Fourplay: Body Kouros and Jicky

This week we’re group-groping two diverse fragrances: Yves Saint Laurent Body Kouros, from the makers of the original YSL Kouros (although Lee says the smell is so different it can hardly be called a flanker), and Guerlain Jicky EDT, from the Guerlain Hall of Fame. Not that we’re biased. First up, Body Kouros: notes are incense, eucalyptus, cedarwood, mace, camphorwood, benzoin. Created in 2000, Body Kouros is one of five (count ’em, five!) follow-ups of 1981’s Kouros, which continues to be one of YSL’s top sellers.  Buckle our swash, baby!

Patty:  Starts off pretty gourmandy sweet, and not particularly unpleasant at all. I sorta liked the darn thing, but then it heads for room freshener territory. If there had been more of the beginning that stuck, it would have been a definite cuddly scent as Lee uses it.  As long as you fall asleep quickly, it will work well for that!  Otherwise… Revenge of the Urinal Cakes for sure.

Lee: You know those scents you buy because they’re unfathomably cheap, really so cheap that you can’t see the reason why you wouldn’t buy them, even if it’s just to drink when the liquor runs low? Well, Body Kouros is one of those. Discounted so heavily, I thought, why not. After all, it’s Annick Menardo, the genius behind Bulgari Black and Le Labo’s Patchouli24 (number’s aren’t my strong point – is that right?), and it can’t be wrong. And generally, it isn’t, if you want a cuddle up scent and not much else. Starts with candy floss, moves on to eucalyptus traces with something soft, before heading into vanilla territory. Much more ungendered than the ad suggests:

Keep them to yourself, buddy! Didn’t your ma tell you that you catch a chill like that?

March: Reading about the original Kouros on Basenotes, I was surprised to discover that it’s a love-it-or-hate-it scent, with the (mostly male) reviewers either talking it up or making comparisons to things like urinal cakes and Greek prison bathrooms, both of which I’m assuming aren’t meant in a good way. Body Kouros seems to be designed to cater to a younger crowd (isn’t everything?), with its fans and detractors, among whom the general complaint seems to be: it’s too sweet. Anyway, Body Kouros does start off surprisingly sweet — I get a caramelized note that’s vaguely Versace Dreamer-ish, and at that point I really like it. But then it wanders off in what I think must be the camphor/eucalyptus direction, which registers to my nose (Lee, I am so sorry) as the aforementioned bathroom smell — in my case, evoking the ammonia-cleaner-burying-more-evil-scents smell of your generic grade-school girls’ bathroom. I’m just odd enough to admit that smell is not repulsive to me: it’s experiential, like if Christopher Brosius did a scent called “Girls’ Bathroom.” I’d probably get a little sample of it (oh, wait — I have one!) But I wouldn’t wear it around.

Bryan: I suppose thanks to the world of niche perfumery, any “gendered” scent has the odds stacked against it, especially the masculines.  They are just too typical, often bordering on insipid and I wouldn’t normally think twice about one or the other.  This one gets points for trying a bit harder, but like the model here, it’s interesting for a few seconds, then there just isn’t much, “behind the eyes.”  That’s probably a little bit of a jealous dig, but come on, I’m thinking both he and the scent are a tad vapid….ok, another dig…I have body issues and the name of this scent didn’t help either.  For shame.  Women, you aren’t the only ones with bodycentric dysmorphia.  This Kouros is a blast of warmth, followed by inevitable freshness.  Thanks but no thanks.

Next up we have Guerlain’s classic Jicky, from 1889, arguably the granddaddy of modern unisex fragrances. Notes are lemon, mandarin, bergamot, rosewood, lavender, orris, jasmine, patchouli, rose, vetiver, leather, amber, civet, tonka, incense, benzoin. (This list is from Basenotes; you can find completely different lists of notes elsewhere, but citrus, lavender, leather and civet seems to be the theme.) Today we’re discussing the EDT, which is markedly different from both the richer EDP, and worlds apart from the extrait which, skank-wise, moves a giant step into the territory of acquired taste. (March has acquired the taste.)

March: Shocked by Shalimar? Loathe L’Instant? (Me, too.) Vol de Nuit make you vomit? Well, Guerlain Jicky is your gateway drug, babe. Spray some of that on. Go ahead. Before you know it you’ll be back for the harder stuff. Jicky, beloved by all people of taste, including me and Sean Connery (yes, I am shamelessly biased) was my gateway drug. It’s a great summer fragrance — it makes me think of sucking lemons through one of those old-fashioned sassafras candy straws (did anyone else do that?). It’s also the only Guerlain EDT worth owning, in my opinion. It’s sort of ginger-ale/champagne-ish, with a great citrus opening, only it’s citrus through the fun-house mirror, and it’s a little herby, and then! just when you thought you had a grip, the dirty bits sneak in on their teeny, quiet little feet and embrace you. And then it’s too late. You’re in love. Jicky EDT (get someone to say it to you in French, for Pete’s sake: it’s zhee-kee, sort of, not rhyming with hickey) is almost effervescent, a perfect three-part harmony of citrus, lavender (generally not on my list of favorites), and whatevertheheck that base is. It’s like your first sip of a really top-shelf gin-and-tonic — a little dry, a little bittersweet, a lot of heaven, and the realization: hey, this thing is perfect.

Lee: Okay – I have to admit that this disappoints me a little when I sniff it, cos I’m addicted to the vomit/poop shuffle of the parfum and always want a hit of smut when I’m in Jickyland. Instead, this sparkles. The lavender’s clearer, the citrus is more pronounced, without being contemporary astringence, and no-one’s going to think your bowel control is below par. It, quite simply, is another perfect version of a perfect perfume.

Patty:   I remember when I first tried this, which was after March went on-and-on-and-on-and-on-and-on about Zeeekkkkkeeeeee and how dirty it was.  Spritzing my arm while extended away from me as far as it could go, I was thinking I’d be smelling Cat Butt in Heat. but instead I get this wonderful, beautiful sparkly citrus. WTF, right?  It went a long way into the drydown utnil I caught Miss Tabby sitting on my shoulder smirking and twitching her tail.  A perfect fragrance, and the EDT is the version that you can wear any time, anywhere, without risk of worrying you’ll offend anyone, nor does it ever get “difficult.” 

Bryan: Now that’s what I’m takin’ about.  I understand the reluctance to seek the edts of the formidable House of Guerlain.  I would say the ones I have usually end up collecting dust.  Not so with Jicky…(or Chamade or L’instant in my case).  Now when it comes to skank, I’m with the rest of the Posse…I want some.  I would also say I’m closer to March in that nothing, but nothing is too skanky.  (Love you March).  That is my problem with this edt.  I miss the skank too much.  I love the sweet/balmy/sunny blast at the beginning, but if something has lavender in it, then it better be foiled by something deep or dark.  Here, it used to.  The edt strips away the sexyness that is the parfum.  That is not to say I do not like Jicky edt; I simply prefer the extrait…..well, who doesn’t??  This is still a gorgeous fragrance that I need to remember more often.  Now, I’m a layering whore…I admit it.  I have not yet layered anything that is classic Guerlain.  Any suggestions?