Absolue Pour le Soir

Absolue Pour Le Soir. Experiencing this perfume would be quite a shock for people who endorse this house nowadays. I'll refrain from giving my opinion on their scents and aesthetics. I will say, however, that seeing how Francis wasted his potential by releasing cotton candy synthetic bombs at the expense of works such as this one is rather disappointing. This perfume has a powerful pheromonal allure that will take one by surprise. I remember back in those days, reading about it and how people said it smelled like stale urine. I laughed it off and pursued it with a blind purchase. After all, I loved, and still love, Orientals. The first thing I did once the bottle arrived, I remove the cap and take a whiff. "Oh my God, it does smell exactly like stale urine!". The rumors were true. As shocking as it came off, somehow, it had a weird appeal that I couldn't place. I sprayed it on. I wore it. And the more I did, the more I fell for it. A deep, carnal scent. The interplay of polarizing notes such as Cumin, Frankincense, and Beeswax, alongside other Oriental notes and accords, created this deep sensuality that seemed out of an ancient Roman or Egyptian banquet. To me, this perfume is all about the frankincense, the honey and the beeswax, and of course, the main course, the one and only, the cumin note. Few other notes play along, such as the rose and the benzoin in the dry-down. I believe it is the combination of the major players mentioned that creates the "stale urine" accord. And oh boy, it is so vivid. At times, the perfume has an almost "churchy" feel in the most Unholy way. But when you stroll at night in Paris, especially on the smaller and less-frequented alleys, you'll realize why Francis chose the name for it. It smells just like Paris at night. And some people will understand where I'm coming from. Years since I got this perfume, the stale urine accord has not left my mind, it just became more tame, or perhaps I learned to enjoy it. In my books, this perfume is a work of art, a carnal use of frankincense, cumin, and honey to exude an Oriental extravaganza like few compositions manage to capture. IG:@memory.of.scents

We, who tries to describe Oriental Exotica, often show Pictures of Bangal’s “Durga Puja”. The golden Ornament Cladded Devi with an age old Purohit (priest) standing in front of The Huge Pratima (idol), with “Aarti Stand” in one hand and “Ghanta” (Indian Bell) in another, uttering Mantras. Other Priests are busy, offering Goddess, Oriental Flowers or are blowing the Shankha (Conch Shells). Huge stands of Dhuno (Frankincense Dust) are burnt, which creates huge waves of Incensed Smoke. All these things create a powerful but subtle picture of light and shadow. The smell mixed with flowers, frankincense, and other incensed materials of Puja (like Sandalwood, honey, Fruits, milk, etc) has a powerful attraction of it’s own. APLS draws this exact image of Durga Puja “Ashtami” on me. It definitely falls under “Smokey” Fragrance category, but it is one of its kind. It is never over polished. On the contrary has an earthy feel to it, which makes it more realistic. It makes me feel, like standing outside the “Mandap” (The Temple Porch), on a barren land, just after a little downpour. I can see the mystical light and shadow show of the Aarti, can get the smell of Aashtami Evening, but all these mixed with the smell of the earth. Leaving, behind the impression, if I try to analyze the perfume more technically, I would start with Honey. This note explodes, with the first spray. Thick and Balmy. Soon joined by Smokes of Frankincense, more specifically Benzoin and Olibanum (The Incense Note is quite similar to Guerlain’s “Sahara Noir”). It also has distinct notes of Caraway, some Flowers and an Earthy Sandalwood. I also get amber, slightly animalic, most probably due to caraway. (Think of Tom Ford’s “Amber Absolute”. APLS amber is Not as Heavy as Amber Absolute though, but the amber style is quite near.) If I ever choose a Signature Perfume, this definitely will be The One. Mysterious and Interesting. Sillage: Heavy Longevity on My Skin: Almost 1 Day Longevity on Fabric: Almost 2-3 Days, Even More. Occasion: Formal Occasions, like Wedding or an Evening to Attend an Opera. Rating: 10/10 (The 1st Perfume to get a 10/10 for me)

This is one of the best perfumes made in the 21st century in my opinion. A shining star in the crowd of average via mediocre to boring niche and mainstream offerings. Not only does it use excellent quality ingredients, not only is it pleasing and beautiful, but it is also interesting and intriguing at the same time, changing, shifting and shaping on my skin. Yes, it is animalic, but it is not animal pee or poo, but fur: lovely, soft, warm fur, the likeness of which I only found in vintage fumes like Lanvin's My Sin. I used to bury my nose in the fur of my late cat and inhale the smell of him for a long time...I adored it! I can smell the same pleasing, caressing fur note here. The other dominant note to my nose is incense. I use an Indian incense powder blend with frankincense, benzoin and gum dammar, which has a similar deep, balmy, sweet aroma. The honey in APLS is the most pleasant I have ever smelled, not urinous, not sour, not sharp or cloying - just right. Even the cumin note is extraordinary. Usually it translates to BO to many people including myself, but here in this perfume it is not sweaty but simply wonderfully spicy, adding a nice twist to the creation. APLS is very sexy, a beast indeed, but an irresistibly purring one. It is a feline that can never be really tamed, but for the moment it lies langourosly on your lap and tentatively lets out and pulls back its claws. Although they don't really smell similar, yet I could compare this perfume to my beloved Bal a Versailles in the vintage parfum extrait formula. Both have the similar deep night in a dark palace atmosphere...the sense of immense spaces not quite visible in the darkness, just dimly lit by the embers glowing in a huge fireplace where someone scattered some exotic insence powder. One can rather sense the rich oppulence obscured by the penumbra, most of it is left to one's imagination. To me APLS is absolutely wearable, very pleasant, very comforting yet sensual and never fails to intrigue. 10/10 EDIT: For a while it was out of production, but the lovely lady from the Paris MFK Boutique informed me: IT IS BACK! 12/05/2015

I was looking for something diferent, something that would take me out of my confort zone, something polarizing, something Wow. This came across. Manny people mentioned it as a chalenging, daring sexy fragrance and it sparkled my curiosity. By all means, I'm not a sexy person. Those who know me know that. I'm cute, a little bit quirky,a wallflower, a plain Jane, but not sexy. Yet, reading these reviews and my usual love for Francis Kurkdjian fragrances, made me order it. Unsniffed. A total blind buy. From the Maison Francis Kurkdjian, I've only sampled APOM which is such a lovely orange blossom, truly a wonderful feminine scent. And my style of fragrance. Openly feminine, with class and grace. But I needed a change, a departure. So, I took a chance. Well, it paid off. Absolue pour le Soir is amazing. For me, Absolue pour le Soir is the perfect combination of sweet honey with Incense and Woods (primarly Cedar). On me, the honey is very sweet and if it wasn't masterfuly tempered with the Incense and cedar, this would be in the verge of gourmand territory. The Incense is very present and it's delightful. I'm very picky with incense because sometimes it could smell like sweaty armpit. But here, it doesn't. The effect of the blend is stunning. Like a simphony, there's an harmony between the notes. Sweet honey, incense, woods, a little bit of rose peeking between, an ambery feeling. The initial spray can be a bit challenging because it comes out full of strenght, but give it time to develop. It softens and it smells like heaven. And it keeps better and better. Sillage is strong at first, but eventually turns into a skinscent. The longevity is amazing, on skin and clothes. So, for me, there's no urine, no body odour, no sweaty armpit. Just a wonderful scent. And it makes me feel so good. It's love. This is my favourite fragrance. Ever. Thank you, Mr. Francis Kurkdjian for creating this beauty and keeping it as a part of your fragrances. Thank you for not discontinued it. I just can't thank you enough!

I was long overdue to try Maison Francis Kurkdjian Absolue Pour Le Soir, which was released in 2010, and I only acquired a decant of APLS well after I tried and bought the much more recent Grand Soir. Both are highly-resinous fragrances, but while Grand Soir is cinnamon-laden and sweet, Absolue embraces the more animalic side of resins; it’s more Ambra Aurea by Profumum Roma than it is Amber Absolute by Tom Ford or Mitzah by Dior. APLS is dense and strong, and maintains a reasonable balance between the sweeter and more animalic sides of resins. Surely there’s a lot more going over but to my nose, it’s primarily a benzoin/amber mixed accented with spicy (cumin) and floral (rose, ylang-ylang) touches. I don’t experience a ton of evolution from APLS on my skin, though as the formula usually goes, it opens a little spicier and dries down a little smoother. Overall, though, it remains a fairly harmonious balance with the cumin being featured more in the opening and the woods being more a part of the dry down—again, not surprising. Its performance is impressive, too, clearly highly long-lasting and pretty darn boastful (as far as projection) for the first few hours. Clearly one I’m going to need to consider buying as I try my decant some more. I regret sleeping on this for as long as I did, as I might ultimately prefer to Grand Soir some of the time, though it still doesn’t touch Mitzah or Amber Absolute, in my opinion. I have to hand it to Mr. Kurkdjian for another great resinous creation, though, along with Grand Soir and Ciel de Gum. They’re really quite the outstanding trio. I actually couldn’t find any evidence of it being sold by a US retailer, so I’m not sure if it’s discontinued or just temporarily unavailable, or available only in certain countries or a select few stores, but I’ll have to track it down to indulge my curiosity, if nothing else. I’m really pleased that I finally bought a decant, as I love it! 8 out of 10