WHAT I SMELL: Oddly, when I first applied Mechant Loup it was hardly noticable. I asked my better half to take a sniff and he said he couldn’t tell what it smelled like because it was almost non-existent. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had just gotten out of the shower because later in the day I applied some more and it didn’t disappear like it had in the morning. In any case, it does not go on strong. This fragrance has a bit of a sharp edge to it in the beginning, I smell the licorice and I get almost a bit of green tea (don’t see that in the note, maybe it’s the cedar). It stays in that location for a bit but then moves into the base which ends up as a mild honeyed hazelnut close-to-the-skin fragrance which is cool in nature. Mechant Loup doesn’t have great longevity or sillage. I find it rather boring and don’t find it particularily distinguishable from many other men’s fragrances (although I am having problems defining which ones, which means they too have not made an impression on me).
Mechant Loup Notes: licorice, hazelnut, cedar, honey
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Mechant Loup means “Big Wolf” in French, but the L’Artisan Perfumeur website lists it as “Big Bad Wolf.” With that kind of name, I expect something over the top and powerful. Sorry, there is nothing wolf like about this scent. Instead, maybe it should be called “Nutty Ecureuil” or “Nutty Squirrel,” in English as it’s about as big and bad as a squirrel and holds a hazelnut note.
THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE MECHANT LOUP: forgettable, sharp, cool
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MECHANT LOUP: The Non-Blonde, EauMG, Daniel Tharp
- Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
- Scent: Woody Spicy
- Classification: Masculine
- Nose: Bertrand Duchafour
- Expense: Approximately $100 for 50ml EdT
The Scented Hound 
August 9, 2012 at 12:20 am
Yes I agree…I tired it in the shop down the street and in moments it had disapeared. What a disapointment. Great post and it is nice to know it just wasn’t me. LOL
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August 9, 2012 at 5:49 am
What’s funny is that the other reviews that I linked to in the post loved it!!
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August 9, 2012 at 2:51 am
To be honest I’m not very keen on L’Artisan perfume. I tried a variety of them and none of the was fine for me.
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August 9, 2012 at 5:52 am
I’d like to give all brands a chance, but I have only tested 2 of the many in the line and both only were rated 2 bones by me. I just ordered a sample of the new Seville a l’Aube which everyone is raving about. I hope it lives up to the hype.
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August 9, 2012 at 7:08 am
I am curious about Seville too, everyone is talking about it. I tried more like Tea for Two, Dzongkha, Vanille and few I don’t remember but neither of them was good.
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August 9, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Exactly the same impression – I loved the sound of Mechant Loup (and the good reviews), I tried it very early on in my fragrance exploration, it is so dull, and so quiet.
In regards to Sevilla a l’Aube – I’m not raving!! Haha. It didn’t work for me at all…
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August 9, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Maybe a year ago, I would have maybe included something like Mechant Loup in my collection. But since delving into the fragrance world a bit more, I now realize that there are scents out there that give me chills when I wear them and even some that thrill when I think about them. So no more time with this one. As for SaL, I am wondering if I will jump on the bandwagon. We’ll see.
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August 9, 2012 at 6:57 pm
I think you will like it. It’s completely different to what you’d expect though – I thought it would be fresh juicy lavender, hugely loud indolic orange blossom and spicy frankincese – it’s not.
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August 9, 2012 at 2:54 pm
Oh p.s there are some greats in the L’Artisan line:
Coeur de Vetiver Sacre, Nuit de Tubereuse, Dzing, Dzongkha, Al Oudh, Voleur Des Roses are all worth checking out 🙂
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August 9, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Aw, a bit disappointing for this one. With a name like that, I was hoping for something a little more animal-esque!
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August 9, 2012 at 6:52 pm
One would hope. But no…very passable!
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August 10, 2012 at 12:26 am
Until today I never actually read the label and from glancing thought that the name of this perfume was Merchant Loop. I wasn’t sure what it stood for (with English not being my native language) but had a feeling that it was somehow along the line of Silk Road or something like that 🙂
Great review! Now I can cross off one more perfume.
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August 10, 2012 at 5:28 am
I think there is so much more out there that is interesting. But not to be too adamant about it, if you look at the links to the other reviews, they seemed to like it. Go figure.
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August 13, 2012 at 7:51 pm
So I had to check in on the Nutty Squirrel review. I only have one L’Artisan, Tea for Two, which I do like. I wanted to try this but I thank you for stopping me from wasting money on a sample. Sounds too weak for me. I’ve tried a few others in this line and nothing has really been a love other than the one I have. Voleur de Roses made me smell like a moldy basement. Not quite what I was hoping for but it must be my nose on that one because a lot of people seem to like it.
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August 13, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Poodle!!! This and Poive Piquant are the only two that I have sampled of the L’AP line and I have been underwhelmed by both. But I do here good things about them and everyone has been raving about the new Seville L’Aube which I am awaiting my sample. We’ll see how that fares. And moldy basement is definitely not a good smell! btw, I love your gravatar pic, it makes me happy every time I see it! 🙂
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August 14, 2012 at 5:25 am
Greta the poodle and I thank you. My other one is my big poodle in the same glasses. Your gravatar is pretty adorable too. We used to get hound mixes from down south at the shelter I worked at. So cute.
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