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Absolutes

Absolute Aphrodisiac Initio 2015

8.1 / 10 1281 Ratings

A popular perfume by Initio for women and men, released in 2015. The scent is sweet-gourmand. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Sweet

Gourmand

Spicy

Animal

Creamy

Fragrance Notes

Vanilla

Amber

Musk

Castoreum

White blossoms

Ratings

Scent

8.11281 Ratings

Longevity

8.01150 Ratings

Sillage

7.41145 Ratings

Bottle

8.31083 Ratings

Value for money

6.5811 Ratings

Submitted by ExUser, last update on 10/30/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Absolutes collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

King of Flowers Extrait de Parfum

Promises, Promises

Sultan

gs02

Ruby

Aphrodisiac

Reviews

67 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/19/2023

10Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

OudKnow
3 Reviews

OudKnow

Helpful Review 9

Immediately yes

Dang, I feel bad for anyone who gets an overpowering animalic note because all I get are wild, passionate compliments about how incredible I smell while wearing this. Legit, my favorite perfume at the moment. A dreamy and ridiculously sexy chocolate vanilla with an undertone of pure desire. When people compliment me wearing it, this fragrance makes me feel like I should say you’re welcome instead of thank you

04/01/2024

7Scent

Telekinec
497 Reviews

Telekinec

Helpful Review 5

Deep animalic note topped with a sweet, airy vanilla

I'm guessing I'm not an animalic note lover as I clearly don't get the hype surrounding this perfume. In short, it smells like someone tried to cover his BO by spraying vanilla scented air freshner over themselves.

Castoreum comes out animalic and almost bitter on my skin. It's deep and pungent. Fortunately, it ends up tempering down as the perfume moves along. Vanilla could've been beautiful as it's paired with musk and amber, but that castoreum note just kills it for me. There's a hint of powderiness at the edge of the scent which doesn't add to my enjoyment of this fragrance. I think I've smelled this perfume on strangers before and it's not better on my skin. I do have to admit that castoreum ends up blending a bit better after the one hour mark by becoming deeper, less bitter. Makes the vanilla feel airy, but deep and complex at the same time. If only castoreum hadn't come out swinging right at the start, maybe I would've loved it more.

At least I can say I tried it before dissing on it. More money to my wallet, I guess.

10/02/2021

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

DalilaB
26 Reviews

DalilaB

Helpful Review 4

Absolute win

As I have few chances to sample fragrances, I tend to make a note of fragrances to watch/ try. Then once a month, I make a bee line for them and binge sniff! On one such occasion, I managed to try most of the initios offerings. I disliked none of them but few of them stood out for me. Absolute aphrodisiac was simply a win, it ticked all the boxes. It was a balsamic, creamy amber to my nose. It smelled somehow familiar though I couldn’t recall what it reminded me of. I did struggle with castoreum in other fragrances but it didn’t bother me this time. It is a very inviting and intimate perfume and I would highly recommend it for balsamic fragrance lovers.

04/25/2025

7.5Scent

lucekingg
151 Reviews

lucekingg

4

Dirty Vanilla Ice Cream

I got a sample of this through DecantHouse and like many others who have tried this I'm picking up a really nice vanilla ice cream but the castoreum adds a dirty animalic note. Dirty isn't necessarily bad here; it comes across as a sort of spicy note but it's still animalic and it works really well with the vanilla ice cream. I don't see myself pulling the trigger on a full-size bottle of this but I'm glad I have a little bit in my collection because I do really like this and can see how this got its name.

07/11/2024

7Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Musicandarts
227 Reviews

Musicandarts

4

A generic vanilla amber perfume that is not worth the cost.

This review is based on an original sample vial I bought from a US grey market seller. Absolute Aphrodisiac is a nice amber vanilla perfume. The peppery amber feels a bit like Ambre Sultan from Serge Lutens, but doused with vanilla. I don’t find anything aphrodisiac in this perfume.

The opening notes are a peppery amber and vanilla, a little bit too generic for my tastes. Once the opening notes settle, the musk and castoreum become perceptible. This is not a drastic transition because the heart notes have the same personality as the opening notes. The base notes and dry down is just a diminished set of notes already seen in opening and heart notes. There is no surprise lurking around the corner.

Initio perfumes are known for their longevity and sillage. Absolute Aphrodisiac is no exception. I can smell the vanilla and castoreum for 4-6 hours on my skin. Most notes are still detectable in the dry down for 10-12 hours. The sillage is mid-range, perceptible a few feet downwind. It doesn’t project a lot.

In summary, Absolute Aphrodisiac is a rather generic off-the-shelf designer fragrance, in spite of its high-end niche provenance. In my opinion, the brand, the intriguing name and the exclusivity associated with the price are the key drivers of the popularity of this perfume. This is not for me.

I am not sure if there is any perfume from Initio Parfums Privé that I would end up buying. There is some aura and exclusivity associated with an expensive brand, but the perfumes don’t really merit the accolades they garner. I have tried Absolute Aphrodisiac, Rehab and Oud for Greatness so far. They are all good, but not great. And, definitely not worth the price they charge!

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