Reviews of Kouros (1981)
by Yves Saint Laurent

Let me begin with my biases. I love "men's" frags and have many in my wardrobe. I like assertive scents that proclaim themselves upfront and continue strong. And this one certainly does. After the first cedary blast it becomes warm and enveloping with a slightly melancholy undertone - the "incense" leans toward the spicy clove rather than the churchy somberness of - say - Avignon. Good longevity.

I'm giving it a thumbs up cuz I think it's great 'fume and great for a guy, but I would not wear it myself.

this is understandable for me! After reading so many guys receiving compliments on this i had to try it! i already have body kouros which i quite like!
i tried it immediately on my wrist and was prepared to smell something like body kouros just brighter maybe. LOOL u can imagine how i reacted. I almost fell backwards! So strong, cheap and ugly at the same time!! How can u possibly like this and girls even more!?!?! But i was in town so i gave it many minutes alwys sniffing on my wrist excepting t to change. But nothing happened. Even my girlfriend said it was totally nauseating! She was with me that day. on the other wrist i sprayed M7 which i also didnt like. after 30 minutes of shopping i thought: wow sth smells really nice! It wasn Kouros :/
Then we both came to the conclusion it MUST be the after shave bottle of kouros.It smelled like the cheapest after shave i used from my dad in those days. I went back but was assured it really was the frag bottle....so its not working for me!
i dont get it how can someone

over 40's scent. very strong and too masculine. i could only imagine bodybuilders and wrestlers wearing this kinda scent. definately different and strange. probably the weirdest scent most guys under 30 have ever encountered.

Ive never been big on YSL. And im always sampling kouros to try to make some sense of its big reputation. If i could only choose YSL then it has to be kouros. Maybe a tad too similar to Paco Rab. PH as mentioned earlier. Recently i found myself sampling alot of Jazz and im starting to feel that Jazz has better distinction coz its got more uniqueness to it. Its about time to add YSL to my collection and as of late, Jazz seems the better of the 2 genres since i already have a similar one in Paco... if the herbal scent is what you want, then Paco is the better representative with much better lingering sillage imo

I did approach this fragrance with a little trepidation with the mixed reviews I've read. But after wearing it for a couple days, I have found that I like this one quite a bit. It is a risky fragrance to wear...especially around other guys because of the whole resemblance to urinal cakes smell. But I don't care about this because the drydown beyond these top notes are excellent. It gives a sense of being warm and dark. I get a hint of incense, oakmoss and musk. Ingredients in any great masculine fragrance.
Definitely don't put too much of this on...that would be disastrous. When used sparingly, this is a very cloying fragrance that creates a sense of intrigue and will have some people asking what you're wearing.
Awesome...thumbs up.

Kouros is anything but boring. It is definitely a classic and one which I have always found quite challenging. This is a scent for me to appreciate but not one which I find immediately appealing. It is obviously a work of great merit. Upon first application I feel a definite gag reflex. It reminds me instantly of public restrooms being cleaned at an airport. One might wonder why anyone would want to smell like this. The magic of this fragrance for me is that when my nose is at my wrist Kouros is disgusting. Yet the sillage itself is actually quite balanced. There is an alchemy which happens in that the aura of the scent is actually quite magnificent and none of the gut wrenching gag notes which I smell up close are present.

Much like a Vagnerian opera can be difficult for a first time listener to enjoy, so does Kouros offer a challenge to many at first smell. It just doesn't smell pretty; yet there is a difference between pretty and beautiful. Kouros is a mighty scent. It is, along with the man who wears it, a definite force to be reckoned with.

Clean and sporty. The only cologne you will ever need if you had to choose. Women go crazy for this stuff.

Yuck....heavy and synthetic smelling.An ex boss used to wear it at work...you used to think he was always around,....even if he was nowhere near...(maybe it was deliberate!!!) I tried the "fraiche" version...and it smells just as bad....but Body Kouros isn't too bad.

I really loved the first notes, because the urine smell was masked by the citrus. But as the perfume progressed and the middle and basenotes arrived, it was basically urine that I was smelling. It is very difficult to judge this perfume because it is very pleasant in the beginning. But I feel I don't have the guts to wear it in public, because people will think I wet my pants.

I have to add my 2 cents just to be part of the crowd. I wore this in the 80s as a teen and that was just because people wore it then. I really don't get woodsy. I don't get anything but the same scent....and I tried it for kicks the other day, 20 years later...powdery, old, urine type smell. I'm not here to be mean. I'm not copying and pasting some reviews but it is there. It is a linear, powdery mess that reminds me of a school dance. I can't believe out of all 80s scents out there to love, many people chose this stuff. When I change my daughters diaper and then apply talc, this is what I get.

Since knowing of Kouros' existence, I've owned several bottles, all of which came in the same dark shade blue box, until recently ( a different shade blue) and from my latest experience with the scent, I have come to love Kouros. Here's the theory:

The first few bottles I bought were from an old outlet store, so the bottles probably were sitting there for a long time. The scent at first was nice, but as so many people point out, the civet is almost-most unbearable. You want to love it but that animal smell just ruins everything. I've been through the love-hate relationship, loving at first, then selling the bottle on ebay because I couldn't handle smelling like a racoon.

Recently I was at Holt Renfrew and came across Kouros and the box which had a different bluish shade. I was curious. Sure enough, the civet is gone. According to the individual working the counter, that god-awful stink is no more; she has found the scent to be updated - probably to attract more people to it...after all the other versions have been taken off the market. So depending on when it was made, you'll be sure to know the difference and actually come to love and respect YSL for its creation of Kouros. This is the way Kouros should have been made from the start.

If you come across even a gift set, it will be an updated scent. Since my newly found love for the updated scent, I bought one for my brother and sure enough - NO CIVET. Everything else about Kouros is the same - thank goodness!!! Kouros haters - give it a shot...you wont be dissapointed. No more smelling like a racoon.

The lasting power is the same - I spray one shot on and its there for at least 12 hours. Go to the YSL website to get the details of the scent. Even by viewing the promotion for Kouros, YSL has made something with potential into something great....a powerhouse.

By the way - thank you YSL for updating this great scent.

This is my absolute favourite! What more can I say - this is the most masculine scent I've ever smelled.
I can only compare it with Aramis Classic, which is the other fragrance that I adore.
But KOUROS is my No. 1 and I hope it will be always in production.
This is the signature scent of a real, genuine man!

"Fashion Fades, Style is Eternal."

It's not all bad... but there is something about it that makes me vomit. If you stick your nose in an urinal, you'll smell Kouros. Dreadful! I can't imagine how this is YSL's best selling fragrance...

Given all the controversy surrounding it, Kouros is a scent I approached with trepidation. As it happens I need not have worried. After Ungaro II, or even Jicky, it's not that much of a shocker.

Kouros opens with a powerful blast of citrus and civet, and I'm guessing that the civet note is what turns so many people off right from the beginning. Granted, the civet in Kouros is in-your-face, rather than subtly integrated as in Ungaro II, but it's by no means mishandled. As the citrus note fades, honey and strong floral notes come into play behind the civet to create an animalic, yet sweet new accord. This dense heart is where Kouros strays dangerously close to the liquid excretion territory inhabited by the putrid Amouage Gold. Luckily, some bracing spicy notes, perhaps clove and cinnamon, pull Kouros back from the brink. (Though not without some suspense.) It's very easy to see how at this stage Kouros could become offensive. It is, after alll, the grandaddy of all 1980s powerhouse fragrances.

As things progress a bit of astringency (vetiver? artemisia?) slips in to balance out the civet/sweet floral accord. From here Kouros launches on its extended and well-executed drydown, with traces of the civet over incense, musk, and vanilla. After a few hours, things even become downright powdery. A surprising end point for a fragrance that goes on so wickedly potent!

All in all, Kouros is a bold scent that was pioneering on its first release. It still stands out tall, like an isolated mountain peak among the timid, undistinguished fragrances that crowd today's designer landscape. Kouros will always be a polarizing scent, as is any that features a prominent note of civet in its composition. Given its animalic character, Kouros's sheer strength and great sillage can also make it hard to wear. In fact, it's not a scent that I have occasion to apply all that often. But for someone eager to make a bold, if rather crude, statement, this is a fragrance to try.

Kouros....nice name, nice bottle, awesome brand. This fragance have excellent longevity and projection.....Its clean, but unclean. Smells very synthetic.....awful product.....Apologies Yves Saint Laurent, but Im honest. Nothing more to say....Rive Gauche is the option if you want a very nice fragance.

http://www.ysl-parfums.com/gb/index.html: a chypre, spicy harmony with coriander, clove, oakmoss and ambergris. There's a note in Kouros that's always captivated me, but I can't pinpoint it. Probably just the combination of the lot. Perhaps the ambergris. But there's also that nasty note that often makes me feel hot and bothered. The ambergris is more pronounced in Kouros Fraicheur, but the insistent pineapple note spoils it a bit for me. Ever since it took me captive in the 80s, I've been in an out on bail, but now I'm again toying with the idea of getting a bottle of Kouros. No suspended sentence possible with this one.

I can appreciate this scent as imaginative, intriguing, and complex but as far as personal fragrances are concerned, I think one would be better suited by hanging 4-5 of those pine tree shaped air fresheners around your neck.

This is a beautiful refinement of the smell of a urinal cake, and if that is what YSL was trying for it was a remarkable success. Kouros gets a neutral rating for being of excellent quality, but having no real use as a personal fragrance. IMHO.

You can't sit on the wall with this one, you either love it or hate it.
Whilst I would never wear it as I find the musky civet note suffocating, I can appreciate that it is amongst the best of the big 80's fragrances and I'm secretly jealous of men that can pull it off.

I don't know what note is it in the opening but I hated it from the start, washed it off immediately, I really am surprised at its popularity, I love Body Kouros BTW, as it is a completely different type of perfume.

An iconic fragrance, a work of outstanding skill. This fragrance really does work, but its unusually invasive nature and its instantly recognisable sillage makes it border on the anti-social. Because this evokes such strong responses it is almost impossible to wear. Strictly for indoors. Having said that, it's divine..

Tested this the other day at Perfumania, where the SA (who likes BLV Bulgari and other light scents) was repulsed. I don't care, she was also repulsed by Shalimar and many other great feminine scents. I happened to love this one. I won't bother listing the notes, but it is oddly fresh and spicy at the same time. I think it is the florals that keep me coming back, I love geranium. For some reason it conjures up vivid feelings of nostalgia; to me, this is the most important part of fragrance. I think I remember smelling it on my dentist? Not sure, but I will buy a bottle soon enough!

Another love it or hate it frag.... I love it. I love it because, after reading reviews in many places, I absolutely cannot smell the urinal cake accord people talk about. This smells great and works very well with my skin. One of the lucky ones I suppose.

I envision a futuristic world, like the bubble-domed one in Logan's Run, where Kouros is sold in a novelty store, situated between the rubber chicken and the fake vomit. Or perhaps it will be in a museum, and visitors will be able to actually get a whiff of it, if they dare! By that time, public restrooms will smell much better than they do now (in most nations).

Kouros is a powerful, long-lasting, sickly chemical scent that features no subtlety and no development (on my skin, at least). Keep in mind that I'm not some twenty-something aquatic guy. I like Vermeil, actually, which I'd recommend to anyone who likes this kind of frag over Kouros (it's got powerful animalic notes and also that "fake clean" quality). Or Ungaro II, if you can find it at a reasonable price. I also like Carlo Corinto once in a while, which features strong leather and dark amber notes.

I recently tried Brut (before trying Kouros) and that is similar, in that you get a strong, long-lasting sickly chemical scent that has no subtlety and doesn't develop. It's amazing that these two fragrances are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, in terms of price and prestige. I can only image that if you sweat profusely, somehow Kouros will develop into something that is remotely tolerable. I'd also warn you that this kind of fragrance can cause your sense of smell to change, as Sung Homme did to me. Now I have such sensitivity that I usually can only stand one spray of an EDT, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since it saves me a lot of money, though I don't appreciate the stronger fragrances the way I used to (when I really liked Vermeil and had to wear it once a week).

Well, nobody has said to me yet that I smell “dirty” although I wear Kouros quite often (maybe, I meet exclusively polite people;-). On the contrary, mainly I hear “it smells somehow… chemical, like some purification’s liquid”; but that’s OK, I don’t even expect from the people around me to “understand” Kouros. I reconciled to that long time ago and I wear it just because of my own pleasure.
At first, the animalistic part of the scent is ably covert; But, after some time it becomes very significant. Kouros is just like a successful first date. At the beginning you are quite polite. Gradually, you become loose… And, at the end, it is right time for the animalistic part of you to show up… in bed… or somewhere else, immaterial.
You can find in this one clove, cedarwood, mace, oakmoss and (my favorite) civet, but one note is extremely important here and I want to say something about it. Here is the story…
There is an interesting religious custom in one part of the orthodox world. Namely, people set fire some incense and with it they go through the whole house/apartment. They do that on days of the greatest saints. People believe that, with this ritual, they drive the devil out from their living space.
It was Sunday and a saint Nicola’s day. I was in my room with a bit of Kouros on my arm. Suddenly, I felt that some smell came into my room and I thought mechanically “Hey, why the whole apartment smells just like my arm!?”. Naturally, it was a smell of burned incense.
Several days after that, I splash some Kouros on my arm and I asked my parents: “Does this smell remind you of something?”.
They didn’t have any dilemma: ”Of incense, assuredly”.
If the devil utters a wish to come into my life I would wear Kouros… just in case.

This review is under revision.

YSL at its best! This is a "manly" mans scent. Not for the fient hearted. I purchased my first bottle in 1986. Ever since that day, it is my signature. On that note, lets deal with the negative reviews. "Fecal notes" and "urinal cake" seem to show up often. These reviewers need to have their noses checked. Either they are smelling it from the bottle, have the wrong body chemistry, or have simply not tried it. It is different, which is what makes it so popular worldwide.
Kouros-pronounced "Coo-ros", not "caress", is one of the most misunderstrood of men's scents. It is strong and unforgettable, with and opening notes that scares most users, including myself, if I am not in the mood. Bay laurel, artemesia, and bergamot mix effectively, and open like an opera, with clashing cymbals and loud choruses. After 20 minutes, the real production begins with cinnamon, carnation, geranium, and jasmine that gives off sillage that lasts all day! Usually carnation is bitter, but not here. The jasmine gives it the mystery. The wearer becomes like a "censer" bearing exotic incense. All of this, while maintaining, a clean, youthful appeal.
Then the best effect of this masterpiece comes the drydown, which lasts over 24 hours! Vetiver/amber, patcholi/musk, leather/honey and the final note of ambargris leaves one remembering the night before, lost loves, and other beautiful memories of a lifetime of use.
Overall, this scent conveys passion and strengths that are hard to duplicate. Virility and male sexuality, not in "gay" sense. My situation with that is how can something so masculine attract "gays"? Wearing it, I always get ladies come up to me smiling and asking for the time. It is a classic love potion in this sense. For bei ng so popular, I can honestly say, I have never smelled it on another man, That is good! Its not for everyone, just me, I will add selfishly!

This isn't my cup of tea. I sprayed some on the back my hand in a department store today. I cannot handle this scent. My guess is that the castoreum oil, taken from the musk glands of beaver and used to set traps by North American Mountain men in the days before westward expansion, could not have been far different from this. I have scrubbed the back of my hand three times with hot water and that strong handwashing liquid commonly found in restrooms. The scent must have penetrated my skin because it will not go away. I asked the ladies in the office what they thought about it and they were all equally repulsed. This after three scrubbings, mind you. So there's a positive. This stuff has BIG TIME staying power! My recommendation is that you test this and allow that special someone in your life to sample it too before buying. Oh yes, spray on a swatch or something and not your skin. From my experience, it will not disappear when you need it to do so. I am headed home now to apply vinegar or ammonia cleaner or whatever else I can find to the back of my hand before taking a hot shower. Different strokes......I guess.

A giant in itself!! The true king of fragrance! A sensual wonder that will always get me compliments everywhere I go from the lovely ladies. Guys... jump on it!!

WARNING: THIS STUFF IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY.

Hail to the king of the 80's.

If you are a collector/appreciator/connoiseur of fragrances and you haven't sampled this or it is not in your collection...then you should SERIOUSLY re-evaluate your stance.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
I wanted to run away at first whiff, then like magic, I was hooked...and so is my wife. The drydown is MAGNIFICENT. Sillage and longevity is like non-other. All the variations of this (Sport, Fraicheur, Tattoo) are equally as awesome (except for Body Kouros).
If this is too strong for you, then try the fresh or Tattoo versions. Lighter, but still with the appreciable punch.

10 THUMBS UP!

Its sillage and longevity is really impressive but that’s where all the praise stops, I’m afraid. I have to admit that the drydown can be at times lovely but, essentially, I have no desire to smell like a recently cleaned public toilet.

Oh, how YSL despaired when those little pink urinal cakes blossomed and thrived in popularity…

Using Kouros has brought me mixed reactions ranging from:

"Gosh I love your perf" to
"Dont use that incense around me."
Therefore it's a hate it or love it fragrance.

A friend of mine once opined that he felt that kouros would only attract men (gays) to u and adviced me ne'er to wear it again...

Saying that kouros is a strong fragrance is stating the obvious. Hence it's use must be highly tempered.

For me, i think its extremely macho and u need to have a strong stomach to tolerate the stuff.

I dont think i'll be spending my hard-earned Naira on it anymore, as there's no point using something u cant stand just to please other who might.

If there's a problem it's the amount of application. Definitely works wonders on skin, very sexy.

I used to spray on wet skin after shower, and sometimes spray on wet skin after shower and get back into the shower to drain off the top notes.

I agree with the beautifull written review of Rodent !
Nothing more to add !
Thanks Rodent..

I took my darling husband out to the department store to try this one yesterday. I was suprised to have no trouble finding it!

I loved it from the start. It is warm, musky and complex. One spray on a test strip wafted all around us in over a 5 foot radius! I commented that the silliage was amazing and a woman out of arms reach said, "Yes, it does smell nice!". LOL!

Drying out, my DH said that he was afraid that he smelled like he "wet himself". I assured him he did NOT: The oakmoss and civit notes are indeed earthy, but not at all foul. I still like MKK better, but this is a wonderful fragrance.

I should admit that Kouros is the scent of youngsters` perfume-initiation (you could not find a lion to kill in suburbs).
It`s a smell of good soccer players such as Gazza and Winni Jones, not metrosexuals` David Beckham and Christiano Ronaldo.
It`s an olphactive analog of live rotten cheese - more rotten than cheese.

Hi, I'm from Naples, Italy. I remember the first time I wore Kouros, several years ago. A nuclear blast of dry and dirty smell that almost suffocate me. I didn't like it. But, with my great surprise, with time Kouros has grown on me so much, that today I not only like it, but I consider Kouros the most mature and at the same time mad, the most artistic and meanwhile brutal, the most masculine and at the same time romantic perfume of the past thirty years. Sillage? I can sniff the basenotes the day after application, also after a shower!!! Great.

A classic and deservedly so ... Unique and very distinct ,, Strong & Long lasting .

I love Kouros! Most certainly one of the first fragrances that I could honestly say that I was in love with. It amazed me the parallels drawn to the smell of this masterpiece, not the least of which coming from my sisters who regarded it as my "bear pee" cologne. One actually told me that she got headaches from it [and I can not imagine having over applied it].

I distinctly remember wearing this up at KSU to the club one night, and being just inebriated/confident enough to respond to a pair of girls behind me when they commented that "someone smells REALLY good!" I offered my wrist as evidence to them, to which they exploded and required that I dance with them. Suppose I should've followed that one through a bit longer, but regardless, women do enjoy the smell of a man not doused in common, flowery, powdery bullshit...all of the things that Kouros is not.

ah, the mythical beast - kouros the korruptor.

this is a superb and unique fragrance that has taken a lot more flak than it deserves.

yes, it is strong.
yes, it is unique. and like all of the "80s powerhouse" scents it has a distinct identity. it is utterly different from other 80s powerhouse scents like Boss, Antaeus, Quorum, Obsession, etc.
yes, it has a distinct "animalic" and somewhat erotic character. this is entirely to the strong dose of civet - aka cat gonad extract (although produced synthetically these days)
and yes, in spite of this it does actually smell fresh in a very unique way all its own. no aquatic or ozonic cliches here.
and yes... i am afraid there are distinct similarities to the dreaded urinal cake smell. but you really need to get to a particular stage in the drydown to get this smell. the initial blast is strong, spicy and fresh; it is once this subsides and the civet note comes to the fore that the ammoniacal / fecal note gives it a touch of the "UC smell". for those of you who continue to resist this theory, sniff the sprayer of your Kouros bottle. the nozzle will have accumulated a lot of the oils resident in the solution - including the civet, which lingers long after the other ingredients have faded. now tell me this doesn't have an element of the UC smell. but it is not the _same_ as the UC smell.

however:
no, it does not smell like _piss_ and certainly not like semen(guilt by association? perhaps someone will suggest next that it smells like pubic hair?) but it does have a warm, sensual, vaguely fecal / body odor quality that is more erotic than disgusting.
no, it is not an "old man" scent. i am 36 and wear it fairly often without a twinge of self-consciousness. it has aged far better than many of its contemporaries. and as with so many scents that people love to pigeonhole -- if you wear anything with confidence and bend it to your persona, it will take on YOUR character rather than the other way round.

to those of you who are petrified of walking around smelling like a piss stall or a cat in heat - chill out. this is a unique, marvellous scent, and its outrageousness is wildly exaggerated. if you don't give this one a shot and take it for what it is, without preconceptions, you're denying yourself a wonderful olfactory pleasure.

i find that kouros wears equally well in both hot and cold weather.

congrats YSL on a daring and unique scent that is thoroughly deserving of its success.

The initial double shot application of this could make one want to immediately run away and deny any association whatsoever with ones self. After a relatively short period of isolation, one will notice the opportunity to re-enter civil society as the fragrance loses that urinal stall blue cake and porcelain smell, and becomes something incredible; hard to explain; august and almost spiritual that could only be really understood as the result of the via purgativa that had just ended. Not sure others would see it this way, but the dry down on this is one of a kind, beautiful and yet still strong. A blind buy on this is not advised, in fact, it should not be legal. For mature audiences only. Handle with care. Open other end. May become habit forming. Oh, sorry, still smelling this for purpose of this review...What was I saying....?

This is not for everyone. I simply do not at all like this scent. It stinks to me and lasts forever. Others love it, but it's not at all refined. It smells like nothing else I've ever smelled. It is VERY sweet and cloying, gives me headaches whenever I wear (wore) it. It smells so unique that I am having problems describing it. I would imagine it's meant for sex or intimacy. It smells like "love lotion" ala very very sweet, like spicy berries, but then has a hint of spice in it. I do not like this scent at all, but to each his/her own. I can only review this scent based on my opinions.

KOUROS;many positive and many negative opinions about it.For me its just a bold,fresh and longlasting scent.Its not so difficult!For me Kouros smells just good but only when I use it sparingly;two little sprays ,no more.Compliments?many. Negative reactions?never.To strong?Absolutely not,many others are to weak,thats the point I guess.Just a scent with body;thats all;buy a bottle!

This is an allkunstwerk of fragrance name, bottle design and fragrance.

Something that a vain greek olympian youth would choose throwing every other fragrance aside with contempt.

As an art historian I adore Kouros. And I salute those brave enough to wear it. I keep a fresh bottle but I don´t wear it anymore. It´s for young men (Kouri) with perfect skin (feel the texture of the bottle),gleaming hair and athletic step.
...the stylized marble column of the bottle...reminding me of greek temples and the white marble in ancient greek statues depicting youths and gods with perfect bodies...

strong, sharp topnotes..
long lasting..
masculine

I was hesitant to try Kouros considering the strong expressions of a considerable minority. But curiousity had to be satisfied and now I am in full fellowship with the anti-Kouros league. Urinal cake opening settles into semen-like odor mingled with cloves. I don't want to smell this on me or anyone else!

I can understand what people mean when they call this scent pornographic and also when they say things like it smells like an overcrowded men's room. it does have a sleazy "hanging out in the men's room for illicit purposes" quality. Several people have noted the combination of male body fluid smells and whatever scent some companies use to scent urinals. Both of those are definitely there to my nose, but there is also quite a dose of incense, which complicates matters. Yves must have gotten quite a kick out of this fragrance getting so popular. It's pretty subversive really. Kudos to him for that. I have a bottle, but I wear it selectively. Also, it's potent, so apply sparingly and the longevity is forever. You'll still smell it you on the subway after a long night. This one's a sleazy guilty pleasure for sure.

Man I love this stuff. Its not your typical anemic scent. "The velvet hammer". Two thumbs way up.

Ergh *shudders*.

It has this nice herbaceous-woodiness to it, but behind all that lies a sweaty old greek man, and something that smells like semen. There, I said it.

I tested it on a card strip and my skin, and my gf said:
"it smells like something very nice, but spoiled with animal piss and...I dunno, I guess something that smells like semen. I hate it, wash it off, and put some of your lagerfeld on..."

That ws exactly what I was thinking from first spray.

It can be better. As it is, it smelles like a male Greek porn-star after a 6 hr shoot on a hot, humid day!

Gross!

It is hard to believe this scent is found to be enjoyable. The opening is the smell of a used urinal cake in a large stadium with too few men's rooms after the halftime intermission. It later improves sligthly to something that only makes you feel unwashed.
Like most men I would wear a couple of dead rodents tied around my neck if I thought the smell would attract members of the fairer sex. Even if Korous could do that I don't think I could stand my own aroma regardless of how effective it was at getting the girls

Two kinds of people like this scent: Old men, and enthusiasts. Who dislikes this fragrance? Women.
I must start by stating that I love this cologne. It is distinguished, original, bold, and incredibly long lasting. In fact, I would say that it is probably as long-lasting as Antaeus, although you can wash Kouros off.
There seems no mention of Tonka as a base in the basenotes pyramid, but my nose smells it.
I wear this not only because I love its 3-dimensional quality, but because it has been on the market for over 25 years, yet I have never smelled it on anyone else. Have you?

Just awful scent... Flat, boring and troublesome. It really makes me feel sick. Seems to be a sustaining single note played at the early electronic piano.

I can remember just like Yesterday: My father bought this fragrence one of his flights on the free shop. He did not have that much notion about fragrence. Mostly what he used to do was to buy a one he knows or used to buy a very new one or ask to someone there which fragrance is very popular or very new. So he came back with YSL Kouros. It was just out to the market. When I first smelled it I did not like it at all. It was very daring scent for its time if you compare it with the fragrances of its time. But the more I learned about the fragrances and the more I tried them, my opinion has changed. some of the fragrances I liked, I don't like anymore and the ones I did not like now I like very much. One of them is YSL Kouros and I always have a bottle of it at home I see fragrance as wine: The first wine I dran I found not delicious, but after you learn the wine culture and drink more and taste more, then you know what it means, what is good, what is medium and what is... But at the end it is always our own choice.

This is really a scent that needs to work with your body's chemistry, otherwise you are in deep trouble. I do admit that I have detected a vaguely piss-y like undercurrent on those not fortunate enough to wear it. If it works for you, this is not the case at all.

However, this is and will always be one of my favorite frags of all time. Want to smell like every other Tom Dick or Harry walking around the mall? There are plenty of scents for you to choose from. Rather smell like distinct, and elegant in that European '80s kind of way? Think Gstaad, Aston Martin Volantes, Nutter's on Savile Row, et al.

One of my lady friends LOVES this smell on me, and when someone else said, "what is that perfume? you smell old," my friend replied, "hot old and rich, maybe."

Top notes: Laurel, Artemisia, Coriander, Bergamot
Middle notes: Carnation, Cinnamon, Geranium, Jasmine
Base notes: Vetiver, Patchouli, Amber, Musk, Incense

Kouros is an astounding fragrance, but it’s opening really scares me. I get something that smells powerfully “perfumy.” This attack impresses me as somewhat un-masculine because of the flowery-ness of the strong aldehydes, the bergamot, and especially the floral notes rising up from the heart—all these notes dominate to my nose. The middle notes are almost completely floral spiced up with cinnamon and a bit of cloves; the middle notes are actually easier for me to take than the top notes—and with the middle notes, I’m beginning to like the scent. There is even a little gasoline note shadowing the background—a note that I enjoy. It is the dry down that completely wins me over: The incense / honey / oak moss dominate the base and there is a trace of patchouli and vetiver. The base is totally enthralling—it’s one of the richest, most satisfying accords I’ve found in designer fragrances. This base makes Kouros my favorite comfort scent.

If I search hard and use my imagination for those elusive urine notes that others talk about, I can find them; but why on earth would I want to search for them? And as for the infamous urinal cake—well, I don’t really think so, but even if it did smell like that, it wouldn’t bother me. In spite of the fact that I have many scents that I truly love from beginning to end; and, as much as I have had to fight its opening of Kouros, I find myself turning to Kouros over and over again. In fact, when I really think about it, even the raucous opening has endeared itself to me—I think I’d miss it if I no longer could smell it.

Kouros is very strong, but it comes in several versions. Kouros Fraîcheur is an ingenious scent that trims down much of the excessiveness of the original Kouros, yet manages to stay remarkably true to the uniqueness of the original. Kouros Sport tones down the Kouros spirit even more—too much in my opinion. Body Kouros—the one that got me to buy Kouros by mistake, is a completely different scent.

Anyone who is serious about fragrances should at least try Kouros—it is a ‘love it or hate it’ scent that has managed to be a big seller for twenty-five years—that usually spells quality. It is an experience. As for me, I don’t know how to quit it.

Beautiful, strong, masculine, clean...and incredibly powerful. The Greek tragedy of scents, for it was his own strength, the young Kouros, that did him in.

I have nothing to say but wonderful things about Kouros...just don't ever (EVER!) spray more than two shots. One spray out of the shower is excellent and will last you well into the evening.

The measure of a "nose" is how well he or she can appreciate challenging fragrances... the fragrances which do not demand to be loved immediately ... the ones which contain some "dissonance", as in jazz music... KOUROS is definitely one of those fragrances. Among the fresh notes of lime, honey, amber and leather are indeed notes of civet and musk which are not unlike tomcat's piss. And therein lies the magic of the fragrance. People who truly know and love the finest of fragrances know that purely "sanitary" scents are a little bit boring... the best fragrances have a hint (or two) of the salacious about them. A soupcon of raunch. KOUROS does remind me a bit of Creed ORANGE SPICE, but the Creed is so heavy-handed and cloying... KOUROS lingers in just the right way. If anything, KOUROS's spiritual ancestor is the original SHOCKING! by Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1940's, another scent which was "shocking" because it also had a provocative note not unlike urine. Legend has it that Schiaparelli sniffed the culottes of Parisian ballerinas as inspiration for SHOCKING! KOUROS, while modern, was really a nostalgic fragrance in many ways when it emerged in 1981.

Now I get it. I get why this is a really controversial fragance.
I bought it today, blind buy, just after reading the comments about it. I was looking for a nag champa fragance and decided to give it a chance (I have to say that I can't smell nag champa in it at all)...
All I can say is that if I had tested it before I wouldn't have buy it. And it would have been a mistake. Why? because I absolutely like this fragance!!! no, wait, I hate it!! no no, I love it!! damit, I think I have strange feelings about this one...
The top notes are AWFUL, now I understand the comments about urinals and old men's houses. But if you can wait until it settles down, slowly, calmly merging with your skin, you'll get the richest and darkest scent you've smelt in your life. And yet, there are times when even five hours after wearing it, I get an unpleasant feeling I can't explain.
Give it a try. Try it on your own skin if you can and see what it's like for you. I didn't know how complex the world of scents could be until I got this one.

An absolute classic - nuthin like it - you hate it or you LOVE it - I love it

Fabulous stuff - nice bottle too

I can only confirm what many other reviewers have said abot this scent, yet without being influenced by them. It's just that from the very start i felt the same restroom quality, the same filthy, rancid, unclean note. And by dirty i don't mean raunchy or sexualy provocative, i just mean unhygienic. As a common drydown with Boss Number One, Marbert Man and Givenchy Gentleman, but even if these ones have the same carnal, almost ill-smelling leathery note, this one smells far filthier, far more pungent. The final note is, unlike in many good leathery scents, besides fleshy in a sweaty sense, almost gasoline- smelling like Farenheit( tough far better than Kouros) and even a remote touch of dark 80's macho scents- tough much more scents from the decade were much more subtle, less dated , far more elegant. Cluttered, pretentious and ill-smelling. Besides, bewildering mixture unbalanced from the very first notes: the opening is sweet in androgynous way, smelling far more feminine trough an appearantly omnipresent spicy nausea, it unexpectedly shifts into a very wannabe- macho smell, reminding rather of a gathering of unwashed hippies( with no disrespect towards this community intended) or a very dated, hulking, coarse and definately " not-too-clean" old brute, dressed up in musty clothes and decaying, dusty leather. Transition from extreme softie to ( maybe already dead and decomposing) macho at maximum speed...
The name is also mismatched- it has nothing Greek, antique ( except maybe the musty notes) or timeless and the reference to Greek Antiquity is not to be taken seriously.

Kouros, also known as the beast to be confronted only when the man is truly ready to discard "modern" soapy unisex scents. It'll be around for a long time to come.

All scents / smells are learned / learnt from birth. I first experienced this scent in the late 80s when a teenager; I loved it without any reference to toiletes and urine etc. many reviewers here must have visited or have the filthiest toilets if they think this resembles that. Would the major French house of the time formulate and put on the market something that did? This is a great scent, without being the standard bearaer for it, and I bet my bottom dollar/ real/ pound that most reviewers review having only bothered to smell the top note mixed with alcohol and not wait till the basenote. One of the mens best of al time.

This is some kind of joke, right? Why on earth would anyone want to smell like an overpopulated men's restroom? Dead ringer for urinal cakes. I think the notes are fabricated, as none of them stand out, they do not waver back and forth as natural ingredients do, nor do they ever depart from their lockstep imitation of mustiness and deodorant. I can see the tiles gleaming in the fluorescent light. The bus is coming. Gotta run. Bye.

This one of only two fragrances that I had to wash off shortly after trying it on(Le Male being the other). This smells exactly like a market in Chinatown with rotting friuts and vegetables out on the street, strange formenting herbs and spices on the shelves, incence burning at the altar behind the cash register and an underlying smell of drains and sewers. In my opinion, only to be worn if you like the smell of decay and drains.

Ironically, hours afterwards I smelled my hand where I had washed off (or attempted to; it never really came off) the Kouros and there was a lovely, lingering drydown that was delicious. Just couldn't live with the first several hours of this! Creed's Orange Spice has similar topnotes without the nasty notes that follow.

This is absolutely vile, it smells like unclean toilets. I really cannot see anything nice about it. I sprayed it on my arm out of curiosity and it wont go away, help!!