I happen to love and own many Kurkdjian creations, but nothing, I mean nothing, matches the moment when I tried Absolue Pour le Soir on my skin for the first time.

On me, it opens with a carnal, animalic note of civet. You read that right – it doesn’t open with a slow build-up to a sexy, animalic heart or base. Absolue Pour le Soir starts where many other fragrances finish. The civet is joined by cumin, which adds a green, herbal note, and benzoin, which gives it smokiness. As it blooms, a note of luscious, fleshy rose, sweetened by a note of sticky honey, envelopes the civet, which on me never goes away. It fades in and out but is always present. A note of ylang-ylang picks up the sweetness of the honey as its fruity, woody, dirty facets create a kaleidoscope effect around the rose, just as a smoky, deep note of incense starts to swirl through the mix. It all sits on a sensuous, woody base of creamy sandalwood and balsamy cedarwood. As it develops, there is a moment where it gets powdery from the dusty aspect of cedarwood. It’s a nod to the French idea that a powdery note adds sophistication to a fragrance.

Describing it this way makes Absolue Pour le Soir sound interesting, but don’t be fooled. The minute this juice hits your skin, it starts to weave up to your brain, synapse by synapse, until it catapults you right between the sheets. As it dries down, you can smell the traces of your lovely floral/incense/woody perfume throughout the day. But lurking just behind the smoky florals and soft woods is the slight skanky smell of sexual adventure.

Notes: civet, cumin, benzoin, rose, honey, ylang ylang, incense, cedarwood and sandalwood.