Official XerJoff Appreciation Thread

[Addict]

I gave Dhofar another wearing the other day and was thoroughly enjoying it - despite it's fairly prominent carnation note (which I typically dislike). About 10 hours later I went to lay down with my girlfriend and she asked me if I had gotten a new deodorant as it was rather strong. Nope, still wearing the same unscented deodorant as always. It was the Dhofar.

Hi, SoS, one can only hope, for the sake of the illustrious and never lascivious standards of this august gathering, that you mean "lay down" not in a biblical sense... (just kidding)

Let's say that, imho, if one can get a good number of hours of really wonderful top/middle notes, one can reapply/wash/change things afterwards.

Appreciating as always your insights etc.

[Sasuke]

Verona 101 is a very nice scent. If you like gourmand than this is for you. It has the vanilla and burnt caramel notes but also has this wonderful blood orange note that cuts the sweetness. Also there is an almond and licorice blend that is really great. It also lasts a very long time. The jasmine is not animalic at all and just provides a nice floral counterpart to the scent. Its very subtle jasmine.

Thank you, that sounds amazing! I love all the notes that you mentioned. As a gourmand lover, I think I should order Verona as long as it's available. The XerJoff E-boutique says, they are only 41 left. I have to hurry now ;-)

[fly777]

Thank you, that sounds amazing! I love all the notes that you mentioned. As a gourmand lover, I think I should order Verona as long as it's available. The XerJoff E-boutique says, they are only 41 left. I have to hurry now ;-)

41 left? That's what they said about 2 months ago... Purchased a bottle - and my wife is wearing it with pleasure. Vanille, sweet and pleasing, strong projection and long lasting.

[Addict]

Have worn Uden today. Very pleasant, natural yet elegant-smelling... a bit like you'd come out of a five star coffee shop if you know what I mean - (-:

[cairomerta]

41 left? That's what they said about 2 months ago... Purchased a bottle - and my wife is wearing it with pleasure. Vanille, sweet and pleasing, strong projection and long lasting.

Im sure they dont have an accurate updated real time count of this but I know they are very limited and people love it.

[jrd4t]

Verona sounds incredible!

I wore XXY to work yesterday and it was absolutely fabulous. It has a certain tartness to it, perhaps from the bergamot, but was rooted in a creamy ylang ylang, what seemed like a berry note of some sort, and a gorgeous leathery base with a prickly patchouli. This is my favorite of the XJ 17/17 line. Though I really love Homme for that gorgeous leather scent that it is, XXY is something I could wear every day for a week and still love it at the end (that says a lot for me... I rarely even go 2 days of the same! )

[Un profumo affettuoso]

I received a whole bunch of XerJoff samples several days ago (courtesey of Hillaire) and I am afraid I can't hail them...-
to me, they are rather disappointing. I can find much more originality and creativity in other houses - even Montale is more daring and fascinating, let alone Amouage or L'Histoire de Parfums.
I absolutely hated the attempt at marketing the scents as "perfumes for the the selected" (citing from their Russian texts).
Obviously, they try to satisfy some posh Russian audience of "nouveau riche" perfume connoisseurs.
Citing again from their text:
Irisss - to be worn with confidence by those who are refined and distinguisehd in life".
So - nothing for the lower classes...

[Un profumo affettuoso]

Brief (more or less negative! SORRY!!!) reviews of the samples I tried:

Dhofar:
a feeble copy of "Jicky" with flowery overtones of rosebuds on the verge of decay.
Awful.

Kobe
- has a very citrussy start reminiscent of grandma's worst Kölnisch Wasser and then morphs into something faintly smelling of schnaps mixed with dried lemon. Not worth any attention.

Fiori d'ulivo
-a flowery little number, unimpressive. Creed's Spring Flowers spring to my mind. Fiori is not in the least memorable.

Shingl -
a copy of YSL "Yvresse" with sour-metallic overtones.

Esquel
soft, pastel-coloured Fougere... totally hackneyed.

Modoc
Incense and smoke - Messe de Minuit by Etro revisited - an ambiance perfume.

Oesel
Dismal attempt at using lilac and chevrefeuille - resulting in one fine, dissonant mess. A flowery bouquet of rare unpleasantness.

Bouquet Ideale
Very pretentious name for a scent which is by no means ideal, unless you are a lover of carnations dumped into a lavatory.

Uden
Classic, masculine fragrance, oscilliating between soapy and aromatic overtones. I think I have smelt this before about 500 times...

Fiero
borrows almost everything from Eau Sauvage. Go and get Eau Sauvage.

Homme
Nice citrussy start followed by a very strong leather-note massacrating all the other fine ingredients...like clove or lavender. Smells as if the doctor in charge of your ward mixed the desinfectant with his traditional English leather Eau de Cologne.
Get Tabac Original instead and save 95% of your money.

See my more positive reviews in the next post...

[Un profumo affettuoso]

My favourites from the line:

LUA
a warm composition with almonds and a pwdery, musky touch. Pleasant.

Xerjoff 17/17 Elle
a multi-layered floral in the style of the older and now discontinued Patou fragrances. Elegant and refined.

Oroville
convincing because of the originality of the tobacco-jasmine-carnation accord. Really enjoyed that one.

Ibitira
Good! In the spirit of Shalimar... a fine scent with a warm, powdery vaniila base.
NIO
The greenest scent in the line. Freshly cut grass with lemony overtones and a touch of hay. Outdoorsy and straight-forward.
Memorable.

XXY
a light woody amber, transparent in structure. Very pleasant.

Mefisto
unimpressive - in spite of its name. Neither develish nor edgy - on the contrary- a well-balanced, green floral. Pleasant, of course, good raw materials- but methinks: Where have I smelt this before? Devoid of any originality. I do expect MORE from such an expensive scent.

And last - not least:
Irisss -
a transparent, high-quality Iris done in the musky-opaque style. GOOD!

On the package, it says Irisss is supposed to be "worn with confidence by those who are refined and distinguished in life".
I probably can't pull this one off... not distinguished enough. It is percisely this kind of commercial blurp which I find off-putting - and I can see that is is aimed at the Xerjoff audience of "New Russians" (therefore the Russian translations on the samples which read even worse than the English text...- it is all about being chosen, selected, distinguished and discerning.)
My simple motto is: Trust your nose, not the price-tag!
Therefore, this line is nothing I would ever recommend to anybody but a millionaire.

[Un profumo affettuoso]

Would anybody here (preferably from Europe, Germany would be ideal) like to have some of the samples I mentioned???
As you might have realized, I am NOT a great fan of the house - and I am sure someone else could enjoy the samples more than I do.
I'd like to pass the majority of the samples on to another Basenoter... -just let me know.

[Un profumo affettuoso]

Would anybody here (preferably from Europe, Germany would be ideal) like to have some of the samples I mentioned???
As you might have realized, I am NOT a great fan of the house - and I am sure someone else could enjoy the samples more than I do.
I'd like to pass the majority of the samples on to another Basenoter... -just let me know.

Samples will go the UK tomorrow! The more opinions, the better!

[DULLAH]

I was surprised by the quality of some of the scents in the line. Many featured some very expensive natural ingredients. Particularly their Iris and Orris absolutes are top notch.

I think Fiore D'Olivo would be excellent on a woman, although the citrus/fruit notes up top don't smell worth the price tag, they're very "Un Jardin", but the floral notes here are very appealing.

Fiero was very retro appealing to me at first, but the drydown was too retro, I was hoping for a fresher heart and base, as this base smells like a premium version of some popular 80's masculine i have smelled often. If anyone knows it, I'd like to know.


These were the two which came close for me:

Kobe - Don't know why more aren't pointing out how much natural Orris absolute this has in it. It's quite good, but too powdery for me still. Essentially a more citrusy, and less powdery version of Amouage Reflection with more orange blossom. A very good unisex scent.

Mefisto - Many compare to SMW, and while they're right, it's closer to Montale's Bois Fruite, and closer still to, Creed's "Magical Scent" blend of SMW, GIT, and ZMP. If anyone has smelled Creed's SMW, ZMP, Kiton Black, and either Davidoff's Good Life, Profumum Ichnusa, Hermes Jardin Mediterranae, or Diptyque's Philosykos, they will know all the prominent accords in Mefisto. It has some of the sheer/powdery fig used in the davidoff/diptyque/hermes/profumum, some of the synthetic violet leaf used in Kiton Black, and an overall impression alot like SMW and Bois Fruite. I for one, am left wanting more wood from the composition. A very good scent, better than SMW in many aspects, but not worth retail, which seems the only option for current purchase. If Xerjoff sold the 75ml for $100usd or so, I'd buy it, but not for $297

As for the packaging and presentations. I place little value on the full presentations. they seem very "Sprockets turtleneck" in their uncertain artistic intent. However, I think the boxes and bottles for the Casamorati line are spectacular. Especially the murals on the boxes are beautiful.

[Aerandir4]

Homme remains my absolute favourite from this house, I just wish they had refill bottles or something for a 1/3 of the price.

[jrd4t]

Homme remains my absolute favourite from this house, I just wish they had refill bottles or something for a 1/3 of the price.

They do, don't they? Check parfumsraffy and look at the very bottom of the bottles listing for Homme.

[megatropolis]

Has anyone ever purchased a refill??????

[Hillaire]

UPA.... Thank you for your candor. I am only a fan of a few offerings from the line as well. I was very interested to read your associations to other scents. I think you were on the money.

But MOSTLY I find your ad copy translations from the Russian very interesting, and very disconcerting.

I am also categorically put off by snob-appeal advertising, which somehow (and I am shocked by the blatancy in those words you shared!) implies the parvenu are somehow more 'noble' and/or 'deserving' than the less fortunate...

It infuriates me, actually... and rousts my little inner punk rocker.


But I will concede to being swayed by snob appeal campaigns that appeal to my discernment... I mean, what can I say ?

[Un profumo affettuoso]

UPA....
I am also categorically put off by snob-appeal advertising, which somehow (and I am shocked by the blatancy in those words you shared!) implies the parvenu are somehow more 'noble' and/or 'deserving' than the less fortunate...

It infuriates me, actually... and rousts my little inner punk rocker.

Dear Hillaire,
we seem to share the same little punk rocker...

I think I cannot stomach this stuff because I lived in Russia for a while and was involved in several welfare projects. The money you spend on one of those posh bottles is more than the average Russian babushka's pension per month.

Like you - I am always willing to make concessions and I also fall for pricey scents - if I find them attractive.
But XerJoff does not have this certain "je ne sais quoi" to make me want to spend all that money.

When I went to the Guerlain Boutique on Champs d'Elysées three weeks ago, I had so many illuminating olfactory moments and spend some money there, too. The Guerlain stuff is so much better than the average XerJoff - and "only" half the price.... - even for "Les Exclusif".

[Aerandir4]

They do, don't they? Check parfumsraffy and look at the very bottom of the bottles listing for Homme.

oo still a little too pricey. They used to have the shooting star range in refills at Harrods but they took that range out and they only cost £90 a bottle back then!!!.

[Aerandir4]

dble post---!.

[Sasuke]

Yesterday, I ordered Verona 010 at the XerJoff e-Boutique. After the checkout process, I was redirected to the website, were the payment methods showed up. But there was no PayPal option. Now I'm really confused, because the website says, you can pay via paypal. And at the moment I can't pay with credit card. I wrote an e-mail to XerJoff, but they do not answer. What should I do? Should I wait for an answer or write another e-mail? Can I cancel my order, if they do not answer?

[Craig]

Did you send an e-mail to Sergio at momo@xerjoff.com He may be in America at the moment, but they definitely always answer an e-mail and are one of the most helpful companies I've ever come across. If there are problems on the website with PayPal, they'll certainly give you the PayPal e-mail address, so you can send payment that way. Give them time to reply

[Diamondflame]

Going through some samples from the Shooting Star line these past few weeks. To be fair these dab samplers were just enough to offer me some first impressions, certainly not enough for full wearings or more detailed musings.

Uden
Excellent 1st hour with its scintillating blend of citrus, fruit & florals over musky woods interspersed with a boozy rum note. Marine fougere? The overall effect does convey a certain salty sea breeziness about it so I can buy into this idea. The rapid progression towards coffee, amber & vanilla reminded me somewhat of Yohji Homme. The drydown may wear a little too thin for me but I can see why this could be a bestseller.

Nio
Already one of my favorites. Beautifully rendered neroli gives way to a charming blend of woods, greens & just the right amount of spice. Classy Mediterranean-styled EDC after my own heart.

Dhofar
One of the more original offerings. A classic masculine in the vein of Eau Sauvage given a Middle Eastern makeover. Soapy, earthy, spicy. Alas, a little too 'traditional-mature' for my tastes. But I can probably rock it in 10 years.

Modoc
Understated elegance in a bottle but nothing groundbreaking. Probably too smooth for its own good. Flies under the radar of powerfrag & sillage lovers. I'd like a little more personality if I'm spending this much on a single fragrance.

Kobe
Fabulous 20 minutes with neroli, petitgrain & citrus peels. Unfortunately Kobe fizzled out with a flat tonka & amber base, the resins were far too subdued imo and there was nothing that could pass for 'oud'. I suspect this is a frag that needs to be liberally applied before it shines but right now, I'm left disappointed.

Tobacco Oroville
Orange flower, carnation & tobacco? Weird combo but I actually find the dissonance very interesting. Enough to wear it? Yes. But FB?? I'm not too sure - the jury is still out.

** will continue with samples of Lua, Oesel, Ibitra, Esquel, Shingl & Dhajala **

Anyway, after trying these 6, I found myself in agreement with many of the earlier assessments. Quality-wise, the Xerjoffs do offer some of the finest or most natural-smelling ingredients I've smelled in a fragrance. But lasting power is just about average on my skin (5-6 hours) and judging by the rather 'safe' compositions, they seem designed to please the more affluent but not necessarily fragrance-savvy customer. That's a pretty good move imo, putting it at least a couple of rungs above Bond No.9. And there is an 'understated style' element in Xerjoffs that sits well with me. But I'm not too crazy about its pricing nor its packaging; am I the only one who finds the Casamoratti bottles absolutely ghastly?

[Suppressor]

Xerjoff XJ 17/17 Homme

I tested this one today from a dab sample.

This has been one of the weirdest fragrance experiences to date for me.
The opening is absolutely beautiful. Rich, with citrus and a certain freshness. Something slightly sweet with a leather undertone. Delicious. Perfectly balanced.

Exactly one minute later, the richness and freshness fades dramatically. The balance is totally destroyed and all you get is a dramatic and agressive, very masculine leather. It reminded me instantly of Knize Ten. Although Homme is a bit rounder, less agressive in the early stages.

After one hour the leather gets a little bit softer, because of some flowers. It's very faint, but enough to soften up the leather. It's a hard to describe kind of freshness.
But after three hours it's almost exactly Knize Ten. There is still a litle difference ofcourse, but it's not like night and day.

After six hours the leather seems to fade and the leather and flowers seem to get more into balance again. Now in this stage I also smell something woody.

All in all, this fragrance seems to fluctuate between an agressive masculine leather fragrance and a more rounder, slightly floral concoction. It tries to walk that line, like a rope dancer, but fails to hold his balance. Although there are florals, it is by no means feminine, the composition stays masculine all the way.

The ingredients are from a very high quality. Good longevity. It's the first time I'm actually getting sillage from applying fragrance from a dab sample to my arm. It's not a sillage monster, but the whafts come over as very pure and high quality. If you spray this fragrance, it will probably be very strong though.

[Suppressor]

Xerjoff XJ Shooting Stars - Kobe

Described by Xerjoff as a sensual woody citrus for men.

And boy are they right. A lot of fragrances are described by the manufacturers as sexy and sensual. Most of the times, it's not the case. But in this case with Kobe, Xerjoff is not lying.

I was overwhelmed and arroused by the topnotes. The citrus in this one is absolutely sparkling and vibrant. Very realistic and clear. Sensual like no other. This is easily the best citrus I have ever smelled. This makes Acqua di Parma (I only tested Colonia Intense so far) smell synthetic. The citrus zests smell absolutely wonderful and very real.

Kobe shares the same sexyness as Dolce & Gabanna pour Homme. I looked up the fragrance pyramid and compared it with the notes in the description of Kobe, and quite some notes do match. But make no mistake about it. Kobe is far superior. This is the more refined and luxurious version of D&G PH. It's his better educated brother.

When Kobe dries down the citrus fades, although not as fast as you might think.
After some hours it gets sweeter, and gives almost the same sweet vibe as (the reformulated) Chergui by Serge Lutens. From the head to the basenotes there seems to be a nice tobacco note, which would explain why it smells like D&G PH. And why it smells slightly like Chergui in the drydown.

If the price wouldn't be so high, I would buy it immediately.
Great for a romantic date. Great for partying.

Watch out if you are a young guy wearing this to parties. Young girls love citrus on men. If they will smell this on you, they might bite your nipples.

[gupts]

They do, don't they? Check parfumsraffy and look at the very bottom of the bottles listing for Homme.

I can't see any Xerjoff refills on their website her http://www.parfumsraffy.com/xerjoff/...ragrances.html

Can you please post a link?

[jrd4t]

Just click into any of the 17/17s... it's the listing right above samples:
http://www.parfumsraffy.com/xerjoff/xerjoff-homme.html

[gupts]

Just click into any of the 17/17s... it's the listing right above samples:
http://www.parfumsraffy.com/xerjoff/xerjoff-homme.html

Thanks....but is there any such thing as 'refills' for the 'Shooting star' range?

[jrd4t]

Thanks....but is there any such thing as 'refills' for the 'Shooting star' range?

Nope, just on the 17/17, because those are hand blown and crafted bottles that are one of a kind, so I guess it's just for those not wanting the artwork with it.

[Sasuke]

Today I finally received V010 by XerJoff Dominique Salvo of XerJoff and Cairomerta were really kind and helped me during the whole process (there were technical problems at the eBoutique). I never experienced such helpful, friendly and patient staff at any fragrance company before

The fragrance is heaven! It is very sweet, refined and made with high quality ingredients. In the beginning, there is also a fruity orange-note and I can detect a faint herbal lavender. V010 is strong, longlasting and has tremendous sillage. You only need 2 or 3 light sprays and you will smell FOREVER. These were my first impressions, I will write a detailed review later. And while I was writing this, I kept smelling my wrist...

[rickbr]

I was curious to try this Italian niche line that lately got a lot of atention here and on the blogs. I have to thank you the generous cairomerta from Xerjoff from the samples!
I`m starting my scented trip to this brand by Oroville. Picked it because of the promised tobacco note, in the hope of a fresh tobacco fragrance. It`s not that kind of fragrance, but i`m really liking what i see. My overall impression of Oroville is of a vintage formula adequated to materials available today. Seems like a masculine spicy fragrance which you don`t see anymore - full of contrasts. The opening is very short on my skin, a slightly fruity and urinous combination of chamomile and sage. The sage is not as urinous as the one you found in Jules, but it reminded me of Jules at the opening. Then, the scent fastly goes to what seems a very italian citrus aroma, and then suddenly on me it`s all about carnation and tobacco. The carnation is more evident, and it`s the kind of carnation that you see in masculines from the 80s, that liqueurish and dark carnation melted perfectly with the tobacco aroma. After some moments the sage seems to join the carnation and tobacco. After two hours it`s a skin scent on me, with some musk and just a trace of the bitterness from galbanum. The scent seems to project a vanilla that i cannot detect by myself, since my mom told me, when i entered at the car to go to work, that she was smelling a fruity aroma (i imagine that she was refering to the citrus flowers) and some vanilla. I get the citrus part, but the vanilla scapes from me. The overall balance is of an aromatic spicy fragrance of citrus and musky accents, that may sound intense at the beginning but is skinscent after some hours. I really liked it, but i wished it had more sillage.