Perfume Pen Pals: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Cologne Pour le Soir


Katie,

Luca Turin/Tania Sanchez often write that when a perfumer simultaneously releases multiple fragrances, only one of them is any good. I'm thinking that might be the case with these Maison Francis Kurkdjians, a line for which I originally had high hopes. (I've admittedly not yet tried the two Pour Femmes.)

The one that works is Cologne Pour le Soir, though it only works independently of me because it's obviously not my bag. But I can still tell it works because, well, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe I've developed an empathetic nose. Because I can tell you'd be pleased as Punch to wear it.

It's sweet and sexy, with just a little rasp initially and then a soft undercurrent of earthiness. Though now that I think about it, it might refer back to a previous stop in your perfume journey. (My empathetic nose isn't good with timelines. Or geography.) Try it and tell me.

Dan


Dan,

Nathan Branch urged me to try this one when we were in NYC last month. I immediately liked it, finding it a sheer, spiced-herb oriental somewhat reminiscent of Estée Lauder Youth Dew Amber Nude, with a really appealing "barnyard-lite" niff that floats through the mix.

But when I smelled it again at Scent Bar, I still got "barnyard-lite, but couldn't recapture "spiced-herb". I realized then it was all about benzoin running the amber/incense/rose show, here.

I did a full whore's bath with it in the middle of the store, no mean feat, since the place was packed for Andy Tauer's Orange Star show-and-tell. It was remarkable how these typically "thick" ingredients ponged so gently into the air after a hefty spray. Mr Kurkdjian certainly has a deft touch.

However, it gets a little borderline cloyingly sweet after a spell, in the same way Guerlain Bois d’Arménie or Serge Lutens Chergui do.

I was about to say that it's no wonder Nathan likes Cologne Pour le Soir, since he's a benzoin bunny, but then I remembered that he actually describes himself as a "Tonka bean fanboy". Are you the benzoin bunny?

Katie


Katie,

I don't know if I'm a benzoin bunny because I don't know what benzoin smells like. But I doubt I am because I'm convinced Cologne Pour le Soir doesn't work for me. Everything is a little sweet and quiet, like a shy schoolgirl who isn't yet comfortable with the sound of her own voice. And then it just disappears.

Still, it seems right for someone. I wouldn't have guessed that someone is Nathan considering his appreciation for the unconventional, but it sounds like he might just like it the way I like it, as something to be passed on to someone else.

Dan


Dan,

I thought you'd be Benzoin Bunny Number One because benzoin is a bit vanillic and a bit leathery/animalic.

Katie


Katie,

This is where you lost me on our respective perfume journeys. I not only don't know that benzoin smells "a bit vanillic and a bit leathery/animalic," I don't know exactly how you know. What do I own that even features benzoin? Bulgari Black? Some of those recent masculine leathers I bought, like Pascal Morabito Or Black or Olivier Dubano Black Tourmaline or Humiecki & Graef Askew?

Hmm, maybe instead of whining, I'll try to learn. (A quick LuckyScent search tells me of the LS perfumes I own, only Eau d'Italie Paestum Rose and Etat Libre d'Orange Rossy de Palma feature benzoin. And that's simply not enough to proclaim myself a benzoin bunny.)

Dan


Dan,

Turns out there is benzoin in your Or Black. And benzoin is what gives Papier d'Arménie its distinctive smell, which inspired Guerlain Bois d'Arménie.

Katie


Katie,

I just burned a Papier d'Arménie strip (I had only been sticking them places -- they seem plenty potent unlit) and, wow, that's nice. Maybe I am a benzoin bunny. Wait, how did this start? What had benzoin? Oh yeah, Cologne Pour le Soir.

This smells differently than that, deeper, richer, more ancient. Though there was that old earthy smell that rose up from beneath during its development. Maybe that's the benzoin. Okay, I'm an undecided bunny. (And, honestly, in this case, I'd prefer the whole bunny part be dropped.)

Dan

11 comments:

  1. Very educational! I wonder what kind of "bunny" I am - I love green chypres and heavy white florals equally. Perhaps the Indecisive Bunny? :-)

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  2. I'm the oriental floral fangirl, I guess! But trying to move away from that category...

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  3. I do like Cologne pour le Soir with its rich, enveloping cuddliness. Although like you, I find it too caloric for my tastes after a little while. Same with Chergui, although oddly, I don't have this problem with Bois d'Armenie, Cuir Beluga or even the iris and buttercream frosting-straight-out-of-the-can Iris Ganache.

    So, I'm a Guerlain fan-girl, but not a bunny, because something about their twitching noses and blank stares creeps me out. Kinda like my reaction to clowns. Which is too bad, because theoretically, they are very cute. Bunnies, not clowns.

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  4. Benzoin can be purchased as an essential oil FOR A SONG. It smells as you say....a woody vanilla with leather. It is suave. You can burn it..or wear it directly on your skin. In the past, I've worn it to perfume-hostile work environments because it doesn't read as FRAGRANCE. And folks discreetly whisper..."you smell so good!" So, there perfume haters! It won't satisfy a need for complexity and is not a carnival ride. But..it's cool.

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  5. Flora, who would've thought something educational could have snuck into our idiotic pen pal exchanges?

    pklagrange - oh, but what a big and luscious category it is!

    m61, not only had I never considered bunnies unnerving, but now you're lumping bunny terror in with clown terror? What's left in the cute, non-terrifying category?

    Cologne Pour le Soir is REALLY good, but I do want it to "stop" just at the point where it morphs into a long hum of sweetness. In my head I've invented a perfume doorstop that you wedge into the scent at its optimum personal deliciousness.

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  6. noahc, what a marvelous idea! Where do find your favorite benzoin EO? Can you buy at a Whole Foods or similar, or do you order from a perfume oil supplier?

    And that tip for fume-o-phobe environments is a goody!

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  7. How did I miss this exchange (and my newfound title of Benzoin Bunny)?!! Oh, right, I was out gallavanting in Europe. See what happens when you gallavant? You miss things, like people talking about you . . . and your alleged proclivity for the bunny hop.

    So I find I have to admit to being guilty as charged, and on both accounts! I'm a Tonka Bean Fanboy *and* a Benzoin Bunny. Put Tonka Bean and Benzoin both into the same fragrance and heart beats go all erratic, dimensions intersect and universes implode.

    Though maybe that's just me?

    And yes to Dan's astute insight that I like Cologne Pour le Soir for other people, not myself (even though it's got benzoin, I find myself reacting much the same way as Katie did, vainly searching for the perfume doorstop about halfway through). But what I *do* like in the Kurkdjian lineup is APOM Pour Homme, with its delicate orange blossom, amber and anise trio.

    I have a sneaking hunch that Mr. Kurkdjian snuck some tonka and/or benzoin into that "amber" . . .

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  8. Nathan, Dan is nothing if not astute, and you are nothing if not a gallivanter. You're astute, too, but perhaps less so when you're gallivanting, which is why you came to this post later.

    I like your "perfume doorstop" concept. When are these going into production?

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  9. Wait -- I could swear I got the "perfume doorstop" concept from you. But now that I've revisited the post, I don't see it anywhere! Was it on another post? Am I hallucinating Puckrik witticisms?

    And why (oh why!) is there not an "edit" function for comments so that I could go back and correct my misspellings of "gallivanting" . . . ?! I hate that about teh interwebs.

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  10. I think the perfume doorstop came from the Gardena Petale exchange which included some really I love this but I hate this fragrances.

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  11. Well, I do hope I get to claim credit for "perfume doorstop", but I can't recall where it first cropped up.

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