a few months ago. I had gotten samples of Bandit in swaps, and they were very harsh and green--interesting but rough. Then I got a decant of the parfum from someone who had just gotten a new bottle from the company, and it was a completely different scent. More of an aldehydic floral over a base of animalic leather and woods, much smoother than what I tried before. I also swapped for a bottle of parfum that turned out to be the earlier version I'd tried. It was a little softer but still had that very green leather chypre smell over carnation.

Because there are still bottles of both in circulation, it's confusing to read reviews of Bandit because people can be literally talking about different scents.

Of course now, reading purplebird's post, her description of the current version as having "pungent greens" sounds more like my impression of the older ones I smelled. But perhaps we are just smelling things differently I've sort of given up trying to figure it all out, I'll just enjoy the parfum I have!

So just to clarify: the intermediary Arpel version only came in EdP, right? So any EdT is either vintage or the most recent reformulation?

As far as I can tell, Phin, any Bandit EDT you come across is either vintage or made by Arpel. The modern version only comes in EDP and parfum.

I learned about Bandit formulas the hard way; like many novice perfume enthusiasts I read Luca Turin's book and tracked down top ones that sounded to my liking. Eagerly opening my first sample from the Perfumed Court I was totally enthralled by the Bandit EDT they sent. After trying to actually buy a bottle I've found similar things but nothing with those powerful opening notes of quinine and cannabis. If anyone has some hints, please let me know! I'm desperate to find out which formulation it was.

Why not just email TPC and ask?

I have and I'm waiting on a response! Hopefully they will tell me where to find the wonderful elixir they sent me. I've also written to Robert Piguet's parent company to see if they can help me straighten out which formula is which and how to identify them. Thanks to the person who linked the perfumeshrine article, I had no idea locating a perfume could be this challenging! I'll report back if I find anything of interest.

hello.

i have found an unfamiliar bottle of bandit:



i hope someone on this board can identify this for me.
are there known fakes that look like this one, and how can i tell.
how close is it to the original?

thanks!

I saw a mini on eBay that had a very similar label with that same kind of typefont. I think the listing said it was vintage, but you know how unreliable the info on eBay is...

So YOU bought the bottle. I watched it on ebay. If you will have received it, would you please tell how it smells? If it is still strong etc.?

I'd say it's genuine. I've seen similiar bottles here and here, or here you have a similiar bottle shape.

I would have bought it, but I had bad luck the last months with vintage splash bottles, the smell was gone. That's why I'd appreciate your comment on your bottle, maybe I should give them a try again in the future.

YES, it is one of the old bottles of Robert Piguet perfumes. I used to see them on my mother's shelf. Also same bottle for FRACAS ...

thanks. does that mean this came out before the 90s reissue?

yes i did, yes i will.


this is sad.
how does that happen? is it completely gone?

Yes, unfortunatly. But it was Baghari and Visa. You hopefully have more luck. I cross fingers.

Wow! Great find! Tell us how it is!

And yes, by the picture you can tell that it almost certainly came out before 1974 as it is missing the standard estimated sign (that little e you find next to the measurement on the box) which was standard after 1975 or so.

if love the enthousiasm i get on this thread.
it makes me happy with my purchase even before i've got it.


i wish this was always true! i own at least two perfumes made after '75 that don't have that e sign, the first came out in the 80s, the other is even more recent. and i would guess the actual bottles are just a few years old.

Oh =( . I'm sorry to have given false information. I was trying to research all the various incarnations of Bandit and thought that using EU packaging markers would be helpful. I'd found that the estimated measurement sign had been created in 74 but I suppose it can't be relied upon as a date marker.

dont get confused, what you say might be true!
i was talking about different bottles, sorry if that was not clear. both happen to be armani, armani pour homme and armani prive bois d' incense.

i hope theres someone out there to testify that the 90s re-release of bandit indeed feature the estimate symbol on their boxes and bottles.

do these bottles look the same as the one i did win? someone on this board must have bought some of these, right?

Yes, in the seventies...i am sure !

no response?

it seems there are 2 different editions of the current 'original' formula edp as well, just to make things a bit more complicated. i am going to try to figure out what is going on, but need some help here.

see this thread for a little more explanation.

This much I can attest to =). Both the Alfin versions (the pre-95 reissue) and the more recent "certified" reformulations by FF&C have the estimate symbols on them. There has been no EDT by FF&C since they bought the Piguet line (at least, none that I have found so far) and the 4 different packages of Alfin EDT look nothing like yours! So I'd say you have a genuine article of some type! If you could tell me who distributed it one you get the bottle I would very much appreciate it. =)

I'm sorry, I know, right now there are a couple of Bandit-threads, but I have to open one, too, as I desperately need your expertise. It has to do with the boxing. I bought some months ago a 50ml bottle at ALzD / Wuchsa, so I guess, this one is definitly genuine.

But, there are also a lot of slightly different bottles. Look here, please.

You see, it is the text. The genuine one has this longer text: "Eau de Parfum Vaporisateur Eau de Parfum Natural Spray", whereas the other one has just the text: "Eau de Parfum Natural Spray".

I don't care what is written on it, if it is genuine and the actual smell - not the older EdT one, which I don't like that much - I'm fine with it. But I don't want to spend money to find out.

Has anybody information to help me out?

i've got it, and it sure is bandit! it's different from the parfum (which i own only a few precious drops of) with much stronger top notes, it starts a bit fresher, is overall thinner, with less rich depths, but still: this is a really, really great eau de toilette! it might be hard to find, but at least this 120ml bottle will last me a while. i'm so happy!

ps. zizanioides, there's no information about distribution on the box.

I've been trying to work on this problem and I haven't gotten much further than Helg (of perfumeshrine blog, search her site for a great Bandit article). The front text isn't as helpful as I thought it would be, as people have reported American version as having both of your two examples and most people seem to think of the American (pre-2004 or so) reformulation as inferior to the French one. Where was it made? Whats the reference number?

the reference is 74012, the batch-code B078W. do you have a clue about these numbers?

No idea! My floral Usa made Bandit has the same reference number but the batch code is C291W.

I've written to Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics a few times now, to see if they can help make sense of reference/batch code numbers but I've gotten zero response. I'll try writing to the folks at Givaudan. Hopefully the producers will be more helpful than the distributor.

You can write the distributor here:http://www.ffandcltd.com/contactus.asp

I'm bumping this old discussion of Bandit formulations, because I just purchased a bottle of Bandit EdP and I wonder whether it has been reformulated yet again. I bought a 50 ml bottle. The box indicates it was made in France. What makes me suspect re-reformulation is the ingredient list: there's no oakmoss listed, but there is treemoss (e. furfuracea) listed.

I haven't done a side-by-side comparison with a sample that I bought about a year ago from the Posh Peasant (which I believe was the then-most-recent (1999?) reformulation). But my first impression of the stuff from the bottle is that it starts well, but the drydown is closer to the (latest version of) Cabochard than what I remember from Bandit. It also seems less powerful and persistent. Still nice, but not as nice as I remembered.

Any further information, thoughts, or speculation would be greatly appreciated!

Gots to track me down a sample of this heheh.

I did some follow up research by calling the good folks that make Bandit and they were kind enough to send me some samples which I can only assume are of the most recent formula. They are the same as yours (made in France, only treemoss, reference number 77011) and exactly what you describe; the opening is good but the drydown is very thin and shy. I'm not impressed. I had heard that this French version was better, lacking the floral and powdery aspects of the earlier American formula but I actually prefer the American version.

This is the first FF&C French version I have smelled, so I can not confirm if there is another formulation around. If anyone had a French made Bandit with Oakmoss in it we could conclude that there is.

Thanks, Ziz!

That's really helpful info. And you formulated the key question: was there a made-in-France FF&C version of Bandit with oakmoss that appeared (presumably in 1999) in between the American formula and the current version?

I'm happy to help I've had my own issues with trying to track down a particular formula of Bandit EDT and that sparked my interest in trying to nail down the Bandit formulas.

In regards to your question, I don't think there was any Bandit made in France between 1999-2004. Drawing on the wealth of information that is the fantastic Helg's bloghttp://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/, one of the Presidents of Givaudan moved the production back to France when he took over. Until 2004 there was (probably) no French made Bandit. Was there a 2004-2008 version with oakmoss? I think there must have been, this version just isn't even close to what I expect from Bandit. I assume that this formulation was made to conform with the new EU regulations coming into effect on retail products in January 2010 (http://1000fragrances.blogspot.com/2...=1238967480000

. . . and this is very bad news, indeed. I had my head buried in the sand about the incoming regulations but after spending an hour revisiting this Bandit reformulation . . .
we are really in trouble. I applied a lot of the sampler to get a clear picture of it and I can barely tell that it's Bandit, or that I even have something on.

If this is what fragrance will be next year it's time to stock up for the long, long winter of perfume Prohibition.
Hopefully I'm just wrong =)

This.

I just did a side-by-side comparison between the Bandit EdP I just bought and the sample I got from the Posh Peasant almost exactly a year ago (which I believe was the then-current formulation of the EdP).

It's night and day, right from the start.

Like I said upthread, the newest version is pleasant enough, especially in its topnotes. But it smells like the new (and neutered) Cabochard in the drydown and then disappears in a matter of a couple hours.

The older version? This is perfume! Deep, complicated, beautiful yet just a little dirty. Boy do I wish I had a bottle of this stuff (which is, after all, why I bought a bottle of what turns out to be quite different stuff).

I suppose we can take some comfort in the fact that the apparently recently altered re-reformulation that I have on the back of my left hand was a big improvement on the Arpel reformulation that it replaced (I haven't sniffed either the vintage or the Arpel version).

Maybe Bandit will return (again) like a thief in the night.

We can only hope!

Ok, I'm trying to figure out if my latest Bandit sample is really some deformed reformulation or if my nose is tricking me, so I want to compare its allergen/ingredients list with some earlier versions. My sample is reference #77011 and the ingredients are:
-Alcohol Denat, Water (Aqua), Fragrance (Parfum), Alpha Isomethyl, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Bezyle Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Evernia Furfuracea (Tree Moss) Extract, Farnesol, Geraniol,
Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydrocitronellal, Hydroxyisohexyl, 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Linalool, BHT, Butyl Methoydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Ethylhexyl Salicylate

It's the lack of Oak Moss that is troubling.

If you could also include the reference number along with the approximate date of purchase that would be very helpful!

I've seen a bottle of Bandit on ebay but it's not the newest black bottle. I've asked the seller how old it is and what strength but she doesn't know. The box is yellow with a black diagonal stripe and the bottle is oval and squat with a gold top. Apparently it says "Made in France Ref 621" and I was wondering if anyone had any idea which formulation it is?

it's old. but it's a mini, and there are only a few drops left. i would spent too much money, but i wish you good luck!

zizanioides, i'll have to get back to you on this one. and when i forget it, please do remind me of this.

Wow, absolutely no idea. I've seen old versions (1960s-70s or so) with yellow boxes but not black diagnol stripe. The more recent gold capped bottles are usually the Alfin made EDT which was made until 1995 or so but this doesn't sound like that. Any chance you could post a picture?

I can't post a pic, unfortunately, as I didn't win it. I sensibly set myself a limit for the price I was prepared to pay for a very small amount of possibly vintage perfume and it went significantly over! I'll let you know if I ever see another one!

these minis show up every now and then, so hang in there. i have two, but i believe only one of them actually contains bandit. i think they come in 2, 4 and 8 ml. and you can buy them for 10 euros, sometimes even less. just be patient.

btw. just curious, what did somebody pay for this?

*Poke*
C'mon, Gido! Post the allergen list from your Bandit's so I can pour over them and see what's changed!

well, actually there is none! it just mentions something like: alcohol, parfum, water, and besides that she mentioned only some coloring agents were present. so this does not tells us anything for sure, but makes it very likely that it was reformulated again to comply to ifra regulations.

Ah ha! This mystery continues! With those as the listed allergens it must be a pre-regulations issue or an earlier American only release!

Talk About Making A man jealous...Gaah! :P Need to firstly try the darn thing! hehe!

Cheers and take care!

- Balava