Perfume Pen Pals: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Absolue Pour le Soir


Dan,

Steve at the Scent Bar asked me what my "Scent Concept" was going to be for my upcoming trip to London. The question was funny, and what was even funnier was that I was already working on one.

So far, I think I might be wearing Bruno Acampora Musc. When I've worn it lately, menfolk have piped up with an unsolicited "mmm...you smell good!". I want that "mmm!" response to enhance all my other concepts.

Katie


Katie,

I love "scent concept"! It intellectualizes and elevates the whole process of slapping on perfume. I wish I were more of a scent concept kind of person.

Dan


Dan,

Hey! I was at Neiman Marcus today, and Maison Francis Kurkdjian's CEO, Marc Chaya, was there to introduce two new scents released to celebrate MFK's first year anniversary.

They are "absolute" versions of Cologne Pour le Soir and Cologne Pour le Matin (which means they are EDPs instead of EDTs, with some different ingredients, said the handsome French fellow). Absolue Pour le Soir is now looking like a strong contender for my London Scent Concept.

I'd found the original Cologne Pour le Soir appealing, but ultimately too cloying, sweet and unchanging. But the Absolue version seems like what people are ultimately craving when they seek out something along the lines of Frédéric Malle Musc Ravageur: it is animalic, sensual, leathery and incensey.

Charlotte Rampling enjoys home-brewing her own Absolue PLS.

I really think Absolue PLS is the perfected version of Cologne Pour le Soir! (In fact, it sways a bit to the beat of Lutens' Musk Kublai Khan. Perhaps it's the feminine version of MKK?) I excitedly told CEO Marc that it smelled like a church in a zoo, and he laughed politely, probably wondering if he could catch an earlier flight back to Paris.

At the start, Absolue PLS is reminiscent of Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan: that aroma of warm, fragrant weeds and resins. Then it gets alarmingly bestial, but that tapers off a tad, turning into the powdery animal fur niff found in Parfumerie Generale L'Ombre Fauve. It also shares a “bad kitty” vibe with Miller Harris L'Air de Rien and Un Petit Rien.


Powdery bad kitty-bunny

But later, when J smelled Absolue PLS on me, his spontaneous proclamation was "Incense!" I quizzed him on the leather barnyard component, but husb shook his head and restated firmly, “Incense!” The incense is indeed emphatic, more so than in Cologne PLS. It's the billowy, smoky kind, not the piney, sappy kind.

Oh, and CEO dude said Francis K used the original Cologne ingredients (benzoin, rose honey and incense) as a springboard, and amped it up with ylang-ylang, cedar, cumin and sandalwood for the Absolue. He didn't mention woodland critters or sweaty leather, but you can certainly smell them lurking within.

Katie


Katie,

When you namecheck both Musc Ravageur and Ambre Sultan in describing Absolue Pour le Soir, I'm guessing it's not for me. After those two, it was hard for me to even finish the paragraph.

One encounter with Absolue PLS, and it's already in the running for your still-undecided London Scent Concept? Would I be taking too much credit if I believed my insanity was rubbing off on you a tiny bit?

Dan


Dan,

Hah -- I just re-read our earlier exchange on MFK Cologne Pour le Soir, and it's only ratcheted up my desire for the Absolue. I need to stop hanging around with me -- I'm a bad influence. And you wrote this:

It's sweet and sexy, with just a little rasp initially and then a soft undercurrent of earthiness.

Add to which, you said you'd be "pleased as Punch" to wear it. So now we've both retroactively talked me into getting the Absolue. Is that the insanity to which you refer?

Katie


Katie,

I take that back. I put Cologne Pour le Soir on again at 9 a.m. (wrong time, I know) and here we are at noon and I'm a little sickened. It's just so sweet. Not sleazy sweet in that men's cologne way, but more adult female sweet, and yet somehow too sweet and not enough female or adult. Like a fruitcake with a little rum in it. Which I don't like, the cake or the rum. Cologne Pour le Soir is simply something I don't like.

I bet I didn't talk you out of it, though, because it's much easier to talk both of us into things than to talk us out of things.

Dan


Dan,

What? Sorry, didn't catch that -- too busy huffing Absolue, and it's a real Absolu-lu! And I'm almost out of my sample now....

Katie

Absolue Parfum du Soir is available at $175 for 70 ml from Neiman Marcus and LuckyScent.com
Charlotte Rampling photo by Juergen Teller

15 comments:

  1. Katie, any time you describe a scent as something like "a church in a zoo", I know that it's time to make a mad dash and order a bottle unsniffed. The cologne/edt version was pretty, but, just not for me. Call me crazy, but it reminded me of a de-aldehyded version of Chanel No 22. And I like my No 22 with plenty of aldehydes. An odd comparison, I know.

    But take that same scent and add some funk to it? Wow! That really sounds like a must have. I agree with Dan. The original was a little too sweet for me, without enough, something, to counterbalance it.

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  2. Melissa, dash away! In the US, Absolue PLS only seems to be at Neiman Marcus at the moment, though Franco at Lucky Scent/Scent Bar thinks they'll have it in a couple weeks.

    Hmm! Chanel No. 22, eh? Verrrry interesting....

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  3. The Neiman Marcus near me (Tysons Galleria) recently rewarded our small band of perfumistas by first offering, then removing the Guerlain exclusives. Now, we have only a few interesting fragrances among the usual high-end department store perfumes. So I doubt that we will see the likes of Absolue PLS there. Perhaps I should waltz in and cut up my NM charge card on the Guerlain counter in a dramatic display of protest....

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  4. Melisa I was at the Galleria the other day. Our paths cross only in cyber space however.

    Katie, your description of the perfume as smelling like a church in a zoo is so descriptive that I don't have to smell it to know what it smells like. But from that comment I get incense and animals and maybe a whiff of straw-covered poo. While I fondly remember my time spent on my knees and secretly trying to suck in as much incense as I could each Sunday, I don't think that animal poo and fur and skin would do it for me. Pass.
    Meanwhile, looking forward to hearing about your exploits in London and wishing you much success while there. Ta!

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  5. Yeah m61, burn your bra while you're at it! Sit-in at the NM perfume counter -- call Security! What about Art With Flowers at the Galleria? Have never been, and wondered what their fume selection was like? There's no indication on their website.

    SoS, sounds like Francis Kurkdjian attended the same church you did. And the same zoo. But I should clarify that Absolue PLS is more about the animal pelt than the poo. Unless you spray with too heavy a hand, then all bets are off.

    Thanks for your well wishes on my London trip!

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  6. My personal LSC: a) visit as much fragrance counters as possible, b) spray on something I can't afford no matter how much I like it and c) smell good & smile.
    For a boy from the countryside, London is fragrance heaven.

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  7. I agree with Max about London being fragrance heaven, and for me (also coming from the sticks - some might say the Styx, given how disrespectful they are about Guerlain round these parts), the novelty and excitement of visiting such hallowed temples to perfumery as Harrods, Libertys and Les Senteurs a few times a year never palls.

    I haven't tried these Absolutes, but I found Cologne pour le Matin insanely soapy (at least to start with) and wondered if I had accidentally applied one of FK's detergent products.

    Dan's description of Cologne pour le Soir as fruit cake laced with rum is spot on - it wasn't for me at all. And Katie, while I most uncharacteristically find L'Ombre Fauve's "powdery animal fur niff" strangely beguiling, I don't think I will rush to try the Absolute PLS, if it is even half as "alarmingly bestial" as you suggest...

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  8. Ooh yes, London is fragrance heaven! All those shops you mentioned, along with The Avery, and the Amouage, Ormonde Jayne, Miller Harris and Annick Goutal stand-alone boutiques.

    flittersniffer, I'm on day 4 of non-stop Absolue PLS wearing, and I'm still loving myself in it. Even if critters in your perfume aren't your bag, it's worth checking it out the next time you do your London rounds as a frame of reference. MFK is carried at Space NK, too.

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  9. Sigh. I think I have a possibly unjustified crush on FK. I have only sampled a single fragrance: APOM pour femme. It is somehow different than others...strong but light weight, sheer long-lasting, exactly like laundry dt but somehow more sensual, banal yet compelling..etc etc. Somehow I have this concept in my mind that FK is some kind of mastery-lord who can create haunting skin sexiness. I won't get into any more details! But this maybe the one of which I dream.

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  10. cheryl, the FK crush is entirely justified, methinks. There's that sublime Lumiere Noire pour Femme, as well as Juliette Has a Gun Lady V and Miss C, Parfum MDCI Enlevement au Serail, and those sweet Indult treats.

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  11. flittersniffer, I've been wearing Cologne pour le Matin recently and, indeed, it smells extremely soapy, like there's a big dose of white musk in there and almost nothing to counterbalance the smooth, clean ride. But I understand cheryl's "banal yet compelling" comment. It's expertly done soap, not quite my thing but one of the best of this genre, sort of similar to Dior Cologne Blanche.

    I read Jacques Polge explaining (apologizing for?) Channel Bleu, and he said Americans don't want sensual, interesting ingredients, they want clean. It seems like much of the MFK line caters to this disinclination for the dirty. I like my country, but whenever an artist caters specifically to American tastes, the art suffers. So these new absolutes are promising and perhaps synonymous with the "director's cut" of a film.

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  12. Dear Katie:
    What is the 411 on Bruno Acampora, why so expensive? I am trying to find a place to check them out in NY, but so far I haven't. Are they worth the $$$$? Thanks in advance.

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  13. Fleurine, I sure don't know why those Bruno A's are so gosh-darned pricey! But I love the Musc, and I think it's in my top five favorite perfumes. That's the one from the line that grabs me. I'm still on my same little canister. I've been meaning to review it since forever.

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  14. Hi Katie,
    Thank you for your review.
    To my nose, Absolue Pour le Soir smells like dry honey. The very late drydown is similar to Tam Dao.
    Sillage seems to be strong, but I don't notice it.
    One friend told me it is animalic, another said it's incense, and a third one thinks it smells like in a shop that sells cheap candles.
    I'm really puzzled, but I think I will love this fragrance after a couple of wearings. It was the same with Shalimar EdP: first I hated it, now I'm an addict.

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  15. stephan - ooh, dry honey! You've sold me on Absolue PLS all over again.

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