Aqua Universalis Forte by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

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Aqua

Aqua Universalis Forte Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2011

7.4 / 10 480 Ratings

A perfume by Maison Francis Kurkdjian for women and men, released in 2011. The scent is fresh-floral. It is being marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Fresh

Floral

Citrus

Green

Aquatic

Fragrance Notes

Sicilian citron

Egyptian jasmine absolute

Musky notes

Calabrian bergamot Freesia

Freesia

Lily of the valley

Green notes

Moroccan rose absolute

Orange blossom Cedar

Cedar

Perfumer

Francis Kurkdjian

Ratings

Scent

7.4480 Ratings

Longevity

7.4397 Ratings

Sillage

6.6391 Ratings

Bottle

8.1377 Ratings

Value for money

5.9139 Ratings

Submitted by VERIT · last update on 02/20/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Aqua collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Aqua Universalis Eau de Toilette

724 Eau de Parfum

Love In White

Acqua Bravata

Radikal Water Lily

The Poplin Shirt

Reviews

26 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/01/2013

4Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Coutureguru
237 Reviews

Coutureguru

4

Monkey see, monkey do ...

A good friend of mine wears Narciso Rodriguez for Her EDP as her signature and has done since its release in 2006, which happens to be a Kurkdjian/Nagel collaboration. My immediate reaction to applying Aqua Universalis Forte was ... "oooh ... I know this fragrance!".

Now ... I know that the note pyramids between the two are quite different and only display two common ingredients, Musk and Orange Blossom. It seems, however, that M.Kurkdjian has used raw materials here sourced from exactly the same place as those used in NR for Her. There is an undeniable commonality between the two with the Musk and Orange Blossom being the overwhelming olfactory leaders in both fragrances.
Aqua Universalis Forte lacks a certain creaminess evident in the NR, and by the dry down has sufficiently shuffled off its similarity, but not completely.
To review this Kurkdjian offering on its own merits is proving difficult for me as I abhor Musk and have never enjoyed any of the NR fragrances. The trademark hespiridic crispness is evident here, as it is in many other Kurkdjian creations ... but as I sojourn through my samples from this house I am finding more and more that a number of the fragrances are based on his extensive body of work for other houses. To be fair, I only have 8 samples ... but the nagging fear remains.
The death knell for this offering is that it made me sneeze ... very few fragrances do that as I have an iron cast proboscis!

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Aqua Universalis Forte.

04/24/2014

10Scent

Laurdess
1 Review

Laurdess

6

Acqua Universalis Forte

I think this is what Jesus must smell like. Its VERY floral to be called a unisex scent (at least that is my opinion) But it dries down so fresh and lasts for hours. The main issue with it... is the price tag. Its close to 300$ here in America and wow is that TOO much.

11/16/2013

6Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Tar
261 Reviews

Tar

3

Aqua - yes / Universalis - not / Forte - yes

I sampled together AQUA UNIVERSALIS and AQUA UNIVERSALIS FORTE, and I like both, but I am not going to buy them.

The top-heart transition is quite surprising here: at the beginning I feel water, big mass of pure water (bergamot?), and afterwards the jasmine and lily is suddenly forthlumbering, like an avalanche, a crazy giant snow slide. I would say, that AQUA UNIVERSALIS FORTE contains too much flower (oxymoron, I know), changing these blossoms to rose, A.U.F. would get a nice place in the house of LE PARFUMS DE ROSINE. In comparison to other M. Kurkdjian fragrances, this one is different, although water is presence in other creations of this house as well.

12/19/2012

6Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Drseid
828 Reviews

Drseid

2

Grows On You, But Not Enough...

Aqua Universalis Forte opens with a fresh lemon-like bergamot blast which hangs around through the entire scent's duration with the jasmine heart notes even peeping through from the get-go. A watery jasmine is the primary heart note joining the bergamot in earnest before light musk is also added into the composition to form the base, finishing off the scent's development. There really is not much going on, as the scent is pretty linear. Longevity and projection are both quite good.

My first inclination was to either give this one a thumbs down or sideways, but I confess it grows on you. It is kind of a weird fresh watery mixture that is really not my cup of tea, but from afar it smells a lot better than when you put your nose up close to it, kind of the same scenario I got with Voyage d'Hermes. This is probably a scent I enjoy smelling more on others than wearing it myself. Completely overpriced for such a minimalist composition, IMO, but I would have to say I like it "after further review". I give Aqua Universalis Forte a solid above average to good rating of 3 to 3.5 stars out of 5. Recommended to try, but a difficult buy proposition due to its relatively high price.

04/04/2021

Giles
87 Reviews

Giles

1

Forte? I don’t think so...

I am not impressed with this offering. I have most of MFK fragrances but this is underwhelming. I have been trying it over the past few days because I was looking for a summer floral for my collection. It is nice don’t get me wrong but not unique at all. If you are going to call it forte then it should be just that. I can name numerous floral fragrances that perform better and far more impressive. Nice but certainly not worth the money unfortunately.

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