Note Pyramid
Bay Leaf
Invictus
If you are buying for a man in his twenties and have no real idea what he already wears, the Rabanne Invictus Eau de Toilette Gift Set is about as low risk as fragrance gifting gets.
It is a short, direct composition. Grapefruit does the opening, bitter and sharp, and bay leaf gives it a dry herbal edge rather than letting it go soft and soapy the way citrus often does. What follows is where the scent earns its keep: guaiac wood, smoky and resinous with a faint tarry undertow, ambergris lending a warm saline quality that sits close to skin, and patchouli grounding the lot in something dark and earthy. Five materials, no filler, and the whole effect comes from the distance between the top and the bottom.
Worn as an eau de toilette it comes out hard for the first twenty minutes and then settles into something more polite, which makes it usable at a desk, in a gym bag and on a night out without any adjustment. Warm weather suits it particularly well, because the bitterness in the opening holds its shape in heat instead of going flat.
The set is the one to buy when the present needs to look like a present and when you would rather not spend the evening before hunting for a box and paper. It also works as a shared gift between two or three people, which is a common way of handling a Christmas list. Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion, Olivier Polge and Véronique Nyberg worked on the fragrance.
Rabanne is French, and the house began with the designer's first fashion collection in 1966. Its perfume arm was founded in 1968 by the Spanish group Puig, which has owned the entire brand since 1987 and dropped the designer's first name from the label.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
Similar Notes
The Scent Vault
Join thousands earning on every order
Earn points as you shop, redeem for money off, and unlock member perks.
Find out more
The Scent Vault Gift Cards
Give the gift of choice
One card, every scent. Let them pick the fragrance that is truly them. Send it instantly by email, or schedule it for a future date with a message of your own.
Shop gift cards
