Xeryus (1986)
by Givenchy

Moss is boss with Xeryus. Fragrances such as Acqua Di Selva that contain a prominent oakmoss tend to be very dry and sharp. Xeryus manages to be more refined by buffing the edges with citrus and sweet. After the opening, the woods come to the fore and Xeryus becomes even more comfortable to wear.

It's a bridge fragrance: it looks back toward classic male perfumery via the oakmoss and woods, staples of old school scents such as the aforementioned Acqua Di Selva, without being dated while the tempering, quite mild sweetness (very mild) looks toward trends that would flourish in the Nineties and later.

I wore this in my very early Twenties without any "old man" comments (whatever the hell that term means) and it was one of my staples. I'm glad to have returned to it twenty years later and to have found it still going strong.

25th August, 2011.

Xeryus (vintage)

I decided to blind buy Xeryus as it used to be the signature fragrance of a really good friend of mine on Fragrantca. What a big surprise!

Xeryus is a slightly animalic, yet civilized woody fragrance enriched by oakmoss and amber. After the bitter-sour grapefruit opening the cypress note takes over becoming quite dominant in the middle phase of this composition and, together with the sweet woody-ambery drydown made me think about Bertrand Duchafour's Cipresso Di Toscana for the overall "old-perfumery" vibe. Don't let this mislead you because while this composition shows many of the 80's perfumery hallmarks at the same time takes the distance from the powerhouse style with its distinctive "loud-sobriety".

Xeryus made stronger my belief that in perfumery almost everything has been already invented. A fragrance that we all need to re-discover as it's still tremendously wearable.

4th May, 2011.

Exotic though stiff, moody, classic aromatic fougere. Citrus-lavender, oakmoss, sage, sandalwood, geranium, amber and other notes turn this fragrance very similar to the sadly disappeared Coveri Pour Homme, which i prefer to this one because of the Givenchy one final too stressed warmth while pour homme kept on till dry down that touch of green-earthy freshness that makes more wearable a fougere. The warmth as already written, is enhanced by the link between artemisia, other woods and moss which pushes up the heat in the dry down pumping off in that fase the coolness of cypress, aromatic notes, fruit and citric lavender. The starting is all watery citrus, basil, grapefruit and sage and is wonderful because, while foretelling the following depth, exudes woodsy aromatic, herbal, sufficienty cool and mentholated notes before the dark-grey warmth starts to rise up from the background. This stuff starts resulting soon, as well as the woody-spicy heaviness by cypress and cypriol starts soaring, enveloping the initial splash. These woods are resinous in my opinion and this is the reason of that tarry, nearly gummy trait which features the final outcome. Some flowers as dry geranium and jasmine ( i detect violets and may be rose) exude moody and obscure sweetness in the middle of the development before the fragrance settles in a warm sandalwood, incensed, ambery, rubbery  base smoothed by musks. There is an hint of vetiver in the base but not so marked. I've heard the new version is a far better stuff
because is airier, fresher and less heavy than this. The longevity is strong while sillage is medium bodied.

1st February, 2011. (Last Edited: 15th March, 2011.)

The relatively conventional, but extremely well rendered citrus, lavender, and sage top notes that introduce Xeryus are good enough that I’ll apply it again just to get another sniff. The combination is sweet and suave, but the aromatic and animalic facets of the sage note put a darker edge on the accord while balancing the sweetness.

Astringent artemisia and geranium notes, mildly smoky woods, and a quiet floral accord that includes rose and orange blossom anchor the middle section over a foundation of moderately sweet amber and oakmoss. Some kitchen spices, most notably nutmeg and cinnamon, drift into focus after an hour or so of wear, but never grow so strong as to overwhelm the rest. The overall impression is somewhere between a woody oriental and a robust, 1980s-style aromatic fougère: part Héritage, part Lauder for Men.

Xeryus is in fact more restrained than most of the landmark 1980s powerhouse scents, and this restraint leaves it feeling less dated and more wearable than many of its contemporaries. The drydown, with its amber, moss, and animalic traces, is warm and relaxed, yet civilized. While Xeryus doesn’t jump out and demand my attention once the splendid top notes run their course, it is a satisfying, comfortable scent that probably remains underappreciated alongside its brawnier, yet less amiable, peers.

A note: don’t evaluate Xeryus on paper, where the animalic sage note grows strident, sour, and overbearing.

8th January, 2011.

Please, let me clarify, This review is for the reformulation of Xeryus in the plain ugly bottle- Not the wonderful original fragrance in the Shiney Mirrored Black Deco bottle.
Finding Xeryus again after many years , I thought, was going to be a pleasant surprise.
Why this was reformulated is beyond me. The Original was a rich and classic fragrance that was formal and memorable...dry down was a masculine powder that evoked many complements.
This new formulation is a spicey mess that induces a headache. One dimensional and quite awful. I purchased two bottles at two different stores hoping the first bottle was a bad batch. It wasn't. I gave one bottle to a friend that also previously owned the Original black bottle version.
They asked me if I was joking-that this smelled nothing like the original.
It has been, to this day, the biggest disappointment in my fragrance collection.
Shame on you Givenchy for destroying the original and pasting it's name on this headache bomb!

6th January, 2011. (Last Edited: 7th January, 2011.)

Xeryus is an amazing fragrance worthy of its namesake. The opening, redolent of mugwort and lemon, surprised me as I was expecting a heady, sweaty 80's-born animal of a scent. As the soft lavender emerges with the bitter and aromatic juniper the artemisia retreats slightly so as to create a shining chorus of greenery while the oakmoss and amber slowly surface from beneath. The result is a potent bittersweet herbal which could be mistaken for a cousin of Yatagan or Derby (both of which I love). Once again I've left my olfactory heart in the wrong decade. My girlfriend claims this smells like a hot dryer opened after a fresh cycle, but I really like this one. I can't help but imagine the original formula was even more dense and wonderful.

4th August, 2010.