Hey Perfume Posee Peeps, Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies with you and today I wanted to introduce you to a Xerjoff for the ladies. Now I am not one that believes in fragrance for the sexes, honestly I am pretty sure the fragrance doesn’t care who wears it, but for those who do think it important then this may give you a softer, sweeter glimpse into one of the most expensive fragrance houses available. I was lucky enough to get this sample off my mate Michael who wanted to smell the flipside of the Xerjoff range, most of which he enjoys a lot.
XJ Elle by Xerjoff 2007
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses, African orange flower, galbanum
Heart: Iris, birch, woodsy notes, patchouli
Base: Benzoin, opoponax, amber, musks
Elle opens sweet and fruity on my skin, it doesn’t seem particularly citric though but more strawberry/raspberry jam and galbanum, the musks are already hefting in and the whole is a little like those strawberry cream lollies that if you eat one you end up eating the whole packet because they are so delicious and more-ish. Actually, I’m worried that my nose is broken or my skin reacting strangely so I might come back to this review after a day…..
Salvador Dali Photo Stolen Wikimedia
OK so my nose amped the situation only a little, what I get today at the opening is a sublimely sweet and musky Chuppa-Chupp vibe. Both delicious and repulsive for the first little while before settling down into a woodsy gourmand fruitchouli. I never thought I’d say this but this is the kind of fruitchouli I could definitely go for, it’s a little loud and OTT, sweet, flirty, fun and would be a great good-time-girl scent. The notes don’t seem to bear a lot of resemblance to what I’m smelling, I get no African orange flower, iris or birch and not much evidence of the resins down the bottom other that a slight sweetening. Maybe the blending is so good that my poor old nose can’t pick them all.
What I can say is that XJ Elle by Xerjoff is a busy, happy, modern, fruitchouli that is definitely among the best of its class. Having said that there are 20 other fragrances that will give you a similar experience for half the price and if it comes to that and you want only a fizzy, sweet, fruitchouli gourmand then there are 100s that you can grab for about $50 or less in the department stores, often with a celebrity or designer label attached. XJ Elle by Xerjoff may be the best but it certainly is not groundbreaking.
Gustav Klimpt Hope 2 Stolen Wikipedia
There is good lifespan to XJ Elle by Xerjoff though, and it is a good sillage and scent bubble fragrance for those nights where you want to be noticed or the days that you wish to take over the world. If you like the genre and can afford the luxury then you won’t even think twice about buying XJ Elle by Xerjoff.
Further reading: Birgit at Olfactoria’s Travels is quite amusing.
LuckyScent has $685/100ml and Samples
First In Fragrance has €600/100ml and Samples
Are you on the team Xerjoff? Which from the line have you liked and why?
If you liked this then come on over to Australian Perfume Junkies and say hi too,
Portia xx
The few Xerjoffs I’ve smelled have been Nice but Not All That – and I certainly would not pay the bucks to get Elle, which smells like sixteen other fragrances I could buy for a tenth the cost, or maybe less.
Yes, it’s all true Malsnano86
Portia xx
This is obviously a quality piece of work but the fact that I can spend my yearly car insurance to smell like a gum-popping britkimillindsay wannabe is a big “hells to the no”
Ha Ha Ha HA! You are hilarious Tom. How is your lovely car?
Portia xx
I’ve never tried anything by Xerjoff, it’s always the price point that gets me so I ignore. When I first looked at the prices of Amouage, I almost had a heart attack. Xerjoff is beyond heart attack (price wise), it’s stroke level. At the end of the day, I have to set limits. A one 1.7 oz bottle of Amouage every two or 3 years is quite enough.
Heya Eldarwen,
Do you ever go to FragranceNet. They often have Amouage sales. Recently I picked up Amouage Extrait de Parfum TESTERS for under $80 each with the 21% coupon from RetailMeNot.com
They also had the others for around $110-150. At that price you can afford one annually.
Portia xx
If you come across that sale again, please let us know.
Yes, I will Ellen. I was a bit late to the party and was too excited shopping. So selfish, I know.
Portia xx
Publish with LARGE headlines. LOL
If I remember right but late last year and early last year if you shopped on Amazon and the 3rd party seller Lady Ruth’s Perfumes ran a pretty good deal with the Amouages. I’ve always been wary of FragranceNet for Amouage. Now, I think I will start looking for back ups.
They arrived and we reckon they are the real deal Eldarwen22.
Portia xx
I would definitely not pay that price for that fragrance. I also bought the MdO Oud, but it is a very special bottle that was worth the price and not something I would do on a regular basis. I have tried a few Xerjoffs but only Kobe was really interesting to me and not compelling enough to shell out the $$. I have lots of other beauties for less than half the price.
Yes, the problem I am having Tara is equating the value. I know it’s one of the fabulous glass makers (Murano?) and that it’s embossed metal on the front, the caps are pretty and the juice is good. Maybe if I was a Squillionaire?
There are a LOT of perfumistas who swear by Xerjoff and I get that they can, or do.
Seriously though I get as much joy from spritzing Fancy Nights and Shalimar as I do the Mona di Orios and Amouages. There is an extra little naughty factor because I am spritzing $5 a go but the fragrances send me either way.
Portia xx
I’m like FeralJasmine, there are prices above which I cannot even conceive of purchasing. Funny thing is; I don’t even want to get the sample. I don’t want to yearn for something I can never have and perfume at $600+ is beyond the beyond. There have been times when I also feared for the lack of limits on this hobby. The price tag of this fragrance certainly puts that notion to rest. And nice to know that the experience of this fragrance is not super amazing. Nothing to regret.
Hey Ellen,
I am the same with the Puredistance line. Every sample that comes my way I give away before I become tempted.
$600 is half my quarterly electricity costs for this house, I’d rather have light to be honest.
$600 is a lot of samples, decants, Indie, Niche and Mainstream bottles.
$600 is 3 nights in a 4-5 star hotel in Paris in off season with breakfast
$600 is 1.5 months of grocery shopping here
$600 is new tyres on my car
You get my point.
Portia xx
Dear Portia, I do get your point. I want Ambra Aurea ,Fiori D’Ambra, and Alahine in the worst way (Do you catch the amber thread in all these?) The Alahine is possible, but the other two are going to require some soul searching on my part. Many working hours to justify those two when there are other expenses to be paid. That’s what drives me crazy about fragrance.So many really good ones; so little money….
Oh yes. I hear you.
I thought I’d found a good deal on Alahine recently but it fell through, I’ll be buying it in Paris in Feb. Remind me after the trip and I’ll send you some.
Portia xx
Awesome.
Alahine is SO gorgeous. And I’m not even an amber fan (I bought a tester bottle online, and it is just fine).
I’ve tried XJ Irisss, and yessss, if money were no object I would have a bottle in my collection. I have Iris Silver Mist which I love, but Irisss has a little softer edge to it that I like, it is so beautifully blended. The cost is just absurd though.
Ha Ha Ha Maren,
There are people for whom this is not a big cost. We don’t live in their world. I think it would be a VERY stressful place to be.
Portia xx
I guess there is a price-point above which I am no longer very interested. I might be curious for a whiff, but I just can’t take a $685 perfume very seriously. That’s above the point at which I wrinkle my nose and say “There are limits to this hobby, you know.” Which is a reassuring thing for me to know, because sometimes I ‘m afraid that there are no limits.
FeralJasmine,
I hear you. Recently for Jin I exceeded my wildest dreams of price ceiling when I bought him a bottle of Mona di Orio Oud. NEVER would I have expected to pay that much money for a fragrance but then, you know, it was the only thing he had said he wanted in 6 months. In every other way he is a careful and quite frugal partner, we go out less than once a week and never to very expensive places, he takes care of his stuff and is never demanding of anything except my time and respect. For that one thing that made his eyes light up I felt justified but I did some very stringent soul searching before I pulled the trigger. He feels special when hew wears it and he is.
Portia x
I think Xerjoff provide quality.
Kobe is amazing, and Uden is great stuff. I’ve also liked things from the Casamorati line, although I’ve not tried them enough to set aside a standout.
I’ve not tried Elle, but I’ve tried Homme and it’s good juice, but the price is certainly a factor.
Hey Elia,
Yes Xerjoff seems to be the good stuff. I have not tried a lot of their fragrances but the ones I have tried feel very luxe. The question is, would you part with this kind of money for fragrance?
Portia xx
It feels like almost anything is too rich for my blood, 🙂
but theoretically, I’d consider the Shooting Stars line and the Casamorati line.
If you find a 9+/10 scent, and pick an opportune time for a gift to yourself, why not?
Not the XJ 17/17 line though. That’s truly Haute Luxe and unless I started dreaming of one of them every night I’d not consider that kind of expense.
He He He! Yes, I think you’ve summed them up nicely.
Portia xx