JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
LE MALE ELIXIR
2023
PERFUMER
Quentin Bisch
Lavender
Mint
Vanilla
Benzoin
Honey
Tonka Bean
Tobacco
‘On the soft skin of his torso, this intense fragrance inflames the senses leaving behind a burning sensuality. After a zesty breath of mint, its wake raises the addiction by a degree, becoming a torrid elixir. Under its fresh notes, the dashing lavender quickly takes on a carnal breadth, enhanced by the fragrant richness of benzoin with syrupy and vanilla notes. The tonka bean enriches with its hot, mellow inflections, between honey and tobacco. That’s it: you’ve been sucked in headlong!’ – Jean Paul Gaultier
I decided to do this review, without properly recalling the original Le Male or any of its other flankers.
Sidenote: Since the review below I revisited Le Male Le Parfum and you can read a somewhat of a comparison between that and Elixir in my Le Parfum review.
For now, lets look at Le Male Elixir on its own merit. As mentioned, I don’t really know Le Male that well, although the overal vibe and feeling of it, the powdery nature, that stuck with me and that was recalled with Elixir, at least in the opening. which I’d say is an interesting mix of young and old, of sweet and aromatic. Not necessarily a mix that works as well as I would want it to though.
No more iris in the notes for this one, but definitely still an iris-y essence here a little bit. Tobacco reportedly takes its place, but this isn’t really a tobacco scent at all, I’d be hard pressed to say that I smell it. A dry, almost incense like air with the scent of the fresher lavender.
What doesn’t work for me is the sweetness. It’s hard to describe; it’s bordering on the honey more than the vanilla perhaps at first (with the fresh lavender being more prominent), but the whole composition has a medicinal edge to it and it’s pulling it in a weird direction to my nose at this stage. Later it becomes sweeter and sweeter, which, a. luckily takes away that weird edge, but b. makes it a more juvenile smelling cloying fragrance, completely overtaking the more mature, powdery and aromatic nature.
Add to that a watery plasticy facet. It doesn’t smell aquatic like a Nautica Voyage type scent, but it has a similar feeling, that doesn’t smell great to me. I agree with other reviewers that mention a ‘1 Million Royal‘ DNA in this a bit, which is likely the thing I’m getting at. I don’t think it smells like the also often compared Armani Code, but I can see a mixture of Code and One Million DNA; not a great mixture. To be honest, after about an hour in, it’s become one giant indistinguishable blend of notes with nothing standing out, making for a very uninteresting wear.
Apparently similar to Le Male Le Parfum, which I will compare it to soon, but I’d say this is less good than the ‘Le Male that I remember’… and it never was a favorite of mine to begin with, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Yet, this is one of the most hyped releases of the year (fun fact: at the time of writing this page is the most visited one on this website), but not at all worth the hype in my opinion. I just don’t see the appeal. I went in with low expectations and was left disappointed still. It’s not per se a bad smelling fragrance, but it feels like a run-of-the-mill blend of mediocre designer releases without any personality of its own.