Bandit. hmm.

[everso]

Bandit was another scent on my list of 'old school' leather scents-----a list which is dwindling by the day as i get to try these. I'm basically looking for another vintage fragrance that i can truly fall in love with as i did with Knize Ten.

the company (Robert Piquet) who make Bandit are very generous and sent me a few samples of their production fragrances. I haven't tried the others yet, however i was anxiously awaiting my first taste of Bandit.......so i tried that one!

I like the instant opening, when i put it on...but about 5 seconds after, this strange concoction of severe spiciness takes over. It's almost like a ginger-cumin-curry-like cascade of spices....maybe some chili or hot pepper like stuff going on? There is a chypre base there, and it's combining with a rubber and leather combination floating around. I'm not sure i can really deal with the spices. I like the rubber and leather notes....which remind me of leather being dragged by burning tires...but that spiciness is getting on my nerves. The drydown, on my skin, results in this weird rubbery bug-killer note....a note i CANNOT STAND!

this is the currently available EDP concentration, and i remember reading that the EDT version is reasonably different than this. Can anyone expand on the differences? Is it worth getting hold of the EDT version OR the old pre-reformulation EDP versions? From what i know, this scent has been reformulated many times....and i'm wondering if the other attempts were alot different or not?

either way....so far, it's a FAIL from my side. I can't really get over the weaknesses of this one thus far.....although i'm willing to try out some other versions of it, as i can clearly see it has potential.

cheers!

[mikeperez23]

Are you testing Bandit or Bandit Cologne for Men?

[everso]

Are you testing Bandit or Bandit Cologne for Men?

Bandit EDP.

[Roc_Xel]

Bandit is a wonderful fragrance.

I had two 5 ml samples of the EDT, and I absolutely love it.

I recently got a 2.5 ml sample of the EDP which i was really looking forward to trying, and gosh i ve been disappointed.

It is weaker than the EDT for some reason, and just not as magical.

I was just waiting to test the EDP before buying the EDT, because i was 100% sur i would prefer the EDP , (i usually love sillage/projection and longevity, i hate overapplying).

But since then, i just bought the EDT, because i find it way more interesting.

[PhinClio]

I've only tried the EdP (in its current formulation), which I really like. I do want to try the EdT, however. Nearly everyone who compares the two seems to prefer it.

I believe that "Bandit Cologne for Men" was simply another name under which the EdT was sold at one point.

[Butthead53]

Bandit is a very odd and unique fragrance that is definitely not to everyone's taste.

Love it, personally, but I've never worn it in public. It just has the potential to offend too many people.

[everso]

Love it, personally, but I've never worn it in public. It just has the potential to offend too many people.

why? i don't really understand this.....it's not an offensive fragrance in any way...

[everso]

Bandit is a wonderful fragrance.

I had two 5 ml samples of the EDT, and I absolutely love it.

I recently got a 2.5 ml sample of the EDP which i was really looking forward to trying, and gosh i ve been disappointed.

It is weaker than the EDT for some reason, and just not as magical.

I was just waiting to test the EDP before buying the EDT, because i was 100% sur i would prefer the EDP , (i usually love sillage/projection and longevity, i hate overapplying).

But since then, i just bought the EDT, because i find it way more interesting.

i think i'm gonna have to try the EDT. What is different in the EDT? is it more leathery? less leathery? more spicy? less spicy? thanks for your input.

[smeller]

I'm going to try the vintage parfum (EDP?) soon, and I'll post about it.

[Sugandaraja]

Strange... I want your experience!

When I smelled Bandit I thought "bland, pretty green florals" when I was expecting something weird and leathery.

But then everyone talks about the shocking - or to many reviewers, disgusting - gasoline-soaked top notes of Tuberose Criminelle, which baffles me equally ( it just smells fresh to me! )

[Renato]

The Directory lists it as a woman's scent.
Interesting ingredients aside, do you think the average scent buying guy would go for it?
Renato

[PhinClio]

The Directory lists it as a woman's scent.
Interesting ingredients aside, do you think the average scent buying guy would go for it?
Renato

Like a lot of classic women's scents (and especially classic chypres), this one is now totally wearable by a guy. It justifiably makes Luca Turin's list of top ten "feminine" fragrances for men to wear.

As this thread indicates, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I haven't read many people who like it but doubt that guys can pull it off.

I've very comfortably worn my sample of the EDP three or four times. And I've read that the EDT--which was for a while marketed to men--is even more comfortably masculine.

[everso]

The Directory lists it as a woman's scent.
Interesting ingredients aside, do you think the average scent buying guy would go for it?
Renato

definitely! I think it is very unisex

[mikeperez23]

I have only smelled the EdT. I loved it. It was very leather and tobacco prominent - and we're talking about a very specific tobacco accord here. Nothing like Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford which really smells like wet pipe tobacco. It smells more like a lit cigarette. IMO the leather mixes beautifully with this accord and they both are floating above a wonderful chypre base.

Perhaps, everso, you don't like moss - which is very prominent in chypres like Bandit? The scent smells so much better also, when smelled from afar (rather than sniffed up close).

For whatever it's worth - most people who wore the vintage formula, say that the new juice is a shadow of the former scent. However, I was very happy w/ the juice. If I didn't already have a decant of Cabochard and Tabac Blond parfum, I probably would have one of Bandit.

When I get dressed up in a suit and I'm headed to a classy, formal dinner - these types of leather chypres are the ones I reach for. I find they wear extremely comfortably, when I'm around food.

[Amit]

Strange... I want your experience!

When I smelled Bandit I thought "bland, pretty green florals" when I was expecting something weird and leathery.

But then everyone talks about the shocking - or to many reviewers, disgusting - gasoline-soaked top notes of Tuberose Criminelle, which baffles me equally ( it just smells fresh to me! )

Not related to this topic, but PG Psychotrope is your ticket to something weird and leathery

[jenson]

Bandit is indeed a heavy, spicy concoction.

once someone is used to the leather scents released today, it'll be very hard to accept leather frags of a certain era....whn i wore the sample of bandit, i was expecting it to be intense, so it was. i was also prepared for a derby like genre of scents...only this time the spices were a tad bit intense....a lovely scent neverthless... give it some time and wear it with a delicate hand....im sure it'll behave.

[iggy]

I have Bandit EdP and Bandit perfume extract. They are different, anyway, on my skin. Bandit perfume extract
has dirty flowery/green notes on leathery background. Of course, I prefer extract and I can't imagine myself
without this fragrance, it's one of my favourites.