Bandit

House: Robert Piguet

Release: 1944

Perfumer: Germaine Cellier

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes: Armoise, Gardenia, Galbanum, Artemisia, Bergamot, Aldehydes, Marigold, Neroli, Ylang Ylang

Heart Notes: Rose, Iris, Wild carnation, Orange blossom, Jasmine, Tuberose, Spices

Base Notes: Leather, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Ambergris, Patchouli, Myrrh, Castoreum, Oakmoss, Musk, Civet

Review

Released in 1944, Bandit became the standard bearer for green chypre, leather feminine scents in the post-war era. Perfumer Germaine Cellier designed a scent that could withstand tobacco smoke without the heavy floral and animalic scents of the preceding decades. Bandit was for the new woman who stepped into the workplace when men were off fighting and who weren’t going back into the kitchen now that the war was over. Reformulations have done many things (dropping methyleugenol and eugenol levels from rose/carnation/spices; cutting oakmoss and replacing with synthetics, moving to synthetic musks for the animalic base), but have not removed the central tension between the green of galbanum and the animalic leather held steady by the resplendent florals.

Our wear of a 2020 EDT decant opened just as brash and strikingly green as we had hoped. It smells light and fresh, not the color of the branding, but a bright, wild-eyed peppery grass. The green headrush lasted only moments before a fresh green floral soapiness took over. The sharp green came back in waves with bergamot and neroli staking a claim against the resinous galbanum and the herbal armoise and artemisia. The floral bouquet is well blended. We imagine that the eugenol levels are much reduced, which leaves the heart a bit flat. There may be a ton of them listed, but the floral notes are fleeting compared to base. For all this, we include Bandit at the the head of our Top 10 Galbanum Perfumes.

A sharp animalic note comes through along with the expert blend of earthy and leathery notes. The soapy powdery note mostly fades away in the face of the sharp animalic and leather drivers. We did not get much of a moss note.

Projection and sillage are strong.