If I were looking at this post, I might be thinking, "What the heck is XerJoff? Another new, expensive niche brand? This is ridiculous! I don't have the time for this — I haven't even worked my way through all the old Rochas." And then I'd click over to Perfume Posse to see what March is up to or to The Selby or somewhere else. I understand. However, after sniffing my way all 12 of the XerJoff Shooting Stars collection, I think a lot of perfume lovers will want to know about XerJoff, even if they never end up smelling any of them.
At first, XerJoff is not promising. The XerJoff website is vague, and its English copy is wretchedly written, full of misspellings and nonsensical descriptions. I can't find much information about the company itself. The website is offered in Russian, English, and Italian, and judging from the state of the English, you'll soon guess the company is Russian or Italian (it is, in fact, Italian with a market in Russia.) The website tells us the Shooting Stars collection of fragrances is named after a meteorite that fell in Siberia in 1947. A piece of the meteorite is worked into the collar of each of the bottles. None of the names of the fragrances make any sense to an English speaker, except perhaps "Shingl," which sounds like a painful medical condition.
But most of the XerJoff Shooting Star Eau de Parfums, while not startlingly original, are marvels of gorgeous materials and careful craftsmanship. I've chosen two to review, Ibitira and Oesel, not so much because they're the fragrances I admire most of the collection, but because they're the fragrances I most see myself wearing.
According to XerJoff's website, Ibitira Eau de Parfum's notes are Bulgarian Rose, Florentine Iris, Cedar, Haitian vetiver, Bourbon vanilla, and musk. I also smell an abundance of top quality jasmine. In a nutshell, Ibitira smells like a cross between Jean Patou Joy and Chanel No. 5. Ibitira kicks off with what smells to me like the tang of neroli and bergamot. The buzzing of the bergamot transitions into vibrating jasmine supplemented by a big, watery, rich rose. This is where I'm reminded of the lushness of Joy. But instead of a dark, civet-inflected drydown, the almost skin-like combination of sandalwood, vetiver, and musk arises, calling up a spicy No. 5.
Ibitira is intensely feminine — of course, that doesn't mean it wouldn't smell arresting on a confident man. I see it as the signature scent of an elegant woman with buckets of cash. Although it's an Eau de Parfum, it is so concentrated that a spritz leaves a delicious, oily residue on my forearm. It lasts several hours and has moderate sillage.
I first pegged Oesel as a feminine fragrance and was surprised when I looked it up and found out XerJoff lists it among the masculines. Oesel's notes are orange flower, Paraguayan petitgrain, Bulgarian rose, jasmine sambac, acacia, white flowers, Indian patchouli, cedar, and tobacco flower. Oesel smells to me like a deep, enveloping mimosa with a hint of vanilla and powder. A pale counterpoint of clean musk balances the composition.
Oesel's mimosa is so thick and full of pollen that I want to sneeze, but instead I breathe in the scent of a night in August on the back porch of a friend's house after dinner while we're digesting paella made on the grill and maybe a little too much good wine. Someone is churning ice cream while someone else wanders through the vegetable garden inspecting the tomatoes. The cat is sprawled on the cobblestones. The mimosa tree radiates its fragrance through the yard. Oesel also lasts 5 to 6 hours and carries a few feet from my body.
While Ibitira and Oesel are the XerJoff fragrances I might wear the most, if you are faced with a run of Xerjoff testers, I encourage you to try the sexy, dirty-clean Dhofar; the fresh, cypress-laden Nio; Esquel, a feminine fougère that becomes an ambery oriental; and Uden, a fougère laced with coffee, rum, and wood.
Would I shell out for a bottle of one of XerJoff's fragrances? At $345 for 50 ml, they're simply not in my budget. For the same money I'd be more tempted to buy an Amouage and dinner out or maybe a vintage Schiaparelli bracelet. But if anyone at XerJoff is listening out there, I'd be happy to clean up the copy on your website for a bottle.
For more information on where to buy fragrances from XerJoff's Shooting Stars collection, see the listing for Xerjoff under Perfume Houses.
Well, Angela, the cost of these took my breath away, but what made me hyperventilate was your description of that August evening. Swooooon!!!!!!!!!! If there’s a heaven, it’ll have all those things: the smoky paella, the abundance of wine, the garden, the cat, the ice cream, the friendship.
Thanks for some top-quality escapism. 😉
Hey, the summer evening is a lot cheaper than the fragrance! All we need is a Weber, some seafood, a little Rioja, and a big old Mimosa tree.
I’ll bring the Spanish saffron, Angela. And maybe Iranian so we can compare!!!
I have some Thai saffron, too. Sounds like fun!
Paella party at Angela’s!
I’m with Robin R. Also, I’d be the one at your party wandering amongst the tomato plants… taking a little break from the lovely people and amazing food and getting back in touch with my introvert self.
Sometimes a little walk among the tomatoes is the perfect way to end dinner!
Must.check.prices.before.lemmings.arrive.
Great review – very evocative (as always). I’d love to smell these, but I don’t see it happening at this price point.
They are ridiculously expensive and not really groundbreaking, stylewise. But, like a custom tailored suit (I imagine), they could be standards for someone with a whole lotta moolah.
I suppose it’s beyond hope that they could develop a sample program for us little people (you know, the ones WITHOUT the buckets full of extra money lying about, getting underfoot) Naturally by the time I got half way thru your review, my lemmings were clamoring for attention…all of them at once! (and trust me, I have a veritable HERD of lemmings) …..then I got to the price…..oh drat.
The price is brutal, it’s true! Luckyscent offers samples. Parfums Raffy sells it, too, and I’m not sure if they have samples or not.
because I do enjoy things like whacking my head against the wall…I went to luckyscent and ordered a couple samples….hopefully my curiosity will be appeased and even more hopefully none will inspire a raging perfume lust that will go unanswered as these are well beyond any acceptable price point. Crossing fingers. 😉
I’ll cross mine for you too!
Even splits would be prohibitive. This stuff is in 180 Ans range – YIKES!
Nothing is beyond hope Diasy. A travel set is currently in production!
Uh oh!!!! 😮
What are your top 3 in the line?
Almost all I can say is WOWZA! I’d love to forget ever hearing of these (already looking at samples of the Casamorati line at Parfums Raffy … 🙁 ).
I’m just curious where you even heard of this line, Angela? Or did they send samples to NST? I love your reviews, and some of them certainly sound amazing. The bottles are intriguing too.
As for budget: I recently committed to a decant of Amouage Dia Man, so yes, that and a nice dinner will more than suffice for my dose of luxury.
Finally, I must mention that my brain keeps transposing the X and the J in the brand name. That is very unfortunate.
Dia man is terrific! That and Jub XXV are probably my favorite Amouage masculines.
My samples came from Luckyscent, and now I’ve sent all of them except these two off to Kevin to try.
Very unfortunately about the letter mix up!
So I’m not the only one thinking vaguely uncomfortable thoughts about the brand…
I think it’s pronounced “Zer-joff”, if that helps (it may not!).
Hah. Every time I see the name my brain says “jerksoff.” I am not alone, clearly.
We are a filthy-minded bunch, apparently!
I prefer to think of us simply as hedonists. 😉
No, you’re not. 🙂 Last week someone used to term “fun-suckers” and I transposed the first letters of each word. I’m glad I re-read several times before making a stupid response.
Yikes! I’m glad you did re-read it. Some nasty Spoonerisms here.
clearly I’m a bad influence on every single thread….
Absolutely not alone. My brain twists it every single time I see it!
Oh, thank GOD I am not alone in this.
Last week when this line was first mentioned here on the blog…Miss Kitty and I were quick to confess our dirty minds….good to know we’re not the only ones. 😉
But we’re still the worst offenders. 😉 Can’t take that away from us!
hahahhaa well, “stick with your strengths” I always say… 😉
LOL! But I too couldn’t help reading that name as “jerk*ff”. . .
welcome to the club, o filthy one. 😉
erm, actually, I think that time it was me….
LOL it might have at that ! …all the usual suspects…. 😉
You can of course count me in with the dirty minded set…
I was just scanning the comments to see where should I deposit my confession. 🙂
Just as a quick note on purchasing these – LuckyScent has ’em too, with $5.00 samples, as well.
They are also available at Parfums Raffy, and if you snoop around you can find a 10% off code 😉 (not affiliated)
10% off samples, too?
Samples are a great way to go, too. You’d have to be crazy to go unsniffed with these babies.
I guarantee a good portion of that price comes from the tiny piece of rare meteorite you get .
You know, order 50 samples and you’re only shelling out $250
Plus shipping!
but then you wouldn’t get that little meteorite chip…tut, tut.
**snicker**
I wonder how much a whole meteor costs? I bet there’s one for sale somewhere.
Apparently the bottle is really nice, and if you order straight from XerJoff you can even get the juice in a carved-out crystal for several thousand dollars! For me, though, a simple, inexpensive container is all I need for my perfume. I’m not interested in keeping a lot of empty, fancy bottles sitting around.
Yeah. they really put more thought into the packaging than the perfume.
The perfume is pretty nice, I think, although I admit the packaging is a little over the top for someone mostly interested in the fragrance, as I am.
Your August nights are so much classier than mine. 🙂 Sitting in a Mr. Turtle pool, PBR in the cooler, and Neil Diamond playing–that’s about as good as my entertainment gets in the summer.
I’m so glad I’m in my No Lemmings, No How phase. Not that I would want to try something I could never afford, but still. Oh–I found a weird perfume from Iraq at Goodwill a while back. Remind me to share it with you sometime. It’s… intriguing. 🙂
Hey, my pool has ducks swimming on the bottom, and each duck has scuba gear and is holding a cupcake! Swap out the Neil Diamond for Marty Robbins, and the PBR for G&Ts, and I bet we’ve spent many a similar weekend.
well right now you may be doing a lot better than me since my pool is currently sporting an actual brick on the bottom….I’m waiting to see if the water “goes away” ….. smacking your husband upside the head is permissible sometimes, isn’t it??
I should have included that as of today’s date, I do not actually know where our pool is. This is not unusual in our neighborhood. There was apparently also a pool (giant, above ground actual swimming pool, not just the baby pool that we have) that made the rounds for several years. I guess each summer it was in a different backyard. It finally found a resting place with the people behind us. Presumably, it got stuck under the massive amount of junk they have lurking back there, and then grass just grew around it. God, we need to move…
I’ll let you know if I run across a homeless Mr. Turtle pool in my walks…
It sounds like your pool is an actual pool! Mine is plastic and is currently upturned in the garage over a chair. A brick in mine would be no problem.
And in response to your question, Yes. Absolutely.
Whew! that’s good to know…..because looking aghast at him and shouting “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???” really hasn’t calmed me down much…..it’s a long story, let it suffice to say that even really really smart men sometimes do stupid things…and it’s a test of my wifely patience to restrain from doing bodily harm. and needless to say , he’ll not stick a brick on the corner of the cover again in an attempt to defeat HURRICANE FORCE WINDS! gah!
Maybe he thought it was a magical brick weighing more than kryptonite! (Maybe that magical brick will pick itself up and bean him on the skull if he’s not careful!)
trust me, he’s a little bummed out too….it apparently was NOT a magically super heavy brick….but it WAS one with sharp brickish corners….sigh… so far it looks okay—water is still way to cold to even think of getting it to get it. Hopefully bricks are “lighter” in the water (just like me!) and landed softly…on the flat side. I don’t need to add New Pool Liner to my already strained budget right under “Replace Pear Tree (that broke clean off last fall) “
Oh NOW I understand why a brick in the pool was worthy of being smacked upside the head. I didn’t get it before. Like I’d know about pool liners.
We have a vinyl liner pool because they seem to deal with all the freezing and thawing we get here in the upper midwest and they’re pretty tough. But, I can tell you that it’s not good when heavy or sharp edged things drop on them! I think it was a lucky thing that it dropped in the deep end—-more time for it to slow down before hitting bottom. I spent the afternoon vacuuming out all the winter iccky things. The water is pretty clear (just brrrr cold) and I don’t see a hole anywhere and the water level seems ok. Huge sigh of relief here. In the next year or two I’ll need to replace the liner anyhow (pool chemicals and sunlight eventually cause them damage) but it was NOT in the budget this year!
Angela,
Lovely review! You’ve made me want to try this line. They should pay you for sure!
I’m glad you enjoyed the review. I just wish the line cost about half what it does.
I love this review. If only you could have made the line a little less enticing. Just when I think, no! I am not buying anymore samples, I find myself glued to the screen, thinking to self, well, maybe just one or possibly two…..
I can’t even sit in a turtle or a real pool and meditate upon the justification for indulging myself.
You could probably sell me a perfume made by Dove (I hope they don’t try that on us) with your enchanting descriptions.
At least Dove would be affordable! Really, though, these perfumes are nicely made and interesting to smell and try on skin, but none of them totally floored me with originality. Sure, I’d take a bottle in a second if one were offered to me, but I can get my mimosa fix with Farnesiana parfum or my jasmine-rose fix with Joy. But, if you get the chance to smell them, don’t pass it up!
All of your August nights sound better than mine–here on the Gulf Coast, we usually spend August evenings sitting inside in the AC, trying to avoid the swarms of ravenous, blood-sucking mutant mosquitoes and the sopping-wet, 80-something degree air. Porch-sitting weather here is in spring (March-April) and fall (October-November).
How do you pronounce Oesel? My first though when I saw the title of this article was that the site was encrypted and I needed a password to translate it or something.
There’s something really romantic about a humid, torrid summer night, but I guess it could get old if it were a regular occurrence. Where I live, almost no one has air conditioning, and really hot nights are rare.
I don’t know how to pronounce Oesel! I wonder if I’ll ever have to say it aloud?
Cairomerta at Basenotes was very generous to give a bunch of people there a lot of Xerjoff samples. I was kind of overwhelmed by them all and have put them aside for the time being. To be honest, none of the samples (out of 12!) has left an impression on me. However, I want to give them more complete wearings to judge them fairly.
in a strange way…that is really good news!
I know what you mean! The ole pocketbook is already stretched thin!
For the most part, the masculines impressed me more than the feminines, and I have to admit that I found Dhofar particularly sexy. It reminds me of Bel Ami, though, which I love. Nio impressed me with its freshness all the way through most of a day. If you do try them again, I’d love to know what you think.
I don’t think I received samples of the feminines. I would have been more overwhelmed! LOL. There is an amazing amount of Xerjoff love over at Basenotes among the people sampling.
Hi everyone, I am cairomerta from basenotes that Furriner speaks of and am the USA importer and distributor of Xerjoff. I just wanted to join in the conversation and thank Angela for her wonderful reviews of the Xerjoff line. I just began importing the line a few weeks ago and have taken note of some of the mistakes on the website. I personally have just reviewed them thoroughly and made changes and those changes and corrections will be updated in a day or so. Xerjoff is an Italian brand and some of the translations didnt make it so well i guess you can say! This line is currently available from Parfums Raffy and Luckyscent. I hope everyone gets a chance to try them and if there is anything anyone needs in regards to information or anything else, I would be more than happy to help! Again, thank you Angela for your time to review the scents and if you need anything, please let me know 🙂
Thanks for your comment, C. I do have one question: do you know who the noses are behind Oesel and Ibitira? It would be a nice detail to add to the review.
I hope it is not a too great demand, but I would like to know, who are the perfumers of all 20 XerJoff perfumes? It would be nice if you can tell me. I’ve tried 7 of the XerJoff’s and my favourites are Uden, Oesel and Modoc. But in my opinion, Oesel smells like a high quality version of Fleur du Mâle by Gaultier.
Hi Kankuro, here is the information you requested:
— 17/17 Collection —
ELLE Nose: Christian Rostain
HOMME Nose: Jacques Flori
XXY Nose: Jacques Flori
Irisss Nose: Jacques Flori
SHOOTING STARS COLLECTION
For her :
ESQUEL Nose: Jacques Flori
SHINGL Nose: Christian Rostain
DHAJALA Nose: Jacques Flori
IBITIRA Nose: Jacques Flori
For him :
DHOFAR Nose: Jacques Flori
MODOC Nose: Jacques Flori
TOBACCO OROVILLE Nose: Christian Rostain
NIO Nose: Jacques Flori
For both :
OESEL Nose: Richard Melchio
KOBE Nose: Jacques Flori
CASAMORATI COLLECTION
For her
FIORE D’ULIVO Nose: Angeline Leporini
BOUQUET IDEALE Nose: Jacques Flori
For him
MEFISTO Nose: Jacques Flori
FIERO Nose: Jacques Flori
Read more: http://www.basenotes.net/threads/250135-Xerjoff-Reviews-Thread/page3#ixzz0p3d1LOPC
Thank you so much 😀 I thought I’m the only XerJoff Fan, but now I know I’m not alone!
I’m actually the USA distributor and representative of Xerjoff so you know I am really a fan!!
Wow!!! Distributor? Can we buy from you for say 15% off? I still have 4 on my shopping list
Well said! I thought the same thing- a Fleur Du Male flanker…. (LoL)!
Mine faves in order are:
1. UDEN
2. Nio
3. Oesel
4. 1861
You’re definitely someone I’d like to have as a pal
Hello Angela!! All scents are made by Robertet in Grasse France &
Ibitira is composed by Jacques Flori
Oesel is by Richard Melchio
Thanks! I see that Jacques Flori also composed my two favorite Etros: Messe de Minuit and Shaal Nur.
Reading this, I realize how very important it is to know the “nose”. Now I *really* want to try them!
I love knowing who the noses are, too! Ibitira is worlds away from Messe de Minuit or Shaal Nur in terms of style, and that’s interesting.
I’m a day late here, but just wanted to thank you for another beautifully written review. No mimosa blooming here yet (in central Ky.) but the Linden trees have just begun to waft their enticing fragrance. At mid-80’s and fairly humid, the evening air holds the scent well.
Linden trees smells wonderful. Last year when they were blooming a Swiss farmer at the farmer’s market near where I live gave me a branch of linden flowers and told me to steep the blossoms in hot water for tea. It was delicious!
Tried the 4 Casamorati lines from Xerjoff today & really liked them all & the bottles are FANTASTIC – i fell in love with the bottles more than the juice! But oh what a price!
The bottles for the Shooting Stars collection are pretty fabulous, too! But you’re right, they’re not cheap. This line really does go with quality.
Love love live thus House: Radiant, spectacular, superior blending of quality ingredients…… Only House I’ve put my nose on that’s better is Roja Dove: in this line I have the following:
*Oesel
*Nio
*1861
*Uden
Hard to really rank them, but I must say that Nio is the mist OUTSTANDING citrus opening ice ever experienced…. Poverty appropriate how the likened it to a stroll down the Italian countryside………
Nio really is a good one–so perfect for a summer morning!
I recently got some new samples and I tried them ALL- even some of the ones for ladies- just to sniff and I must say, I’d LIVE to have my lady smell like Damarose all day everyday
You could definitely do a lot worse!