Cindy1988

Philosopher's Veil starts metallic-cool with a gentle lavender note, which is harshly interrupted by juniper. The interplay is super exciting, almost cold-stinging. Incredible opening!
The ginger is soft, never sour, and is embraced by herbal notes.
After half an hour, the scent on my skin becomes much warmer and sweeter.
Myrrh and vanilla are elegantly woven in and play perfectly with the cool initial notes, which remain very present for a long time.
The base of musk and oakmoss rounds off the fragrance perfectly.
For me, the scent is extremely futuristic and meditative at the same time.
One of my favorites from the house!

2025 hasn't really blown me away scent-wise...
The flood of releases thrown onto an oversaturated market was almost absurd. Unfortunately, mostly lacking in creativity, and in many cases, a functioning fragrance DNA was copied. No - "inspired by". Wait! "Leaned on".

12.10.2025: "Cindy, you will love Jacob's work!"
My expectations were very high, as the house was recommended to me by a lady who has exquisite taste in fragrances and knows my own very well.
A few days later, just under two weeks before the year comes to an end, I held 9 small samples in front of me.
Actually 10, as an unreleased gem was included in the box.

Three weeks have now passed, and it's crazy how much time I've spent with this house.
Meticulously, almost like an occult ritual, I tested Jacob's fragrances. I sprayed them on paper, wore them on my skin, even tested their behavior on different materials (from silk to wool).
Obsessive is probably the most fitting description.

And after a few days, a thought came to me: Maison Jaxob is my essence captured in bottles of everything I love about and in fragrances.
None of the scents scream loudly, all are incredibly finely tuned.
No room-filling nuisances, no "beast-mode" monsters.
No ambrocenide clones that mutate into identical twins in the drydown.
Art is not sacrificed just for the sake of longevity.

Maison Jaxob is my olfactory translation of various facets of my personality and by far my best discovery of 2025!

"Well, I love you, imagine a world without you.
It’s only ever you, I only think of you.
And if it’s a blessing, I want it for you.
If I must have a future, I want it with you."
I Love You | Fountaines D.C.

Layla. The night.
That is the meaning of your name.
But you are not just the night.
You are also my day.
You are my 24/7.

I see you in my dreams.
I feel your breath on my skin.
I close my eyes and see your perfect face.
I see you in places we have been before.
I feel your hand on my face.
I have visions of you and me.
I had visions of you and me.
I never thought about that.
I am crazy about you.
And now that you are gone, I am just crazy.
Lonely and crazy.

Layla | Xerjoff
Starts like an oriental spice market full of nutmeg and clove, but not too intense - just spicy and warm.
Cedar, mixed with elegant (not old-fashioned) ylang-ylang and slightly earthy patchouli, quickly takes over.
In the drydown, Layla becomes even warmer and rounder with a base of vanilla, amber, and musk.
I love Layla because it is one of the oriental fragrances that shines without any oud or rose.

The K-Collection is one of my favorite lines from Xerjoff and probably one of the most complex.
Some fragrances from it are quite demanding.
But actually, I don’t like it simple either.

There is this beautiful, epic poem by Nazimi that tells the tragic love story of Layla and Qays.
Qays, a young man, falls hopelessly in love with Layla, the wealthy daughter of another tribe.
But the families of the two young lovers do not support their love and deny them the relationship - a forbidden love that will meet a sad end.
Because of his deep love and despair, Qays is called “Majnun” by the people, which means “the possessed one.”
To separate the two lovers, Layla must marry another man and Qays loses himself deeply in his love and becomes a hermit.
Sometimes he was seen in the desert reciting poems for his beloved Layla.
But he was lost.
In his love.

Darkness is not simply the absence of light.
It breathes. It observes.
And sometimes it seems to whisper.
Things one would rather not hear.
Every single sound gains significance.
Colors disappear, contours dissolve, and only a formless black remains.
It envelops everything in a silent veil, making the familiar seem foreign while simultaneously sharpening the senses.
In the darkness lies both:
Threat and safety.
It can be frightening, as the eye finds nothing to see, but it can also be calming, because it almost induces a state of tranquility.
Yet, it is often in the dark that new things grow.
Some call darkness the sister of silence, others a gateway to everything that should remain hidden.
I love the darkness.

DAHAB deceived me for half a minute with fresh lime and spicy (not medicinal) saffron in the opening, mixed with galbanum and cinnamon.
But this will never be a freshie.
Church incense, creamy benzoin, cypress, and geranium take over and blend with a soft base of oud, amber, and almost burnt cedarwood.

DAHAB means "time passes".
Like every night that passes, followed by the next day.
And Dahab smells to me just like the night.
Cold and heat at the same time.
For some, threatening.
For me, peaceful.

Normally, you are not my type.
I like them mysterious, demanding - dark souls that challenge me from time to time.
I like them long-lasting, powerful, without over-performing. Sometimes even I need to breathe…
I want the perfect middle ground that satisfies my needs.
I don’t want them to be too intrusive, but I want them to be consistently present - to constantly remind me that they don’t just disappear.
They don’t need to please others as long as they please me.
I like them different, artistic, emotional.
They need to go deeper, captivate me on another level.

And then you came into my life…
You are everything I usually don’t like, and maybe that’s why I fell in love with you…
Floral, fresh, fruity, and citrusy?
You are a freshie without sharp citrus notes.
You are fresh spring and endless summer in a bottle.
You are so easy to wear, without lacking complexity.
You cling to my skin. And deep in my mind.
Baby, you are so summer…

A juicy mandarin opens with slightly spicy red pepper. Immediately, a gentle and soothing linden blossom unfolds, mixed with magnolia and (slightly animalistic on my skin) jasmine sambac. It dries down to a woody base of cedar and powdery iris.
This scent is not a typical summer freshie.
It is unique and beautiful.
I’m glad to have found you…

The air is incredibly dense and stuffy.
No sound can be heard - except for their breathing.
Heavy gasps and uncontrolled moans permeate the air like a sensual symphony.
A single faint light burns in the left corner of the room …

Bright enough to reveal every single fantasy.
Bright enough to expose every single shape of their bodies.
Bright enough to unveil the untamed desire in his eyes.

Leather 6
The beginning already knocks me out.
And when I say that, I mean: every time…
A dark, almost animalistic note - I always get a hint of latex - combined with saffron flower, which gives the dark, yet barely leathery scent a slight honey note.
These darker notes immediately blend with a creamy heart note of milk and vanilla.
No, not a playful, sweet vanilla, but a seductive babycat note.
The base note of incense and balsamic styrax perfectly rounds off the combination of notes.

Leather 6 is pure seduction.
It is a feeling, not “just” a scent.
It is the interplay of intimacy and trust,
of pure softness and desire.
At once rough and gentle.

The first image that comes to mind when wearing it is a pile of clothes carelessly thrown on the floor.
No time to fold them neatly.
Because the focus was not on order, but on getting really dirty…