KOUROS: Why all the hate? - Page 2

Hi

Please discuss the scent and leave all political/international/cultural debate out of this thread from now on.

Thanks

what's the general opinions of kouros lovers on kouros fraiche? i have heard good things but have never even seen the stuff. thanks

LOVE IT!! It's the Kouros for people who hate Kouros and for those of us who like the original, it's a nice lighter take on it. The opening replaces the cloves and spices with some pineapple, the drydown is very similar to the original, albeit with a lot less civet.

Sometimes I think I like it better than the original

i hope it doesn't completely replace the clove. that's what drew me to it (original kouros) in the first place. it took me back to a young dame burning a clove cigarette at mardi gras in days past. it's amazing sometimes how you'll catch a scent and it will remind you of something in the past

I'm certainly not adding anything new here but I just want to be counted amongst those who really love Kouros.

I can totally understand those who hate it. The last ten years have seen a massive swing towards lighter, fresh mens fragrances. Called them 'sports', 'fraiche', 'sport cologne', 'summer editions' etc....whatever they're are denominated they all have a certain similar theme. I like them. I'm not one of those fragrance lovers who hate everything new or hate everything old.

Kouros is immensely powerful on my skin. Its still there the next day. Literally 24 hours later. I can see the urinal cakes association but I personally think Kouros is such a complex and deep fragrance that this is but one aspect that when really thought about can be broken down into its constituent notes. I certainly don't think of urinal cakes when I apply Kouros (of which 1 maybe 2 sprays on the chest are enough for me). I now think of clove and spicy powdery incense. My wife is from Lahore, Pakistan and Kouros has an oriental freshness that reminds me strongly of humid post-monsoon early autumn mornings there.

Some people may not be able to break past that initial barrier and get the the deeper parts of Kouros. Likewise there are fragrances that I simply cannot seem to understand as well as others do. I still respect them though.

So I guess I'm simply saying that although Kouros for me is an absolute classic and in my top all-time five, I can understand how it appears as brutally offensive to some whose tastes lie elsewhere.

But what I can't understand is lazy Kouros-bashing. Taking a whiff of a half-empty tester in a department store is not good enough. You need to properly sample it. A spray to the chest underneath a fine open-necked cotton shirt and see how it develops during the day. Appreciate it for what it is - not for what it isn't.

OUCH!!! lol (I have to admit that was a good one)

FWIW I do not care for either.

Kouros does not smell like a urinal cake to me. It just smells like urine! Call me strange (and many do) but I do not like to smell like urine, but if that is what you guys are into... Who am I to judge? lol (I am just kidding!!!)

Gentlemen, please be kind enough to keep the country bashing out of here. What's the point in generalising that "Americans have bad taste"? It doesn't sound very correct.

There's no good or bad taste. It's subjective, which is what makes individuals.

And I LOVE Kouros, no matter what someone else think of it.

- - -

Yeah, don't diss the piss!

Pretty funny debate here, all over a scent. hahaha

With that said, I tested Ko-urinos and went crossed-eyed for a few minutes, careful not to drop the bottle so I didnt have to pay for a tester and went on my way, asking my wife to drive me home. If I wanted to smell like that, I'd piss my cat off so he would spray me in the face. It'd be cheaper too.

Obviously, it's not my thing. Just like Cool Water.

This is the first and only post I will ever do with Kouros in the title.....This does smell like a cat pissy ciggy....Hate it...and it is funny..lol

Hey, I have Kouros for 40 days now. In these 40 days I used 70 sprays till now. Even now I am clearly feeling it, 18 hrs after spraying. It has very good longevity. I NEVER felt urine or poo or urinal cakes from it. I don't care I'm 14. You may say it is not for me, but I like it, and so do my friends. Every day I wear it I recive at least 5 compliments. I always spray twice on the neck.
Also, the girls are instantly seduced by this. It helped me a lot. The person who likes it the most is my mother.
Can't get enough of this, please try it. The world will smell better.

Hoo-wee, is it getting warm in here or is it just me? :-)

Kouros is awesome, in my book.

I understand where people are coming from, with the urinal cake comments...though I find that after the top notes die a bit the whole thing becomes much smoother. I also think civet has something to do with people's dislike.

But I think Givenchy Gentleman, old formulation, is much more powerful and....scary! I made the mistake of spraying it on my chest just before lunch hour one day, at my desk. A half hour later, someone who works fairly close to my workspace inquired if I smelled anything--she noted a smell like "Bathroom disinfectant."

I think they're both masterpieces. To each his or her own. But I won't be spraying either one while at work, and I wouldn't wear either one to work--unelss I gave them at least two hours to die down a bit first!

I really wanted to like kouros when i bought it, but the urinal-cake smell combined with just how offensive it was to me nose turned me off. To me, it was a lot like Joop - just couldn't stand how offensive it was.

I will say, i do sort of like how it smelled in the dry down, but even that was much to sweet for me.

May I ask why did you buy Kouros without thoroughly testing to see if you like it or not? Blind buy something that's extraordinarily controversial, and then blame it?

I bought it on account of many positive recommendations from Basenotes reviews. Couldn't test before I bought because I couldn't find it to test where I'm located. I knew it was going to be either hit or miss based on the reviews. Kouros wasn't for me, so I gave it to my brother. I think blind buying what I myself cannot easily test is easily justified if it's at the right price. At best I'll have a fragrance I enjoy, and at worst it'll be something I can give away.

I also don't really understand the vicious loathing that Kouros can inspire; reading the BN reviews you'd think YSL literally bottled up a combo of feces, urine and semen and called it a perfume. There is something vaguely animalic and slightly lived-in about its heart notes, like unwashed bedsheets or fresh sweat, and the infamous "urinal cake" accord, that camphoraceous/antiseptic thing, is definitely present but it doesn't last for long. Mostly it strikes me as a sweet, creamy, spicy, and ultimately "fresh" fougere with the tenacity and depth of a good oriental. The way it straddles the line between clean and dirty, sanitary and unkempt, is what makes it fascinating to me, and like a lot of classic fougeres, it needs to be worn and allowed to wrap you in its aura rather than sniffed on your wrist or on a smelling strip. At first I wasn't sure what to think of it, but each time I wear it I notice different aspects of its personality and structure that weren't apparent before, and the longer it sits on skin the better (and sexier) it smells. A grossly underrated scent, in my opinion, with a profile and structure that put it in a class by itself - it smells like no other fragrance out there. Its animalic quality must be just too much for some people to take.

To quote Dave Chappelle:

"If you have hate in your heart, let it out."

Does your bro like it?

I like it, I do not LOVE it. I wouldn't run out and buy it immediately, but if someone gave it to me as a gift I would sure as hell keep it and never swap or give it to anyone.

I suspect "all the hate" is because the cologne smells like dove bar soap on steroids in the opening, then dries down to a dove bar soap/body odor arm pit smell. I spray this under my shirt after I shower. Good thing is that it lasts all day pretty much. But then again I wouldnt buy this expecting something that is wearable if you plan to spray before class/work/date etc. Mainly, for me it is just used to smell better straight out of shower. ie. the strong soapy dove bar smell. It is almost a chemically dove bar soap if you spray too much. Im not good at distinguishing all the notes in a fragrance because I have not smells each of the substances used to describe "notes" in their individual capacities outside of notes like vanilla, and cinnamon etc.

But to me that is what Kouros is... a shower enhancement cologne!