A few months ago, I was invited by the UK edition of Cosmopolitan magazine to be a judge for their first-ever fragrance awards. The contenders were a grab bag of recent mainstream releases of varying distinction, along with an eclectic mix of favorites in the men and women’s “classic” categories.
It was entertaining and educational to plow through evaluations of 50+ bottles of perfume. There’s nothing an inveterate “checker” like me relishes more than comparing and contrasting, making notes and assigning ratings.
During the process, I enjoyed getting to know some previously unsnorted men’s scents, like Donna Karan Fuel for Men (intensely desiccated fruit and ashy leather) and Lalique White Pour Homme (bergamot and peppery cedar wood on a cushion of amber).
But there was one masculine offering that completely blew my fume fuse box: Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent. On my low-to-high, one-to-ten chart, Kouros was an instant “10”, and my favorite fragrance in the entire selection. Right out of the matte white ceramic bottle -- a futuristic Greek column circa Shatner-era Star Trek -- this 1981 warhorse stood and delivered.
This eau de toilette is a fiercely billowy incense, with camphoraceous notes and more than a soupçon of raunch. It shoots out of the canon with a salvo of spices -- clove gives it an emphatic snap. Then almost immediately, it envelops you in an animalic, powdery cloud.
Kouros fills the air like steam from a gushing hot water tap in a fancy old European hotel bathroom. An unfamiliar bathroom fogged with ghosts of all the other guests who’ve used it before you. And here’s where Kouros really starts to throb -- with vigor and borderline TMI.
The powdery cloud becomes mossy, physical -- some say brutishly masculine. On my skin, Kouros pulses with humanity. The composition of spicy florals, citrus, resins and musk smells distinctly lived-in, but still elegant. The vibration between civet, honey and florals (carnation and geranium are listed) evokes the smell of a sudsed-up inner thigh. Ooh, missus!
And Kouros does strike me as specifically “European”. It’s louche and aspirationally “foreign”. Or at the very least, not “American”: factory-sealed, sanitized for your sterile pleasure.
The genie in this bottle is muscular and scenery chewing. Many who’ve tried Kouros -- particularly younger guys accustomed to today’s ozonic, sweet, or fruity colognes -- find its ripeness repulsive. It doesn’t smell literally of sweat, or piss, or...um...”night soil”, but there is truly something of the essence of a human being inside every bottle of Kouros.
People who are yakked out by Kouros are putting too much on. It’s like the color red: wear it head to toe and you’ll look like a walking wiener. (Wear too much Kouros, and you’ll smell like one.) But wear just a dash, and it will add life to your whole gig.
Go easy on the trigger finger, though, because a little Kouros will live on your skin forever. Even with my modest application, I could still smell it eight hours later -- musky but oxymoronically fresh!
With Kouros, perfumer Pierre Bourdon created a remarkable tug of war between good hygiene and bad behavior. It’s a lion and a lamb: a slight bitterness, a pervading sweetness. It’s dirty, but also soapy. Kouros plays tricks on my head -- and takes my body on an enjoyably rough ride.
Kouros is available at Perfume.com and FragranceNet.com, from $38 for 50 ml
Photo: Brando by Avedon
16 comments:
Katie: Yippee!! A Kouros review! You are so totally right about it being both soapy and dirty. Sometimes I wear it and I smell fresh and clean, and other times I smell like the kitty peed on my sweater. Sometimes the ripeness is just this side of repulsive; it never crosses the line but gets awfully close. It's one of THOSE fragrances that smells different on different wearings for me -- you, however, seem to be able to straddle dirty and soapy in the same wearing. Envious! I do love the musk in the drydown.
Wishing you very Happy Holidays! --Scott
Yes! I do love that drydown musk too -- it's that slept-in sheets smell -- not unclean, exactly, but not washed, fluffed and folded into sterility.
Happy snappy hols to you too, Scott!
Katie -- I always thought Kouros would be a winner on female skin. It's daring and spicy and with just that slight touch of powdery freshness that suggest a female reporter conducting interviews in the post-game men's locker room.
I'm happy to hear that you were bowled over by it. It really is something special -- Chandler Burr insists that it smells dated and past its prime, but with the sudden trendiness of smoky, spicy, cumin-laced oud scents, Kouros could experience a popular resurgence.
Nathan, right on the button, bucko! "Female reporter...in the post game men's locker room." I can smell it from here!
Y'know, having never smelled Kouros until a few months ago, I don't have any association with it smelling "80s" or "dated". I just thought "mmm, incense and sensual body smells!", which as you rightly point out, is as "à la oud mode" as you can be.
This is one of my favourite 'fumes! Dirty and clean, with more than a hint of those naptha blocks used in gents urinals. Fantastic. Great to see you reviewing one of the few real male scents out there. Yatagan comes a close second, but is a tad too refined.My other half loves Kouros on me so much that we actually agreed that I am not to wear it when we have arranged to go out. It's that raunchy! You have got to be in your forties to get away with this one as well. Pure alpha male territory. Screw your aquatics and woody ambers, this is proper scenting!
Stephen - Yeah Cool Water and Givenchy Play, eat my urinal cake! Heh.
Being of the lady variety, I don't have urinal cake associations with Kouros, but it is mesmerizingly manly.
You like Kouros! A 10! Woo-hoo! Hey, Dimitrios - we got Katie Puckrik on board the Kouros train!
Seriously - overjoyed, because it's just one more reason I know why I can trust your reviews! :)
(Smiling shyly, kicking an invisible rock) Aw shucks, RP - all I did was tell it like I smelled it.
Goodness. This is, without doubt, your best fragrance review to date, Katie. Totally brilliant. And now I properly understand why Kouros was my adolescent scent of choice.
Strangely, somebody mentioned Kouros during a conversation over Boxing Day dinner and I immediately launched into an overly-enthusiastic monologue on its very special, enduring appeal and its apparent resurgence in popularity. When I described it as "like entering a steamy bathroom after a big, burly man has just finished some rather inefficient ablutions" there was a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"More beef?" proffered the host.
"Exactly!" I said, a little too pleased with myself.
Too funny, Andrew! Way to make a tableful of holiday overeaters regret their impending inefficient ablutions.
And thanks for the props.
Brilliant, brilliant review of Kouros, one of the most misunderstood fragrances today due to the men's market being saturated with noisy screeching citrus affairs.
Every time I spray this on it just takes my breath away. I know I won't smell like any other guy that day as they'll all be wearing something 'fresh' or 'energetic' or 'sporty'.
Kouros is timeless and somehow 'out of joint'. It'll never quite fit in and yet it towers over most men's fragrances like a god on Olympus
Thanks, RogueMax. Yes, there's no real context for Kouros these days. Long may it tower!
Your review of Kouros made me buy it blind (well, with a gift card) online. I am so sick of men's fragrances boring me to tears with their aquatic-sporty-sheer blandness or sweet-woody sterility that I've started wearing some of the powerhouse stuff from the '70s and '80s that most guys my age wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. Everything I've heard about Kouros - rapture, revulsion, and all shades in between - makes me itch to smell it, and I can't find it at any YSL counter where I live. (They keep pushing L'Homme o on me, the beige wallpaper of men's fragrances.) Here's hoping I love it as much as you do.
Yes, Darryl! You are in for a scent adventure for sure. I can't think of any other fragrance in the world that smells like Kouros.
@Darryl I feel exactly the same way. I was given L'Homme as a gift when it first came out in 2006 and it was only then that I actually developed a real interest in fragrance simply due to its phenomenal blandness. I was determined to discover something that I actually truly liked rather than was expected to like by marketing men. I don't think its (and all the associated wannabes like Adventure by Davidoff) a really terrible scents ..but it is just a completely unexceptional smell. Totally inoffensive and, to my nose, doesn't really smell of anything in particular. I'm not looking for some ethereal experience with every fragrance but they should at least have a pulse!
Kouros is one of those fragrances that makes me feel special when I wear it. It makes even the greyest of days (and there are plenty of them in London I can assure you) something of an ocassion.
Habit Rouge is currently having a similar effect on me. Its actually changing the way I dress. Its so smart, elegant and refined I had to at least wear a fine cotton shirt and a solid pair of English leather shoes to match its sophistication.
Give Kouros time. I did not understand it at first. I suspect if you already have a penchant for 70s and 80s 'powerhouses' you will have no problem realising what makes it such a winner. The civet note seems to polarise people. If you find yourself initially recoiling, don't give up. Let it settle and develop. Its very strong. For me just 1 spray to the chest is usually enough. Enjoy.
Love your insights and advice, RogueMax. "Something with a pulse" is a good way to put it. And Habit Rouge is such a joy, isn't it? Uplifting and comforting at the same time.
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