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gogasync – :
Like a shooting star crossing the evening sky across the Arabian peninsula, magnanimous.
Probably the most powerful offering in the Oud Stars Collection.
Gao displays Thai and Laotian oud in their most ethereal splendor, kissed in the heart by a multifaceted fiery saffron.
The overall aroma is quite impressive, gothic, intriguing,
Nothing flowery , or artificially sweet was added to soften this beast.
Gao is a bombastic woody spicy creature of the highest quality.
The magnificent powerhouse rest on a rich ambery bed of resins & woods.
Instagram: Mrzayas81
taummaGow – :
Okay, I quite like this oud fragrance and it performs quite well on my skin lasting 12+ hours and leaving a very nice scent trail for hours. Sadly, I’ve smelled this oud, saffron, resins combo numerous times before and this is no better quality than the one’s I have smelled Montale and Mancera for a fraction of the cost.
Scent: Quite a likable full-flavored oud
Performance: Quite good
Value: Quite Poor
партизан рощин – :
A gorgeous blending of high quality saffron with oud, this mysterious and evocative offering by Xerjoff also contains notes of patchouli, amber, cypriol,and balsamic resins. The end product is a somewhat animalic, yet subtle fragrance that recalls the shifting sands of the Arabian peninsula. Only for very adventurous perfume lovers and those into exotic Oriental perfumery. In spite of heavy ingredients, the end product does not have overpowering sillage and projection and retains a refined understated luxury. Very high quality craftsmanship.
armagedon_kr – :
Xerjoff? So far I’ve loved everything of theirs that’s touched my nose. This one however another story.. to me it smells like Al-Rehab Sultan (bought for $5 at a middle eastern supermarket) with a hint of that stuff they spray on lawns when they put up those little signs not to walk on it (fertilizer?), smells totally synthetic and not good.
Валера72 – :
See Jefwithfrags’ review below. It’s precisely how I feel about this one. I received Gao as a sample with a recent purchase. It is tenacious, medicinal, animalic, earthy and powerful — the reigning king of oud fragrances designed for true connoisseurs who demand the best ingredients available. It is so strong and pungent, a scouring pad won’t scrub it off.
It is a 10/10 for oud lovers … but to my nose it’s a 5/10. It’s a work of art, perhaps, but I can’t imagine wearing this in any social situation.
Sascha733 – :
This fragrance is heaven-sent. I love oud frags and am always in search of the perfectly blended oud-based scent. This one is a combination of saffron, cypriol oil, oud, juniper and balsamic notes. All are my favourites, but the beauty of this is the blend – a smooth exotic mesmerizing sexy wearable unisex perfume that really pushes my buttons. Needless to say, performance is 10/10 on all parameters. I own and wear both Montale’s Aoud Musk and Gao and I certainly can see the similarities but I have to say that Gao is a little more smoother-edged and performs better. I am a little surprised by the poor reviews on this one – oh well, to each his nose.
TRIAFFOCOREOR – :
Montale Aoud Musk? No way.
This smells exactly like:
MFK Cashmere Oud
By Kilian Pure Oud
Montale Original Aoud
Sewing machine oil. I don’t smell anything else.
GrigSV – :
Another UN (Ultra Niche) scent that offers to fill in every possible nuance and gradation of the saffron-oud (or rose-oud) combo possible out there.
Delivering the usual high Quality of materials that for some reason never gel well with my nose as ‘comfort’ scent worthy, it’s the one simply for the Oud connoisseurs as I just can’t see entry level or even mid-level Niche junkies giving releases like this a 2nd try.
Medicinal oud note; check. Uber-strong saffron blend; yep.
Ambery vibes to support the huge band-aid mass project; yes it’s there.
Never incomplete without the enormous price tag that as a scent, no one will ever even heed to catch a whiff off.
Really, Xerjoff baffle me, so much Investment spent on choice blends like this when they could be creating some amazing ambers, dedicated resins and other oriental blends. But then, it is Xerjoff and only Xerjoff know Xerjoff.
Naxos was a good step but it still has an orange vibe that a million other scents have for less again.
But anyway ranting over, if you are not fussed at not getting the utmost highest grades of real oud blend as over 99% of Enthusiasts, then the Montales for a start I would say definitely offer enough Quality and variety on Oud combos in their ranges to satisfy almost anyone.
If money is no object then of course all this is no issue.
But it also goes by saying that their famous Black oud is wildy popular and no one in that camp seems to be complaining!
My rating: 2/10.
Quality: 10/10.
wikpo50 – :
This is a potent and very “serious” scent. Definitely a blast of medicinal oud with saffron sharing dominance with the oud. Somewhat jarring on first spray, yet alluringly calling for you to repeatedly sniff your wrists. The resins are certainly present, as is another element that I cannot identify… perhaps the cypriol oil? I don’t have a reference for what that note even is, to be totally honest.
Overall, this is nice but as others have mentioned, very similar in overall style to Montale, although I can’t think of exactly what Montale. The oud in this is extremely reminiscent of Montale’s Dark Aoud… but Dark Aoud is all about oud and a little bit of sandalwood… and nothing else. The saffron and resins add another dimension to this that makes it overall more satisfying to me.
I wear this when I’m in a contemplative mood. It is not really a comforting scent although I could see how it could be for others.
As Jack Hunter’s review alludes to, this is far away from being a safe scent, and thus I would caution that versatility is low, as this perfume has enormous projection and sillage.
vadim_1994 – :
Ok so after 2 wearings this dries down to a very similar oud musk by montale veryyy similar and for half the price I would splurge on montale.
This is still great smelling very very potent
8.0/10!
abzolotov – :
Very short. Smell of funeral home ! OMG. Kill at first sniff. 🙁
clomidnow – :
My goodness. It smells just like dark saphir. Total chick frag.
Irinaurievna5 – :
Gao is one of my favourites out of the Oud Stars series (the other is Zafar). It’s a smoky, dry, medicinal kind of oud as opposed to the barnyard soil you get from Zafar. It reminds me a bit of Pure Oud of By Kilian in the opening and middle. However in the drydown, Pure Oud is smooth and balmy, whereas Gao is rougher and smokier. You do have to be careful when applying because this juice is tenacious. On my first day using this, I sprayed once on my wrist and it transferred on my jacket cuffs. A week later I could still smell it on my cuffs. Use lightly.
karlo74 – :
When sniffing “Gao” for the first time my initial reaction was a déja-vu : “Original Aoud” by Montale smells pretty much the same.
It is a less medicinical and tobacco-infused oud. With lots of saffron 🙂 A slightly bitter juice and more on the masculine side but I dare wearing it as a female.
*
I am happy I got my hands on the discovery set which allowed me to have them all without spending too much and without having to worry about even more big bottles which I will never use up anyway.
Yri Sobchenko – :
EN
I discovered this company at the fair Fragranze 2012 in Florence Italy. It wasn’t easy to find then the store that sells fragrances to the regular customer like me, but in the end I was able to buy the whole line from the site ausliebezumduft.de
I must say that there is a system to buy perfumes Xerjoff paying the relatively low price (the normal price of the bottle of 50 ml is up to US$ 260-325).
Since the Shooting Stars line and the Oud Stars line are the masterpieces of artistic perfumery, it is worth to buy the Shooting Stars – Discovery Sets – Part One and Part Two and Oud Stars Collection – Discovery Set that cost US$ 208 for each of the first two sets and US$ 254 for the Oud collection set. Of course there are the Discovery Sets for
XJ17/17 Collection (US$ 331) and XJ Casamorati 1888 Vintage Collection (US$ 182), but personaly I do not like the last two lines, so I didn’t order them.
In each set there are 6 fragrances of 15ml each and therefore the price for a volume of 50 ml drops to US$116 for Shooting Stars collection and to US$142 for Oud Stars collection instead of USD$ 260 and US$ 325 for full version bottles.
IT
Ho scoperto questa casa di profumi alla fiera Fragranze 2012 a Firenze. Non era poi facile di trovare il negozio che vendesse i profumi ad un mortale come me, ma alla fine sono riuscito ad acquistare tutta la linea dal sito ausliebezumduft.de
Devo dire che c’è un sistema per comprare i profumi di Xerjoff al prezzo relativamente molto basso (il prezzo normale della bottiglietta di 50 ml arriva a circa €200-250).
Visto che tutta la linea Shooting Stars e la linea Oud Stars sono i capolavori della profumeria artistica, vale la pena a comprare il Shooting Stars – Discovery Sets – Part One and Part Two e Oud Stars Collection – Discovery Set che costano €160 per ciascuno dei primi due e €195 per la collezione Oud. Ovviamente esistono anche i Discovery Sets per
XJ17/17 Collection (€255) e per XJ Casamorati 1888 Vintage Collection (€140), ma quest’ultimi a me non piacciono.
Nel ciascun set ci sono 6 profumi nelle bottigliette di 15ml e quindi il prezzo per un volume di 50ml crolla a €89 per Shooting Stars collection e €109 per Oud Stars invece di €200 per Shooting Stars e di €250 per Oud Stars.
Kirill23810 – :
What a beautiful & dynamic scent. On par with the likes of Cuoio by Odori. Truly rich, dark & decadent. Deep woods, & resins, with a little fresh air amongst the smoky depths. A little juniper/piney freshness that keeps this concoction from being overwhelming, or “just another loud oud fragrance”. there are many dark, oud/wood fragrances out there, and although im certainly not an oud expert, i have smelled some pricey potions. Truth be told i found most of them to be loud, and ill mannered. Not appropriate for some occasions. This is a gentlemans scent. Pure class, and masculine seduction in a bottle. Its not too dry, or too smokey, or “too anything”. Gao has AMAZING silliage and projection. It announces itself amongst hundreds of samples, and if you touch the containment unit, youre wearing Gao today. Do not overapply! you will knock out women & small animals! That being said, discrete use will get you the girl, business deal, or attention you want. It is a powerful fragrance, of smoke, woods, resins, a little fresh air, and tiny bit of honeyed sweetness. Not much, sweet like rich tobacco perhaps. Spices are present, but in small amounts, they sing backup here. Highly recommended. I mean, this is a KNOCKOUT! Heartbreakingly sexy on men, i shall test and see how a woman can wear it also!
geg18 – :
To me this smells like deep dark woods like Mahogany. It also has that medicinal hospital disinfectant smell you always get when you are in hospital mixed with the mahogany wood. As time passes the wood aspect starts to fade and you begin to smell incense resin.
I have to say imo this fragrance would not appeal to the mainstream but moore to the Oud connoisseur as it does not smell good in the conventional sense.
What surprised me though is it does in fact strongly resemble a Burmese Oud oil called Kyra Koutan which I actually have a sample of. I could not resist doing a side by side comparison and they are quite similiar. Both have the dark woods and that hospital medicinal disinfectant smell. Except the real Oud was deeper and did not dry down to that incense resin accord.
I would say if you are into your Creeds, D&G and Hermes frags then stay away from this.lol……. But if you are serious about Oud then this is worth checking out as it actually does smell like real Oud oil which surprised me.
DmitryND – :
Gao is the ultimate saffron bomb. I have never smelled anything quite so strong, let alone a fragrance so concentrated in this note. Nevertheless, it seems to blend with my skin extremely well, lasting for at least 12 hours or until my next shower–a feat no other fragrance has accomplished for me. On my skin, it is extremely potent and animalic, rich and resinous to the point of inducing a headache if I don more than one spray. Provided one does wear just one spray, it is a fragrance that suits the most elegant of occasions.