Invictus Victory Absolu

Unlike others I am getting an appreciable dose of dry black pepper. It's a dry sandalwood with black pepper...but the texture is very smooth. If you look at the ingredients list on the Rabanne website it helps flesh out what is really going on in the scent: alcohol denat., parfum (fragrance), aqua (water), tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, hexamethylindanopyran, benzyl salicylate, trimethylcyclopentenyl methylisopentenol, limonene, coumarin, vanillin, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, juniperus virginiana oil, citrus limon peel oil, pinene, pogostemon cablin oil, beta-caryophyllene, citronellol, santalol, rose ketones, terpinolene, terpineol, citral, There is a lot of coumarin (tonka) and vanilla, eastern red cedar (juniperus virginiana oil) patchouli (pogostemon cablin) a bit of citrus, a sandalwood note (santalol) along with some floralcy (rose ketones). It comes across more like a mix of the darkness of CdG Black or Montblanc Black Meisterstuck along with the smooth dry woodiness of the original Hero edt or something like CdG Wonderwood or Wonderoud. Dark. Dry and woody and yet somehow fairly light in texture and almost fresh. The floralcy is interesting because there is something like a hint of airy rose but what I really get more than that is a hint of lilac bush in the distance. It calls to mind the unique floralcy of Gucci Guilty Love Edition for him) but here it is an ethereal note that forever floats just on the edge of the scent bubble. Maybe this is what some pick up as coconut but it really reads more lilac to my nose, lilac and a hint of fog machine fog (incidentally that reminds me this has a connection to Azzaro Decibel, but this is much woodier). Interesting because it's dark and yet fresh and feels like it might radiate beautifully specifically in high heat scenarios, which would make this quite unique compared to most dark woody scents.

I got a little tester for this and it’s objectively a very nice and likeable scent which is very on point for Rabanne, mass appealing , polished , strong but not experimental. Very much so on the safer side of fragrances. But it is nice. There’s a strong resemblance of the modern air fresheners on a note here ... obviously this is much more polished but I do get that kind of vibe. Can be worn in many settings except for maybe formal. This is more of a sweet , young adult scent so I would say it’s for anything except like a tuxedo party or something like that. Pretty good! Hate the bottle design though and I would have never even looked at this if didn’t get a free sample. Lasts forever too! Very nice - as a disclaimer I have not tried any other Invictus except the OG EdT which is my least fav of all time. This is nothing like that. Edit - bought a travel size for this, the performance is quite honestly unreal, it lasts 14+ hours and if you get a drop of it on clothing it will reek for a week, its almost too much lol. It is very nice in terms of scent and an easy grab for most occasions. Recommend!

Invictus Victory Absolu is an excellent example of how to do a sweet masculine amber fragrance properly. It is bold and powerful, but still playful enough to not take itself too seriously. Honestly, if somebody forced me to only keep two fragrances for the next year, it would probably be this and Prada Paradigme. They complement each other unbelievably well despite feeling slightly different but very familiar to one another. They genuinely feel like opposite sides of the same coin. Prada Paradigme is the softer, brighter and more floral amber fragrance of the two, whereas Victory Absolu takes things in a darker, sweeter and more peppery direction with a much more masculine edge. They make an amazing day to night pairing. Prada Paradigme has that clean energetic daytime feel, then Victory Absolu comes in at night smelling warmer, darker and like it definitely listens to dramatic movie soundtracks on the drive home 😂 If you ever get the chance to smell them side by side, do it. The comparison makes way more sense once your nose catches it. Genuinely one of my favourite fragrance pairings right now.

Curious how many others don't resonate at all with the complaint that this is too sweet? Yes there's a sweetness present throughout but the pepper, dry and yet smooth sandalwood and frankincense notes are prominent to me and give this a beautiful dry woody, ever-so faintly smoky backbone. Maybe my nose is hyper sensitive to some of the woody notes or maybe others are anosmic to them...not sure, but it has to be one or the other. Would hate to think I smell spicy/woody and most people think I smell like sweet coconut. Edit. Fooled again by this one. First few hours are great then it becomes too thin and sweet. It's the lilac-esque sweetness of Guilty Love Edition which does have a coconut nuance. If this sweet floralcy was turned way down and the incense and sandalwood kept their strength this would be incredible. Alas, yes, a nice couple hours then just very average.

This stuff is freaking great!!! It takes the profile of Victory Elixir and improves upon each stage. The top notes are more lively, sparkling and effervescent. The black pepper is smooth and rounded. The mid is fuller, richer and creamier. The base is the most improved part. It's deeper, bolder and projects far better than the original Victory Elixir. It adds a blueberry like nuance to the creamy, coconut like accord that they have is in this fragrance and the original. They are both great fragrances for sure, but this one is definitely superior even though the original has the higher score of the two. If you like Victory Elixir then this is a safe blind buy, but there is a lot of overlap between the two. Just get your nose on it if possible because it's very good and much more mature than your typical PUIG release.