XERJOFF
STARLIGHT
2019
Cardamom
Bergamot
Cinnamon
Almond
Clove
Amber
Cedarwood
‘Starlight is the ignition that sparks a seductive and sensual olfactory experience that is difficult to forget. With top notes of citrus bergamot and fresh cardamom, this perfume from the Spotlight Collection travels to a comforting heart of almond, cinnamon and clove for an irresistibly alluring warmth. The enticing base of cedar wood and amber features balsamic accords that set the senses alight. Warming spices and sensual accords linger on the skin, hugging the wearer and charming those around them.’ – Xerjoff
Starlight took some getting used to for me, but it’s one of the Xerjoff’s currently high on my wishlist.
Starlight starts off with cardamom and some citrus, with a lot of almond. There’s a bit of a medicinal and/or soapy smell to me, but I don’t know exactly what causes it, maybe it’s the clove. The almond in starlight never becomes really sweet (and there’s no tonka or vanilla listed), so it’s not necessarily a sweet gourmand, more so it’s a warm nutty almond scent with spices.
I really like the almond note, because in my experience so far, almost all fragrances with a prominent almond (or heliotrope) note have a similar sweetened ‘almond-product’ scent, whereas this feels more like actual almonds. It becomes gradually warmer as it dries down. As far as the spices go, the opening is heavy on the cardamom, but overall cinnamon might be more prominent.
The scent reminds me a bit of something that you would get at a bakery; warm bread with almonds and a light dusting of powdered sugar. In the late drydown it’s sweeter, like a warm vanilla custard. It’s well blended and pretty smooth, though semi-powdery in texture. The performance seems good. This is a winner for me, although it took me a while to get used to it.