I always thought Naxos would be my first Xerjoff pick up but when i saw this at a great price i said “nuh-uh”. So here it is. Stuffs stronger in the bottle than the sample. And luckily it suits my skin chem. I love how they put effort into little things and details. Love when a company puts effort into things like this. To me its a sign of appreciation and valuing their customers. Unlike some other brands (cough cough Bond no.9 cough). Usually i chuck boxes in the bin but ill be keeping this.

Match #11 in my 40-fragrance tournament is another battle of opposites: #9 seed Chanel Antaeus versus #24 seed Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio. Chanel Antaeus (1981, created by Jacques Polge) is a true classic, built around leather, oakmoss, patchouli, castoreum, and woods. It's bold, earthy, and unapologetically masculine. Performance is outstanding, and there's no question it's the more sophisticated fragrance of the two. Acqua di Gio (1996, created by Alberto Morillas) is the fragrance that defined fresh citrus for a generation. With lemon, lime, bergamot, mandarin, jasmine, and marine notes, it's clean, bright, and incredibly easy to wear. No wonder it launched what feels like five million flankers. This may be a bit heretical, but despite Antaeus being the more complex and better-performing fragrance, I'd still reach for Acqua di Gio on most days. It's simply easier to wear and fits my lifestyle better. So this one is an upset: Acqua di Gio advances, and the higher-seeded Antaeus heads to the loser's bracket.

I do wish it had a little longer life on my skin. Fabulous by Tom Ford is a Leather fragrance for women and men. Top notes are Lavender and Clary Sage; middle notes are Leather, Bitter Almond, Vanilla and Orris; base notes are Leather, Tonka Bean, Cashmeran, White Woods and Amber.