Aqua Universalis Cologne Forte Maison Francis Kurkdjian for women and men

This is really bad. I've tested maybe 100 samples at least in the last few months and this is the worst. It smelled bad on first spray and it still smells bad on the cloth more than 24 hours later. It's like sour soap. It would be fine if it just smelled like fresh soap but it doesn't. Yuck.

Musky & slightly metallic citrus scent. Runs very linear.

“Musky” more like pissy to me. Well I got the pissy feeling in almost every scents from the Cologne Forte line (excluding Aqua Media), but imo this one has to be the pissiest of them all.

This is a musky twist on the original without orange blossom and the musk turned up. But it's not turned up to the piercing volume of 724. Suprisingly leans a smidge (55/45) masculine imo. Well polished like most MFK, no rough edges, very refined

Conjures images of crisp white linens and white soaps. Lacking distinction and wow factor to seperate itself from the pack of MFK fresh fragrances in my opinion. However, if found for a major discount (Around 100-125 tops) I'd consider it. Solid choice overall.
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Scent 75/100
Performance 75/100

I know this sounds really basic and uninformative, but it literally smells like baby wipes. Photorealistic baby wipes lol. Not necessarily a bad smell, just not something id wear as a mens cologne.

it smells super soapy and sexy and clean. it is very linear however but it smells great. ia think its only is low rated because it is expensive for a soapy fragrance but it smells amazing, big hairy balls.

Clean musk with a tinge of sweet citrus, dries down into a synthetic scent.
Mediocre performance

I generally love Kurkdjian's work but this is terrible, like industrial hazardous waste, like metallic cilantro concentrate. The low rating says it all. What were you thinking, Monsieur Kurkdjian?

One of the freshest scents I've ever smelt!
Very clean and citrus scent.
Sprayed yesterday on my clothes and lasted all day.
Very much unisex.

Smells like being surrounded by bubbles at a child's birthday party, musk, and clean laundry drying in the sun. My partner purchased this by mistake for my birthday (I asked for the OG AU), but I'm very happy with this one. I feel squeaky clean wearing this one. Truly unisex.

Beautiful clean and smooth. Very soapy. The notes describes the scent perfectly. Bergamot, musk, white flowers. You can easily blindbuy this if you like the notes
All the hate it gets is super weird

In the first few wears didn’t think much of it. Revisited many months later and really like this a lot. Musky clean like Dior Homme Cologne 2022 but maybe sharper and heavier. I like both fragrances.

Fine all the eastern europeans can think i smell like their public restrooms. Quite frankly i think they must smell pretty damn good over there. This imo is the rather pricey queen of clean girl fragrances. I feel like wearing this you should be wearing all white drapey clothes and walking around a church in the moonlight. Mwah i love smelling like a toilet 😘😍🥰

Everyone says 40 Knots smells like baby wipes, but this is literally identical to the cheap baby wipes you can get at the pharmacy. God, this stuff is awful.

Damn, this is SOAPY. I see how this could read to someone as aquatic, it's just not what it is. This is the Plato's cave of aquatics. I wouldn't be so bothered if this wasn't so extortionately expensive.

Musky Clean and very oceanic. Im surprised to see all the hate on here. I tried this out before coming on here(as a I usually do to avoid bias). And I was very surprised to see people not liking it. I give this a solid 9/10

Smells like a freshly cleaned rental car. Very cheap scent.

Not for me, I think it's not unisex at all, it's very screechy and strong at the start and it gave me a headache. The drydown is okay but boy, oh boy, it does smell like a cleaning product.
My boyfriend however, did like it, but agrees that there are way better scents on the market.
Not worth the money and pretty disappointed since I do like sweet pea and white musk.

It's a musky, clean and beautiful fragrance . Musk and citrus notes are dominant . It smells like bathing with luxury bath and body products . Aqua series are good for people with a gentle feeling, elegance and fan of unisex fragrances . 💦

I got this one in an MFK sampler set and it took me straight back to my carefree early-2000s days when I was wearing DKNY Women in all its iridescent-angular-bottle glory. There is something so zippy and zesty about this one, I knew I needed it for summer. The citrusy/limey bite in the opening is just pure joy; perfect for steamy August days. No regrets buying this gem, despite the high price.

I know some people said this smells like toilet cleaner, but man, I'm in love with this. Didn't love this at first because I oversprayed and the opening felt too strong, but later I tried it again and fell in love with it. Maybe I have a weird body chemistry, but I even got compliments wearing this. I can smell the citrus and floral well and I feel fresh like out of the shower fresh when I wear this. I wore this to the gym and all that and this freshie could last me around 5hours on my skin. But I still can't justify the pricetag.

This is mainly white florals with a dash white musk that is present in all of the universalis line. It smells like bed sheets and comfort. This is very homey and almost like laundry. I prefer the other one, Aqua Universalis, more. Bu the sweet pea note is still nice

I blind bought this…my mistake. MFK AUCF has good longevity and sillage, but smells very cheap to me.

I have always been a huge fan of the aqua series from MFK. Aqua universalis forte being my most favourite from it. So when they had launched the cologne flankers, I always wanted to try it.
Coming to this one, I would say this smells different from the AUF. There is a generic tone to the smell in this and people looking for creativeness may be disappointed. However, very few perfumers in the world would serve freshness as well as Mr. kurkdjian. I put this through the “tennis test”,like I do for all scents especially fresh ones, and this one passed it quite well. I clearly got wafts of this after sweating it out for 2 sets of tennis!
This conflation serves its putative purpose of delivering sparkling freshness and hence would be a safe blind buy option for anyone.

I had this before about a year ago? I decided to sell it after I had owned it for 2 months now I regret of letting it go hahaha tested it today under the hot and humid weather in Hong Kong… it performs super good as a freshie~ I was a fan of mfk but seeing him keep on repackaging different scents from the brand I stopped buying mfk last year, this smells like 724/754 IMO but less musky, 724/754 was a musky bomb on my skin skipped all the top and middles notes, AUCF is very soapy and clean on me… thinking should I get this in 35ml again :(

A nice evenly balanced fragrance. Burst of Citrus that happily lasts! and a musky dry down. Clean white shirt, crisp dark straight leg jeans, Birken bag and Jackie O sunglasses kind of vibe. Completely appropriate for anywhere. Nice longevity and close to the skin sillage.

I love it. I love the opening sharp clean smell that drys down to be warmer - I wear this to the office and generally get a good response - great longevity
It’s an easy frag to wear

This was the scent that turned me off from "White Musk" notes for a very long time. It was nauseating and synthetic on that first spray and the first couple hours.. It dried down to a nice fresh laundry remnants kind of smell. But I really really wanted to wash it off in the beginning and regretted spraying. I was surprised at the longevity. It also intensifies and changes significantly as it ages on the skin. So if you like this white laundry musk thing, I would say it's worth the spend.

Straight up washing powder smell
I really like it

This angers me. A lazy triple dose of FK’s standard laundry musk base—and nothing else! Save money and just slather your clothes with detergent.

love this stuff, smells like old money, white shirts, linen pants, summer dress, hat, sunglasses, convertible, like a photoshoot out of an european magazine...
Bergamote that lasts a couple of hours and then remains in the background, then a floral and musky base with a touch of sweetness, might sound feminine but it's perfectly unisex and classy. This is the vibe, everybody in Europe is going for this type of scent, musky, powdery, clean, metallic.. see how many iterations of the same thing MFK has, now Hermes with H24, Narciso Rodriguez anything... spray it on your clothes for a long lasting super clean scent bubble.

G&T opening. To me it smells clean but not like a cleaning product. Fairly linear but long lasting. An easy reach for hotter months.

Not as bad as many here are making it seem!

Nice soft citrus floral opening with a musky background. Very nice, but a bit too floral for my taste. Leans neutral or slightly feminine. A tiny bit of a sweet gourmand vibe that reminds me a tiny bit of Baccarat Rouge 540's cotton candy accord in texture and vibe, if not scent.

Wearing it next to Celestia Cologne Forte which sharper, not sweet, and not floral. Universalis is nice but less my speed. Celestia is definitely my preference.

Scent: 7 / Sillage: 7 / Longevity: 7

How to explain? It smells like like ancient coins and cucumbers in a very attractive way and seems to last longer than the other Aquas in this line. I'm a woman, but it makes me think of Greek gods. I'm going to get my husband to wear it just for me, but I can see it working well, if he is trying to impress people at a business lunch or something similar

This is a simple, sharp and refreshing citrus with a mild floral presence that blends well but doesn’t add much personality. The scent is short lasting and you have to work to notice it. I got a sampler from this perfumer and hope to like other scents more. This is certainly safe but I would not buy more.

I like the dirtier "citrus - floral" scents, but not this one. Imagine a thorn bush + a bitter lemon + sweaty musky armpit = AU Cologne Forte. It's sharp and acrid and missing something .. mellow, both in the opening and dry down. I have a travel size of this from a set, PM me if interested.

Oh my, I received a 11ml decant of this in a discovery set and I have to say it's the one I like the least out of all 8. This immediately smelled metallic and bitter, but I gave it a few minutes to settle. At the 5 minute mark I literally had to go scrub this off. While some may love it, it's a big pass for me.

The soapy opening seems to annoy a lot of reviewers I believe it was bad on paper and skin but the opening on clothes were actually bearable
Definitely the dry down is the star of the show with such brightness and freshness very good quality
Performance is actually average sometimes less than average the bottomline is it’s very expensive and overpriced I personally won’t waste my money on it

When it settles the smell isn't too bad, it's just that the opening is awful. It smells like putting your nose up to a bottle of floor cleaner, so for me it's really not worth stinking for bit so you can smell ok later.

I feel conflicted by this fragrance as it provides a duality of experience – one for the wearer, and one for people around you.

For the wearer: It’s laundry day and you accidentally spill a bottle of concentrated fabric softener all over your clothes pre-wash. The smell isn’t bad per se, but it is incredibly synthetic and chemical like, almost to the point you feel you might get a headache.

For others: Said clothes, doused in fabric softener, have now been freshly washed and are hanging to dry in the summer sun. You catch irresistible wafts of zesty clean freshness which you can’t help but want to smell more of.

fans of drain cleaner and window washing liquid will love this fragrance. in a sheer act of desperation i once used a sample of this on my shirt instead of washing it and i smelled unusually clean for the rest of the day. not my proudest moment, but i did at least get some use out of it.

Sometimes I use the dish soap I keep by the kitchen sink to wash my hands. This is the same smell. I can't believe someone is making this a fragrance and sell it at this price. I am not saying it's bad. It's a fresh, clean, linear, bitter, strong citrus scent that lasts forever, but so is my dish detergent.

Hmmm, I don’t know. I got a sample with an order. It’s a collection of the three cologne forte which is confusing because there’s three Aqua scents - Vitae, Universalis, and Celestia. Each comes in edt and in forte which is edp and in cologne forte edp.
So I have a little box of the cologne forte edps and thus far, I’m not loving them. I also have a Celestia Forte edp and that was better but longevity was trash (like 2 hours) and very disappointing for an edp.
This one has some power and I get the clean laundry vibes and a bit of floral and bit of citrus up top. However I also get a metallic note I’m not loving. Feels like I kind of smell like a cleaning product, but it’s not unpleasant. Again, not great.
Going to try this as the regular Universalis Forte EDP and see what happens.

Received a generous sample from MFK directly with my Amyris order. My experience:

Fresh, 100% unisex. Linens from an outside line dry on a day with a cool breeze. Ever so slightly sweet, yet very fresh. A ripe, tangy, but not an overly tart lime is prominent, keeping it from becoming a too sweet or dryer sheet-ish. Doesn’t disappear, as often happens with scents in this style. Musk is very clean. Reminds me of clean skin after a shower with unscented soap.

Smells like a more watery version of Aqua Universalis Forte. Where the original AU is a watery citrus muted by gentle white florals, and AUF smells like a more strongly orange version of that, AUCF is a weird tweener. It smells like AUF with a strange marine-like "heavy water" undertone, perhaps an overdose of calone, a misguided attempt to combine the scent profile of the Forte with the freshness of the original.

However, AUF is already a fairly light scent. It doesn't have the thick aromatic accords that Celestia Forte and Vitae Forte have compared to their originals. Forte already retains most of the original's freshness, so I'm not sure what the point of this Cologne Forte is. For me, this misses the mark. I do get better performance from this one over its siblings, though, with moderate projection that begins to fade through 3-4hr, longevity 12hr+.

I have review about this fragrance before it was neutral but i really like it now. It smells soo clean, fresh and also people like it very much on me. I wear it when i want to feel clean and uplifting. Good job!

Oh my god, I cannot stand this at all. Just like people said in the comments, smells like ammonia/detergent/bleach to me… I don’t really know what to say. I really can’t stand this. I sprayed it one on my hand and it lasted forever and I could smell it forever as well.

I don’t understand the detergent comparisons. I think it is a wonderful, airy, summer scent. For me it works perfectly with linen and cotton, white clothes. It is a morning, clear sky scent. Would work with formal clothes as well. It slighy overpriced, but the parameters are very good. I can still smell it around me when I move after 1 spray applied 10 hours ago.

Too green and too sharp. Smells like it belongs to Hermes Un Jardin line but at the bottom shelf. Smells very synthetic I won't even use it on my clothes as a detergent. Smells like ammonia and some strong chemicals. The edp also smells like a hairspray. Edt is the best. Skip edp and cologne forte pick edt, it lasts and performs same as the other.

Reminds me of window cleaner. I've never smelt ammonia in a fragrance before, but I guess today I have. Not a fan.

Super generic soapy, weak, uninspired trash. This is actual dogshit. Univeralis and every flanker is bad. The original is the best, but still super boring soapy INSANELY OVERPRICED juice.

Very uique fragrance , definately worth a buy

Reminds me of a citrus version of Versace Noir

Ooh! Lovely minimalistic musk bomb. Let it settle on your skin before you judge it. Very short-lived citrus blast in the opening but dries down comforting and fluffy, all kittens and flowers and sunshine. No sharp edges. Over time the bergamot takes a back seat and the photorealistic sweet pea really shines and brings a balancing greenness. Smells like a sunny cottage garden in high summer with laundry drying on the line.

This smells like a cleaning detergent. Not a fan. The performance isn’t great either. Hard pass.

It's a shame all the hate this fragrance gets. I'll Keep it simple. If you like Musk, you will like this. It smells like fresh clean clothes. It lasts all day on my skin and the sillage is nice. I know everyone is different, but for me this works well. I mix this with Bleu De Chanel or Silver Mountain Water sometimes. I like clean fresh scents.

Unfortunately this smells like ivory soap and cilantro on me. I could see enjoying this scent on someone else "Wow they smell so clean and herbal!" but I do not enjoy it on myself. I'm thinking I might gift my bottle to my Father in Law.

Smells like strong coriander to me. I don't know why it's not listed on the notes. I really dislike coriander spice itself and its smell, but the perfume is not bad if you like coriander.

*I own this 2.4oz fragrance*

As a masculine dude, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this fragrance. I tested it vs. the original and the Forte, and confirmed Cologne Forte is my favorite.

There is something utterly beautiful about it. It reminds me of soft blankets in a blossoming meadow. It reminds me of words like pure, angelic, peace, harmony, and wild horses. The white musk base is masculine and dries down wonderfully on a mans skin! UNMATCHED for this genre of fragrance.

This fragrance doesn’t scream sexy, but I can confirm it’s INDIRECTLY sexy. A woman will smell this on you and feel safe. She’ll be turned on by how pure you smell. She’ll want you because you smell unlike anything she’s ever smelled and you aren’t bombarding her with some fragrance that was concocted to be sexy. This fragrance is very alluring and not pushy :)


I tested this VS. PDM Layton and after a week of testing each, I sided with MFK AUCF.

You have to know what you’re looking for before you smell this. I will admit it caught me off guard, cause it didn’t smell like anything I had or what I thought it would.

If you’re a fan of 1 Million Parfum (which is also a sunny white floral fragrance), I think this would be good for you. 1MParf is like the adolescent cousin of this fragrance.


EDIT****
I discovered this fragrance myself after a long day of In-person testing at Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, and Nordstrom. I thought it was beautiful upon first whiff. So beautiful, that the following week, I traveled back 40miles to my closest Nordstrom solely to smell this without the influence of a day’s worth of fragrance in my nose.

I can tell you that the first reunited whiff was exactly how perfect I remembered it the first time.


NEVER HAVE I THOUGHT OF FABRIC CLEANER DETERGENT LIKE ALL THESE OTHER REVIEWS WHAT THE HELL. I was shocked by other reviews.

I can confirm it may be a bit sharp at first cause the bergamot. But once that creamy white floral chimes in, and the white musk warms up on my manly skin. It is magical.

If you don’t like it, you’re nose probably isn’t mature enough and I recommend going back to Invictus Aqua or Bleu De Chanel, no offense.

PS. PDM Layton is terrible.

The bergamot anchored by musk creates fresh but warm scent. It's quite intense but not in an artificial or chemical way. I like it more than I would expect to like a bergamot perfume but can't see myself buying a full bottle, for the same effect I would definitely prefer MFK's Petit Matin as it's smoother.

Slightly less soapy, floral version of the regular Universalis. The musk accord is prominent from the start. It's less citric and laundry detergent like than the regular one, but this time the soapy aspect is pushed more to the back. To me this is fairly white musk heavy. He basically removed some white florals and amped up the white musk accord. I'd say the regular is the best, then this one, then the Forte version. Though I have to say it's a pointless release so I suspect this one, like the others, won't be around that long. Performance seems decent, would work better in spring and summer.

7/10

This one is WAY better than the original. Maybe its because I’m a younger guy in my mid 20’s but this was an immediaate “Go” for me whereas the original was a big hesitation along the lines of: “I like this but there’s something I can’t agree with” I’m certain now it has to be a maturity thing. To the younger crowd this is a thumbs up!

This is the most soothing clean laundry warmed by sunshine type of vibe. Maybe a bit much for the price but clean and fresh just the same.
6.5/10

Blast of gin and tonic followed by something a little too sharply clean feeling

It smells like toilet cleaner for sure.
I got a sample of these and gave to try for my boyfriend.First word what he said when he smelled it was “toilet” haha.

Ill just echo what most reviews says about this fragrance. This really smells like laundry detergent/citrus bleach toilet cleaner.

Does not smell niche ( or at the very least, at the spectrum of a very bad niche perfume) Does not merit its current price.

So bad, if this was given as a gift ill ask for the receipt and ill have this exchanged with something different

Flowers and lemon in a bottle. More for summer, hot days. Not so original, overpriced for me... More a cleaning scent for me, sorry... more masculin.
4/10
In this brand, for fall and winter, I prefer Gentle Fluidity (9/10) = Oud Satin (9/10) > Baccarat Rouge 540 Ext (7/10) = Baccarat Rouge 540 (7/10) > Oud Silk (5/10)
In this brand, for summer: I prefer L'eau à la rose (8/10) > Aqua Vitae Cologne forte (7/10) > Aqua Celestia Cologne forte (6/10) > A la rose (6/10) > Aqua Universalis Cologne forte (4/10)

Got this in a sample with my BR540 order. Holy smokes, this is probably (save for Le Labo patchouli) one of the most disgusting, vomit-inducing fragrances I’ve ever smelled. It reminds me of a man who accidentally mixed up his pledge cleaner and cologne and then took a tumble into a vat of bleach. Clearly MFK was aiming to give “clean and fresh” a new meaning. There are very few fragrances that I hate with a burning passion, where I would literally refuse to be around someone wearing that scent; I’m personally not a fan of the rest of the Aqua universalis line, but I can definitely see the appeal for others with tastes that differ from mine. But this - just objectively horrendous.

It simply astounds me that the development team smelled this and thought “ah, now that’s a good fragrance. Let’s sell this to the masses.”

Def one of those “you gotta smell it before you die” scents because it’s so bad.

it smells exactly the same like my toilet cleaner. sorry :(

Why is this more expensive than the edt ?

This makes me feel like I'm wearing a light linen t-shirt and relaxing alone on an empty beach, on a chilly and overcast day, lazily and almost melancholically looking in the distance, not really thinking of anything, occasionally feeling a light breeze that brings with it the scent of the sea.

Lemon Pledge (UK wood polish product) smell which dries down to a base very reminiscent of Green Irish Tweed. Pointless.

As others have mentioned it is extremely reminiscent of cleaning products or other fresh cheap perfumes, but maybe that's your thing so.

The actual scent is clean, fresh and bright, but by no means is it innovative or exciting.

For a rating I give it 4/10, needs refining to bring something new to fragrance especially at the asking price.

Very fresh. Clean. Aqueous. Lineny cotton-like. If you simply want to smell enjoyably fresh and clean, this is the definitive. It reminds me very much of the time of my experience the first time I smelled the original Universallis—only dare I say—much less natural. Still not bad by any means, but very polarizing.

I don't understand the meaning of this. I really don't. Many designers offer better quality and the pricing is close to ridiculous. Go for Dior home Cologne, much better than this one with similar notes.

This is ok but I much prefer Aqua Vitae Gold cologne.
Clean fabric softeners; yeah I get that.

I recieved a small bottle of this as a free gift with an order. This perfume smells as if fabric softener and all purpose cleaner had a baby. It's very fresh and clean, with just a hint of sweat pea, but I can't detect any musk at all. After an initial burst of citrus, it remains quite linear and doesn't evolve any further. It reminds me of any scent labeled "fresh linen".

It's a very nice scent...for a detergent, but not for a perfume. I love perfumes that make me feel confident, sexy and feminine. This one just makes me want to do the laundry and organize my sock drawer.

Own the Aqua Universalis detergent.
This one smells very much like the detergent.


Again, echoing similar sentiments.
Launching the 9th Aqua around a similar theme and discontinuing the gems like Lumiere Noire, APOM, Absolue Pour le Matin / Le Soir and Oud Mood is really criminal...

This perfume will be unlike you have ever smelled, smells clean to level it does not resemble fragrance but a cleanser ingredient. I can imagine you want to smell like washed clothes or a hotel soap, for me it is genuinely experimental, truly niche.

Echoing what other users have mentioned below, this flanker of Aqua Universalis is highly reminiscent of powder detergent to my nose. I wish I could sing high praises for this particular bottle, but alas it won't be on my list of to-gets. However, the other 2 in the Cologne Forte line are beautiful renditions of their original/forte forms. I highly recommend giving the other 2 a whiff and maybe you might just be entranced by its alluring composition.

Love the whole trio , MFK has done a fabulous job. At the moment definitely my favourite house . What I like about all 3 of those scents is that they put a scent cloud around you. A feeling , energy , freshness ... like an atmosphere rather than a perfume. These are day scents. Morning scents. They make you feel fresh and energized . Aqua universalis cologne forte is the one that lasts the longest out of the trio and is the one that Centers most around white flowers and musk. It’s the epitome of freshness ! It starts with lemon but the main character is white flowers and musk and it feels airy and fresh & clean , a touch soapy ! It’s stunning and creates a scent cloud around you. You won’t smell of perfume but you will just smell Incredible & fresh . Like clean linen sheets blowing in the wind !!! Or like fresh out of the shower. This is a must have for people that love freshies !! Edp Universalis forte is also great , but this is next level !!!

I love Aqua Universalis Edt and Forte but this one smells like powder detergent indeed. If you like this kind of fragrances go for it but It is something like that could be offered under Demeter line.

I had high hopes for Aqua Universalis Cologne Forte because I enjoyed the original Aqua Universalis. However, it seems that in the Cologne Forte version, the dewy freshness that gave Aqua Universalis its vibrancy was swapped out in favour of an incredibly long-lasting plasticky white floral/muguet note.

The whole composition, while insanely persistent for a floral fragrance - I could catch whiffs of it from my arm over 12 hours later - ultimately smells linear, uninspired, perfunctory and is strongly reminiscent of functional cleaning products. Sure, it smells pleasant - in an expensive hotel washroom sort of way - but it completely misses the mark when it comes to the collection's promised luminosity and embodiment of light.