Layla

I got Layla in a trade without really knowing what to expect. I thought the opening was good, but nothing crazy. Then about an hour in...it hit. The way this settles and melts into my skin is on another level. The vanilla in it is so beautiful that it almost feels impossible, for something to be so complete. Xerjoff describes it as “celestial” and as obnoxiously over the top as it sounds, I completely agree ! Its warm, smooth, slightly sweet, a little spicy, and just incredibly elegant. Nothing sticks out, nothing feels off, it’s blended so well you almost don’t notice individual notes after awhile, it just becomes you. It gives off this classy, rich, calm presence without trying too hard. Performance wise its solid, not beast mode, but it lasts all day on me and leaves a refined aura instead of a cloud. I have/had a lot of perfumes and I’m pretty picky. I’m always mentally “tweaking” scents when I wear them, wishing something was toned down or boosted. With Layla, there’s nothing I’d change. My mind goes blank with bliss. If you like refined amber-floral vanilla that feel expensive, smooth and personal, and you want something that actually stands out without being obnoxious, this is it.

In my opinion, and I stress this is my opinion only, this fragrance is criminally under-rated. Off of my skin, it works phenomenally especially in the Fall/Winter and cool to temperate nights. It was love at first sniff for me! Now, I’ve been a fragrance collector for many years so my nose has seen many traumas lol. But this fragrance is one that will stay in my collection potentially. Does anyone else get boozy vibes as well?

In my opinion this is a really lovely scent. It's powdery and feminine, it would be a great signature scent. It's pleasant and smooth. I tried during the winter and it matches great the cold, it is a bit mature for me maybe at the moment (I'm leaning more gourmand/floral). There is a middle Eastern tone, a spice in the back that makes the powdery a bit more fancy, I might go back to this in a few years.

A hidden gem! Literally no one talks about this perfume and it’s sooo good! Definitely full bottle worthy and a beautiful fragrance by Xerjoff! It is creamy, balmy, so well blended and so unique! Unisex leaning fem.

Xerjoff, you've done it again! This smells so good. Definitely feminine leaning in my opinion in the beginning but the dry down mellows out into unisex territory. This goes into my top 5 favs. FB worthy for sure!

This is the booziest vanilla around. But it's not gourmand. Absolutely love it, despite a challenging first 10 minutes.

#1608 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I will probably never forgive L'Oreal for acquiring and discontinuing Thierry Mugler's greatest fragrance creations while putting out the complete crap "Alien" scents under his name. I've done 32 company acquisitions in my career, only to have the incompetents in the C suite destroy the value of all but a few in a couple of years. But L'Oreal killed Mugler's most popular scents day one. Inexplicably idiotic, like an act of jealousy or vengeance. So, I was initially delighted when Xerjoff picked up struggling Kemi Blending Magic and kept most of their scents alive as "The Kemi Collection." It turns out they in fact did meddle some with the formulations while keeping the names, and the meddling is noticeable in this scent, but not in a bad way. Kemi "Layla" is a nice ambery, vanillic, fairly sweet scent, but short of being gourmand. I've hung onto a sample (gave the bottle to a girlfriend who loves sweeter scents), and I ordered a decant of Xerjoff "Layla" from scentsplit.com ($7.99) to compare to the original, full bottles of which are still available at scentplit.com for $390 (nice but not worth it to me). So, let's compare, Kemi on the back of the left hand, Xerjoff on the right. Most of the notes are still there, but there is a slight difference. The original is more ambery and sweet, a bit muskier and more feminine. I think they toned down the musk and sweetness to make this more unisex. If I didn't already have cases of amber vanilla scents I'd be happy with this, but I'd be just as happy with a $30 bottle of Lataffa "Eternal Oud" and the $140 I saved. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Here I am trying my close to tenth xerjoff- not a fan of the house but I found myself here again. This time a more feminine release. Xerjoff always goes screechy harsh on my skin for some reason, totally sucks. But this one seems different. Smelling the atomizer I was quickly reminded of something from my childhood. When life was easy, no responsibility or bills. This open so beautifully- almost candle like but not overly so. Its somewhat dusty woody fruity on my skin. When smelling close I do not enjoy it as much but in the air its magnificent. I really wish I could tell you what it reminds me of - its very distinctive and something I haven’t come across in probably over 20 years. All to say- Layla is my favorite offering I have tired from the house by far. Its unique and subtle, not announcing itself but asking to be discovered softly. Maybe its a candle my mother owned when I was kid but either way this is precious stuff and blended very well. I also have to talk about the presentation because its mind blowingly beautiful- the cap is ornate and blends so well with the bottle, really adds to the experience and im not one who says that.

A Word of Caution to Men: Layla isnt unisex. Its not even just feminine leaning, the excessive amounts of ylang ylang make this downright girly. Edit: testing again. The girliness does settle down after a bit. Still noticeably feminine, but now a much better and more wearable feminine. Although not listed, Im detecting tonka bean. Reminds me alot in the drydown of Amber Room by Thameen (obviously having replaced rose with ylang ylang of course). Surprisingly, this has worked its way up to probably about a 7.8 / 10 for me, and climbing. Edit: Another late night test. Final score for me 8.2 / 10

I could swear there is a little bit of Rose in this fragrance, but anyways This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but this reminds me a little bit of Carlisle, except this is more creamier and more unisex compared to Carlisle which I find more masculine. Nevertheless I like it.

Reminds me of Atelier des Ors' Rouge Sarey. It's kind of a woody vanilla soup for me. Heavy. OK. Wearable, but I'm not forking out that much dosh for this. I find the woody notes a bit sawdust-like. Like an MDF shelf in place of a piece of oak. Pass.

Such a beautiful middle eastern amber done magically well!! Takes you to Morocco!! This radiates off the skin for hours ... feminine and stunning. This is how I imagine an Arabian princess to smell! The candy note from the OG Kemi line is still there and in full effect!

I wanted to love this based on the other reviews and the rarity of the fragrance. I was hoping for a lightly sweet but rich eggnog. On my skin, this hurts my feelings. It smells like Raghba. I can’t.

Nice! Buttery, feminine/unisex, cosy, ambery, floral, pleasant, sexy/skinlike.