Épices Volées / Arsène Lupin Voyou by Guerlain

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L'Art & La Matière

Épices Volées
Arsène Lupin Voyou
Guerlain 2010

7.3 / 10 174 Ratings

A perfume by Guerlain for men, released in 2010. The scent is spicy-woody. It is being marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Spicy

Woody

Sweet

Floral

Powdery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Coriander

Mugwort

Bergamot

Lemon

Heart Notes

Cardamom

Sage

Bulgarian rose Clove

Clove

Base Notes

Sandalwood Benzoin

Benzoin

Cistus

Patchouli

Perfumer

Jean-Paul Guerlain

Ratings

Scent

7.3174 Ratings

Longevity

6.9129 Ratings

Sillage

6.5123 Ratings

Bottle

7.8130 Ratings

Value for money

5.940 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro · last update on 12/04/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

In 2021, Arsène Lupin Voyou was renamed Épices Volées and became part of L'Art & La Matière collection.

The fragrance is part of the L'Art & La Matière collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Quasar Eau de Toilette

Reviews

13 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/20/2023

8.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Dixieland88
14 Reviews

Dixieland88

Helpful Review 8

Underrated spicy woody gem

Here are the comments, in a nutshell:

1) Blue fragrance: No.
2) Generic spicy men's fragrance: No.
3) Smells cheap: No.
4) Boring: No.

There is a reason Wasser renovated and kept this fragrance over others. Period.

This is a rich but understated sandalwood, spice and textured sawdust scent, with some classy freshness. I bought a 200 ml of this and have loved every spray.

This works in shorts and a polo, as well as it works in a tux. It's a tremendous accomplishment.

Ignore the hate, and give this thing a wearing. A full wearing. More than once.

I own the nearly the entire Lart and matiere collection, and I love many. This is a favorite reach.

9/10

04/13/2013

8Scent 5Longevity

Apicius
1328 Reviews

Apicius

5

Two Faces, Two Flacons

Arsène Lupin Voyou is not a flanker of Arsène Lupin. Both Jean Paul Guerlain fragrances were launched as twins at the same time. The original name of its brother was Arsène Lupin Dandy, and the idea behind it was to interpret the two sides of that gentleman thief we encounter in the novels by Maurice Leblanc: the dandy and the rascal. After a lost court case with the owners of d'Orsay, Guerlain had to call back all bottles of “Dandy” and relaunch it without the addition. So, the nice idea of twin fragrances is lost unless you know this story.

Two faces, two bottles: Dandy is a dark and noble chypre with a chocolate and violet touch, it is full of grandeur. The Voyou comes in a bottle with a blond wood frame instead of dark. It is nearby to say that Dandy is a character for the night whereas the Voyou is for the day.

Given the fact that J. P. Guerlain is indeed the perfumer of Voyou – which was doubted in the German review by Profumo - what thoughts may J.P. Guerlain have had in mind when he created Voyou? Where did he get his inspiration?

If a dandy is upper class, a voyou is not. I imagine this old gentleman strolling along the streets of Paris, trying to catch people's scents. Or simply dropping in to a Sephora or Marionnaud shop and find out what people buy. He may even have payed a visit to some of the banlieues where the less wealthy live. The result of such expeditions may have been the perception of a common man fragrance: it is woody-oriental.

The base of Arsène Lupin Voyou is a very common and widespread puristic woodiness usually described as sandalwood. It immediately gives you the impression of having smelled it numerous times before. J.P. Guerlain basically added something vanillic to it – benzoin, maybe some tonka, maybe vanilla – apparently attempting to give it a Guerlain touch. The vanillic side is nice and refined, however, something seems to be missing to call it Guerlinade. On the other hand, it is more to it than the usual sandalwood and tonka combo. Considering the price tag, one can only speak about understatement.

I do not see much development in Arsène Lupin Voyou. It is all about vanillic woods. I will not enumerate some of the many alternatives that could be found in the mass market, but within the Guerlain universe, the base notes of Cologne du 68 would come closest.

Just compare how many Parfumo users own Dandy, and how few own a bottle of Voyou. If people go for Guerlain, they are looking for grand air and visible elegance. With Voyou, Guerlain is imitating the mass market simply too much, and this is not accepted by customers who look at their exclusive lines.

12/26/2012

4Scent

Drseid
828 Reviews

Drseid

2

Swing And A Miss...

The scent starts off with a brief burst of bigarade that was probably the best part of the scent experience for me. That lasted maybe for a half minute before it turns into a semi-sweet powdery lavender vanilla and sandalwood mess. I am not the biggest fan of powdery scents, and Voyou is no exception. If you like powdery scents Voyou may appeal to you, but if powder is not your thing, my advice is to steer clear of this 2 star out of 5 miss.

10/26/2023

9.5Scent 9Longevity 7Sillage

Greenstreet
3 Reviews

Greenstreet

3

70s wooden sportsman

Guerlain Lupin Voyou gives to the dna of fragrances, nothing new. Its dna is simbol of many nice citrus sandalwood out there but so much sophisticated and gentler than mos of them. Opens with almost sweet citruses with hint of artemisia going to the heart of wooden rose and soft spices. The drydown is absolutely beautiful and if it wasnt note fetishers there absolutely wouldnt be bad call for this gent. The sandalwood done as it should be. Smooth, sexy, with hint of patchouli and benzoin. Subtle bit refined gentleman that doesnt need recognition, he stays true to himself

05/03/2022

BrianBuchanan
363 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

2

La nuit, tous les chats sont gris

This was originally named after Arsène Lupin, a ‘fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise’. [Wikipedia]
Épices Volées – which is Thierry Wasser’s update of the original – is a sweet-powdery (spicy) masculine, like a thousand others of the Chrome family and with no distinguishing features.
Which will be handy the next time you steal the diamond necklace from the dowager's hotel suite. Poirot won’t recognise your cologne from all the other bland non-entities and you won't get fingered for the crime...

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