Lilsniffles

Batch: January 2025, open for editing if it changes.

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So, where should I start - I am an absolute Oud opponent. I hate it. I have since my childhood. Growing up in a family where on my father's side, everyone strolled around with sticky, oily Oud on their skin. Kisses left, kisses right, and with each kiss, I felt worse and worse because this mushy, aggressive stuff was now sticking to me. Me and oriental fragrances - my arch-enemy.

So what do I do? I buy a 100ml bottle of Alexandria II as a blind buy. Hey, life has to stay exciting; you only learn from mistakes!

And there it stood, the box - typical Xerjoff. Beautiful, solid, elegant packaging, and upon opening, the unmistakable Xerjoff box smell. Somewhat citrusy, with a hint of synthetic and cardboard. Hey, somehow I would also like the Xerjoff box smell as a fragrance? So far, they all smelled somewhat like that.

But anyway, it’s about Alexandria II. Based on many reviews, opinions were somewhat divided. Many celebrated it, but often with the detail that this fragrance is very noticeable, takes some getting used to, an "adventure." That's all well and good, but I don’t want to send my surroundings on a getting-used-to adventure every time; they should like me from the start.

Whatever, why should I care about the opinions of others? It has to go on my skin. One spray, I like to be cautious.

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First impression - tar poop. Do you know that feeling when you’re sitting on the toilet, and something comes out that smells somewhat like tar and backside? That’s exactly how this smells. Musty, toxic somehow, burnt rubber, tar, just unequivocally unpleasant. Two people can now confirm this to me, without me having provided that input. Their first statement was "backside (nicely phrased)" and burnt rubber.

I can confirm. It just smells like that. However, I learned one thing - I am an absolute Oajan fanatic. I HATED that fragrance. Why? Because of the opening. I wondered how someone could spray something like that on their skin. Half an hour later, I was in love, and today it is my absolute favorite. Sometimes you just have to hide for 30 minutes before going out to feel good outside and smell like a rice pudding-induced Christmas market.

And with Alexandria II, that’s exactly the case. Marked by the liquid backside in the bottle, the skin masked in what some might excrete with irritable bowel syndrome, I now wait for something... positive. One minute, two, three, five, ten...

I go back to working from home while the note of end product essence floats around me.

But then something new... vanilla. Wood. Something smells totally sweet, yet herbaceous. As if you went straight from a successful bowel movement into a rather masculine bakery.

I smell my arm, but I still sense a hint of backside and fresh bicycle tires. But 5, let it be 10 centimeters, and the experience is already quite different. Vanilla, somewhat creamy, woody, a hint of cinnamon, but not nearly as strong as Oajan when it comes to the cinnamon.

I smell no flowers, no lavender, no roses; maybe the bottle is still too fresh, one can only speculate. I smell more gourmand, but not in the "I want to eat you" sense, rather in the "smells delicious, but not edible" way.

In the background floats something indescribable, which I can probably only attribute to the Oud. Somewhat leathery, but not animalistically bad. However, nice, and not bad. And actually, I hate Oud fragrances above all. Strange, maybe I have to explore a new niche after all these years. I always associate Oud with a dirty sweet horse stable.

The sillage is wonderful, especially after half an hour. You are surrounded by such a masculine-soft aura, slightly sweet, but not synthetic, rather incredibly pleasant. Spicy, but not aggressive as one knows from many designers; there is only a hint of spice. Vanilla and amber dominate, a radiantly warm fragrance, perfect for colder winter days. No, absolutely no comparison to Naxos, which smells like children's play dough with a bit of vanilla, but some like to compare both fragrances.

This one feels completely different. Calm, down-to-earth, luxurious, noble, but not aggressive. It doesn’t present itself as strongly as many claim, but another hint that this bottle is still a bit too fresh. The sillage is close; in the wind, you can smell it, but otherwise, it stays rather close to the body, at least with 2-3 sprays maximum. I will never use more, with any fragrance. I am anti "beast mode," my fingernails curl when I hear that. I just want to smell good for myself; others shouldn’t be negatively influenced by that, only positively.

And so far, it does that very well. It stays close to the body but presents itself quite strongly there.

And it lasts, and how it lasts. 24 hours later, tested each day for 2 days, and it still clings and radiates. On the arm, there is absolutely no backside smell left; a spicy creamy vanilla dominates, which in no way comes off as off-putting or takes getting used to. Quite the opposite - it smells like a typical crowd-pleaser to me; it smells like what many oriental designers try to be but fail because there’s always some chaos. Here, however, it is ordered; thought has gone into it, perfected, until something incredibly pleasant emerged that does not come off as aggressive but invitingly beautiful, somehow.

Alexandria II is a beautiful fragrance that spreads fear and terror in the first minutes. A wolf in poop costume, but it sheds that quite quickly.

Price-wise, it also spreads fear and terror, but I just wanted to try it out.

It stays in the cabinet; I like it.

Now comes the sample of Afternoon Swim, after I tested the Pacific Chill - And what can I say? It’s good, but it doesn’t quite convince me in this price segment.

Afternoon Swim starts off very fruity, similar to Pacific Chill, but a bit more bitter, masculine, with darker citrus notes, while Pacific Chill leans more towards the feminine fruity direction. I definitely like it more!

It starts strong, with the bitter fruity DNA, slightly soapy, but more fruity than bitter, and it lasts for about half an hour on the skin before it slowly fades away. Relaxation sets in, it becomes noticeably calmer, more unobtrusive, as one knows from Freshies.

Now the delicate notes of ginger, it smolders pleasantly, not intrusive, but very very soft, merging with the skin. I must say - Some ginger fragrances have captivated me. However, this one doesn’t quite belong to that group. It feels more ambry, warm close to the skin, a bit sweeter, but still bitter and masculine. Unfortunately, it’s very gentle, far too gentle already, performance is lacking here. It doesn’t give me shower gel vibes, it’s more elegant, but less of a king, rather the court jester in the hall. Better than the common folk, but still the court jester.

Here too, Afternoon Swim struggles just like Pacific Chill in terms of performance, and quite significantly. After half an hour, both lose about 80% of their scent, leaving behind soft notes, but those of Afternoon Swim are significantly more masculine and deeper, even somewhat similar to Imagination, but still quite different, and nowhere near as good. It must be the ginger, which performs similarly here, but it still lacks that certain something, the edges and contours again.

Overall, I am more convinced by this scent than by Pacific Chill, but it would never be worth it to me in any respect, unfortunately, they share that trait. For me, no blind buys, I’m glad I bought samples first. Saved a lot of money!

I am a big fan of Imagination. I love this scent and can't live without it. As simple and boring as it may be, it manages to make the simple truly blossom.

So I thought - why not test its brothers? Pacific Chill and Afternoon Swim, the reviews are really top-notch. Both fragrances were tested on the skin for a day each.

Here comes Pacific Chill, and it really chills a bit too much; somehow it does... nothing.

Fresh on the skin, it first comes off like just showered with Axe shower gel, something tropical. A fruit salad with a soapy note, not bad, but also not... good? Kind of boring, to be honest. 6th grade gym class, everyone goes to shower and sprays on deodorant, and you sit right in the middle, and this image from the past comes back with this scent.

Unfortunately, it just seems bland. No power, no "Oh wow!", just a fruity soft film on the skin that tells little, as colorful as it may be. At first, it’s an uppercut with the fruit basket, swung by someone who just washed their hands with basic hand soap. Then the peppermint comes through a few minutes later and persists until the end; in my opinion, it's even the last scent note that can still be perceived in the air once it completely fades away after about 4-5 hours. Not nearly as intense as the well-known sailor scent, rather soft and reserved.

Anyone wanting to learn more has to press their nose into the skin and sniff and sniff. You notice more depth, dates, something heartier, deeper, but unfortunately so incredibly weak. It tells a story, but it’s a quiet whisper, a game of telephone, and in the end, no one knows exactly what comes through.

And that’s it. It starts fruity and intense, fades extremely quickly after about 30 minutes, leaving behind slightly citrusy fruity notes on the skin that can still be noticed up close or in strong headwinds. For me, an absolutely poor performance, a very monotonous boring scent progression, no edges, no corners, just surprisingly... boring. It has discount-level quality, in my opinion, and I find it quite disappointing.

Is it bad? No. It gets a 5 because I don’t hate it. But I would never spend more than two hours of minimum wage minus taxes on it. It gives me the vibes of a "I wanted to give you a gift, but didn’t know what, so I just bought a fragrance from the drugstore" scent.

Definitely unisex, I see no problem with anyone of any gender wearing this scent, although in my opinion it tends to lean more towards the feminine side.

Maybe it's due to my difficult relationship with my father, who knows.

Ginger is a scent that just doesn’t suit me at all. But I’m still glad I tested it.

It starts off with a sharp herbal cloud, biting in the nose, with an old-school characteristic. It reminds me of old fragrances, of my father, of old men, right from the beginning. I’m not criticizing old men; I’m only critiquing the scent, and I would place it more in the 50+ category, not 30 and below.

As it develops, not much happens. It becomes softer but still retains the note of old men who like to wear perfume, the old stuff, you know, patchouli, fresh, but somehow bitter/sour in the background. Unremarkable, you’ve simply smelled this scent before, whether from parents or grandparents; it’s just so entrenched and absolutely not foreign, you don’t smell anything new or interesting here.

I wish I could say more, but after several hours, there’s just not much left to say. Simple, old-fashioned, you’ve smelled it a thousand times. I would almost say it carries that biting top note of the Ambassador, just not exactly the same. Those who don’t like Ambassador probably won’t like this scent much either. However, Ambassador is MUCH more intrusive with its biting aggressive chemical top note, which is not the case here.

Unfortunately, it also has zero longevity. I know how well fragrances hold on my skin; I can perceive Xerjoff fragrances intensely for hours. This scent fades within an hour and is only faintly detectable. Perhaps that’s why I struggle to provide a meaningful evaluation, simply because it can hardly show any performance.

In short:

I don’t find it terrible, no - but I just find it incredibly unremarkable and overused. This is the kind of freshie that doesn’t stereotypically waft like soap; it’s the kind of freshie that simply exists bitter-sour, and you already know it from everywhere.

For me, it’s a no-go, but I think my old mom would like it; it will certainly be a ladykiller for 60+.

Wow, what kind of sample have I received here? I didn't ask for it, but I can still test it. Just the color makes me think the worst.

And... Yes - where do I start? An unpleasantly sticky, intense scent, absolutely not my style, but everything is a matter of taste. Personally, I find it terrible and would love to wash it off, but then I can't really comment further on the fragrance. This scent is outdated, old-school, it's only for people who are into the past. My great-grandmother would have loved it, but for my 60-year-old mother, it would probably already be too old-school.

The opening is pure esoteric shop. You're standing in line, today is a big summer sale for crystals & life potions. So many people in the store, you're squeezed between two gentlemen in old, warm real leather coats. It creaks and squeaks as they move, and you're stuck. You try to get some air, but all you breathe in is incense smoke, stale and aged, you don't smell any spice, just the limp old soft sticks. Every breath of this scent gives me a headache, more and more.

Then the leather note comes through even more intensely, you slip between the two leather coat gentlemen and land in a basket full of old sandals. Next to you is a child, unsupervised, throwing Play-Doh in your face. "How dare you fall into the sandal basket!" - Plop, plop, plop, one ball of Play-Doh after another, some get stuck in your nose, you're suffocating on Play-Doh, surrounded by leather. A hint of rubber somehow. You want to escape from the basket, but you slip on the Play-Doh and fall right back in.

An employee comes over, "Hey, you look pretty shriveled up in that basket, would you like some carrot cake?" - Yes, why not. It doesn't really suit me right now, but I'm always in the mood for cake. And then she throws the carrot cake in my face. "How dare you fall into the sandal basket!" - Plop, plop, plop, I'm getting carrot cake and Play-Doh in my face. The leather coat gentlemen were actually vampires, and they flutter away with their coats, the haze intensifies again with the stirred-up air.

An hour passes, I've given up. I'm slowly getting used to this haze. Something sweet pokes through, a woman came into the esoteric shop, she was wearing something with vanilla, a gust of fresh air paired with her scent. And just as quickly, she disappeared again, but the memory remains.

I take a deep breath, "what do I do now?", I'm trapped here. An employee opens the shop door, "It's pretty stuffy in here!" - And a bit of freshness comes in, I notice a very slight citrus scent, someone outside has a lemonade stand, the air is slowly relaxing, but the previous notes are still floating around me.

And that's how the scent ends. No great development, initially it hits you hard in the face, then it gradually becomes lighter, but it still remains unpleasant in my nose. Quite creepy. It lasts really long, I've had it on my wrist for 10 hours, and it won't give up, it just becomes quieter. But even when it's quiet, in my opinion, it's not pleasant. The sillage is strong, the haze lingers in the room.