Oud Xerjoff Alexandria II

So,

Today i think i got my first sensation of the barnyard oud smell people talk about and it was in a fragrance i really wanted to like, it's in the title so you know what it is.

I have seen others have the same reaction to the opening, especially as i had, which made me feel literally sick. I don't know if it is because i have been unwell the last few days, but i don't think so as it has been more of a headache kind of sick i have had. When i sprayed it i honestly got barnyard and latex and i will admit as time is going by i am becoming accustomed to the smell but boy that first spray, just no!

I often like linear scents due to the reason that sometimes non-linear fragrances can have stages that smell awful and the stages you prefer can be the most fleeting of them all so if you get a linear scent that you love at the start you know you are going to enjoy it throughout the entire wear. Too many people give linear fragrances a bad name, when there are times that you are thankful you have a nice smell from start to finish.

Today though, boy am i glad this is a nonlinear scent

Have any of you had this reaction to your first strong oud fragrance, or to "Oud Stars - Alexandria II (Parfum) | XerJoff" itself?

Is "Oud Stars - Alexandria III | XerJoff" similar or is it worth a try?

Oud is like stinky cheese (in multiple ways, really), “an acquired taste” so to say. First experiences can be shocking. The nose simply is not ready for those pungent odors. It takes getting used to, until your nose is trained and your perception changes. You’ll start to enjoy it while others still hate it on you. Only then it makes sense to try out the real stinkers. And actually, Alexandria II and III are not amongst the stinkers - in terms of “barnyard” oud. They are worthwhile, though not for their representation of oud. 

It took until the next day for me to enjoy it. By that i mean i could still smell it on me the next day and only then was i able to enjoy it lol. By then it kind of reminded me of the powdery feeling from The Dreamer Eau de Toilette but more so than anything a more expensive version of Le Mâle Eau de Toilette .

I will try it again some time because i need to like it now because it has made me associate the latex smell with other powdery fragrances i really enjoyed before making that association as now when i spray The Dreamer Eau de Toilette i get that latex feel to it also 😭

Knowing what will come later maybe will make the next wear more bearable . It's the first 20mins though 🤢

Yeah I recognize that powdery part, but didn't get any latex association. Felt quite luxurious to me. "Oud Stars - Alexandria III | XerJoff" is all about that powdery sensation too.

I think after having Covid i maybe have a different way of experiencing new notes that i have never experienced before. It's like my mind separates them all out at first instead of smelling them all together as they should be. So the first time i smell something new like this with these new notes and notes that will be natural also will probably be very different to when i smell it the next time.

It's like my brain is separating the new notes out, taking note of them all and then the next time it doesn't need to do that because it already knows what they are from the first experience, if that makes sense? So from then on i will experience them all at the same time as i presume is intended. That will be why the next day i probably woke up and enjoyed it a lot more because my mind had got used to them and didn't need to identify them each individually any more and presented it to me all together as one scent and hey presto a nice fragrance instead of them all separated.