Note Pyramid
Bay Leaf
Invictus
Patchouli is the material most people miss in the Rabanne Invictus Eau de Toilette Gift Set, and it is the one holding the base together.
It sits with guaiac wood and ambergris, adding damp earth beneath the smoke and the salt, and it is the reason the fragrance stays on the skin rather than simply evaporating off it once the citrus has burned away. Patchouli is also what gives the dry down its slightly dirty edge. That citrus is grapefruit, bitter and pithy, and bay leaf is behind it with a dry, green, slightly savoury twist. Five materials, and the arrangement is deliberately stark: bright above, dark below, and very little in between to soften the transition. It is the simplicity that made it recognisable.
An eau de toilette concentration suits that structure. The opening is loud for twenty minutes or so and then the whole thing draws in closer and settles down for the day, which is why it gets described as easy to wear. It is comfortable in heat and perfectly usable in winter, which is more than can be said for a good many men's fragrances in the same part of the market.
Sets are the practical answer when a present has to be bought well in advance and kept at the back of a cupboard until the day. There is nothing to assemble, nothing to get wrong, and nothing that spoils in the meantime. Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion, Olivier Polge and Véronique Nyberg are the four perfumers credited with it.
The brand is French and began in fashion, with the designer's own first collection shown in 1966. Its fragrance arm was founded in 1968 by Puig, the Spanish group that went on to own the brand outright from 1987 onward.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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