L’Artisan launched Méchant Loup in 1997. Like yesterday’s Dzongkha, it was created by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour; it is usually described as a “deep, spicy, woodsy scent” and the notes include pepper, star anise, licorice, sandalwood, honey, hazelnut, myrrh, tonka bean and cedar.
The L’Artisan website translates “Méchant Loup” as Big Bad Wolf, and it is very nearly just that. It has a kind of roasted hazelnut and burnt sugar accord that is vaguely reminiscent of Hermès Vetiver Tonka, but Méchant Loup is darker and richer, and the hazelnut mingles with honeyed woods, musty dried leaves and a touch of something that smells like whiskey and cigar smoke and old leather chairs.
I don’t suppose you can get more masculine than whiskey and cigar smoke and old leather chairs, and Méchant Loup probably vies with the now-discontinued L’Eau de Navigateur as the most masculine L’Artisan scent before Fou d’Absinthe. I don’t find it unwearable, but some women might. At any rate, it is a lovely scent, with a very appealing warmth that works perfectly with the rainy and generally dismal fall weather we are having here today. As an added bonus, the lasting power is very good, which is not always the case with the L’Artisan Eaux de Toilette.
Méchant Loup is available in 50 and 100 ml bottles of Eau de Toilette, or in the Men’s Charmer Trio (shown above, in a 15 ml bottle packaged with Navegar and L’Eau de L’Artisan) or in the Men’s Discovery set (5 ml bottles of Mechant Loup, Navegar, L’Eau de L’Artisan and Tea for Two).
For buying information, see the listing for L’Artisan under Perfume Houses.
31 Comments
Read more about commenting at Now Smell This.
I like this one very much! Of course, I like Navigateur, too, so “masculine” scents work for me. There was a time I when I wouldn't try them, because I thought they were “not for me.” Silly me!
I had a decant of Navigateur once but foolishly traded it for something else, probably something else not nearly so good or hard to get. But I'm sure the first time I tried both scents I thought they were too masculine to wear. It is very hard now to find something too masculine to wear, although every so often something does strikes me that way.
For the nth time, sorry for the double post (the mobile phone is playing up).
It's all tobacco and honey on me, verrrry handsome scent
The 5 ml coffret is a massive bargain (in niche terms, anyway) at $25, and comes in a cute little grey flannel pouch. Not a whole ton of anise in the ML though, but the other 3 scents are great too so you can't lose.
I am a Scorpio. And, have had absolutely no luck finding the RC Black anywhere…at least so far.
No worries, it is gone
Yep, I can see that!
I am one of those people that loves to know what certain celebrities wear. ( those that don't already have a boring one with thier name on it..!) Well Penelope Cruz is reported to religiously wear this one and I say that says so much about her. I love her already. You've got to have balls to wear this. It takes a very confident woman to wear this, just what this smokin' latin lover should be wearin!
Sadly, I'm a complete anosmiac on this one! I'm can't get it to smell like anything on me. I occasionally get a little waft of something which could be sweetish something – perhaps nut of some description – and that's it.
Would agree that it takes a confident woman to wear it religiously…don't know enough about Penelope Cruz to say although she is certainly pretty enough to wear whatever she wants
That is really strange — it isn't a light scent, and I'm sure it has musk, but many other things as well. Weird!!
I fell in love and bought this years ago- I had no idea for which sex it was intended !
It was sylvan and nutty, and I still like it…
I don't think it is necessarily intended as masculine, or at least, when they released Fou d'Absinthe they said it was their first scent “specifically for men”. Sylvan & nutty is also a great description.
R, thank you so much for the info, the coffret really is dirt cheap and for someone who hasn't tried a single L'Artisan (insert shocked smiley) this is wonderful news.
I never would have guessed that you're a Scorpio, your rising sign must be Virgo or Capricorn LOL. Anyway, It's great to have a birthday coming up – I hope you get tons of presents, especially fragrant ones
I'll see if I can procure a sample of RC Black somewhere…
L'Artisan is one of my absolute favorite houses and nearly every fragrance they make smells exactly as it should on me. The sad exception is Mechant Loup. Don't the notes sound so totally me? I don't get it! Oh, and R, it was me you foolishly gave your decant of Navigateur to. But I have since purchased a full bottle, and I would be happy to return the favor!
I also love Mechant Loup, I have a 15 ml. spray, but then I love wearing masculine or unisex scents, I find them extremely sexy on women with feminine faces, like me, I love confusing people with that!!!!Lovely review, as always, Robin. By the way, I´m wearing Vetiver Tonka today!
K, that is too funny — I never would have remembered who I gave it too. Didn't know bottles were even still floating around to buy, for that matter. Will have to arrange a swap one of these days, I'd love to have a little sample again.
Not a single one? You must get to work!
I don't know a whole lot about astrology but I'm told I'm pretty Scorpio-ish. Whatever that means.
I would buy the Men's Charmer to get that 15 ml spray if I didn't already own the L'Eau de L'Artisan & Navegar. And agree — the right man's fragrance can be very sexy on a woman!
And p.s. you smell lovely today
I don't get Mechant Loup, either. Hazelnuts, myrrh and honey ought to work perfectly with me, but it's just…meh. Just nothing at all. I've tried it repeatedly and it's always the same nothing. I can wear most L'Artisan scents, too: all the Les Epices are great on my skin, Dzing! and Tea for Two likewise, and I go through phases when I pretty much live in L'Eau de Navigateur and Vanilia alternately. But I just can't wear the one I most want to. Oh, cruel fate!
Very odd, would never describe it as “meh” even if it didn't suit me…but there are two of you so there must be something to it! Wonder why it is the one you most want to wear?
To me, this is somewhat of a disaster. Too much of the hazelnut note. I dont know what L'Artisan were trying to achieve here. Big bad wolf? LOL! If you think this is masculine, then you should probably give Vintage Tabarome (Creed) or Knize Ten a try.
There is certainly lots of hazelnut, which is part of what I like about it. Am aware that there are more masculine things out there — don't happen to like Vintage Tabarome but am looking forward to trying Knize Ten, which I hear is great stuff.
Because I love the smell of hazelnuts so much. To read the list of notes in ML, you'd think it had been made specifically for me. It ought to smell intoxicating, but it just holds no interest for me at all: I don't love it, I don't hate it, it just doesn't seem to have any presence on my skin. (Another L'Artisan I can't wear is Voleur de Roses: I love roses, I'd kill for a really masculine rose scent, but VdR smells not only insufficiently rosy but dirty into the bargain–and not a good kind of dirty, either.)
I can't wear Voleur de Roses either — it sticks in the back of my throat and makes me queasy.
What did you think of Rosines Rose d'Homme?
This is particularly nice with Tea for Two layered over the top – the woody/sweet notes in Méchant balance well with the spicy/gourmand notes
Thanks — will have to try that! Have never tried layering it with anything, actually.
This comment is written long after the review but I just got my first whole bottle of Mechant Loup today and I can't even begin to say how much I love it. I am an older woman and think this is the perfect scent for anyone who loves warm, toasty, nutty, smoky scents. It is so delicious! I can't believe I own an entire bottle. Lucky, lucky me!!!
It's such a great scent for fall, too. Enjoy your new bottle!
I bought this last summer while working in London, and wore it almost daily for the six months. Just today, I sprayed and scrubbed a couple of things that we apparently too sweet for my mood. What to wear? What to wear? Turned to Mechant Loup. Perfect. I had no idea, until I discovered scent blogs a few months ago, that this was a scent for men! Or maybe they did tell me, and just set that information aside in my brain because I didn’t care, it was delicious as far as I was concerned.
Agree it is delicious — no sense in leaving it to the men!