Philosykos Diptyque 1996 Eau de Toilette

Philosykos (Eau de Toilette) by Diptyque

Bottle Design:
Servaire&Co

See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

See Prices

8.0 / 10 1170 Ratings

A popular perfume by Diptyque for women and men, released in 1996. The scent is green-fresh. It is being marketed by Manzanita Capital.
Pronunciation

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Green

Fresh

Fruity

Woody

Creamy

Fragrance Notes

Fig

Fig leaf

Fig wood

Black pepper

Perfumer

Olivia Giacobetti

Ratings

Scent

8.01170 Ratings

Longevity

6.2929 Ratings

Sillage

6.0917 Ratings

Bottle

8.0883 Ratings

Value for money

6.6530 Ratings

Submitted by DirkDS, last update on 08/18/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Philosykos Eau de Parfum

Philosykos Parfum Solide

Philosykos Huile Parfum

Premier Figuier Eau de Toilette

Fico Nero

Debaser Eau de Parfum

Reviews

44 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/01/2013

10
Bottle 5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 7
Scent

JManDave
10 Reviews

JManDave

Helpful Review 6

Fig/Coconut Goodness - EDP

This review is for the EDP concentration. I want to add my voice to the group praising Philosykos, this was my entry to Diptyque, and based on its strength I suspect I'll be adding some more through this season.

Thanks to the previous reviews, I knew I'd be in for a nice treat when I went to smell this one; and a treat it was! I haven't tried any of the other fig-based frags yet, so maybe they just all smell this good, but this was a very welcome change-up from the usual cologne offerings.

What I read on the open is a very fresh, fruity (fig), leafy top. This part is fantastic, and lasted around 30 minutes. I noticed that the fig retreated a bit after that and the coconut note came a bit more to the forefront afterward, providing a counterbalancing scent, as well as just a touch of sweetness. Based on other reviews, it seems that the EDT may have a more pronounced fig note, just as an FYI, but fig is definitely noticeable in the EDP as well.

This one did evolve some during the heart and drydown, but never resorting to the tried-and-true powdery or musky notes I get in so many other scents - which can be boring. I honestly think I'd have a hard time describing this drydown precisely, because it's well-blended. In any event, it evolved "nicely", I'll settle for that.

I know the "natural-smelling" catch-phrase is overused, but this one definitely strikes my nose as being more like something I'd smell outdoors in the Summer, than something that comes out of a beaker. Scent-wise it's top-shelf.

Given that the concentration on this bottle is EDP, it had the expected, to maybe slightly less longevity, sillage and projection than I'd expect. It wore fine, but it's not a beast by any stretch. Probably 5 hrs good wear for me on the first couple of wearings in hot Houston, TX weather.

The scent is unisex to slightly feminine, I'd say. No issues pulling it off, I think in a casual scenario any guy could, really. However, much to my dismay the GF didn't like this at all. Which was surprising, because she likes fresh/sweetish scents normally, likes coconut, and she's part Greek. Silly me, I figured this would be a homerun - just a word to the guys who are looking for a date day/night frag - this one might need GF approval first :)

I wouldn't recommend this for workplace wear, it sure presents itself as a personal, casual scent.

Recommended, and highly enough that I will be back at the Diptyque counter again, smelling some of the other little gems.

09/14/2020

9
Bottle 5
Sillage 5
Longevity 8.5
Scent

Itchynose
41 Reviews

Itchynose

Helpful Review 6

The Rite of Spring

There is a fig tree in my back garden that keeps me busy all year round. Branches grow and extend all over the place and regardless of how many I manage to chop one year twice as many will take their place the following season.

During spring the garden is taken over by bees and bugs and in late summer, once the figs start dropping from the branches like hand grenades the insects multiply. Any attempt at gardening will leave me bitten, stung and with plenty of decomposing fig pulp stuck to my soles.

In autumn the massive fig leaves have turned brown and started to fall, waiting for the rain that will turn them into a wet and musty blanket all over the floor. Before winter arrives the last gardening tasks of the year are completed in preparation for the cycle to start again only a few months later.

Philosykos brings me back to this garden every time I spray it: I can smell the wet leaves, the wood and branches as they go through the seasons: very green and fresh during the spring-like opening, more woody as the scent evaporates with the summer heat and almost earthy during the autumn-like drydown. It smells clean, transparent and natural but also at times milky with an almost rubbery feeling, bringing to mind sticky sap. Since the fragrance recreates the entire tree and not just the fruit it remains a perfectly unisex fragrance throughout, light and easy to wear by anyone almost all year round.

One day I wlil move to another place and no longer have a fig tree to keep me busy throughout the year but I will always keep a decant or two of Philosykos to bring those memories back.

07/19/2013

8
Scent

Quarry
5 Reviews

Quarry

Helpful Review 4

Cheery + Calming = Comforting

I am so attracted to fragrances with green notes that I often overlook the green qualities that every other reviewer mentions in their first sentence. Philosykos green? I hadn’t noticed. I think of Thymes Fig Leaf & Cassis or Jo Malone Wild Fig & Cassis as green, but Philosykos? To me it's all about being creamy, creamy, creamy fig (with fig being incomparable to any other scent except perhaps that of dates). The coconut adds sweetness without announcing itself individually. Philosykos runs fairly linearly, yet never strikes me as boring, which even the illustrious Lutens Feminité de Bois can be for me. The scent doesn’t throw far from the skin and is so subtle as to possibly be perceived by passersby only subliminally. I would wear Philosykos in regular rotation if my husband weren’t put off by fig in any formulation.

02/01/2014

Steve0580
31 Reviews

Steve0580

Helpful Review 3

Good but Weak

This is a fragrance where there is a huge difference between the EDT and EDP. I couldn't stand the EDT but love the EDP. I started out sampling but ended up buying a full bottle of the EDP.

I'm going to admit that I don't really know what a fig smells like. I do know what coconut smells like and I don't get a heavy coconut smell out of this. It must be mixed very well, because neither the fig or coconut is overpowering.

What I do smell is a VERY green fragrance. It reminds me of the smell of breaking open a new green branch on a maple tree in the spring.

The fragrance is good but unfortunately, at least on me, it suffers sillage and longevity problems. Even with 6 or so sprays of the EDP, it's a soft fragrance with only moderate longevity. I bought it direct from the Diptyque website, so I'm sure it's not counterfeit and I highly doubt that it's old stock - it's just the way the fragrance is.

If you like a soft, green fragrance with moderate longevity, buy it but as far as I'm concerned, I won't rebuy based on how weak it is.

04/01/2024

10
Pricing 10
Bottle 9
Sillage 9
Longevity 7.5
Scent

Whimssysteph
13 Reviews

Whimssysteph

Helpful Review 4

Popular for good reason, but beware: it might not be your cup of tea

Philosykos is very realistic and captures the feeling of eating a ripe fig while sitting on fresh grass underneath a giant fig tree. You get the fruit, pulp and peel and juice and all, plus the thick, almost gritty green leaves, a bit of the wood and bark, and even a hint of the dirt under the roots. This is how a squirrel or a bird experiences a tree redolent with ripe, juicy figs. The reason this perfume stays in such high demand despite how relatively odd it is, especially compared to other popular perfumes, even in niche.

To me, it is a bit *too* realistic. It lacks something that would make it a scent I would like to wear on my body. I can recognize the craft that went into making it, and I can recognize how spot-on it is. It smells exactly like walking out onto my back deck when I lived next door to a massive, decades-old fig tree that was beloved by the local squirrels and raccoons. In the mornings, there'd be partly eaten figs all over the ground and the deck, and this is a concentrated version of that smell. If it were sweeter or maybe a little more floral I would like to smell this on myself, but as it stands it is a beautiful piece of fragrant art I would like to smell on others. It smells divine on my husband, even though I would say this is truly unisex since it just smells like a tree on a sunny day.

If you have never experienced Philosykos, I would highly recommend it, as it gives a deeper glimpse into the art of perfumery. To my mind, it is a singular scent experience. I personally love fig notes so I am always happy when I get to sample this just for the sake of understanding fig perfumes better, but I will stick with scents that employ the fig as a motif rather than showing me the life cycle of a fig, from branch to dirt to return again.

More reviews