Night
Akro (2018)

Forget the way Akro romanticizes one night stands in its promotional blurb. Night smells like one of those encounters where, the whole time you’re having sex—if not before—you’re asking yourself, “Why am I doing this?” It’s the scent of dirty ashtrays, stale sweat, cheap perfume, and prayers that the only souvenir will be the memory.

On the bright side, it could get you to give up cocaine.

I agree that the Bulgarian rose has a vintage and powdery quality in "Night" by Akro--almost a hint of the baby-powdery rose in Guerlain Nahéma. As usual with these Quentin Cresp scents, just as one is recognizing and protesting against the weird specific combos of real world notes, they start to fade into an inoffensive drydown, and one reverses course: "Bring those bad boys back"! In this case, saffron and cumin, which are rounded enough to suggest caramel, popcorn, and pistachio or almond. The oud is barely noticeable for me in this scent, although there is a slight resemblance to Closerie des parfums rose oud scents. On my skin, and possibly in contrast with the Akro malt scent I tried first, this is a super pretty, powdery, slightly waxy, vintage rose with dimensionality and richness.

This is a strange combination - a downright powdery rose, almost vintage-like, and a stinking cumin. I could imagine this representing the attraction of opposites at a night club, for example. However the story quickly fizzles out, as the cumin, which blasts for a few moments, very soon starts to fade and the whole thing turns into a quiet, uninteresting skin scent.

Sampling Akro Night, an aptly-named dark fragrance consisting of a lot of bold, daring, dark notes—namely, rose, oud, saffron, and cumin—so it’s spicy, floral, resinous, and slightly fresh and animalic. It has the recognizable rose/oud blend while also being a bit spicier and darker while not leaning too floral or animalic, albeit with some provocative sharpness. Overall, I like this composition and I like how no particular note takes over. Certainly a must-try for fans of rose/oud fragrances, as it’s a fairly reasonably-priced, robust alternative to some other pricier options out there.

Like the rest of the Akro line, Night is priced at $180 for 100ml in EDP concentration, sold via the house site and Luckyscent in the US, and performs very well. I think the pricing is reasonable and the scent is a nice take on the rose/oud formula while still providing something new and high-quality, adding diversity to the Akro catalogue.

7 out of 10

Theoretically, I should be all about be all about this, as I do appreciate cumin in fragrance and it doesn't necessarily read as body odor but rather a "skin enhancement." I love its appearance (or seeming appearance) in everything from the legendary Eau d'Hermes to Cartier Declaration to even more cumin-forward fragrances Diptyque L'Autre and Parfum d'Empire Aziyade.

Here in night, it's so literal, so legible, that for once, I am finding that it actually does come off as a sour B.O. It's the kind of B.O. that reminds me of someone taking a whore bath and whom seems to really believe that a sprinkle a day keeps the odor away with a rose-scented 80s Shower to Shower talc (sans shower). Don't get me wrong, I find this fascinating and couldn't stop smelling it, trying to make sense of it. In an editorial sense, it's great, but it falls short of being an experience that I'd want on my skin. I can only imagine what it might smell on others.

I do agree with another reviewer that HdP 1873 (Mata Hari) visits this theme without it growing disconcerting and borderline offensive. That however, has a cumin that is more an undercurrent than a driving force.

A laudable effort

Unlike the others, Night doesn’t reproduce a substance so much as an experience of a late night out clubbing, your body pressed up against some stranger’s. Akro’s most polarizing scent confronts the nose with what smells to me like sweaty male crotch with a touch of leather contrasting with a synthetic, metallic and somewhat powdery rose. As the assertive cumin and harsh edges of the rose soften, the scent becomes downright snuggly.

I enjoy animalic fragrances and Night’s post-coital dry down but the rose is not my style. It also feels too dissonant with the rest of the scent so it misses the mark for me. Having said that, this fragrance celebrates Cresp at his most unapologetic. I am reminded of the devil-may-care dirty patchouli in his blockbuster hit, Angel; the daring dash of cumin he introduced in his reformulation of Femme. At a time when “niche” is being reduced to a never ending deluge of safe bets and cliched releases, an affordable, insouciant, raunchy romp of a fragrance is like a breath of fresh air.