Avgoustos

This is not sugar-sweet fig (as in cooked fig - the Greek spoon sweet), but it's not bitter or stale (the way fig smells to me in other perfumes I've tried like KKW "rare fig" which was stale on me - had to sell it). This is a lemony green fig, as bautifully "dark" as fig usually smells to me, without the sugar of a ripe fig. It is a leafy green musky scent, very refreshing for the August heat (Avgoustos - gotta love our Greeklish lol), and without being bitter or straight up sour, it is rather smooth fig and lemon leaves. It reminds me alot of Electric by Agent Provocateur which happens to have bergamot, fig, lemon and the "tree" element to it as well (fig tree there) so my nose did not trick me, but Electric is very very sour green while Avgoustos has a soft and smooth green lemon scent of the tree's leaves. It is sweet enough from the mandarin to smell feminine (but it can also be unisex). I get a subtle sweet solar vibe here from the orange blossom right away and even though I am not crazy about orange blossom being too salty on me, here it smells so attractive and aromatic paired with the green essence of bergamot and a touch of lavender which adds a soapy element to the scent as it settles on my skin (kinda like that of BBW Sea Salt Coast but not powdery as that one). The opening is rather leafy green, a realistic smell of lemon tree leaves, even before the fig scent develops on me, it totally reminded me of when we were kids and my brother and I would climb up our big lemon tree to grab some lemons. I guessed that there is a lemon tree leaves note before I checked the notes. The ambergris doesn't render it too salty, but it adds a nice sea-breeze/coastal air type of aroma to the herbal smell. It is a very calming scent. It brings back childhood memories when we would take our bicycles at our village in Antirrio and go fig picking on my grampa's field. We were under the cool shade of all these big fig trees in the summer heat with a soft breeze from the Greek sea. Korres summer perfumes make me so homesick I just wanna get on a plane and never look back lol. It's intense green at first and it quickly develops into a feminine soft and slightly soapy scent while retaining its green fig and lemon tree essence. During its last phase it's more unisex, woody and musky, like fig mixed with the sea breeze, like when the sun went down behind Paliovouna/Klokova mountain and we were still playing volley in the sea, man I need to go pack my life in a suitcase and fly back. I love this perfume and all its stages, but it makes me so nostalgic. It lasts about 2-3 hrs on me depending on how much I put on.

EDIT: Now that I have more experience with fig/ fig leaf, I can say that it is very nicely pronounced in this bottle. When I initially wore this, I thought the fig notes faded quickly, but in actuality they linger and the scent persists. I also now own a bottle of Acqua di Parma's Fico de Amalfi, a classic fig scent. Whereas Fico de Amalfi is very centered around the juicy citrus fruits plus fig, Avgoustous is very centered around woods and figs. Avgoustos has a cleaner profile and can be worn in even hotter temps than Fico di Amalfi. I personally prefer the scent of Avgoustos. Another note is that Avgoustos performs much better with longevity. Avgoustos has moved up from being a strong like to a love. Original: At the end of my sojourn to Greece, I came upon a Korres shop. Korres, although sold in Greece at local pharmacies, holds a higher standing overseas, sold in America at Sephora or specialty beauty shops. I knew I had planned to purchase a bottle or two and selected Avgoustos. Translated “August”, the inspiration is the wild figs that are in full bloom around Greece in August. Beautiful imagery. I absolutely adore the opening of Avgoustos. The citrus and fig burst out at the opening. The citrus is mentioned as bergamot and mandarin; it is a juicy, not too tart, citrus. There is greenness as well, likely from the lemon tree leaves and fig. All too soon, the juicy, figgy, woody, scent disappears and we are left with a cedar dry down. The cedar plus a hint of green linger for several hours so the longevity is not terrible for a citrus scent. However, the fig and citrus disappear much too soon. Although listed as ingredients, I don’t pick up any ambergris or lavender.

I bought this, blind, as I liked the smell of Hermès Un Jardin en Méditerranée overall but wasn't totally sold on the performance or the coniferous backdrop, didn't fancy splashing out on Acqua di Parma Fico either (especially since it looked as if it might lack woody backbone), let alone Philosykos, but was still in the market for a fig frag and liked the look/sound and price point of this one. Given the partial note overlap with it, I also had an inkling that this might be a little like a fig edition of Bvlgari Man Wood Neroli, along with the Hermès another borderline-aquatic Mediterranean fragrance that I've not found totally thrilling (because to a large extent it's citrus, neroli and wood, and can be reminiscent of nothing more appealing than quality furniture polish). I'm delighted to say that this smells exactly as I hoped, i.e. like a big old dollop of lactonic, buttery, yet unmistakably cooling, fresh, fruity fig billowing in and out against a thoroughly complementary light, borderline-aquatic backdrop of Mediterranean citrus grove. The fig has adequate staying power, too. Given that this is, as I understand it, literally a drugstore fragrance, I think it's also astonishingly good, as is the value if you can source it without paying too much. I look forward to layering this with the Bvlgari if I don't just sideline that in favour of this.

I did not have big expectations, but Korres is 2/2 for me so far. No misses. (the other being Aegean Bronze) I really like Fico di Amalfi but it's more expensive in my country compared to rest of the world, but when I compare these two side by side, there are little differences that bat no eyes and very few people could tell the difference. Opens up very citrusy and bright but not alcoholic at all. Lavender and citruses balance each other out and since it's an edt, mid notes come forward rather quickly. In 2 mins time, this fragrance becomes all about fig. Fig fruit, fig leaves, stems and the fig tree itself. This projects beastly in the first half hour but then dies down to a medium projecting but still making itself felt scent. This is rather long lasting compared to other Korres fragrances, I get like 5-6 hours of detectable scent cloud with this, and since it contains musks, amber fixatives and creamy woods, it is expected. Does not come off your clothes and I can smell it in my laundry basket strongly because of amber fixatives I think. Hope at some point this gets a stronger flanker such as an EDP or EDT intense, because there is so much potential. Korres is the real deal for summer scents. 9.50/10 for my liking. And don't sleep on the poems that Korres puts on the back of the bottles, they may seem cringe but it is a nice touch imo.

A scent reminiscent of a greek vacation. It's not exactly "just a fig fragrance", not at all actually, there's lots more. I kinda hoped for it to be mainly all about the fig notes, but I don't mind the other ones at all. No matter how hard I try, I just can't find nor smell the lavender note, perhaps it's hidden in this "musky, white-floral scent" that is most significant in the drydown. The orange-blossom note is quite sweet, but it just fits this fragrance like a glove indeed. In the background, there is a bit of that "citrus bitterness", which makes it suitable both for women and men, but I'd still more likely recommend this to a woman rather than a man. All the fig notes are very natural, it's not that "sweet, cheap feminine fig scent", it leans more to the natural sort. The longevity is shockingly poor on me, it lasts 3 hours at most, then it becomes just a skin scent, but I guess that's what should be expected of an EDT. For a light, slightly fresh fig scent, the sillage was surprisingly good, although nothing groundbreaking as well. I find this fragrance very, very versatile, but please, don't wear it during winter time, enjoy this scent when the sun's still shining bright. Overall a 7/10 for me.