This review was revised in April 2026 as I look to rerate every fragrance I've ever sampled with my current knowledge of the market. The review, originally written in December 2024, was titled "The key" and I've kept it so as I believe it will aptly summarize what Newcleus is and how all of its weaknesses are displayed.
Accords: sweet-creamy-floral-synthetic
Newcleus is a feminine fragrance that opens with a hefty dose of sweetened rose. A lactonic vanilla as well as caramel oppose the rose in the top, making the scent come off somewhat gourmand. On my first wear, I also got some tropical fruity nuances, but I don't really get much of that in this revised review. All of that is to say that in the top, it's fairly close to a product like Thameen's Peregrina or Montale's Crazy in Love. As we transition out of the immediate opening, you'll mainly be smelling plain white musk with an undefined sweetening note (either vanilla or caramel) as the rose falls into the background. On-skin, the scent does also have some spicy-powdery touches, likely as a mix of the musk and the sandalwood.
Now lets see where the problems lie for this fragrance:
Issue #1: Blending - Newcleus features Xerjoff's white musks, bringing a lot of overlap from both their recent products (White on White) and their older catalogue (Apollonia and Erba Pura). In the original review I wrote "the product isn't the most screechy", but I cannot stand behind that statement. The base blending is done about as poorly as something like M. Micallef's Hypnotic Musk Eau de Parfum which I rated a 1.5. The only saving grace here is the lactonic sweet rose in the top.
Issue #2: Performance - Xerjoff launched this fragrance right as the alcohol-free formulation topic started to get some buzz with mainstream brands like Dior and Guerlain entering the arena. However, that appears to be nothing more than a marketing gimmick for religious audiences as performance, a key aspect demanded by Western consumers, is completely missing from this product. Sillage is extremely light - I wouldn't say that it's completely intimate throughout, but it's not that far from it either (I revised sillage up from a 1/10 to a 2/10). The longevity is strictly driven by the musks used in the base, i.e. the actual fragrance you experience in the top doesn't even make it past the 15 minute mark. If we count the white musks featured on-skin, I would estimate the longevity of Newcleus at around 5-6 hours, but I'm rating it more-so as a 4 hour fragrance.
Issue #3: Value - Xerjoff launched this fragrance for €290/50ml, a price point significantly higher than the various competing brands I've listed (Thameen) or that this scent is being compared to (Montale, Kayali).
All that is to say that there is no reasonable explanation for why anybody should be buying this product. Xerjoff is gambling away their reputation with these post-COVID launches, essentially throwing a lot of darts at the board with nothing sticking.
Ceesie 1 year ago 