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.

The opening is intoxicating, spicy, peppery, slightly sweet, but also smoky, incensy, which creates a great balance of sweet and somehow fresh at the same time. Definitely woody, even piny and maybe minty in places, and creamy ambery. This lasts for about an hour, and then just mellows out to a woody base. The opening and mid are my favourites. After the initial hour or so, it doesn’t project as much, making it a fairly safe scent to wear to many occasions, and the most appropriate from the Victory line to wear to office. Having had Invictus Parfum and Victory Elixir, Absolu is my favourite of the three. There is nothing that makes me dislike this scent profile, whereas there are notes in the other two I wish they didn’t have. It may be boring, but it’s a familiar profile perfected.

Made for the hero who always leaves his mark, INVICTUS Victory Absolu is an imposing, engaging, hypnotic fragrance: it captures the vigorous and impetuous clash of fresh ocean waves on hot and porous volcanic rock through a magnetic, contrasting woody, spicy and amber accord of rare beauty. The olfactory fusion of lively and fresh black pepper combined with the sensuality of amber and the enveloping note of sandalwood. Compelling, superlative, it gives him the supreme power to carve glorious victory in lava stone, while securing final victory. Undoubtedly a fragrance that leaves its mark.

Absolutely fantastic and addictive. it has the fresh dna from invictus parfum and the warmness of victory elixir which both i love, when I smelled it for the first time I thought that it has vanilla the same vanilla in elixir but I surprised it doesn't has vanilla in the notes. I can wear it any time during the summer or winter that how good it's, but I would be dial back the sprays in the summer or hot days. Definitely on of the few that when you smell it you will come back for more. I saw some saying it has incense like not in the drydown, not incense but smoky ambry i believe. 10/10

Actually pretty good! My favorite from the Invictus lineup. I'm a Rabanne fan so of course I have a few from the one million line as well as phantom. This would be the first Invictus that I like enough to buy. If you've ever smelled JPG Scandal Absolu, this is what that JPG should have smelled like. It's refined, a touch less sweet and it has that smooth smooth base that Rabanne is known for. JPG Scandal Absolu was nice, but too sweet and the top notes were nauseating - this takes the best things about that and calms them down and smooths it out. Awesome fragrance

I absolutely love this fragrance. First off i dont have it as a bottle but as a tester and i cant believe what a good performer it was . It lasted a whole 8 hours of school, Gave me 2 compliments (From Women 😁) and even with a small little hit at the gym it still performed well . Idk why but some people also use it for Date nights but i personally think that its for both its a very good release from Robanne its a strong and great compliment getter too .

Dark, masculine but its sweet so it smells playful but also serious??? If you are looking for attention and compliments then yes! Wear this one at night / colder days/ going out This one gets too sweet and messy in the heat. Because of the pepper and sandalwood this perfume gives me oriental vibes idk how to explain it and it smells a little unique you won't smell like the ones wearing eros... sauvage... 1milion etc.👍👍🔥

I smelled it, its really good It has a freshness and the sexy sweet scent profi I love to smell like this It will actually make the heads turn It was so similar to my armaf’s mandarin sky elixir , it was too close or i must say it was much better If you want to smell like a sexy masculine men then try it

Right away you get a rich amber that feels woody and warm, with a touch of spice from the black pepper that gives it a bold, confident character. It becomes darker from the woody notes and also slightly more powdery, with a subtle balsamic depth that makes it feel polished and sensual.

I agree with Pvura , elixir wasn’t for me at all but this one here , wow just amazing. Yah might not be very unique but it’s definitely something I would like to wear during colder seasons on daily basis. The only invictus that I liked from the whole line believe it or not.

Fire in my opinion. Was in nordstrom for 45 minutes smelling EVERYTHING and this was the only one that finally caught my attention, bought it immediately. if youre not a fragrance snob and genuinely just wanna smell good this is a 9/10

asad zanzibar ruined the black pepper note for me, but this fragrance gives me faith. consistent mature amber scent that lasts on clothes for days. i don't own a bottle yet but this is the first fragrance i go to when i'm at the mall.

I have this since I have access to things not released in the US yet, amazing how there's reviews on something that very few have smelled. I am picky and this is actually very nice. As for flankers... doesn't EVERY brand do that.

Amazing clean seductive strong and unique smell, very strong tempting and sofisticated at firt hours, clean baby like smell after 12+ hours. Lasts on my skin more then 48 hours, defenatly one of the best scents.

This is the ultimate designer fragrance and a gem. You want something that will last long and smell good, this is it. For date nights, I would say spray it an hour early it will get the ladies knees twirling.

Currently after months of release, it's still my favorite fragrance ever. My rating is an absolute 10/10! Literally not glazing, i love and enjoy wearing it so so much.

Excellent perfume if you like Victory line. Slightly fresher and woodier variant of Victory elixir. Still typically Paco rabbane sweet, killer performer.

I personally like the invictus line very much and this is definitely very likable. Not as sweet as the Victory Extreme and hence an easy wear.

smells like coral fantasy but a bit different can’t really tell the difference on the first spray

Smells like pineapple juice.... I just love this fragrance

Up for review today is the latest release in the Invictus line: Invictus Victory Absolu. Rabanne no doubt decided to hop on the "elixir" and "absolu" train, it seems. Invictus Victory Elixir was a blind buy for me, and it turned out to be a successful one. The sweet, spicy, and smoky vibe of the fragrance resonated well with me, and I do wear it from time to time when the weather cools down. Is Absolu going to be an improvement upon Elixir? Will it carve out a different path and do its own thing? Let's get into it and find out. Scent: The opening is sweet, spicy, and woody. The primary notes I get are amber, black pepper, sandalwood, and ambergris. The strongest of the notes are the amber and black pepper. The amber starts off the opening with an intense blast of balsamic, ambery sweetness. It's a rich, heavy, and indulgent type of amber that almost resembles the vanilla from Victory Elixir, but doesn't go quite as gourmand as a vanilla note. The black pepper comes in behind with a kick of fresh spiciness to tickle the nose and help offset the hefty sweetness of the amber. Up next is the sandalwood and ambergris. The sandalwood comes through as a soft, creamy woodiness. It's a supporting note here in the opening, but it's still easily noticeable. Lastly, the ambergris resides in the background as an enveloping skin-like warmth with just the lightest touch of a salty, marine-type quality. The dry down is still sweet, spicy, and woody. The primary notes I get are amber, frankincense, sandalwood, and patchouli. The strongest of the notes are the amber and frankincense. The amber is still a primary focus in the dry down with the same rich, balsamic sweetness; nothing has changed in that regard. The frankincense, however, has emerged to accompany the amber with a warm, spicy accord nuanced with just a touch of smokiness. This is followed by the sandalwood and patchouli. The sandalwood still carries the same creamy and supple style of woodiness from the opening; however, it is more noticeable in the dry down and has an almost buttery quality. It's similar to the type of sandalwood found in fragrances like LV Lovers or Le Labo's Santal 33, but it's not nearly as loud. Lastly, the patchouli adds a subtle depth and dark sweetness in the background. Performance: Projection within the first hour is very strong and can fill a room. Sillage matches that intensity with a dense, heavy scent trail. After 3-4 hours the performance was largely unchanged. At the 7 hour mark the projection was still around 6 feet and the scent trail was lighter but still easily noticeable. The fragrance lasted around 11-12 hours before fading away into a skin scent. When to wear: Invictus Victory Absolu, just like Victory Elixir, is a fall/winter fragrance that is best suited for evening wear. This is a fragrance that can be worn casually or formally, but excels at being a special occasion fragrance. Date nights, anniversaries, things of that sort. Blind buy: If you enjoy the Invictus Victory line, or you just enjoy sweet and spicy fragrances in general, Invictus Victory Absolu is a safe blind buy for you. Final verdict: Invictus Victory Absolu is a solid flanker. It took what was done with Invictus Victory and Invictus Victory Elixir, and made just enough tweaks to give it its own personality while staying true to the core DNA of the line. The primary difference I get between Elixir and Absolu is that Elixir gets its sweetness from its vanilla and has a noticeable smokiness from the incense, while Absolu gets its sweetness from its amber and has more of an overall spicy undertone from the black pepper and frankincense. Similar but different in the truest sense of the phrase. In terms of performance, it was similar to Elixir, but had a little bit more longevity. Both fragrances start out as room-fillers in the opening, but Absolu holds onto that power a few hours longer than Elixir does. When it comes to versatility, Absolu outperforms Elixir by just a hair again. Whereas the overt vanillic sweetness in Elixir keeps it from being appropriate for formal settings, the balsamic sweetness of the amber in Absolu is more nuanced and acceptable for those types of occasions. Still, just like Elixir, I wouldn't wear it when it's warm outside. Mass appeal for Absolu is very high, but I feel Elixir edges it out in this category just because of its vanilla focus; everyone loves vanilla. To wrap this up, I think Absolu is a great fragrance that fits in well with the rest of the Victory line, and while there are subtle but noticeable differences between the two, I do think it would be redundant to own both. Since I already own Elixir, this isn't going to be one I'm looking to add to my collection right now. Here's the bottom line: if you want something with more attention-grabbing sweetness, go for Elixir. If you want something more balsamic with a little more versatility, go for Absolu. Either way, you'll smell great. Scent: 9/10 Longevity: 9/10 Sillage: 10/10

I was given a sample of this at Dillard's. This is the first ever fragrance from the Invictus line I've tried, so no idea how it compares to the others. The pepper in the opening was fairly mild and was gone quite quickly. Upon dry down, a pleasant warm amber woodsy note dominates. Has really good projection, sillage, and longevity. Something about the dry down phase reminds me of when I sampled Mancera's Instant Crush, but this stuff is less sweet and flowery and not nearly as beastly in performance.

Performance out of this world. - sprayed on 8 am, whole day the wiffs are with you. - on 7 pm the same day I sprayed Turathi blue(which is strong as we all know). Nope, you are still smelling the Rabanne. - on 8 am the next morning I applied Dior Homme on the same shirt. What I can say, now its 3 pm and what I am still sensing is the Victory. Unbelievable.

This perfume is a very beautiful winter fragrance. You can strongly detect amber and black pepper notes. The sillage and longevity of the perfume are really good, and I've seen that it's liked by girls as well. I recommend it to anyone considering buying it.

I like this. I get the amber and the woods. Someone else said this smells similar to Coral Fantasy, and they're not wrong. They're not the same, but could cause some redundancy. I will note, this one is giving me a headache, whereas Coral Fantasy does not.

A conspiracy theory: from Rabanne watered down the Elixir to forward the customer to Absolu. So buy it fast, before the Le Parfum or something like it comes out in early 2026. Performance is 10/10... or at least for now - more than 24 hours on skin.

Black pepper and sweet amber with a light woody freshness. To my nose, the combination amber and frankincense smells a lot like mango, a scent I really enjoy.

Smells nice and all but for my nose this perfume isn't new, I've tried something similar to this before but can't quite figure what it is.

This is a big disappointment. I like Victory Elixir quite a bit. Initial comparisons to that got me to take a chance on blind buying Victory Absolu. I regret it. Simply put, this is an even more sweet, more synthetic version of Victory Elixir, which was already near my limit in the Sweet and Synthetic categories. As a grown up adult man, or at least I I like to think I am haha, I am pushing the inappropraite for age/embarrassment meter when I wear Victory Elixir. But Victory Absolu is for little boys in comparison. It is sickly sweet to me, and extremely cheap and synthetic smelling. I will give it to my grade school son, who honestly, will also probably think it smells too immature for him. I think Rabanne had the chance to advance their reputation with Absolu in its cool black bottle. With the success of things like Boss Bottled Absolu, I was hoping Rabanne had been inspired to elevate the Victory line when they created Absolu. Sadly ... no. I would not recommend blind buying this if you are over the age of 16.

Got a vial of this and so my review is gonna be based of that. I have a spray of this on my arm and on the initial spray, I got the black pepper. After a bit, the amber with the woods and a little sandal wood make an appearance. Not smelling much patchouli here but instead of the darker ones, this maybe a sweeter one so can’t say for sure. Picking the notes separately aside, this smells very normal for a masculine marketed scent. In the air, I’m even reminded of bath and body works after dark body cream pour Homme. Definitely on the generic side of creation but that’s not a bad thing cause most people will like the smell and it can be worn more easily as opposed to daring scents. Performance wise, I’m getting medium to strong projection and longevity is long lasting. But this is just a single spray from a vial so have to adjust expectations for that. Overall, pretty okay scent if you are looking for an easy to wear anywhere kind of cooler weather scent.

Nose Note #753 A lot like Victory Elixir. The notes don't say, but it has this distinct tropical accent, much like Elixir does. Something like pineapple+coconut. It may not be the sweetest fragrance, but the overall composition makes it too annoyingly sweet for me. Very strong, kind of overpowering. But my wife liked it. Though she said it smells more like a feminine fragrance (it's not true, but she has a point). It's definitely striving to be liked by many, it's a generally pleasant fragrance. But it's definitely not for everyone. Too sweet and strong. 5.8/10, feels like a redundant re-evaluation of Elixir

Just got a tester of Invictus Victory Absolu. This fragrance is decent, but ultimately a bit underwhelming. While it has the expected sweet blend of vanilla and amber with a touch of spice, it doesn’t feel particularly unique or exciting. Compared to other scents in the Invictus line, it comes across as somewhat flat and predictable. The performance is solid with good longevity and projection, but the scent itself lacks character and depth. Overall, it’s an okay fragrance, but nothing that really stands out or leaves a lasting impression. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 out of 5

My husband has been working his way through a ton of men’s samples from niche and designer, and this was the latest one he tried. He found it unremarkable and couldn’t pick up a vibe or any individual notes. My opinion is this flanker smells warmer than the other Invictus flankers, but very aroma chemically. The word synthetic comes to mind. Very mass market. Not a bad scent just one I wouldn’t recommend spending the money on because there’s nothing interesting about it.

Very very sweet, pretty boring. Perfect mass pleaser if you just want to spray something in the cold weather and not care too much. I'm not a big fan but I could see this work very well for many people. I don't really see why this exists, especially in this line where other similar perfumes do the same thing. Performance is decent. I'm disapointed, I expected much more considering the notes.

A mashup of spice, woods, and incense. Completely unspectacular and original. But, if you like Rabanne fragrances, that is exactly what you get. Smells like a base for every Invictus fragrance, and slightly tweaked. Personal score: 5/10. If you're a fan of generic designer fragrances, it's probably closer to a 8/10.

I got this for my birthday... Its a very nice overall fragrance but not smooth or creamy type of scent its more of a punch in the face of a musky scent, its also like fresh but deep and dark and very strong, I have mixed feelings about it. Its differently pretty peppery and sandal wood...y. 6.7/10

It smells like a sweet syrup. I don’t think it will get you compliments—it comes across as a rather simple scent. It might be disturbing in an office setting, and it’s not suitable for warm weather.

Got a sample of this and it’s definitely not bad. Just nowhere near as good as elixir. Would never buy an actual bottle or a clone. Smells like it’s trying to be a Tom Ford fragrance.

This really reminds me of Paradise Garden, like a darker take on it. I prefer Victory Elixir much more.

Pretty mid amberish peppery scent, longevity is fine, for me it's the worst in the line. 6/10

While the normal Victory is fresh pepper this is sweet pepper. I hope you like pepper though.

Amber with a hint of black pepper. It’s basically for 16yr that want to feel 19yr.

The opening is super nice and kind of unique, but it dries down to a very uninspired “Sephora” DNA which on top of everything I personally am not a fan of. I just tested the new Polo 67 recently and it dries down to this same thing, too. You must be a fan of these designer drydown styles to like this one.

to keep it simple in the words of Thanais - "Basic designer thats sweet asf, dont buy this" couldn't more accurate. Maybe if this is your first time smelling a cologne this could be cool. but there has to be 100 other colognes you should smell/get first

I won't judge before I can sample it. I'm just curious about the notes because they're so boring. Surely there's more to it and they could have picked more interesting notes to market it... right?

I came back to say the OG Victory, even the elixir is better than this, it's way too peppery, and the rest is bland sadly, so much for the cool bottle