Scandal Elixir Parfum

Jean Paul Gaultier classifies Scandal Elixir among fruity amber chypres and publishes three notes, one per tier: blackberry, iris and patchouli. The house details nothing else of its formula, though the label hints at a few materials.

Top

Blackberry opens the fragrance, plump, gourmand and tangy, in what the house calls a wave of impertinence. Sandra Raičević Petrović perceives it as rather wild and tart, close to the undergrowth with its leaves, branches and thorns, far from a fruity burst.

Heart

Iris, which the house calls majestic and precious, lends its nobility to what it names an overdose of pleasure. Sandra Raičević Petrović reads in it a powdery, slightly animalic iris with mossy, forest facets, alongside a powdery violet accord recalling cosmetics of old.

Base

Patchouli takes over, which the house wants irresistibly carnal. Sandra Raičević Petrović also notes a soapy, clean and fresh accord that tempers the sweetness of the fruit; over time, blackberry, iris and powder melt for her into a silky veil.

What stays out

Longer lists add blood orange, pink pepper, bergamot, ylang-ylang, cinnamon, gardenia, jasmine sambac, vanilla and benzoin. Jean Paul Gaultier cites none of them; the label does, however, declare bergamot, cinnamon and cananga oils, as well as vanillin.

What the label declares

The published list counts forty-three ingredients. After alcohol, fragrance and water, it names a woody molecule, Iso E Super, as well as linalool, vanillin, benzyl salicylate and limonene; it also includes patchouli oil, lemon, bergamot, cinnamon bark and cananga.

It declares one UV filter, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, and five colorants: red 4, yellow 5, violet 2, blue 1 and red 33. It also lists hexadecanolactone, a synthetic musk, coumarin and anethole, with its aniseed scent.