KOUROS arrived! The ultimate review.

[smellgood4u]

I open the package from Amazon and there is a black box with KOUROS written in white letters. The ingredients are listed on the back of the box. Alcohol, water, then the parfum. It is 875233-03.

I open the black Kouros box, and a white Kouros bottle is inside. 100ml. The only metal is on the sprayer. This must be the new reformulation.

Here it comes. The first spray. The first wiff. I am excited. This is what I have been waiting for!

Alcohol.

That is what I smell. Lots of alcohol. It smells like a doctor took a cotton ball and wiped with alcohol.

I settle myself down and say wait. Let the alcohol evaporate and smell again.

I'm not getting the dirty accord that so many people write about. No urinal cakes. No sweaty jock straps after wrestling with a horny musk deer that just made love to the town whore. No zoo smells. It doesn't smell like a mens locker room with hot steamy showers running. It doesn't smell like strong pee.

I'm getting a clean scent. It is powdery. It is soapy in a good way. It smells clean.

I want the civet! I want clove! I want skank!

Kouros is a weak scent. It is not very strong. It stays close to the skin. I have been wearing it for about 20 minutes now and I doubt this would last all day. It's too weak.

If vintage Kouros was a dirty-clean dichotomy, then YSL removed the dirty accord and only left the clean scent.

It's been drying down for half an hour. The only scent is soap and powder.

I want a creamy undertone! And dirty!

It's time to find a vintage bottle of Kouros. There has to be one somewhere. What a shame YSL castrated what must have been the best dirty fragrance. Is there anything like the original Kouros?

If the original Kouros was a sweaty football player after a game, the new Kouros is a chess player after using hand sanatizer.

[juanderer]

So, who had the most appropriate response to your "what can I expect?" thread?

[sjg3839]

Bummer!

[smellgood4u]

Wait.

I just got a light smell of honey.

The smell of honey was there for a second and then gone! It vanished.

What's going on?

It was a delightful smell. Come back!

[JiveHippo]

Wow. If you think that Kouros is a weak, clean, skin scent, I think you will be hard pressed to find what you're truly looking for in a perfume. Perhaps you could procure your own civet cat to milk each morning, or maybe try Dior Leather Oud.

[Richie_B]

Kouros evolves, this is true. Has it really gotten that soft recently???

I am the last one to post on the original thread. Smellgood4u, take a look at my response, when you have a chance please. I am very curious to find out what YSL has done here.

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

Are you sure your nose is ok? Any chance you've got a cold or some sort of allergies? I sniffed Kouros at a local shop recently and it smelled nothing like what you're describing.

[smellgood4u]

Kouros evolves, this is true. Has it really gotten that soft recently???

I am the last one to post on the original thread. Smellgood4u, take a look at my response, when you have a chance please. I am very curious to find out what YSL has done here.

Compared to reviews of what Kouros was, the new reformulation is soft. Nobody will be calling the new Kouros a powerhouse projection monster.

Kouros is becoming sweeter on my skin. The honey comes and goes, mostly goes. If I smell honey, it is only for a second then it is gone.

There is less soap smell in the dry down. It is lightly soapy now. The soap is leaving.

I still do not get any civet. No clove. Nothing dirty. Nothing sexual.

I do not get any woods you mentioned. The sweetness I am getting is like a very light amber. But it's not amber. I can't put my finger on it.

In the 5 minutes I have written this reply, sniffing every couple seconds, the honey has only come twice for a short visit. The powder is there.

Kouros is a clean scent. I'm still waiting for any hints of dirty or musky or civet. None so far.

[Richie_B]

*Gets the same feeling Obi-Wan Kenobi had when the Death Star blew up Alderaan*

O.o

[OctaVariuM]

I have a feeling you would enjoy that fragrance you have to pee into.

Anyone recall who did that or what it was called?

Also, you may like Secretions Magnifique.

[JiveHippo]

^ lol, it was an O'driu perfume, not sure which one.

[cacio]

Current Kouros is a touch cleaner than vintage, but it is still dirty. I've had the same reaction with another person, though. Presumably, it's simply that you are anosmic to the particular musk that features prominently in Kouros (which is not actual civet, which does not exist anymore in mainstream perfumery). Everybody has his or her own blind spots in musks, so you've probably found yours (I have found people who said that oud 27 smells soapy, and oud 27 beats Kouros anytime).

Before dousing yourself in cleanliness, thogh, I recommend you ask other opinions, in case they do, indeed, smell the musk.

cacio

[smellgood4u]

There must have been a new reformulation since the white bottle with metal spray was released.

In the vintage Kouros thread, there is a picture of the pre-reformulation ingredient list and the post reformulation ingredient list.

The vintage Kouros is alcohol, parfum, water, batch 2YFO2-2

The reformulated Kouros is alcohol, parfum, water, batch 2YF02-3

Both of the above have BENZYL BENZONATE as the 5th ingredient.

My box of the newest reformulation is: alcohol, water, parfum, batch 875233-03. BENZYL BENZONATE is the 19th ingredient.

This is different than the reformulation from last year. The bottle is all white with only metal around the tester, which is what the last reformulation was, but it's been reformulated again.

- - - Updated - - -

If you want to hear a conspiracy theory, read on...

Could it be that YSL released the reformulation in the new white bottle with metal spray in a slightly weakened Kouros. A juice that was similar to the old Kouros with the dirty notes but just slightly weaker.

Get everyone to accept the slightly weaker Kouros juice.

Wait a year. Now release a more watered down Kouros in the same bottle. Even more watered down than the reformulation in 2010/2011.

People will be arguing over how weak the juice is. The people who have the first reformulation will say it's a little less civet, but drys down the same as the original, and still has a dirty vibe. People with the second reformulation will be confused why they can't smell any civit.

My reasoning is based on the list of ingredients from the old metal bottle, to the new white bottle, to what I recieved. The ingredients between older Kouros (pre 2010), the first reformulation in the new bottle (2011/2012), and my bottle (2013) is different.

Parfum went from #2 on the ingredient list to #3, and water jumped up to be the second ingredient.

It is a shame Kouros isn't sold in the store because on-line we don't know what we are getting. Even if we know it is the white bottle with metal spray, we don't know if we're getting the 2010/2011/2012 juice or the 2013 juice. The only way to know is to read the ingredients and see if Parfum is second or third in ingredients. No sellers are providing this information.

This would be a sneaky way for YSL to get two reformulations out in a year, to water it down, but confuse people so they second guess their nose and think the newest watered down Kouros is the same as what was released in 2011/2012.

[Jack Hunter]

You should check out Leather Oud if you are looking for a bit of civet skank.

[Spoombung]

You should check out Leather Oud if you are looking for a bit of civet skank.

Seconded!

Great review BTW!

[smellgood4u]

Kouros has changed on my skin over 2 hours. This is an amazing fragrance.

Imagine being in a large 100'X100' room crowded with hundreds of clean washed people. Everyone smells clean, soapy, powdery, and clean. Everyone except for one person who smells like honey. Everyone is moving around in the room so its possible to get wiffs and pick up on scents that quickly disappear. Every now and then there is a faint scent of honey, but it goes away and I'm not sure what direction to walk in to pick up on more of the honey. This was Kouros for the first two hours. But as time goes by, the one person who smelled like honey is smelling a little dirtier, leaving little hints of sweat, and now some of the clean people smell like honey. The soapy smell is now in the background. The smell of the room is changing. This is how Kouros evolved on my skin.

Kouros, where have you been all my life? This is great juice. There is more honey now than at first. But overall it is a weak scent. I doubt this would project at all. I can only smell it if I put my hand under my nose.

[nikthegreek]

2 spray in the morning and everybody in the house knows what i am wearing for a
couple of days..lol..

[hednic]

However one wants to classify it, it's a fine scent IMO.

[smellgood4u]

I just got out of the shower and am going out to meet friends for drinks. I put on 5 sprays of Kouros. I'll report back tonight what everyone thought. Maybe I'll do 2 more sprays to make sure it projects.

[döfä91]

It's time to find a vintage bottle of Kouros. There has to be one somewhere.

The vintage Kouros is in fact quite often available in eBay. Just be careful not to buy a fake. Happy hunting!

[cacio]

7 sprays of Kouros? If your friends leave the premises with an excuse, you know why. But many people, of either sex, consider it very sexy, so you may also strike gold.

cacio

[alexwagner]

I don't have a vintage bottle to compare to so weather the current has any significant differences I have no idea. What I can say though this frag is still extremely potent. Just a spray on each wrist stayed with me ALL day at work without turning into a skin scent while getting huge wafts of it.

[smellgood4u]

I'm back from dinner, and nobody noticed 8 sprays of Kouros. It is watered down.

I would rather have a vintage bottle where 2 sprays is overkill than a new bottle where 8 sprays does nothing.

[NorthernTiger]

This is disheartening. I like a lot of the powerhouse frags such as Paco Rabanne PH and Aramis. I have Kouros on the way to sample it. I will be extremely disappointed if it is not as overbearing as many claim. Even if it smells like honey and powder.

[MonkeyBars]

I do not get any woods you mentioned. The sweetness I am getting is like a very light amber. But it's not amber. I can't put my finger on it.

Galanga, a sweet, spicy-smelling root. Delicious sliced in thai coconut soup as a flavoring. It's the stuff that looks kind of like pink ginger.

I have a feeling you would enjoy that fragrance you have to pee into.

Anyone recall who did that or what it was called?

O'Driu Secraction. Which is an herbal rose-vanilla thing, nothing like Kouros.

Also, you may like Secretions Magnifique.

Also nothing like Kouros.

[noirdrakkar]

To be honest, I thought Kouros was a great work of art, but it's not something I would wear. I really liked the soapy floral musky opening, but then I found the drydown really repulsive and wanted it off my skin (but it lasted 12 hours whether I liked it or not).

I'm just not into animalic musty scents.

[heperd]

Ive heard that its about half as strong as older formulations. It really comes alive in the heat mixed with sweat. Great fragrance.

[smellgood4u]

Ive heard that its about half as strong as older formulations. It really comes alive in the heat mixed with sweat. Great fragrance.

Why did YSL water down this great scent? It gets good in the dry down, but it is too weak to project.

Is there is anything I can layer with the current Kouros juice to make it more like vintage juice? Perhaps a spray of dirty musk?

[Bigsly]

I wore vintage/first formulation a couple days ago. After the powerful opening, the major players seemed to be honey/vanilla, animalics, and a "clean" smoke/musk quality. There was some patchouli, spice, etc. but those three seemed to come to the forefront. I intend to wear what I think is the last formulation before the chrome trim was taken off some of the bottle and I can report back on that one.

[FullCollapse]

Can you post a pic of the bottle and box so we know exactly which one you have?

[heperd]

Why did YSL water down this great scent? It gets good in the dry down, but it is too weak to project.

Because whichever gigantic conglomerate that owns YSL does not care about you. They care about money. They are going to do everything possible to reduce overhead. Cheaper bottle, cheaper ingredients. They rely on the repeat buyer who doesnt notice the gradual change.

[Bigsly]

Can you post a pic of the bottle and box so we know exactly which one you have?

If this refers to my post, I don't have the original boxes for either. There is a thread with pictures of the old and newer bottles so just use the search feature to find that one.

[FullCollapse]

If this refers to my post, I don't have the original boxes for either. There is a thread with pictures of the old and newer bottles so just use the search feature to find that one.

Oh sorry I meant the OP.

[FullCollapse]

If this refers to my post, I don't have the original boxes for either. There is a thread with pictures of the old and newer bottles so just use the search feature to find that one.

Oh sorry I meant the OP.

[Dernier_Cri]

Did you try smelling it blindfolded?

[cuko]

I had kouros at the top of my "to buy list" and now I'm not so sure with all the reformulations and what not. So your saying the 2YF02-3 is still good? If so I will keep an eye out for it. Are there pics posted anywhere of the box just for a referance to go by?

[Nexus6]

I tried the reformulation on a paper strip and it didn't even last a day on the strip while the vintage would last for weeks.
The reformulation is definitely weaker and not "dirty".
This reformulation might be more appealing to the average costumer who likes his fragrances fresh and clean but I find it a shame that they removed all the interesting parts.
There is no way that a longtime user of Kouros won't notice the difference.
I think it is disrespectful to both Pierre Bourdon and the longtime users to reformulate so drastically.

[Slayerized]

This is the one to get if you want to know what Kouros is all about: ('Eau de toilette' written on the middle of the bottle):


Gorgeous stuff of which less is more (2-3 sprays max indeed for a full day)!

[ericrico]

First off - you need to get one thing clear immediately.

You did not buy a bottle from Yves Saint Laurent. You purchased a bottle of L'Oreal fragrance with the logo from Yves Saint Laurent. The company sold after his passing (the brilliance and integrity of ALL of the fragrances that L'Oreal kept were reformulated!) and his legacy is in bottles up to 2008. After that, you are giving a large cosmetic company money for heavily reformulated bottles. I have not and will not purchase a bottle of any classic Yves Saint Laurent fragrance that was made after 2008 (I actually try to find 2007 and prior to be certain, although reformulations did happen a little later).

The only fragrance I have purchased from the contemporary line is La Nuit de L'Homme...and it is, unto itself, a very good scent with a wonderful feel. Ropion had his hand on this along with Anne Flipo & Pierre Wargnye - all have incredible resumes! This, to me, as it was released in March 2009 - possibly was the last bottle that the house of YSL (and possibly the legendary man himself) had a part in producing.

If you want Kouros - buy the real thing. And, my friend cacio is correct, civet was taken out of fragrance years ago. A very early bottle of Kouros may contain a small amount but civetone is the synthetic ingredient that was mainly used over the years. I have very early Kouros and next to later Vintage Kouros - it is indeed more pronounced as a note. It is as skanky as a three-way 'party' at the Bunny Ranch...!

Stuff that wet dreams are made of!

Cheers,

ericrico

There must have been a new reformulation since the white bottle with metal spray was released.

In the vintage Kouros thread, there is a picture of the pre-reformulation ingredient list and the post reformulation ingredient list.

The vintage Kouros is alcohol, parfum, water, batch 2YFO2-2

The reformulated Kouros is alcohol, parfum, water, batch 2YF02-3

Both of the above have BENZYL BENZONATE as the 5th ingredient.

My box of the newest reformulation is: alcohol, water, parfum, batch 875233-03. BENZYL BENZONATE is the 19th ingredient.

This is different than the reformulation from last year. The bottle is all white with only metal around the tester, which is what the last reformulation was, but it's been reformulated again.

- - - Updated - - -

If you want to hear a conspiracy theory, read on...

Could it be that YSL released the reformulation in the new white bottle with metal spray in a slightly weakened Kouros. A juice that was similar to the old Kouros with the dirty notes but just slightly weaker.

Get everyone to accept the slightly weaker Kouros juice.

Wait a year. Now release a more watered down Kouros in the same bottle. Even more watered down than the reformulation in 2010/2011.

People will be arguing over how weak the juice is. The people who have the first reformulation will say it's a little less civet, but drys down the same as the original, and still has a dirty vibe. People with the second reformulation will be confused why they can't smell any civit.

My reasoning is based on the list of ingredients from the old metal bottle, to the new white bottle, to what I recieved. The ingredients between older Kouros (pre 2010), the first reformulation in the new bottle (2011/2012), and my bottle (2013) is different.

Parfum went from #2 on the ingredient list to #3, and water jumped up to be the second ingredient.

It is a shame Kouros isn't sold in the store because on-line we don't know what we are getting. Even if we know it is the white bottle with metal spray, we don't know if we're getting the 2010/2011/2012 juice or the 2013 juice. The only way to know is to read the ingredients and see if Parfum is second or third in ingredients. No sellers are providing this information.

This would be a sneaky way for YSL to get two reformulations out in a year, to water it down, but confuse people so they second guess their nose and think the newest watered down Kouros is the same as what was released in 2011/2012.

- - - Updated - - -

BINGO!

Thank you, Slayerized for the beautiful portrait of what real Kouros is...sorry, was.

Cheers,

ericrico

This is the one to get if you want to know what Kouros is all about: ('Eau de toilette' written on the middle of the bottle):


Gorgeous stuff of which less is more (2-3 sprays max indeed for a full day)!

[OctaVariuM]

Galanga, a sweet, spicy-smelling root. Delicious sliced in thai coconut soup as a flavoring. It's the stuff that looks kind of like pink ginger.



O'Driu Secraction. Which is an herbal rose-vanilla thing, nothing like Kouros.



Also nothing like Kouros.

When exactly did I say they were like Kouros? All I was thinking was that they are pretty daring scents, and he seems to be looking for something strange. Why would I point him in the direction of stuff like something he already has and is underwhelmed with? That just seems like an assumption.