The notes outrage some, who liken it to locker-room sweat, urinal cake, semen, cat feces and dead rodents.
— A fragrance description from Something in the Air at the LA Times. The article is about men's fragrance in general; that particular description is about a men's fragrance from a well-known designer brand. Answer below the jump...
Yep, it's our old friend (and I do mean that most sincerely!) Yves Saint Laurent Kouros.
Many thanks to Joe for the link.
The urinal cake gave it away to me! And I like Kouros but then I know I’m in good company here. Thanks for the link to a very nice article.
I like it too. It can be overdone though….
I guessed right! I wasn’t sure of myself, but Kouros was the scent that came to mind. I love Kouros but my husband does not like it.
It’s a great scent.
I suppose I should be thankful I’ve never smelled Korous??! I assumed they were speaking of our old smelly friend Secretions Magnifique.
Oh no, you should smell it!
Oh, Ann. Some correction is in your future.
I am not going to say what I think of Kouros, but I find this article so much better researched than that inferior elle stuff we shared a couple of days ago. Is this going to be a permanent LA times feature (other bookmark necessary)?
Ditto — and that’s just what Joe said too. Great article, puts Elle to shame.
Denise is a genuine perfumista, and this is her third (or is it fourth?) fragrance article for LA Times… bookmark it!
Hahahaha …yeah, there were a couple contenders… Kouros can be …ah, ‘a bit much’ …..but it’s not quite that bad.
I like Kouros, but it takes the right kind of guy to pull it off…
I love Korous, even considered to buy it for myself! I wonder if I’m the right kind of guy for it
Ha! I amend my statement from guy to person, with apologies.
Robin, you didn’t have to apologize, I just thought it was funny!
I thought it was funny too…I ought to be the last one making gender assumptions with fragrance!
Excellent article, much better than the usual fragrance stories we see.
Meaning stories in the mainstream press, of course.
I am outraged! Cat feces?!? Like the anonymous Basenoter who likened my beloved Korous to Bigfoot’s genitals, I can only say “in a very good way!”
Like the commenters above, must say that is was a very enjoyable article, covering a ton of great scents (take that, Elle!) And love the Tauer/Auden comparison – Auden is one of my very favorite poets and writers in general, and, of course, I love Andy’s scents and the two mentioned in the article in particular.
Bigfoot’s genitals?!? That is just too funny!
Well, having smelt all of the above at various times in my life, I wouldn’t want to come upon a scent and have it remind me of those things-Yuck!
Except baby sweat; that’s always nice to smell.
It’s nice to see a lot of men gravitating towards incense/tobacco and leather.
My husband wore marine scents years ago because in my naivety back then I foolishly thought this is what men were supposed to wear and bless him, he didn’t have the heart to tell me he really didn’t like them to begin with. I didn’t want to tell him I didn’t like marine scents either. Live and learn!
I never got stranger looks from people at the dept store I worked at than when I said that I liked Kouros. There was this one older guy, a regular, who would come in and give himself liberal spritzes of it from the tester. Probably why most everyone despised it.
I adore Kouros, and the first thing I thought when I read that article was “This is such a nice corrective to the twaddle in Elle!”
i’m very loyal to my Kouros Eau d’Ete. similar, yet not too strong to be overwhelming for everyone. i think this helped me like those stronger, more old fashioned fragrances…
This article was a joy… and someone had alerted me to it via our Google split group.
I plan to wear Kouros sometime this week — now that the weather is pretty much CHILLY enough for it. I don’t think it plays well over 70 degrees, though I should try it sometime (on a weekend!) in 90+ degree heat, just to be EVIL.
Love it. Love it.
Gosh. I was *sure* it was going to be Secretions Magnifique. That is the only fragrance I know of that really does inspire anger in those who smell it.
Kouros, huh? Hmmm. I suppose I should try it. It can’t be worse than Secretions, can it?
Never smelled it. I guess I have something to look forward to…
I said this on her LA times blog but I was lucky enough to be at lucky scent at the same time she was. I was making my first big niche purchase and she was there sniffing everything and taking notes. She is truly inspiring for this budding perfumista.