Carven L'Absolu

This perfume proved to be a gorgeous addition to my spring/summer collection. It definitely blooms on my skin in higher heat exuding notes of mandarin and ylang ylang. I dont get any iris or tuberose but maybe others may. This was created in part by Francis Kurkdjian- its such a feminine classy composition. I dont wear much rose so the florals I am drawn to are in this category.....a little earthy, some citrus, and some beautiful jasmine. For the price its a steal.

This is a fresh and classy fragrance with a woody and bitter-sweet (literally) focus. The iris makes a bit more sensual than your everyday freshie. I have successfully layered it on top of Mancera’s Velvet Vanilla to sweeten it up and to tart up the latter. I am usually not into layering, but this was a nice combo.

I don't understand the comparison between Tom Ford Soleil Blanc and this fragrance. TF SB smells coconutty sunblock.....this is Jasminey floral......I just don't see the comparison. I like this one much better!

Great summer perfume! I like the original for the spring, but l’absolu is a warmer version that translates better to summer days. It’s creamy and dreamy, a wonderful white-yellow bouquet with woody stems.

Refreshing without the screechiness of the original. Much easier to wear.

Francis Kurkdjian has his name on this. Some say sweet, some say sour, some say French elan, some say ambroxan. Perhaps it is a confusing fragrance. It does, to my mind, resemble a Miss Dior type. I don't think it's like Soleil Blanc. I really liked the opening, got me there. The dry down thickens and rolls, but if I lift the perfumed skin to my nose there's a sharper citrus present that is quite nice. At the dry down I am reminded of L'Aquarossa Elixir by Fendi which was a huge hit with my daughter. The bottle is classy.

This is beautiful. Very rich , powdery and refined. It is definitely a throwback to yesteryear and has much in common with classic ( pre formulation ) Chanel. On me the lasting power and sillage varies due to my illness. On my mother it is absolutely gorgeous , classy, powerful and sexy. Is there anything more pleasurable than receiving or gifting a perfume? The warmth and joy of a breeze dancing with all the notes of a perfume. This scent made good memories for me. I hope it does for others as well.

This is very pretty. A pretty floral with some slight fruity notes, but it has that "this is a perfume" smell. If you know you know. I think sometime perfumes that smell very "perfumey" that may seem a bit dated to some, but regardless, this is lovely and definitely worth a try if the notes appeal to you. I was just thinking that if you like Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel, you will like this one and sure enough that is listed in the "reminds me of" section, so I guess my instinct on that is correct.

This depends on what your nose is picking up from what the notes are putting down. It smells good BUT I can truly see the confusion. It is not a bad uncertainty but more of an intriguing bewilderment - you need to & want to smell more, to understand it, to get to know it, to be on.."BFF level" (best fragrance forever) - this may never happen but all the same it is a nice fragrance by two brilliant noses at a reasonable price. Purchase it- reading the reviews will just leave you STIR CRAZY

Carven L'Absolu is quite generic, but in a good way generic. Abstract, sort of like a shampoo scent, but not the most basic, cheap shampoo. The mandarin is felt throughout sweetening the composition in a juicy, refreshing way, the rest seems to be non-descript, or not distinguishable floral bouquet. Must be an easy to wear, suitable every day, all occasions, not offensive, simple and nice scent with some minuscule more interesting nuances than the rest of generic type of scents.

Ylang-forward skin cream with a sweet white floral heart. This cream is the really expensive kind you have to ration because it's so pricey. I'm not getting the comparisons to Coco Mademoiselle; that one's much rosier and citric. However, this does smell like it could be a Chanel creation and I think that's what's being picked up on. Perfect for spring or autumn weather, sits just at the skin, I get around 6 hrs on my skin.

This is the case of GIVETHEPERFUMEASECONDCHANCE. When I tried it for the very first time, I first smelt something citrussy and then nothing. Later that day I tried it on again and went out. It was a warm day, the sun was shining and suddenly.... Wow. It was pleasant, it was sweet, it was velvety. Every tenth step I felt it again and again. It ́s definitely something I want to keep.

Sweet, rich, elegant. A good choice for someone looking for a fragrance that is sweet and deep, but not loud, young or overly gourmand. I imagine a nice rich lady, in her 50‘s, wearing this. This is sweetness made classic. It is not original, i have smelled something similar somewhere, but it is well done. Sillage is soft and longevity is moderate to long lasting.

Carven Absolue is one of my work staples, soft sweet mandarin and sandalwood. It gives a pleasing soft cloud around me and I get compliments every time I wear it. Very similar to Coco Mademoiselle in the last dry down, which I find weird because CM isn’t my favorite. Safe blind buy in MHO and very affordable.

This is such a sweet gourmand fragrance. I love sweet perfumes and I’m all into chypre fragrances too... On my skin this smells similar to scandal a paris by JPG except scandal is a bit sweeter scent!! This also reminds me a bit of Woman intense by RL. Poor longevity and silage....

Very pretty soft and powdery floral grounded by a sandalwood and patchouli base. The jasmine and ylang ylang stand out as top notes. I don't really get much tuberose (which is my fave) so this doesn't give me the heady over the top floral I'm looking for.

A gourmand white flowers scent if that makes any sense. Great for winter for floral lovers. The gourmand edge is achieved by blending notes of orange, patchouli and tuberose. On top of that is jasmin. On my skin it's delicious.

Very balsamic scent, quite pleasant, but tuberose bothers me a bit as usual. If you like gentle orient notes, you will love it. It's labdanum overdose, but very good one.

Pleasant, fresh and a little bit sweet. Non intrusive, office friendly tuberose.

Definitely classy white floral vibes. Flowers stood out to me more than pronounced sweetness, wood or amber. I might revisit my sample in the spring as I generally reach for cozier and warmer fragrances when the weather is cold. I can't weigh in on CocoMad comparison, I've only tried it once.

I tested this fragrance from a sample with one spray on one wrist and two sprays on the other. There are two things that I can't believe no one has mentioned in reviews of this fragrance. First, the liquid from my manufacturer's sample is slightly umber-colored. I'd be a little concerned about staining my clothing if I owned this. Secondly, I detect a ton of ambroxan in this. I don't get it so much in the wafts of scent that come up to my nose, but when I get my nose up close to my wrist I get a sinister snout-ful of the stuff. I don't *need* to be able to huff my own perfumed wrists, but I might want to check if my scent is still projecting or something and I'd prefer not to suffer behind doing so. This is such a shame because the perfume starts out with promise. On the singly sprayed wrist, I get an opening of a darker Le Parfum that transitions to a much much sweeter accord; it isn't a sweet citrus or anything that I can confidently identify as a fruit. For a minute, I though it was osmanthus, but I can't really say. Then I start to get the coco-caramel tone of patchouli. On the other wrist, I get less movement. I get the same opening, but I don't get the solo sweet accord. The Le Parfum accord lasts longer and then goes straight into the patchouli-caramel. For me, ambroxan brings to mind Tupperware sitting in a sink of hot water and Palmolive. It's not exactly a plastic smell or a soapy smell-- Palmolive always had a strong, chemical edge to me. I guess I'd call it a clean plastic-tinged metallic aroma given the assaultive power of steam. The sweet accord gets a layer of clean plastic-metal that persists throughout the scent. On the other wrist, I detected in the patchouli drydown. Either way, ambroxan is an unwelcome arrival that ruins the perfume.

I admire and respect Francis Kurkjian, but this composition is a mess: way too sweet with a difficult mix of notes and accords. Front loaded with non descript florals, citrus and a cheap smelling patchouli. There’s not enough in the base to make it interesting. It’s as if all the attention is placed in the opening, becoming nasal fatigue before entering the drydown. Surprised MFK blended this perfume but I’m thinking his hands were tied. He probably didn’t have the budget to make this work. Cheap ingredients equal a cheap smell. A little about me: I’m in my 50s and I would never wear it.

I really really dislike this one. Heady and sour, but in a way that makes me nauseated. I had to scrub it off. After scrubbing, the offensive, nauseating notes disappeared and it became a sweet white floral. I don't know whether my issue is with the patchouli or the citrus. Both usually are pleasant to my nose, but in this fragrance for some reason these are sour and nauseating for me.

This is *very* sweet. It's not a candy-sweet, more of a mature floral sweet. For the first five minutes or so it's pleasant though way more sweet than I am able to enjoy. Then the florals subside slightly and the amber comes through with that heady 'hypnotic' quality, which I also don't really love. So... this one is a pass for me.

I think it has a little old-fashioned feeling to it. I did expect it to be older, I can't believe it's released in 2015. It's not my scent, too strong and musty smelling just as someone already mentioned. Not the worst either, just average kind of strong scent. I sense patchouli and jasmine the most.

This fragrance is rather sweet and reminds me of a Miss Dior type of scent. The tuberose really gets to me, and makes me nauseous. I expected a different smell from the notes listed, but unfortunately this is not my vial of juice.

Carven L'Absolu is a stunning fragrance; pure elegance in a bottle. It's a scent that would appeal to those that enjoy Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle, Cartier's La Panthere and YSL's Elle. Carven L'Absolu wears like a floral chypre on my skin. It opens with a crisp, almost laundry-fresh blend of jasmine, ylang-ylang, iris and mandarin orange. Before it can become too fresh and pretty, however, the patchouli makes a rather bold entrance, adding a rich, mossy-green aroma to the composition. I love the scent of patchouli, so I really don't mind its dominance in this fragrance, however, be it known that Carven L'Absolu is not a fragrance for those that don't share my appreciation for patchouli, or chypres for that matter. I have tried both the original Carven Le Parfum and this flanker side by side, and I must say that there are very few similarities. The laundry-fresh opening is perhaps all that these two scents share. Carven Le Parfum is more light and musky, whereas Carven L'Absolu is much richer and more evening/cold weather appropriate. I much prefer Carven L'Absolu for its boldness and surprising nature. I'm glad to see Carven making a bit of a comeback. I also love their new packaging, especially the white and gold theme that adorns Carven L'Absolu's bottle.

Sometimes I bake cakes. Sometimes I add a little booze to my baked cakes to assure they are fragrant and moist. Carven L`Absolute reminds me of the scent of Elderflower Liquor slathered on a baked vanilla cake. I even smell St. Germaine infused buttercream frosting in the dry down. Baked goods aside,Carven L`Absolute isn`t very sweet at all at least not for a cake and definitely not in relative comparison to other mainstream perfumes. It`s quite proper, soft, bright, a bit fleeting. There is not a trace left on my skin the morning after. I appreciate the grounding starchy iris and the slight patchouly afterthought. L`Absolute is not big or bold but it does draw compliments. You might equate this scent to a glint of sunshine on the surface of a pond....or a soft boozy cake whichever you prefer.

I am sorry, but this has nothing in common with Coco M. I am baffled reading these reviews. In fact, you can't compare it to any fumes from the Chanel line, since Chanel has its own DNA, and there is zero in common here. I have Coco M, Coco Noir and Carven L'Absolu, and they are completely different perfumes. Even CM and CN smell completely different to each other, so it is beyond me that people are just grouping all these into the same basket. Carven L'Absolu holds that typical modern, designer, perfumey DNA that is now common across the board and known as Mall Fragrance, but this one i actually love wearing due to its quality. To those reading the reviews, please pay attention on how many dislikes are pressed on "this perfume reminds me of" bar.

First off I have to say I think it's so funny how similar this fragrance is to Tom Ford's Soleil Blanc. Including the beautiful white bottle and gold box it comes in! At first spray all I smell is fresh lychee. It's fresh and fruity. It then starts to get powdery and smells more like Carven Le Parfum (which I secretly love). Carven l'Absolute is sharper than Tom Ford's Soleil Blanc. I find SB is a touch creamier, and smells a little more like sunscreen. All in all I think it is a very pretty scent.

Chic Parisian lady like smelling. It's kind of old school to me but it is tamed. I truly appreciate the risk taken with it. It has nothing to do with nowadays sweet fragrances. I thought we no longer do this type of smelling actually. But That's a real perfume. You have to get used to it, to like it. Some people would say it smells like a old lady though.

I didn't know what to think about it at first as I had never smelled it before buying it. It reminded me of perfumes, ladies used to smell like when I was a kid. It was rich and long lasting, but there was a note I didn't like and I think it might be patchouli. Now I like it and use it in winter as I think it's more appropriate for that season.

After trying this today and I must say it ́s one of the most special fragrances I ́ve aver smelled. Iˇm not a fan of citrusy notes, but the mandarin in this creation complements perfectly the middle and base notes. I ́m actually surprised that most people voted that mandarin was not a top note.

sweet n creamy make me smile with pure smile everytime sniff this one . . . i am man but also love gourmand perfumes from woman perfumes like a kenzo amoure... alien mugler woman...... and i do love to take this one in my collectio longevity is good about 6 hours in my skin sillage not bad....

This smells high end, classy, but the type who are rich yet snobby 40 year old woman classy, if that makes sense. On par with the likes of Chanel. Not suprised this was done by MFK. I could see this being a crowd pleaser. I’ll keep the sample and finish it but won’t buy a full size.

I asked two different people to smell me when I tried this on and both of them said "mhhm" as their only comment, neither good or bad. Yeah. It's a bit like a old musty wardrobe and dead flowers. Not a hit. But the bottle is pretty I guess.

Prada La Femme Intense Edp with Labdanum, not so loud on Ylang and Patchouli. More Jasmine and iris, just a hint of tuberose. No vetiver, which makes it a bit easier. Very, very pretty! Longevity is yet to be proved.

i smell the lychee here but there's no lychee on the list 🤔