Pikovaya Dama Xerjoff 2014

Its not often that I encounter a $600 fragrance where I can justify the price. This is the exception...If I were to sum up Xerjoff Pikovaya Dama in just a few words I would describe it to someone by saying overwhelming powdery-clean-musks infused with a light soapy citrus. There is an accord that resembles baby powder...a royal citrusy baby powder created by the finest materials on earth. The scent is straight forward and linear, it doesn't really change...but make no mistake about it,a little goes a very long way, this fragrance is nuclear...in other words it is incredibly potent. 16+ hours and still going strong. It is a Russian Airport Exclusive. There are two versions, the regular bottle and a shiny gold limited edition that comes with a bracelet. The latter is approximately $1800.

Pikovaya Dama is a floral-woody-musk from Xerjoff, designed by Christian Carbonnel. The personality of this perfumes harks back to the days of yore when Shalimar, Chanel No. 5 and Arpege roamed the streets. As with any vintage clothing, the wearer must have a finely tuned sensibility to make it work. This review is based on a 15 ml bottle that was in a set with La Capitale and More Than Words.

The opening is a heavy citrus blast composed of neroli, lemon and bergamot. I don’t like the opening because the citric intensity feels very synthetic, reminiscent of dishwashing soaps. The floral note in the opening is listed as rose, but my nose is uncertain about this. The heart notes are quick to emerge, unfortunately adding to the confusion. To be exact, what emerges is an amorphous blend where the individual accords are difficult to pick out. I find this to be a common issue with many old-fashioned heavy florals and chypre scents. It is possible that the listed middle notes – frankincense, cedar, iris, coriander and nutmeg – are there. Except for cedar, I am unable to pick them out separately. The base notes and dry down gives a pleasant musky woody vibe, though these are very subdued.

Pikovaya Dama is a high-performance perfume, typical of its class. The citrus and aldehyde last for 6-8 hours on my skin. They last for much longer on my clothes. Sillage is perceptible at longer distances than most modern perfumes. I can’t think of Pikovaya Dama as an office scent. The overall personality is that of a matronly Chanel No. 5, perhaps a bit more overdressed than the original.

I am not certain about the target niche for Pikovaya Dama. If you want Chanel No.5, you should get Chanel No.5, particularly since Pikovaya Dama costs more than Chanel No. 5. The perfumer tries hard to differentiate this perfume from Chanel No.5 and Shalimar, by adding frankincense, nutmeg and coriander in the middle notes. But it simply adds to the general confusion. Pikovaya Dama is not worthy of a full bottle for me, especially at that incendiary price. Unless you are getting a sample, this is not a safe blind buy.

This fragrance is just beautiful luxury in a bottle. This fragrance to me is heavenly clean soap in a bottle. I don’t get baby powder smell. I get just amazing luxury clean in a bottle. Great performance, projection is amazing. After about 10hrs it’s a skin scent on me. One of the very few bottles I own that I would want to keep forever. I only did two sprays. This is the perfect fragrance to me in my collection. I wear this when I’m feeling myself, haircut, clean and dressed to impress, and going out to somewhere nice.

Scent: 10/10
Performance: 10/10
Silage: 10/10
Price: OUCHHH!

A unique perfume, it has the ability to take me to another time.

And although it may seem like a more feminine than masculine perfume, it seems to me to be one of the 3 best perfumes I have for a white shirt on summer nights.

It is very projecting and has a delicious trail.

They say it looks like the N5 but for me it is not like that at all.

I would describe it as a powdery perfume with a certain makeup vibe, a delicious rose and an iris that makes it a 10-10 perfume for me, it is worth at least having a few ml of this gem

This is a goregeous powdery, rich fragrance. It offers a lightness and heaviness that can only attest to the quality of the ingredients. That being said, in true Xerjoff style of the fragrances in this collection it is an upscaled soap/pomade/cream/talc powder/deoderant/shampoo. It is not worth it's price in my opinion despite it's beauty... unless this is a genre you want to invest in. This is a very high quality powdery iris, woody number and will fail to disappoint any who love such fragrances, it is long lasting on clothes, hair and skin; the projection is fantastic ; it is a stellar example of it's genre, but it is not unique. It shares a similarity with "Join The Club - Fatal Charme | XerJoff" but FC has more edge. And is cheaper.