Futur (1974)
by Robert Piguet

I don't know why I like Futur but I do. I have never smelled the original but the new version is oddly old-fashioned. As a matter of fact, Futur has a pre-WWII flavour to it although it was first issued in 1974. To me, this is most certainly not a bad thing since I simply adore classic fragrances. Strangely enough, I can smell aldehydes in the composition even though there is none mentioned in the olfactive pyramid.

Top notes: Bergamot, neroli, green accords
Heart notes: Violet, jasmine, ylang-ylang
Base notes: Vetiver, patchouli, Virginia cedar

In some ways, Futur is reminiscent of Bandit. It's no wonder since they share the bergamot, neroli, violet, jasmine, ylang-ylang, vetiver and patchouli notes. The smokey leather note has been replaced with a pleasantly soapy note which becomes a little woodier in the dry-down. Here, they have marketed Futur as a shared fragrance. To me, though, Futur is chiefly a feminine fragrance.

8th January, 2012.

Off Scenter and the others described well the facets of the smell and the evolution itself. This is an unisex herbal dark chypre (with a sophisticated floral soul) coming from the abysses of the past but recently reformulated and obviously updated.  In its perfect combination of herbal sharpness and woodsy darkness, water and night, old-fashion and modern, transparence and density this  green-slightly incensed fragrance  strikes out as a typical Piquet as many others had to affirm relatively to its resemblance with Bandit (a Bandit without Birch Tar and with less leather and pungency, that's right). Greens, citruses, ylang-ylang, incense and patchouli imprint a sort of old-fashion aura. The opening under my nose is made of bitter herbs, hesperides (a starring bergamot and orange) and aldehydes and turns out pungent, boisterous and aromatic, than the smell starts to go gentler, with a touch of nocturnal flowes (i smell the violet) and darkens with an obscure blend of olibanum, patchouli and labdanum that is dark-green, incensed, woodsy, bitter-spicy and sweetly leathery. Some balsams have been added to the woodsy incense and are assigned to smooth the rootness, doing it finally in a clever way. The fragrance ends with tamed base of cedarwood and vetiver. The others talk about soapiness, i think just that the herbs, the patchouli and the citrus lose in the time the angular temperament that turns out slightly tamed but basically the fragrance remains humid, earthy and floral. A stark fragrance with a serious, introspective but autoritative temperament.

23rd October, 2011. (Last Edited: 14th December, 2011.)

Extreme green. Imagine Bandit without leather and you will get an idea. Bitter, floral/green, extremely soapy throughout and tremendously contemporary. Futur, with its pushed to the limit aldehydic "cleanness" stays somehow halfway between Givenchy III and Comme Des Garcons for Stephen Jones. A bizarre blend that's appearantly inoffensive yet extremely misterious. A great perfume!

Downside: Lasting Power (no more than 3 hrs).

6th June, 2011.

This reblend feels a bit like the link between Bandit and Cravache. (oddly, there appear to be few shared notes) All that great piquant opening but with a decidedly clean, green feel about it-what a contradiction! There is just enough of a spicy warmth to keep it from being decidedly fresh or citrusy. I agree with Off-Scenter that the drydown is soapy, and I can see where he gets a woodiness, but on me, there is more of waxy quality. I would relate it to a citronella candle with a slightly pungent soap quality. Ultimately, it is more masculine and controlled than Bandit while bringing some pizzazz and mystery to the citrus qualities of Cravache. Mind you, I feel that both Bandit and Cravache are fantastic in their own rights. Futur, while sharing qualities with both, clearly has its own place in the Piguet line-up.

17th September, 2010.

There's not much I can say that Off-Scenter didn't say express better than I could, but here's my take. This is a very unusual scent: it does smell "modern" but at the same time it also feels like a vintage composition because it's so rich and complex compared to most of today's scents. Futur definitely starts off extremely green, in a way that almost brings Estee Lauder's original Private Collection to mind. It's a delicious note, well described by Jardenel. It then moves into a floral-woody base, with the woods becoming increasingly dominant as time passes.The ending features a surprisingly spicy note that I haven't identified.

The most surprising thing to me about this composition is how quiet and subdued it is: this fragrance does NOT scream. It's mellow in its richness, and brings to my mind a green deciduous forest on the East Coast in the middle of July, dark and mysterious, but not somber, as a result of the leaves filtering the sunlight out. It's so subdued, in fact, that you might want the EdP over the parfum because the sprayer will have greater impact.

As to gender, I think this is perfectly wearable by men. The florals are not of the "feminine" type (by this I mean white flowers or sugary rose) and are mainly in a supporting role. It's less overtly floral than my other favorite green fragrance, Guerlain's Chamade, or the aldehydic Chanel no. 19.

2nd June, 2010.

Opens with a ton of aldehydes. I really don't like aldehydes. After all the aldehydes have faded, it's a warmly hesperidic/spicy fragrance, like a classier version of Old Spice.

3rd May, 2010.