Invictus by Rabanne

Smells amazing, but longevity and projection are lacking; as an EDT, you can’t really ask for more. It’s a great citrus-marine art piece, ideal for an incredible day without being overpowering. Just don’t expect insane longevity; it lasts longer on clothes.

I tried it and didn’t detect any marine notes—it’s fruity, sticky, and slightly sweet. It never blew my mind. If it’s been mass-produced, it’s a magnet for compliments from women. Longevity is very good, around 7 to 8 hours. The Hawas Classic and Ice smell very similar, but these add plum; they share the same fruity sticky opening that dries down to oakmoss.

Great perfume, there are countless dupes or interpretations out there. It’s very good, but I recommend getting others that work better and cost less, like Hawas Ice or Éter Abarian Sky. If you want the same vibe but elevated, it’s Invictus Platinum, though it’s getting harder to find.

Perfect for everyday wear, fresh with a really nice scent. The best for the office, a true classic.

Solid, a classic for daily use, very pleasant.

The classic Invictus… if it’s this famous, there must be a reason. Smells good, fresh, and pleasant for hot weather. It has that citrus-marine opening that dries down to be slightly more woody and earthy (very subtle, it just ‘darkens’ the scent). Don’t expect magic; it’s a simple, easy-to-liking fragrance that just smells good, but doesn’t bring anything new. Ideal for spring-summer, you’ll get compliments, but it’s not infallible.

They gave it to me last year for my birthday, and I only wore it once that year; a year later, I wore it to dinner and found it pleasant, elegant, and got tons of compliments. But I won’t repeat it: it’s not bad, but it has something that doesn’t quite fit, maybe a generic whiff and nothing spectacular, a perfume that says ‘okay, but not wow.’ I think it looks super nice on other guys, although the bottle is horrendous.

I heard it today at a perfumery and took several blotters; it’s definitely not the old Invictus. Back in the day, I only used this, and today I have over 24 perfumes; it had a metallic note I didn’t know, it was my favorite in 2015. Then it ran out, and I was gifted one in 2017-2018 that was still the same, but in 2025 it doesn’t seem equal. I heard they reformulated this, which is most likely. I used it as my signature scent in any season for almost 10 years, but now it smells different. What a pity. Edit 1/2: Before, I noticed it was more marine/salty and sticky/sweet, now it’s more strident/citrusy. I don’t know if it’s a reformulation, but it doesn’t remind me of the old one that flooded rooms. If anyone knows a dupe that reminds me of that, let me know. Edit 2/2: Two days later, the blotter confirmed what I thought. In winter, I had jackets that absorbed the Invictus EDT and created a special, delicious aroma in my room. The blotter now doesn’t smell even close. Comparing it to fabric is difficult, but it doesn’t smell the same. Maybe my sense of smell is more advanced, or it’s a reformulation; it’s very confusing.

My first perfume with which I started collecting seriously. I still keep the first launch batch, and it has accompanied me for over 11 years with many compliments. Yes, they mass-produced it due to the HYPE. Yes, many ‘clones’ inspired by its scent came out, why? Because the good stuff gets copied. But the copy never surpasses or equals the original. I still use it sometimes to delight myself with its scent, which some find ‘generic or simple,’ but ‘for noses, the aroma’ as a YouTube reviewer says. The duration remains the same, between 8 to 12 hours, good projection. I haven’t tried the new batches, so I can’t comment.

Delicious perfume, it’s very similar to the Fakhar black bottle, which is supposedly a dupe of Y Eau de Parfum, but it smells too much like this classic Invictus. In my country, none of these designer perfumes are mass-produced anymore because they’re expensive, over $100. I detect a fruity, fresh, sweet aroma, and as it dries down, the laurel note is very noticeable. It’s very tasty and lasts a long time on skin.

The trophy that defined an era. I remember the 2015 TV commercial, the guy holding his trophy to the beat of Kanye West’s ‘Power’—simply epic. I went out and bought it. A youthful, fresh, and slightly sweet scent that was absolutely charming. It was one of the fragrances I ran out of the fastest; I think it lasted me about 4 months before I bought another. A friend asked what perfume I was wearing, and after two months, he started smelling it on me—obviously, he had picked up Invictus. That’s when I decided to move on 😔. Another colleague asked what I was wearing and if I wanted to gift it to her boyfriend for his birthday. Beyond the mass appeal, this is a prime example of how a fragrance could go viral through word-of-mouth in an era before we had as many fake influencer reviewers on social media as we do today. A hit from Paco Rabanne, right alongside the legendary One Million.

I thought it was really good; my dad gave it to me because he didn’t have much left, so I use it for him. I don’t know why it has such a low rating; it smells very fresh and is a pleasant scent. I recommend it for a sunny day, or daily wear, school, university, or the gym.

This fragrance was launched in 2016, not 2013, so it’s essentially a dupe of Hawas, which came out in 2015.

Iguanodondy Invictus was launched in 2013. In fact, this website even has the article dedicated to it at launch, published back in 2013.

Chapter I – The Gym’s Choice. Once upon a time, there was a young man with a sharp jawline, a fitted t-shirt, and one brain cell. His name was Alex, but he went by ÁlexXxPower, with three ‘x’s, because he’d read it on a protein shake label. His life revolved around bench presses, orange-filtered stories, and the eternal search for a perfume that screamed ‘champion.’ One day, amidst cold lights and house music at torture volume, he found it. Invictus. With its bottle shaped like a trophy cup. Because if you’re going to smell like a winner, you might as well start by looking like one. —’That’s me!’—Alex shouted, almost crying. Chapter II – The Roaring Fragrance. First came a slap in the face of nuclear grapefruit followed by a marine wave that smelled less like the ocean and more like the pool at a Salou hotel in August. Then emerged notes of laurel (more like soup than epic), jasmine (very afternoon vibes with your mom watching a telenovela), and an amber base that embraced you with the tenderness of a steamroller. The formula was simple: Citrus + Sea = Gym Freshness; Laurel + Jasmine = Modern Myth; Amber + Patchouli = Metrosexual Sweetness. And yet… it worked. Like bad jokes at a wedding: they’re repeated so often that they eventually start to please. Chapter III – The Drama. Alex, armed with his Invictus, stepped out into the world. And like all tragic heroes, he fell. Because yes, he hooked up. But with someone who wore the same perfume. In the modern olfactory battle of love, there’s no room for two Invictus. —’You smell like my ex.’ —’So do you.’ The date ended in a draw, smelling of patchouli and sweet defeat. Epilogue – Glory is Plastic. Invictus isn’t a perfume. It’s a bottled fantasy. A glorification of the obvious, an ode to muscle over intelligence, a symphony for those who believe being a man boils down to being strong, sweet, and very obvious. And yet, it works. Because it smells like well-groomed ego, a Saturday night victory, and poorly managed adolescence. In this complicated world, sometimes you just want to smell something simple. Something that screams ‘champion’ even if you haven’t won anything since the FIFA championship in 2013. Invictus: because not all heroes carry swords. Some carry matching deodorant.