Robb Recommends: Two Discontinued Fragrances Have Been Revived as a Stunning Unisex Scent
Welcome to Robb Recommends, a regular series in which our editors and contributors endorse something they’ve tried and loved—and think will change your life for the better.
Francis Kurkdjian is responsible for many things: Getting perfumers more credit for their once-anonymous work, promoting the idea of having a fragrance wardrobe instead of just one signature scent, and helping the world fall in love with saffron through the various permutations of its blockbuster best-seller, Baccarat Rouge 540.
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But on a handful of occasions, his eponymous house also caused fragrance enthusiasts a little twinge of sadness when it’s been forced to discontinue some of its greatest hits. Luckily, two of these long-lost scents—APOM Pour Homme and APOM Pour Femme, which launched when Maison Francis Kurkdjian started in 2009—have been revived, in a sense, as a new unisex eau de parfum that celebrates the best of their individual qualities.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian APOM
APOM, which stands for A Part of Me, is an intimate retelling of its two predecessors, both of which shared the same foundational notes: the combination of feminine orange blossom and masculine lavender over a base of amber, which is commonly found in both men’s and women’s fragrances. The new fragrance also incorporates neroli, which gives it a sunny, sparkling quality, as well as white musk and ylang-ylang.
I’ve had the opportunity to wear it for a few weeks now, and what has surprised me most is its delicate balance. It’s a little feminine to start with—there are a lot of flowers here—but it also dries down over the course of the day to a nostalgic and comforting base of vanilla and amber, which is sweet without being overpowering or powdery. It’s also clearly conceived to make an impression. More than perhaps any other fragrance I’ve worn recently, it’s the one people have stopped me to ask about most.
“Fragrance comes alive on the skin. It thrives on living skin,” Kurkdjian says in a short film—a Q and A of sorts with filmmaker Cyril Teste. “Fragrance is also the idea of sillage. It’s the part of yourself that you leave behind.”
Guys who’ve typically hewed to ultra-masculine scents and notes such as leather, cedar, and patchouli may not like the “stroll through a garden in late summer” sensation you get wearing this fragrance. Personally? I like it. And if your own fragrance wardrobe could use a little nuance, this is a great way to get it. Come the deep, dark chill of winter, I imagine I’ll be turning to the bright, warm notes of this scent again and again.
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