Jean Paul Gaultier · 2025

Le Male Elixir Absolu

Mid-range$$, 2 of 5
Jean Paul Gaultier asks about $145 for 125 ml
125 mlabout $145

The houseFor men

VersionParfum Intense

Lavender over juicy plum, with a cool minty edge, settling onto sweet tonka bean.

A shop’s page says

You’ll smell lavender, plum and Tonka Bean.

The shop’s page

Press one to keep this perfume on your shelf.

The drawn Le Male Elixir Absolu bottle

When you spray ittop notes

As it settlesheart notes

What staysdry-down notes

Le Male Elixir Absolu’s scent picture, a draft: lavender, plum, tonka (coumarin), bergamot, patchouli, mint drawn so far; dashed outlines where nothing is drawn yet

When you spray ittop notes

Le Male Elixir Absolu, when you spray it: Lavender, Bergamot, Mint

As it settlesheart notes

Le Male Elixir Absolu, as it settles: Plum, Geraniol (rose), Cinnamal (cinnamon)

What staysdry-down notes

Le Male Elixir Absolu, what stays: Tonka (coumarin), Patchouli, Iso E Super (pencil shavings on velvet), Vanillin (vanilla), Galaxolide (musk)

What’s inside it

What a shop’s page names

LavenderPlumTonka Bean

What the label names

27 scent ingredients on the label, familiar names first.

A label must name certain ingredients, most of them ones that can cause allergies; some houses print more. It is never the whole recipe.

5 citrus10 herbs & lavender4 florals2 woods2 sweet2 spices1 musks1 powder

Citrus5

Bergamot oilLimonenoTerpinoleneCitralalpha-Terpinene

Herbs & lavender10

Lavender oilSpearmint oilPineneSclareolMentholCamphorLinalyl acetateLinalolCarvoneTerpineol

Florals4

Rose ketonesGeranyl acetateGeraniol (rose) (rose)Farnesol

Woods2

Patchouli oilIso E Super (pencil shavings on velvet)

Sweet2

Vanillin (vanilla)Coumarin (new-mown hay)

Spices2

beta-CaryophylleneCinnamal (cinnamon)

Musks1

Galaxolide (musk)

Powder1

alpha-Isomethyl ionone (powder puff)
10 more lines on the label, not there for the smell

Not for the smell10

AlcoholWaterAvobenzone (a UV filter)A light stabiliserBenzyl benzoateYellow 5Red 4Ext. violet 2Blue 1Benzyl alcohol

The label, as printed on the house’s page

Wearers say

Smells like it

For about the same

1 Million LuckyRabanne · Many of its own wearers say it smells like Le Male Elixir Absolu$126 for 100 ml · about the same as Le Male Elixir Absolu’s about $145Its notes add hazelnut and cedar and leave out lavender and tonka.

What wearers say, set beside the price each house asks. Noses differ.

Our match of the notes

Shares its notes

Opus XIV Royal TobaccoAmouage · shares lavender, plum and tonka$395 for 100 ml
Asad BourbonLattafa · shares lavender and plumabout $32 for 100 ml · about a quarter of Le Male Elixir Absolu’s about $145
Bad Boy CobaltCarolina Herrera · shares lavender and plum$204 for 150 ml · about the same as Le Male Elixir Absolu’s about $145
More from Jean Paul Gaultier19 more perfumes

Matched by the notes each house names. A shared note is not a promise they smell alike.