As promised, I hereby submit my comment on Kouros Fraicheur.
But what should I write - I have already commented extensively on the topic, the significance of Kouros and its flankers in my blog post.
For 3 decades, the original has stood firm on the shelves of all perfumeries, dividing nations, and it has had to endure quite a bit - foremost, the derogatory reputation of being a "used toilet" perfume.
I have also explained that Kouros and I will probably never become close friends - our characters differ too much.
We can just about tolerate each other, yet we respect and appreciate one another!
He has proven himself in life and achieved more in his 32 years than I have so far. I have to catch up to him first!
The Kouros Fraicheur, released in 1993 (French for "Freshness"), was the successor to the 1986 launched - my personal "phantom" - Kouros "Eau de Sport".
Fraicheur presented itself in a frosted bottle and conveyed a certain "sporty" character right from the start.
This was underscored by a great print campaign!
It featured a toned, sun-kissed man from Greece - athletically built - god-like! It was no coincidence that the slogan of the original was "The fragrance for the gods of today"!
Behind him loomed the oversized bottle against the radiant blue sky, covered by a refreshing, pearly wave of water.
Driven by curiosity, I confidently purchased a 10ml decant in the hope of perhaps escaping my reservations about Kouros with this flanker and finally giving it a chance.
Fraicheur has basically everything that its big brother has, only it is a bit rounder, more balanced, and perhaps a little softened.
Kouros Fraicheur also starts with a room-filling citrus blast. Lemon and bergamot hold the balance together and thus do not overshadow each other.
In addition, there is a slightly fruity undertone - presumably the orange blossom, which appears so innocent that it shyly lingers in the background.
As the scent develops, the infamous "urinal note" also appears here - albeit it has been trimmed and smoothed out.
I also think I can detect a note of "warm" leather!?
Even though this characteristic Kouros part presents itself with restraint this time - it still does not fully convince me!
The fear of being stared at sideways with a wrinkled nose is too great...!
This attitude is emphasized by a distinctly sharp character, which evokes the aforementioned "toilet cleaner" tones. Caused by the combination of vetiver and ginger notes.
While the original Kouros has the association of a used toilet, Fraicheur radiates the shine of a freshly cleaned one!
This "sharpness" now forms the foundation and remains present until the end.
From then on, Fraicheur does not exhibit any further scent explosions on me.
What has already been mentioned merges into a mix of woods and fades on warm skin after about 10 hours.
In summary, Fraicheur is the "more wearable" Kouros and more accessible to me.
For all absolute Kouros opponents, it must be said that you will not really be happy with Fraicheur either!
Perhaps they will ultimately find pleasure (like I did) in the Fraicheur successor "Kouros Cologne Sport," which was released in 2003 - once again, everything became a bit smoother, softer, rounder - the only catch - "KCS" was discontinued in 2010.
Some will certainly interpret this as a sign - "Hands off!"
For others, it means "once Kouros, always Kouros!"
or as my friend "Rivegauche" likes to say: "Kouros is Kouros, is Kouros..."
You definitely deserve the trophy just for creating the scent note "freshly cleaned toilet." There's really something to it. I never quite knew what it smelled like: now I do ;-)
Erno 5 years ago 
Rivegauche 13 years ago 
Yatagan 13 years ago