Kouros Yves Saint Laurent 1981 Eau de Toilette
11
Top Review
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.
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.
Snikers
