Arsène Lupin Dandy fragrance notes
Head
- bergamot, bitter orange, pink pepper
Heart
- violet, cardamom, olibanum
Base
- patchouli, cistus, leather, sandalwood
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Latest Reviews of Arsène Lupin Dandy

The notes are supremely well balanced: each note is afforded time without any being overbearing or aggressive. The perfume follows a typical chypre style opening with a note of citrus, moving to a spicy middle comprised of cardamom and pepper and settling on a woody & balsamic base of olibanum, amber, patchouli.

Woody peppered violet
Just showed up, my friends
Unmistakable!
Remounted as a Guerlain
Of exquisite taste
Clearly the work of
One Arsène Lupin - the thief
But dandy as well
A man quite apart
Respecting no rule of law
That he can outwit
Nor any custom
Falling before his charms and
Mesmerising act.
Thus, pity the girl
More, his rube blonde, good-hearted
How was she to know?
Indeed, even now
She likely suspects nothing
Nor any time soon
And even if so
Why should she think to charge him
When just the rumors
That he stole her work
Will send clients to her door?
Thus, he evades us
Exiting his crimes
By beating us to justice
For the afflicted
Let me describe him
So that you know who you face
And thus you are warned
The word "gentleman"
Is where our failure begins
To keep up with him
Perfection broken
By just too much violet
Perfection bettered!
As you understand
That you are now in his thrall
Ha! Now, get in line!
And remember this
When you reach for your wallet
It will be too late!
Next - take a deep breath
That sense of wood and pepper
You've felt it before
Only not so fine
Not by the thief's practiced hand
Not as a Guerlain
Never insistent
Never too much - except when
He so desires it
Begin to relax
Fool! That is his choice, not yours!
You check your wallet
You check your jewels
Why does he not seem to care?
Is he drunk? Or you?
You hear his story
More, you must hear his story
But his voice quiets
With practiced delight
Knowing you can't get enough
Led like a poodle
Walking out in front
You never saw the lady
Giving him her key
He's one step closer
To his next blind accomplice
Singing his praises
Never believing
That he loved any other
Or that he used her
In another scheme
Too fantastic to believe
No - give it up now
He toyed with us all
We thought we were rid of him
By our own doing
Nothing of the sort!
The dandy thief eternal
Arsène Lupin lives!
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The drydown adds a bright and light patchouli with exactly crispness that I in the top notes, without any sharpness or scratchiness. A woodsy note, quite nonspecific with touches of sandalwood and the occasional whiff of guaiac, leads into the base. At times whiffs of florals - iris and violet - come and go
The base continues with the same overall lively brightness, hut the pepper has rescinded and is replaced by a cistus impression that adds an additional edge without changing the overall character of the whole. An olibanum develops late, and at times a very restrained nigh-balsamic hit is accompanying the sandalwood and the cistus.
I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and a superb thirteen hours of longevity on my skin.
The scent for cooler summer or warmer autumn day is delightful and quite original. A refreshing change from the common fruitchouli mainstream of today, it uses a few creatively applied olfactory brushstrokes to creates strong but harmonious experience that convinces, inter alia, though the good quality of its ingredients. Is might not be an overly complex creation, and the development is not overly exciting, but it provides enough variety such as to entice most of the time. The performance is excellent. Overall 3.75/5


Performance is good, with better than average projection for 4-5 hours with only 2 sprays and around 8-9 hours with the skin scent remains.

ALD is rich with aromatic, balsamic goodness, classy in character and very enjoyable to wear. Resembles a more complex version of Christian Dior's Sauvage EdP, and has great longevity and projection like that scent.
Prices are looking steep for this nowadays - I'll pass on getting a full bottle and keep enjoying my Sauvage EdP.