Kouros Yves Saint Laurent 1981 Eau de Toilette
45
Top Review
Oh Kouros.....
... how I hated you when you hit the market in the early 80s! And the wearers of this fragrance right along with you. For years, Kouros (alongside Poison) was for me the epitome of bad, overpowering perfume. At some point, a few years ago, I don't know how or why, all my negative associations with this scent (foot sweat, etc.) suddenly flipped to the opposite, and this supposedly foul brew became a pleasantly fragrant aroma for me.
Not that I suddenly no longer perceive the animalistic side of Kouros; I do perceive it, but as something positive. Like a freshly vacated, morning-tossed bed that still smells of body warmth from sex and worn perfume - you can fling open the window to drive away the scent, but you can also snuggle back in and reminisce about past pleasures... Today, I prefer to snuggle back into bed and simply embrace this life-saturated scent, yes, enjoy it. Not too long ago, I apparently couldn't do that.
Still, Kouros remains a precarious perfume for me that I cannot wear without hesitation, meaning I have to be in a 'Kouros mood,' I have to exercise restraint when spraying it because 2 sprays are almost one too many. This perfume is so powerful and room-filling that it can quickly be perceived as too offensive.
Worn discreetly, however, it does not miss its effect, and has been positively commented on several times - at least for me.
Interestingly, Kouros is almost an absolute 'no go' in America: Chandler Burr from the New York Times once wrote that this perfume can only be worn by French people in France - in other words: those who eat stinky cheese find it chic to smell themselves... and yes, we (the Europeans) are used to smelling funky!
Addendum 3.03.2013:
Unfortunately, 'Kouros' has been reformulated in the meantime and in its current version has only a distant connection to the original. I don't know why this was done, but I suspect that the IFRA provided reasons for it, as well as a fundamentally changed taste in fragrances compared to the time of the scent's creation. The new 'Kouros' caters to this, and it remains to be seen whether lost ground can be reclaimed.
In the meantime, I stick with the old one - let people think what they want!
Addendum 20.02.2020:
In the meantime, 'Kouros' has been reformulated again. Since even the smallest amounts of atranol or chloratranol-containing oakmoss can no longer be used, almost all chypre/fougère fragrances have been reworked - mostly with better results, as more convincing substitutes are now available, as well as allergen-free (and affordable) oakmoss. 'Kouros' has oakmoss back in the formula and smells almost like it used to. Almost....
Not that I suddenly no longer perceive the animalistic side of Kouros; I do perceive it, but as something positive. Like a freshly vacated, morning-tossed bed that still smells of body warmth from sex and worn perfume - you can fling open the window to drive away the scent, but you can also snuggle back in and reminisce about past pleasures... Today, I prefer to snuggle back into bed and simply embrace this life-saturated scent, yes, enjoy it. Not too long ago, I apparently couldn't do that.
Still, Kouros remains a precarious perfume for me that I cannot wear without hesitation, meaning I have to be in a 'Kouros mood,' I have to exercise restraint when spraying it because 2 sprays are almost one too many. This perfume is so powerful and room-filling that it can quickly be perceived as too offensive.
Worn discreetly, however, it does not miss its effect, and has been positively commented on several times - at least for me.
Interestingly, Kouros is almost an absolute 'no go' in America: Chandler Burr from the New York Times once wrote that this perfume can only be worn by French people in France - in other words: those who eat stinky cheese find it chic to smell themselves... and yes, we (the Europeans) are used to smelling funky!
Addendum 3.03.2013:
Unfortunately, 'Kouros' has been reformulated in the meantime and in its current version has only a distant connection to the original. I don't know why this was done, but I suspect that the IFRA provided reasons for it, as well as a fundamentally changed taste in fragrances compared to the time of the scent's creation. The new 'Kouros' caters to this, and it remains to be seen whether lost ground can be reclaimed.
In the meantime, I stick with the old one - let people think what they want!
Addendum 20.02.2020:
In the meantime, 'Kouros' has been reformulated again. Since even the smallest amounts of atranol or chloratranol-containing oakmoss can no longer be used, almost all chypre/fougère fragrances have been reworked - mostly with better results, as more convincing substitutes are now available, as well as allergen-free (and affordable) oakmoss. 'Kouros' has oakmoss back in the formula and smells almost like it used to. Almost....
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8 Comments
Und sehr fein, dass du uns mit den Reformulierungen und ihren Ab- und Auf-Bewegungungen auf dem Laufen hältst :)
....wer stinkenden Käse isst, der findet es auch chic selbst zu müffeln... und yes, we (the europeans) are used to smell funky!