Kouros Yves Saint Laurent 1981 Eau de Toilette

Kouros (Eau de Toilette) by Yves Saint Laurent

Bottle Design Alain de Mourgues

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7.1 / 10 1187 Ratings

A perfume by Yves Saint Laurent for men, released in 1981. The scent is animal-spicy. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by L'Oréal.
Pronunciation

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Main accords

Animal

Spicy

Woody

Leathery

Fresh

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aldehydes

Clary sage

Bergamot

Coriander

Tarragon

Heart Notes

Carnation

Geranium

Jasmine

Orris root

Patchouli

Vetiver

Cinnamon

Base Notes

Civet

Musk

Oakmoss

Amber

Frankincense Honey

Honey

Leather

Tonka bean Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumer

Pierre Bourdon

Ratings

Scent

7.11187 Ratings

Longevity

8.8946 Ratings

Sillage

8.5942 Ratings

Bottle

7.3935 Ratings

Value for money

7.7425 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 03/23/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Kouros After Shave Lotion

Kouros Eau de Sport

Kouros Fraîcheur Eau de Toilette

The Man Silver

Sang Bleu

Philippe II

Reviews

57 in-depth fragrance descriptions

09/03/2021

10
Pricing 8
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 10
Scent

Wayofscent
60 Reviews

Wayofscent

Top Review 24

..and I smiled.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
1 Corinthians 13:11

"Eww, you smell exactly like your father!"-she said.

During my teenage years I never knew why my mother always said Kouros was one of her favorite fragrances ever. It seemed like everytime I tried to get myself to understand that I end up on the cold dark road (that pissy road to be exact, you know, the one next to the main highway). It seemed like I was tapdancing in the dark..for a long time. I remember I couldn't stop thinking about the fragrance for some reason..so periodicaly I kept coming back to it, to smell it again and again, hoping I could experience the exact feeling my mother had when she smelled Kouros (the best men's fragrance ever-her words) for the first time-but still no luck! After that, my interest started growing more and more each day because I couldn't understand that fragrance from the inside out like I used to understand other fragrances..and why was my mother so obsessed with it..this was a big enigma for me, and since I always loved mysteries, I kept pushing forward, I had to.

After 15 years..as soon as I got my first few greys on my beard I thought maybe now is the time, right?!
Still the same effect! Weird. All untill..
..one year ago I saw Kouros standing on some dusty shelve in an old perfumery in Switzerland. It looked kinda lost, lonely..something spoke to me in that moment and I went and sprayed it directly on my skin. Sensation I was anticipating for more than 15 years was there! From the opening untill the most beautiful, manliest, perfect, addictive drydown ever! Yes! It was worth of wait for so long! Now I understand how my mother felt when she experienced it for the first time! I was so happy and thrilled, so I came home and started telling whole story to my girl. After my half-hour monologue she just said "Eww you smell exactly like your father!"
(I sat there for a brief moment in silence and then it hit me) - "Yes I finally do"-and I smiled.

07/28/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Top Review 9

The male Angel?

I’ve worn Kouros on and (mostly) off since its release. I’ve never found it skanky or off-putting in the least. Categorically, I find it a musky, spicy-floral fougère. I’ll admit the musks give it a bit of a mammalian undertone, but the clove, botany’s super antimicrobial, more than holds the unwashed at bay. I tend to find the musks that others find raunchy, dirty or displeasing merely skin-sweet and appealing. I find Muscs Koublai Khan adorable and actually a bit quaint.

So here’s my scorecard on the judgments leveled on Kouros:

Musky? —Yes. Sweet like the skin at the nape of someone’s neck.
Clovelike? —Yes, cool to the touch.
Indolic? — Yes. Orange blossom.
Urinous? — No. Skin, not piss.
Poopy? — No. Simply, no.
Powerhouse? Compared to an eau de cologne for instance, yes. Otherwise, if worn at a moderate dose, it works like a fragrance. (You know, you’re supposed to smell it.)

All I knew on my own skin before Kouros was the original Chanel’s Antaeus. It was dark and brooding and had huge projection and sillage. I wasn’t sparing in applying Antaeus and while it left a wake a mile wide, I believe it often actually preceded me into a room as well. By comparison, Kouros was a sweet pussycat.

04/26/2022

8
Pricing 10
Bottle 8
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Snikers
4 Reviews

Snikers

Top Review 12

An iconic fragrance that I appreciated in time

I'm relatively young to wear such classics because I was born in a magnificent year 1989, which in my country (Poland) is known as the year of change because exactly on 4th of June 1989 it was announced that the communism was done for. I spoke to my father about perfume habits in the communism era and he said that most of the men wore a couple of types of colognes that were widely available and most of them had a classic smell. Those who could afford designer fragrances needed to visit a shop called Pewex where they could buy Guerlain's Habit Rouge, YSL's Pour Homme, Polo etc. My dad was lucky enough and for his 18th birthday he was gifted YSL's Pour Homme, a fragrance that was already a couple of years on the market and was pretty popular. He used it very occasionally because it was a really expensive cologne back in that day in Poland. He got interested in fragrances though so he started to save money for another bottle. When he saved enough he visited Pewex and after he assured the vendor he could really afford a bottle of a western fragrance (yeah, he needed to show the money lol) he was offered to sample Kouros. By the way it was not that easy to sample back in that era and the owner shared his own private bottle. Crazy huh? He doesn't remember exactly when that happened but for sure it was the first edition of Kouros, manufactured by Charles de Ritz. He instantly loved the smell, said it was the most complex fragrance he has ever smelled. Immediately he asked for a bottle but when realized the price point, he resigned and went for...Drakkar Noir. Yeah, Kouros was damn expensive. It was one of the most expensive fragrances on the market. When it launched it was considered what nowadays we call "metrosexual" (lol, how things changed). It was supposedly a favorite fragrance of the French LGBT community (well, it seems that gay people always had that impeccable taste for fashion and fragrance, nothing has changed here).

Enough nostalgia, I will now tell you how my story with Kouros begun.

I kept hearing about Kouros all the time because I'm a member of a large perfume community. Memes, jokes, "hehe a date? you should pick Kouros buddy" etc. I've never tried it before, it was not available in Sephora or Douglas and I didn't feel like buying a decant so I just forgot about it. I was in Greece a couple of years ago and I noticed a restaurant called Kouros and getting my memory refreshed, I just entered a large perfume shop in that town. And they had it, even exposed. The clerk said he personally liked it and that it's one of the few fragrances that had a Greek name.

I thought it was awful, chemical, urinal cake smell and asked the clerk if I could wash my hands. He laughed and said it is a common reaction among young people and said that I will enjoy in a couple of years.

A couple of years later when I was past my 30 already, I noticed a guy on a facebook group was selling a decant of the vintage juice from 1992. So I grabbed it because I was curios how the old version smelled, knowing that vintage perfume was better before IFRA messed up the perfume world.

Aaaand that Greek clerk was damn right, I just needed some time and a vintage to appreciate it. Animalic, deep, musky, slightly powdery smell conquered my heart and I just got crazy, started to ask people about decants, scrolling groups etc. I managed to find a rare bottle of Eau de Sport and blind buying it for a fair price (now they are crazy), got another decant, then got a 50 ml bottle of Parfum Corp version, 50 ml after shave from Charles de Ritz era (yay!), then time came for 100 ml of Gucci version, had a Sanofi bottle but sold it, and finally I found the holy grail. 100 ml of Charles de Ritz from 1984 + a decant of 1981 premiere edition. I felt like a junkie hoarding my favorite drug. Funny thing is that I paid 100 euros for that and I actually asked the vendor if he was aware what he was selling. It turned out that he was Kouros's fanboy and had a lot of bottles so he decided to share it in the name of love.

So how different they are?

Charles de Ritz - my favorite of all, is the most complex one, the most musky one. At least my bottle is not that animalic, I smell less civet, the amber here is also gorgeous. The opening is a real musk bomb and it is just slightly dirty. It is also the most powdery of all and feels really classy, old school. It has a veeery good longevity while the projection is not huge, but it is ok, I wouldn't like this type of fragrance to suffocate people. The AS version is of course less potent that the EDT and it fades quicker but it is exactly the same as the EDT, high quality stuff. I wear a beard so I can't use it on my whole face. When I shave my neck then sometimes I use if I'm planning to use the EDT. It doesn't irritate my skin and amps up the EDT.

Parfum Corp - it was the first vintage that made me fall in love with Kouros. This one (at least my bottle) is more animalic and the civet is easy to distinguish. It is more skanky than the Charles de Ritz and less powdery. However, after and hour or two it smells almost exactly the same as the first edition. It has the same performance. Best price/quality ratio in the Kouros world. If you see it on ebay or local marketplaces, just buy it it is worth it.

Sanofi - I had it, sold the bottle because I felt it was redundant in my collection and I made another Kouros aficionado happy. It is more potent than Parfum Corp but less deep than the predecesors. It is heavy on the dirty musk, definitely more aldehydic than the rest. Performance is superb, easily 24h on clothes. It smells fantastic when you spray 2-3 times on your chest and wear a linen summer shirt. It won't offend people and you will smell whafts every now and then.

Gucci - It is basically same as Sanofi, even better because even more potent. That one is the strongest Kouros in my possession. 2-3 sprays maximum, even one spray in summer months will be enough. This is basically a high quality slightly dirty musk scent.

L'oreal - I don't own it but current batch seems to be more aldehydic and citrussy in comparison. It doesn't have that skanky nature, which makes it more wearable for people that don't like animalic perfume. The longevity is decent but the sillage seems to be weaker.

I also own Eau de Sport so just a quick note - it is basically like a Parfum Corp edition but with less animalic features. The musk is there but is less potent and cleaner. It is good but not worth the price.

---

I think that Kouros pushes people off because they smell it close to the skin. The whole beauty of this fragrance is that it needs some body heat to show its true nature. Hence, I strongly believe that is a summer scent. People tend to avoid it in the summer because they worry about scaring people off. Grab even the most recent batch, spray under your shirt when it is hot outside and see for yourself.
For me it is a masterpiece and an icon. I hope it will never get discontinued.

12/28/2012

Krmarich
139 Reviews

Krmarich

Top Review 10

Absolute Power!

My final bottle of vintage Kouros arrived last summer. Its a 1.6 oz splash. The price was worth it. The splash is the best way to control its power. The aldehydes are hushed. Just a drop is all it takes. This box came from the 1980s with the silver foil. The bottle reminds me of solid marble. It feels so clean and powerful in my hands. It is still radiant and warm. Now the magic begins...

I am forever 20, young and in style. Its 1984 every sniff I take! "When Doves Cry" was new on the radio, Ghostbusters in theaters, my hair was ratted high with mousse, long trenchcoats and elf boots were in style. I was a freshman in college. The world seemed so easy to conquer. Kouros was carefully tucked in my bookbag and worn liberally. I was the only man on campus to sport this fragrance. It helped boost my self esteem as everyone focused attention on me as I entered a classroom.

YSL had created "me" with this classic bottle of luxury. Sure, others would follow-Paco Rabanne PH, Drakkar Noir, Lagerfeld and even CK Calvin. Yes, the perfume revolution began with Kouros. I found that I could control crowds without saying a word! Yes, it was like a chapter from "Perfume" by Suskind! That was the power of the "powerhouse". Ladies had Poison, Opium and Knowing to use.

I never paid attention to the notes. It was this "magical potion" that just worked, honestly! Kouros had this subjugating effect on those around me. It made me feel sexy and magnetizing. I remained single, celibate and the center of attention throughout the 80s. The 90s is another story... Kouros put the "come hither" on anyone I desired. It would accompany me for the rest of my life, through today. Pure Alpha Male...

Now, this 3rd and final bottle of my lifetime is in my hands. I hope to have it used up before I die, because it is too good to take to the grave! Its unfortunate that future generations will not get to feel its power. Yes, I am happy the "despot formula" is on the shelves. I will never own a bottle.

For those of you that developed an aversion to Kouros, you have my sympathy. May you never forget however, that once upon a time the was a mighty fashion house called YSL that made a holy water named Kouros that granted men the power of gods
!!!

12/08/2013

10
Scent

Scentemental
29 Reviews

Scentemental

Top Review 8

THE Masterpiece

Right at the start of my fragrance collecting, I encountered Kouros. It appeared mysteriously on the shelves of my local Kmart, a variety store that generally, in Australia, carries nothing more fancy than Axe (Lynx) or Blue Stratos. The store apparently had a failed venture into fragrances and I definitely benefitted from it. Two 50ml bottles cost me $14.40 in total and I bought the bottles unsniffed. When I got home I opened up one box and sprayed, whoa, I was sold straight away.

For me the brilliance of this polarising fragrance is how close it comes to being utterly repulsive, but holds enough back to be magnificent. The sweetness, aromatic notes and civet are balanced so well that I cannot imagine a more perfect blend. The recent reformulation really strips the power away from Kouros and tones down the animalistic aspect big time. I find it hard to identify individual notes in Kouros, but a honeyed, animalistic spicy fragrance is how I would describe it. The sillage and longevity are colossal, at least with the previous formulation, the current one is still, however, good but nowhere near the older.

My wife can barely stand this fragrance (the same with Lapidus pour Homme), but other women I know absolutely love it. As this is my first review on Parfumo, I thought I would start with what I consider to be THE masterpiece of male perfumery.

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