Aqua Universalis Forte
Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2011)

I struggle to make anything of this, or even remember where I applied it. I wonder how much you'd have to apply to get a day's wear out of it. The fragrance itself is pleasant, somewhat jasmine-honeysuckle-lilly , ephemeral night garden scent. But it doesn't have any depth and I'm not sure it's really unisex.

Nice scent, brisk citrus smelled like grapefruit to me; followed by gentle white florals with a rose scent that drys to a somewhat musky amber dry-down. It took a hearty application on my skin to smell, and it was barely detectable at 4 hours on my skin.
I just didn't get "Forte",other than perhaps the white floral that was still present at drydown. Nice Scent

There was nothing masculine or even unisex about this fragrance. It seemed so straight-up feminine that I tried to butch it up by layering it with another fragrance.

I am a beginner trying new men's fragrances so I can build my personal selection, but this one was just too effeminate.

Gave it a few samples and a full wearing. White floral perfume. Clean white musk. A bit of aromatic somethingness which I have no idea what it comes from. During sampling it seemed staunchly feminine. During the full wearing it felt unisex, like CK One. It's pretty, but doesn't stand out. Wife was not impressed. Longevity and sillage were above average.

This is a really unique fresh fragrance with a strong and natural accord of lily of the valley being the dominant note in its opening, along with hints of lemon and bergamot. Due to the muguet note, it could be construed as slightly feminine but I enjoy it as a male nonetheless. As it dries down it goes stronger muguet and without any green or aquatic notes to balance it out, so it ends up smelling kind of sour. Projection is moderate but on the strong side, while longevity is fairly good. Not a huge fan of the scent to be honest.

3.5/5

MFK is a house I really like, having sampled then purchased Lumiere and Pluriel, Universalis however I'm going to pass on. Not that it's a bad fragrance, it's just too much of white flowers and rose for my nose and gives me a sound headache. To me, there's very little citrus going on in this one, and the base is decidedly more musk than wood. Thirty minutes in and it's a feminine bath powder. Not my style. Neutral.

Stardate 20170628:

A well composed citrus floral fragrance. The white musk and woods give this a bit of a heft making it stand out in the world of citruses.
There is some sweetness here and the whole composition is smooth. This fragrance envelopes you and gives a nice clean feeling.
It is different than most others and I think the soft muted florals are the reason. Makes it very different than fresh out of laundry smell and more like 'just taken a bath in a waterfall in middle of flower field'.

Recommended

This is a floral fragrance in a concentrated eau de cologne style that comes across as more musky than woody in the dry down. Any citrus note is hard to spot as right off the start one perceives a wall of white flowers with jasmine being discernible. Initially it's a bit screechy, but is more rounded after about thirty minutes as it settles on the skin. Thereafter the rose becomes a bit more perceptible. The floral accord continues till the musks with hint of sheer woods creep in. Still, even in the far dry down - the floral accord is prominent, with the addition of the musky facet.

Overall this is on par, summery, and respectable. However, it is also quite monotonous, lacking in nuances, dull, and somewhat derivative. On the wrong day, the white floral - musk accord here can come across as jarring. Sillage is good initially and thereafter discreet but persistent, and excellent duration on skin.

3/5

Right from the start do I the core notes of a delicious jasmin with rose. Initially there is a touch if background freshness, the result of bergamot and whiffs of lemon, but these are shaken off soon to lay bare the floral heart of this creation.

It is the jasmin that is most impressive. Intensive, full of natural richness and smooth. It is combined skillfully with a fairly bright rose, not the dark and velvety type bit more of an elegant and optimistic rose impression, with the slightly woodsy hints of rose stems further down in the development of the middle notes.

The other component is a basket of white flowers, and I am getting an especially prominent muguet. It is fairly sweet, grows to merge with the other florals and takes over in the base. This whole floral mix is sweet, but never intrusive or cloying; it is an elegant sweetness.

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and a splendid longevity of twelve hours.

This spring scent is unashamedly floral, pleasantly sweet and lovely. It is a bit linear and not supremely creative, but very well blended of excellent ingredients. The great performance is one of its fortes. 3.5/5

I agree with the 'aromatic' label here rather than a 'citrus'. The rose and jasmine create a wonderful accord which surprisingly lasts a very long time. Slightly veers towards a 'feminine' but not enough for me to worry about it. The EDP is much better than the original imo.
Versatile and gorgeous.

Absolutely love this and wear it all year. It is both enduring, sophisticated, elegant and simple.

Genre: Floral

A juicy bergamot top note introduces what is essentially a floral eau de Cologne variant ,with a core of citrus notes, clean jasmine, and dry rose. If this is “forte” I wonder at how the plain paper wrapper version plays, since this is still a very mild and understated fragrance. Longevity is pretty impressive for a fragrance of this buoyant, transparent style. The citrus and floral core holds together for a good three or four hours before yielding to a soft, non-descript, but relatively natural-smelling woody drydown. Nothing novel or earthshaking here, but a cheerful, lightweight, and comfortable fragrance that would make a perfectly nice summer refresher.