King of Seduction Absolute
Antonio Banderas (2015)

Basically a juice in line with a contemporary humid/spicy-aromatic/woody kind of (taking the world by storm) format. The former (as nowadays frequent) encloses several fruity/salty patterns in the blend as well. The note of grapefruit is in here dominant (along with a marine touch and the aromatics) and characterizes the woody/leathery and spicy/fruity soul of the aroma. Lavender and cardamom provide the aromatic side of the perfumed affair. Cardamom, marine patterns, lavender and vetiver grant a sort of cool woodsy vibe which smells kind of fresh, exotic and sort of tart/lemony/metallic. Finally leather (fresh and fruity) jumps up as complement to aromatic woodiness and fresh marine patterns. Try to combine a recent woody Armani's a la Eau de Cèdre with juices a la Bvlgari Man Extreme and Paco Rabanne Invictus and you can have an idea of what Antonio Banderas King of Seduction Absolute smells like. Nothing bad at all with this fragrance, just not my style yet something caught in the air around dozens and dozens of times.

King of Seduction Absolute, more like King of Seduction Anticipointment. When I first of heard of this, I thought "FINALLY, an Invictus without the gaudy cup or soccer match theme to it." Then I got it and it is different and I was let down by it. Not that it is a bad scent, but that there are a number of negatives to it.

First off, longevity wise, it lasts just under a workday at 6-7 hours as compared to Invictus' damn near beast mode and even King of Seduction's 8-9 hour window. Second off, the scent is much more stronger on the seas scent, not that it's a bad thing but it is a different scent that if you were expecting Invictus like me, you maybe thrown for a loop. The typical Invictus like citrus dies off at about the second to third hour it is on.

To me this the strong suit is that it smells much more like a night time scent than a day time scent. This really sets it apart from the growing pack of Invitus style aquatic citruses (including King of Seduction.) This unique factor is really its saving grace. Also it is a little more of a fall scent due to this as well which is a good thing. Sillage is about normal for an Invictus style fragrance as well so that is kind of a plus. I also mentioned that I also like the much more pronounced seas scent, even though it is a bit of a negative.

Partially due to the far more night-time sensibilities and extra seasonality of this scent, I rate it a 7.2.. I really want to rate it higher. I really like the style of fragrance but it falls a little bit flat to me. I doubt I'll get a replacement to this when I finish it off while King of Seduction will likely find a replacement bottle.