Leathers?

Must-try - Cabochard (vintage preferably). Cuir Mauresque by Lutens...Bandit by Piguet...and Tabac Blond.

Also:

Bvlgari Black
Eau d'Hermes
Dzing!
Cuir Ottoman
Daim Blond

Van Cleef & Arpels pour Homme
Knize Ten
Hermes Bel Ami
Guerlain Derby
MPG Parfum d'Habit
Aramis 900
Aramis Devin
Antonio Puig Quorum
Bulgari Black
Chanel Antaeus
Ralph Lauren Polo (green)

Tabac Blond by Caron
Knize Ten by Knize
Bandit by Robert Piguet

Cuir Mauresque by Lutens

Isn't it strange, I've been attracted by the mysterious world of leather too and I've tried a few over the last few months. (In general, I like them a lot.) But I've been amazed to see some of the names in these lists. I've been taking notes but often saying 'THAT's a leather?'. I'm obviously going to have to do a lot of sniffing.

The only one I'd add to these is Creed's Royal English Leather. Though I obviously am severely undereducated in the ways of the tanned hide, it seems to me to be the quintessence of leather. And it's very polite.

I've seen Jolie Madame mentioned as having a leathery bottom (ooh!) which makes her sound rather tempting...

I asked a similar question on the mens boards a while ago - read about it here:

http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=196879

As did I.

To wit:

http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=197097

When I think "incensey warmth" the very first leather fragrance I think of is:

Knize Ten

However, there are many other nice leathers out there. Here are some ones I've liked:

Dzing! by L'Artisan: a realistic, almost dirty leather sweetened by a stronger cotton candy note.

Cuir d'Iris by Parfumerie Generale: A spicy, resinous leather cooled and rounded by an earthy iris.

Cuir Pleine Fleur by Heeley: A very mellow leather, opening with mimosa and violet and fading to a more solidly leather base.

Tabac Blond by Caron: Rich, luxuriant take on leather, strongly oriental and resinous with vanilla becoming prominent in the dry-down.

And let's not forget Habanita.

I would second Creed's Royal English Leather. A magnificent and opulent fragrance featuring a very ripe citrus opening, a milky jasmine heart, and a beautiful and well-oiled leather base. I would argue the greatest longevity of the Creed scents that I have tried. Certainly a must smell for leather fans, and a must have for those with a throne, scepter, colonies, navy, etc.

Another reference to get you into too much trouble.
Perfume-smellin'things has an exhaustive list of leather notes.

Here's a link to A-H, more on her sidebar:
http://perfumesmellinthings.blogspot...tory-to-h.html

Bvlgari Black
Grès Cabochard (vintage extrait)
Caron Tabac Blond extrait
Caron Yatagan
Chanel Antaeus
Chanel Cuir de Russie extrait
Guerlain Derby
Guerlain Habit Rouge (vintage EDT)
Hermès Hermèssence Poivre Samarcande
Knize Ten
Kolnisch Juchten
Paco Rabanne La Nuit
Robert Piguet Bandit EDP
Serge Lutens Cuir Mauresque
Serge Lutens Daim Blond

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edit: just realized these recs were supposed to be for a female, so i've deleted many from the list

As a follow-up to this, I went into a very good perfumerie on Monday and got to smell some lovely things. Since I was going shopping I had just a dab of Daim Blond on my neck (soft suede and apricots) then I tested Dzing! on one wrist and Tabac Blond extrait on the other.

Apart from being totally blissed out by it all, I was really interested to see how the different leathers developed and how they were similar and how different. Dzing! gave me no cotton candy, rather it was circus circus - hay and fur and big cats and hot horses and saddles and a little tiny bit of 'horseapples' (I quite like the smell in small enough doses) - very nice and very animalic and very different from anything you'd usually smell at a perfume counter in a department store. I think a man who smelled of this would be pretty near to irresistible. But I'd wear it too. Just not to church.

As for the Tabac Blond extrait - that was heavenly. Spicy, warm, enveloping, elegant.

What I found particularly interesting was that if I hadn't know the back-stories I wouldn't have been able to label them 'leather'. I would have called DB a gourmand, TB an oriental and I don't know what I'd have called Dzing! apart from animalic, though that's the one I found had the strongest smell of 'leathery leather' (saddles).

This is definitely one that will keep me fascinated for a while.

One more -- Cuiron