Invictus Victory Elixir
Rabanne (2023)

Already an over-chewed story through a handful of flankers, and on top of that a bunch of clones from other houses. Invictus Victory Elixir smells to me like a warmer, softer 1 Million Lucky and is therefore redundant right from the start.

A generic sugar bomb, specifically vanilla and tonka with a pinch of cardamom. Uninventive, placid, and empty, and aside from the blue bottle, it clearly pulls some concepts of the so-called blue fragrances in an unfinished way.

For the youngsters who want to smell good and ‘interesting’ in their circles while hanging around on somewhat colder days or evenings, I can’t judge them for it; I’d probably fall for it myself if I were 16–21 and only cared about simple functionality appropriate for that age.

Originality 4/10
Scent 5/10
Longevity 8/10
Projection 7/10
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overall impression 5/10

Invictus Victory Elixir by Paco Rabanne (2023) is another big bubblegum coconut vanilla butterball of a scent, slathered in tonka and some spices in the base, a little darker than the previous Invictus Victory (2021) but also sweeter for most of it, until a bit of powder sets in later. I am not super thrilled in this whole vibe that began in earnest with Le Beau by Jean-Paul Gaultier (2019). Bubblegum showergel had its moments of modern clarity I could get behind, but stuffing it with coconut is a deal breaker.

The opening is a big sweet blast of the usual syrupy sweet thing Carolina Herrera and a host of other brands have also been doing with their mainstream masculine lines, all of it basically traceable back to the original Gucci Guilty pour Homme (2011), which is downright subtle and understated compared to all its progeny. The big difference between Victory and Victory Elixir beyond volume is the extra sweetness and vanilla spice, being very gourmand on top of the usual Paco Rabanne Invictus (2013) heaviness.

The brand says "the pinnacle of Invictus intensity" and " time to experience your moment of immortality" but let me tell you what: the only thing having immortality around here is this stuff on your clothes. Don't bother washing them as it won't come out, just burn whatever outfit you wore after spraying this stuff on and move onto the next, because cleansing with fire will be the only way to rid the smell. Here I thought Joop! Homme by Parfums Joop! (1989) was the most-cloying thing on the planet, but here rises a new challenger. Thumbs down

Fresh and powdery sweet, gourmand, very modern. Along the lines of Eros EdP, Le Male Elixir and 1 million Elixir in that this is very sweet and modern but feels smooth and nicely blended. This doesn’t give me Invictus PTSD, so if you don’t like the original, you can still like this.

Very good projection and 8-9 hours longevity.

Received this in a box of samples from Macy's. I'm not a "modern fragrance guy," but this has a note or two in it that I find very pleasant, and those notes remind me of another brand I like but it's not coming to me. The scent is on the warm spicy side. Recommend.

I cant put mt finger on it but it makes me ill and something or some node makes me disgusted by it