Description
Futur is a fragrance by the house of Robert Piguet presented in 1960. It incorporates green-floral-woody notes and it is being launched again this year. The perfume has been available on the market since July 2009 only in Harrods in London, UK. The aromas are a true fragrant fusion of fresh citruses, romantic flowers and opulent woody nuances.
Futur arrives in a characteristic black flacon as 50 and 100 ml EDP and 30 ml perfume. This lively and dynamic mixture of bergamot and neroli notes is enriched with green accords, which leave an impression of spring freshness. Fresh zests are joined by a floral bouquet of violets, sweet and fresh notes of jasmine and ylang-ylang which lie on a base of vetiver, patchouli and cedar.
The fragrance is perfect for a witty, honest woman full of self-esteem. She chooses intensive and feminine fragrances and follows her own style. Futur is her fragrant signature!
The nose behind this fragrance is Aurelien Guichard.
casper800 – :
Beautiful fresh green floral with an underlying sweetness. I absolutely love this on me. It does remind me of No 19 / No 19 Poudre which isn’t a bad thing but I think I prefer Futur. The future is green!
qwerty678 – :
Deep deep deep deep down the rabbit hole green. The darkest, the greenest green I’ve ever smelt so far. I suppose that I’m late I’m late I’m late at the party when I say that I want it. [Be patient, reader, for now I can only offer you my unhelpful enthusiasm. When it will be mine, I’ll write a proper review, directly from the rabbit hole].
sport2301 – :
Was going through my perfume collection… for the longest time I couldn’t actually find a fragrance to compare this to. Just noticed today that it is strikingly similar to Estée Lauder Knowing.
alex985 – :
Someone mentioned big hair in another review. I will say that it’s been more than 12 hours and this still is going strong on my skin – but the drydown… it smells just like Aquanet hairspray. I still like it though. It really is from another time when green woody fragrances were all the rage. Other people have not reacted badly to this. The feedback I got was not “eeeew what is THAT!?” Which is what happened when I wore youth dew. It’s more like hmmmm that’s pretty good but different. I like different.
mr.micruckow – :
This reminds me of a combination of Estée Lauder Knowing and Chanel No. 5, smelling more like knowing than no. 5. And maybe it’s the vetiver but there is something similar to youth dew also, but I intensely dislike youth dew and I kind of like this fragrance. It is most definitely not a youthful scent. It’s pretty mature. Of course, the fact that it smells like it could be for an older woman doesn’t stop me! I used to wear coco when I was in my early 20s – plain coco not mademoiselle – and I have no problem wearing this. I’m not sure what other people think of it since I just got it and haven’t worn it out yet. I like knowing and I can pull that off so I’m hoping this will work for me also. I do prefer Piguet Mademoiselle over all the Piguet scents I have tried. I might change my opinion once I try Visa. Anyway I may write more about Futur after I get feedback from other people on it.
TEFLON – :
Yikes. Not MY future – I hope. Rather, a reminder of the uglier aesthetic experiments of the 50s & 60s. Think PVC boots and polyester shag rugs. Chokey chemically cloud at the beginning and a metallic green tang throughout – it’s definitely a sort of polished-lime-green-chrome kind of vibe. Rise of the robots time!
Now I don’t mind green and it’s certainly fresh and wake-you-uppy, but in such a harshly artificial way for me that I can hardly stand it. Somehow to my nose it’s intensely green while not smelling at all of any real plants. Even the sort of citrus burst at the start just reads machine-built, not evocative and natural. And yes, as a whole, despite all the attempts at spaceyness and zing, it now just smells dated.
Of course, like all the stuff I don’t love, it sticks to me like glue and lasts 6h+.
rhicheplope – :
It’s kinda amusing that this fragrance is called ‘Futur’, because it is oh-so-very-retro. I guess it might have been futuristic when it first launched in 1960, but its present-day incarnation should have been renamed ‘Past’! It’s very greenish, very violet-y, very powdery, very pungent, very old-fashioned. Think of big bouffant hair held together with gallons of hairspray… A-line dresses made of synthetic materials in geometric prints… colour-block suits with mini skirts worn with matching opaque tights… packed away with mothballs and stored in the attic for decades… that kind of old-fashioned. While I’m generally not against retro fragrances and I have some vintage treasures, Futur is definitely not my cup of tea, courtesy of a very strong neroli note. I can’t stand neroli – IMHO it absolutely kills every fragrance that contains it.
wolchenok_2 – :
Futur is the love child of Bandit and Chanel №19. I’ve had it for nearly a year and wore it for the first time today. Big mistake. This perfume is absolute perfection. I can’t imagine many people wearing it, it is for lovers of chypre and vintage scents.
SpancePence – :
Blast from the past! I’m not crazy about indoles in general, but they do quiet down after a bit and you’re left with a smoky green scent to match old-school green/floral chypres of yore. A little 70’s shampoo, a little old-fashioned soap you use at your cozy hotel at some secluded Italian beach… Brings me back to when I was a child because my mother and friends would smell like this, which is a thorough compliment, but with more of an edge.
A liberal application is a plus with this one: it lets all the elements shine, whereas a shy spray makes those indoles take over. Extremely long-lasting.
EDIT: It’s been a month and I like this more and more. What a beautiful green chypre this is.
Serj(RUS66) – :
For a Space Age perfume with a name to match, Futur is surprisingly down to earth. It may claim to look to the future, but in reality, its gaze is fixed firmly on the past. And that’s not at all a bad thing.
Futur was launched in 1967, a decade obsessed with the new. Two of the decade’s notable advancements in perfumery were the anti-perfume, patchouli, and its commercial mainstream equivalent, the floral green, as exemplified by Yves Saint Laurent Y (1964) and Guy Laroche Fidji (1966). The genre was at its peak of popularity, and was soon to reach transcendent heights with the ice-green masterpiece Chanel No 19, launched at the turn of the decade.
Futur never had the marketing clout of the big houses, so while No 19 is still revered, Futur was quietly discontinued in 1974, only seven years after launch. But perhaps it was Futur’s own conservatism that sealed its fate. True, it was contemporary in its floral green opening, but the dry down was decidedly out of step; it nodded to Robert Piguet’s rich, clamorous roots.
Fortunately, we can all try the wonderful strangeness of Futur thanks to its 2009 reboot by Aurelien Guichard, the nose behind the original. It’s strange to think that the reissue has been available for as long as the original ever was. But we should all be glad that it’s still around.
Futur opens with bitter green galbanum and a touch of bergamot. The floral heart features violet, ylang ylang, jasmine and neroli, in that order of prominence, to my nose. Violet leaf adds a fresh-cut greenness to the already verdant mix. Vetiver, then a novel note when used prominently, is also strongly present. The overall effect is green, soapy and richly floral.
The dry down, by contrast, is deep and leathery. It points to the green leather chypres of the previous decade, like Bernard Chant’s phenomenal perfume for Gres, Cabochard. But it also nods back even further, to Piguet’s 1944 leather chypre masterpiece, Bandit. Much of Bandit’s leathery richness came from an accord of isobutyl quinoline with galbanum, an accord that is also prominent in Futur. Smoky vetiver and patchouli are also prominent in both bases. Futur may be less clamorous and forthright than Bandit, but there’s a clear family resemblance.
I absolutely adore Futur. It’s beguiling, utterly unique, and as raucously out of step with current trends as it was the day it was launched. Kudos to Piguet for resurrecting an underrated and all but forgotten classic.
Mercu249JeomiWogkig – :
My male colleague perceived it like something medicinal, maybe because it is old fashioned, but I like old fashioned nice blended compositions. I must care not to disturb him. It will be difficult, I am already addicted to Futur. This is not today’s easily digestable ” patchouli”, but this scent makes me inhale and breathe so deep and free, that I simply do not care what others say, I love it, I breathe it. Green freedom of the dark woods at night…looks like I am not an office tailored person.
nik13b30 – :
Gorgeous, mature symphony. For those who prefer individuality and do not care for fashion trends. Dark green, foggy violet, deep, empowering. Softly taking You through time travel. I suggest this as an evening scent for colder days. Not for shy ladies, rather for the brave, for those who are not afraid to let the scent lead them to new dimensions. This is not a fashion candy spray, it is a masterpiece and deserves time and patience to be understood. It is almost alive…
VA.katastrofa – :
There is absolutely nothing like the vintage Futur. If you can get it, go for it! This remake is nothing even similar, to say nothing of the fact that it’s slightly sour and bland, if one can even have that combination. The vintage presents layer upon layer of marvelous intoxication. It is most similar to the original Jean Louis Scherrer – a smokey, camphorous delight!
grantme – :
Futur on my skin is a very dry chypre green floral with an old vintage feeling. To my nose it was somewhat a combination of Chanel No 19, Chanel’s Cristalle and Arden’s Blue Grass. Opens with a strong green earthy note, I thought it was oakmoss although it is not listed. As time goes by it becomes sharper and bitter and dries down to a skanky powdery green floral which is not really my thing. Very earthy and green scent , aggressive and strong. If you are fond of dry green scents give Futur a try. It’s well crafted with decent silage and quite good lasting power.
j-tag – :
I am unable to smell any flower in this perfume. That’s okay with me, I like sharp, green, soapy perfumes, so I can appreciate this one. Sometimes I intensify the dryness of Futur by layering with Eau de Rochas.
leshaot – :
If I had glanced at the notes prior to testing Futur I might’ve thought I’d like it…boy would I have been wrong!
Women can keep this one! It’s like something from a bygone era and definitely not for this man.
No violets, sweet jasmine or ylang ylang it’s too harsh in opening to get past and had to be scrubbed. I thought I liked green scents?
but this is going too far I don’t get anything pleasant, sweet or fresh from it.
I’ll be honest breaking down the notes would be difficult as I was pretty repulsed by it. If you read my reviews generally I’m pretty upbeat even when not keen on a fragrance so I don’t use the word ‘repulsed’ lightly. Having said that I have a habit of revisiting and changing my mind so I won’t reserve judgement just yet.
Still Like this house though, good quality and variety.
Ferdinantr – :
This is a classic green floral, something sadly lacking in today’s market. The staying power and sillage are actually good, which I marked as moderate on the scale. On my skin, any fragrance that lasts more than 4 hours is amazing, and this one lasts 5 or 6. This is a modern green, done masterfully. It is reminiscent of the great vintage greens like Ma Griffe.
If you love the green fragrances, then this beautiful and complex Futur is for you. Aurelian Guichard re-created Futur for the modern woman, and it should become a classic. I wear it often, and I always feel more energetic and happier with the first spray!
post2.65 – :
Love this. To my nose, this is a clean aldehydic white/green floral with a lingering neroli note. Futur is beautiful and agreeable, with a fresh and silky jasmine-ylang-neroli heart and vetiver in the drydown. I can’t detect the violet, neither leaf nor flower. I don’t get anything terribly sharp from the top notes, even, just a vivacious green/aldehyde start with a quite well-mannered bite.
This reminds me intensely of something I know I’ve worn, and after days of rummaging through my perfume history I’m still not certain I’ve pinned it down (and it’s driving me mad, of course). I definitely find similarities with no 19 EDP, and with Private Collection (although Futur is far more well-behaved than PC on my skin). But I think I may have circled in my ghost scent: Futur recalls the original Nina by Nina Ricci to me, another clean, white/green aldehydic floral with a classic/vintage feel. Nina was a powdery iris beauty with a marigold note, but the two fragrances share many other prominent notes and the overall mood strikes me as similar: simple, airy elegance with a nostalgic classical touch. I adored the discontinued Nina and I’m happy to find she may have a kindred spirit, at least, in Futur. I long for a full bottle of this, I really do…
woody – :
There’s something oddly likeable about Robert Piguet’s Futur. I’m not usually one to enjoy soapy green florals, but Futur strikes me as something different, a scent with considerable appeal.
The top notes are indeed harsh, almost animalic. It smelt like a blend of leather and freshly cut grass, which was not altogether pleasant. Thankfully these top notes were short-lived, making way for a rather delectable heart of fresh, green florals, mostly jasmine, ylang ylang, violet leaf and neroli.
Futur does remind me of a bar of soap, however I rather like this aspect. It is by far the cleanest fragrance I have tried from the house of Robert Piguet. I can see how some could draw comparisons between this fragrance and Carven’s Ma Griffe, however I find Futur a scent of better quality.
My review is based on a sample of the re-released version, so I unfortunately can not comment on vintage Futur nor the pure parfum. I would imagine them to be much the same, just with some minor tweaks here and there.
Unfortunately Futur is not sold in any of my favourite perfume boutiques, although Fracas, Bandit and Baghari are. The only issue I had with Futur was in regards to its less than impressive lasting power. It lasted no more than five hours on my skin. Perhaps layering this scent with its matching products could counteract this problem.
aleksejsai – :
Futur was marketed as avant-garde at its release in the late 1960s, an era known for its conviction that the future was more about style than science. In the 60s, the future was in fact the 1960s with sleeker fashion, poses and objets (rayguns and cocktail glasses). Smelled in the present, the revived Futur can be considered a bit retro not because it smells tired, but because the green floral didn’t so much evolve as (with a few exceptions) become extinct. Futur’s points of direct comparison are this handful of extant green florals from the 1960s-1970s: Chamade, Metal, Silences, Weil de Weil, No 19, Alliage and especially Private Collection. (I’m not going to stare into the abyss of attempting to distinguish the green floral from the green chypre.) Niche perfumery has produced a few examples of the style since the late 1960s, but mainstream perfumery has more or less dropped it.
The green floral might appear out of step with current trends in mainstream perfumery, but Robert Piguet are smart to include it in their line. It is comparable in archival tone to Fracas and Bandit, and like these two, smartly encapsulates a genre. Additionally, as a well composed melodious floral it fits in with more recent releases from Piguet such as Douglas Hannant and Petit Fracas. It is also composed by Arelien Guichard, the perfumer responsible for the recent spate of new RP releases (Casbah, Mademoiselle Piguet, etc.).
Futur is a beautiful green floral. It reminds me that green florals can capture beauty, complexity, and intrigue in ways that mixed white florals aspire to and fruity forals don’t even attempt. Green florals are alluring, and Futur is no exception. It has a bright-eyed composure and doesn’t come off as heavily coiffed and made up as Private Collection and Chamade do. It’s not as stagey as Metal. Informal, but not slack Futur has a simple chic to it. It shows an astute abstraction in the composition that makes it one of the black-box perfumes. You can see into it whatever you please, and as a result, it works in most any context.
dhz272elipseskism – :
V E R Y disappointed. My fault, too. It was a blind buy and it smells like an aldehydic salad to me.
I am not a fan of aldehydes, so I was surprised to find them there when they aren’t listed in the notes. Aldehydes, go to bed!
stroiy – :
Maybe I’m the only one getting this, but I get a strong whiff of Etat Libre’s Jasmin et Cigarette – Jasmine and woodiness (obviously the cedar and not tobacco, as in EL JeC). Definitely green, definitely Jasmine, and some Ylang Ylang. I don’t smell the neroli, but for a minute when first sprayed. I like this, maybe not enough to get a full bottle though.
Edit 3/12/13
I have seriously grown to love Futur. Though the opening does definitely parallel ELdO’s Jasmin et Cigarette, Futur has more depth and complexity. I agree that is embodies casual elegance – an unfussy and informal green floral. I am now a proud owner of a full bottle!
WhiteWolfik – :
How many ways are there to describe love and being in love? I say thousands, and none at all simultaneously because no words can truly capture the feeling itself. So, stated simply: Futur has captured my heart and I did not expect this at all.
From descriptions here I expected “just another green” fragrance and yet the absence of galbanum made me wonder how this could be possible. Fortunately for my nose (and ultimately, to the detriment of my wallet!) I was sent a sample. Even so, I was certain I’d be disappointed and let the sample sit there, unnoticed and unloved.
This morning I was in the mood to experiment and applied Futur with wild abandon, on wrists, ear lobes, neck and decollete. Within seconds I was smiling, waving my arms and walking about in circles to sniff the sillage. Gorgeous!!!! I thought “This is Bandit stripped of her leather and civet — a tamer, daytime Bandit perhaps.” I remembered the reviews though and didn’t quite trust myself until a quick check here showed me how many notes they have in common and I felt vindicated.
Futur and Bandit share jasmine, violets, ylang, neroli, bergamot, vetiver and patchouli with “green notes” in Futur taking the place of Bandit’s aldehydes and cedar taking the place of oakmoss (a worthy substitution!). Again, no civet and no leather but I can honestly say I’m seldom in the mood for Bandit’s boldness while I can easily see myself reaching for the full bottle of Futur that will certainly join my collection in the not-too-distant future because I simply cannot imagine a season, temperature, mood or occasion when Futur would not be appropriate.
Futur is a true gem that’s both bright and up-lifting with a heart of pure energy. I don’t find it green in the vein of Vent Vert, Aliage, Ma Griffe or any other Green Stunner; instead, to my nose it’s a seamless blend of everything fresh, vital and springtime new without being a strictly springtime fragrance. Violet’s sweetness is tempered by vetiver and patchouli’s chewy texture is brightened by jasmine in all its glory. Beautifully, beautifully blended and very, very well done.
Lasting power is 8-10 hours, a trait Futur shares with other Piguets on my skin, and sillage is moderate: enough to enjoy but not so much as to overwhelm. I can hardly wait to add Futur’s classic black bottle to my line-up of Piguet treasures. A worthy endeavor by Aurelien Guichard, who is to be congratulated for capturing the essence of Piguet: classic, complex, rich, bold and long-lasting.
eimis300 – :
Floral and aldehydic in the beginning, this EdP is a sharp take on orange blossom that removes most of the sweetness and leaves its green-woody notes. It’s not petitgrain, because it’s more floral, but that type of citrus smell is the general idea.
It’s also soapy, smelling like a bar of scented soap, but it’s clean and brisk despite its floral, soapy nature. Sillage is moderate, and the scent remains fairly linear throughout its course of development, which is about 4-5 hours, tops. For an EdP, it’s not particularly strong once the top notes burn off. It’s a nice enough scent, but I don’t find it compelling in any way. Those who like mild, greenish florals and orange blossom should try it.
herald9822 – :
it is too soapy for me. A smell with a unique but soft character. inoffensive fragrance that could be worn all year round. Nice but not for a full bottle. And it reminds me of something that I cant remember yet. Reminds of My Griffe by Carven.
And it doesn’t last, only for about 3 hours.
stm242speagoessenda – :
This is a lovely modern perfume with an eye to the past in a very good sense. It is green without being acid or citrusy like the majority of the green perfumes of today. It has a good lasting power and on my skin it develops with a metallic note that reminds of Calandre. Very good scent for the day, for sporty occasions when you can’t wear a too elegant perfume but do not want to give up being smart and feminine.
dandan88 – :
Extreme green. Imagine Bandit without leather and you will get an idea. Bitter, floral/green, extremely soapy throughout and tremendously contemporary. Futur, with its pushed to the limit aldehydic “cleanness” stays somehow halfway between Givenchy III and Comme Des Garcons for Stephen Jones. A bizarre blend that’s apparently inoffensive yet extremely misterious. A great perfume!
Downside: Lasting Power (no more than 3 hrs).
Rating: 8.5/10 for the smell
6.5/10 for the lasting power
Genius12 – :
WOW! What a sharp, bitter green opening, overpowering in its initial blast. Unfortunately, the development on my skin turned to Ivory soap, then a dusty green, then a bitter soap that was quite unpleasant. Another one bites the dust!
жизнь – :
Apparently I have a serious problem…
I love every other RP fragrance (especially Visa & Fracas) but I cannot tolerate this. Why, do you ask? Well, as sherapop pointed out (very accurately, I might add) it is very much in the vein of Ma Griffe & Vent Vert. These 3 fragrances have something that makes me want to recoil….and not just recoil, but flee the room as fast as possible.
It is soapy? Kind of. Is it green? Most definitely. Yet I can enjoy other green scents…I can even tolerate a little soapiness. I want so badly to appreciate this. In fact, I think it has even given me a slight headache. Why does this offend me so? Is it my age? Is it my nose?
All that being said, out of the 3 fragrances mentioned, I must admit this is the smoothest one to me. It seems the most well-balanced, as Ma Griffe is extremely soapy (to me) and Vent Vert is extremely green and bitter (to me.) As usual with all RPs, fantastic longevity with good sillage.
I’m green with envy for those who can appreciate this! 😉
geosseicoff – :
I have seen the future, and it is green. Kelly green. Glossy wet-grass green. After an ever-so-brief chypre tease, Robert Piguet FUTUR takes the wearer directly to the essence of green. This composition is redolent of both Carven MA GRIFFE and Balmain VENT VERT, although each of the three is distinct. I like this crisp, bright freshness very much, but it really is more of a green fragrance than a floral green, because the grassiness completely dominates the composition from beginning to end.
If you like ueber-green frags such as MA GRIFFE and VENT VERT, you’ll like FUTUR as well. If you do not like those two green offerings, then FUTUR will not be your friend. Since I already have bottles of MA GRIFFE and VENT VERT, I won’t be adding FUTUR to my collection (at least not anytime soon…), but it is a high-quality creation which I can recommend. Good staying power and sillage.
Memozavrus – :
I love its beginning but it gets generally less interesting until the drydown which smells to me like old fashioned laundry/household soap.
mlide – :
Pure vintage! Green woody notes create an earthy, a bit wet aura. I would compare it with a mix of Bandit and Visa. The chypre accord (like in Bandit) gives those strong, dark-green feeling and unique character and at the same time the floral and very feminen notes of jasmine and ylang infuse wispy and intelligent features to the fragrance. It is very old-fashiond in a good sense. Vintage! Probably your grandma has something like this on her console mirror.