Citizen X

I received Citizen X as a tester bottle when I purchased FM’s The Night, & what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. Imagine a crisp white shirt infused with frankincense, the scent of freshly printed brochures in Paris, & the atmosphere of a modern art museum with a smoke machine softly veiling the air. It’s airy, clean, & creative, a minimalist incense perfume painted in soft, refined tones. It is one of the most realistic portrayals of unburned frankincense I’ve smelled. Forget church incense or smoldering resin. This smells like a cool piece of frankincense resin resting in the palm of your hand, almost as if it had just been taken out of a freezer. It reveals every facet of the material: lemony, piney, slightly peppery, mineral, & quietly balsamic, all without the smoke. The composition feels crystalline & modern, with the iris softening the resin just enough to keep it elegant, never austere. It has an immaculate, freshly laundered cleanliness & the quiet confidence of contemporary architecture. If you’ve ever wanted to experience frankincense in its purest, rawest state before fire transforms it, Citizen X comes remarkably close. It’s one of the finest studies of fresh olibanum I’ve encountered. It’s the kind of scent that represents the modern world I wish I lived in: thoughtful, elegant, & quietly optimistic. What a beauty. And yes, it’s absolutely summer-friendly.

Enjoying my Luckyscent decant, Citizen X is an unusual spicy, woody aromatic that smells light and fresh, in fact this is a scent that does not project. Instead it’s softly persistent, enveloping the wearer. (This could be that I didn’t spray it, I’m testing from the dauber vial.) Anyway, this is impressive and though they don’t share any notes, and they behave completely different, this reminds me of Beach Hut Man by Amouage in that the scent reminds me of being in the woods — a dry, hot area with an ocean breeze. Would love to sample a spray. There’s something special about Citizen X and I’m having a hard time figuring out why.

I have no clue why this fragrance is getting hated on. Citizen X, Amber Sky and Atlas Fever are my favorites from the brand, CX being number one. I agree that the price is too high since this cologne doesnt last a long time, but doesnt change the fact that it smells amazing! You can wear this year round and smell fantastic. Worth getting at discounted price. 8/10

Mm, I'm getting a futuristic vibe from this one, clean and pristine, but still kind of a body scent. The iris combines really well with the resins, and though the pepper and musk are practically invisible, I think they work to keep this from being too powdery. It's improving with every sniff I take.

Взяла пробник парфюма, чтобы познакомиться с ароматом. Мне очень понравился-свежий, дерзкий, холодный, не удушливый, брутальный. Я бы сказала так- Citizen X пахнет как шикарный горячий мужчина, который только что вышел из душа. Очень возбуждающе, хочется вдыхать и вдыхать этот аромат)

I'm glad that this gets so many negative votes. More for me!! Gorgeous.

I've had a 10ml decant of this that I revisit from time over the last five or six months and I enjoy it. It's got tons of mastic resin and if you're sensitive to that, this will smell like tree sap. They try to balance it out with iris, incense and musk, but it's still prominent. Overall this is a classy fragrance is in the "frozen amber" category. Frozen is a good word because although it has the scent of tree resin, I find it has a cold and stoicism charm about it. I picture a captain of industry or a high powered professional.The incense starts to amp up giving a liturgical feeling later on like maybe this ruthless businessperson is in church later on asking for forgiveness lol. Anyway, this is cold, astute, and could be a signature office scent for someone, and it's pretty versatile in different climates. Performance is about average. Scent 7.5/10 Performance 6/10

I've tested all of the Ex Nihilo range, and for such an abundance of perfumes, there's basically nothing that pushes the limits. They like to take a tried and tested idea, and make it with a fine precision, no rough edges. All of their perfumes are strong, and this is no exception. They all also have prominent synthetic woody amber bases, which I guess is challenging, but not in a way I find interesting, rather they bum me out and start to grate on me over the long course of the drydown. This here is a competent, polished spin on a very hackneyed men's designer formula. It's fine, but that's it, just fine. I'd probably have thought more highly of it ten to fifteen years ago just before this scent profile became so prolific.

Modern unique incense scent that has a charm to it. The scent opens with the rarely used mastic resin and white pepper leading to a brief orris heart before it starts quickly settling into a powdery base highlighted by olibanum, musk and synthetic amberwood. This type of cool elegance is also seen in scents like Eau Froide by Serge Lutens. The masculine leaning scent has moderate projection and good longevity. Recommended for suave, cool and icy personalities. Enjoy!

Citizen X by Ex Nihilo is luxury in a bottle. The opening hits with clean incense. It's cool, smooth, and slightly mysterious. It immediately reminds me of stepping into an opulent Arab home: polished marble, fine wood, and silent wealth in the air. The musk and amberwood are blended well. But the dry down is where it really surprises me. It turns into this elegant, soft fabric like scent. This isn’t a loud scent, but it speaks volumes. I rate it 7/10.

Definitely a crisp, clean, masculine fragrance. This smells like someone who just left the barbershop on a spring day. I swore I got some citruses or maybe some pear in there, but it's not listed, so I guess not. It's a little more mature, I'd say for guy in their 30's and up, but this can still be appreciated by anyone in their 20s as well. I just don't think teenagers would care for this one when they have JPG, Hawas, etc.

In the vibe of a men's designer iris, but with an extra dose of quality. It's not generic, nor totally unique, but highly wearable and great performance. Ill be giving it a couple extra wears to see if it's FB worthy. I love the atomiser, one of the best I've tried. It is relatively pricey, but would get use, so it is what it is.

I love how it smells exactly like frankincense [B. papyrifera], which is much sweeter and milkier than B. carteri (the most common frankincense oil), once it settles on the skin!

Nice, masculine and clean. Not a beast performance wise, projects for 3-4 hours within arms reach then settles a bit for a further few hours. Class.

Feels like white pepper, clean musk, and a crisp breeze in a bottle. Fresh, powdery, and oddly comforting.

The opening is a classic cologne but dries down to something very different. I'm shocked there isn't a soapy accord listed.

I'm sampling this for the first time tonight, and it smells like a rather bland but sharp spicy scent on my skin. I'm not a fan. Unfortunately, it seems to have nuclear performance on my skin. I've washed my forearm 4 times (about 3 hours after application), and it's still going strong.

I wish I would like this fragrance, because I like the brand and especially the more male-oriented fragrances. But the floral, soapy scent it has, reminds me a bit of my grandparents: a bit old-fashioned, but to me personally, unpleasing as well. :(

Really wanted to like this one based on the notes. However, once I got my nose on it, I was very disappointed, because it smells like so many cheap drugstore/designer fragrances. Nothing niche about this fragrance.

Instant hit for me. Modern man, clean, but unique for Spring and Summer. 10/10... except for the price. Great signature scent for all occasions.