Cuir de Nacre Ann Gérard 2012

Iris and leather, this combination brings me regularly in rapture and if then also the great Bertrand Duchaufour has his fingers in the game, actually nothing more can go wrong. And indeed: Cuir de Nacre, the Perlmuttleder, keeps what it promises.

First, there is a delicate shower of glittering aldehydes and bitter angelica, which lies like dewdrops on delicate iris flowers and incidentally gives the fragrance subtle retro charm. However, it's nothing more than a slight nod in the direction of great vintage leather scents like Cuir de Russie. CdN can't compete with that much glamour, but it doesn't want to.
At the latest when the leather accord unfolds and fragile mimosa flowers appear together with cotton soft musk, no doubt remains: The fragrance is clear, stringent and reduced to the essentials, but in its simplicity does not lack a certain sophistication. Iris, suede, mimosa. Harmonious, cultivated and elegant.

In front of me, the image of a self-confident woman emerges, so enviably well-dressed with uncompromisingly well-fitting jeans and a plain T-shirt that any normal mortal involuntarily wonders why it doesn't work for her. Cognac suede boots complete the look, along with a matching bag. Plus, the beauty tied her untamed hair back with a mimosa-yellow silk scarf.
I'd love to be that effortlessly chic. And even if CdN doesn't suddenly magically transform me into a fashionista with a certain je ne sais quoi, some days the fragrance whispers in my ear that maybe everything is much easier. Friendly and uncomplicated, no big drama in sight.

Finally, a word about dosage: supposedly Ann Gérard's scents are extrait concentrations. This one, however, is more of a quiet-stepper and with light dabbing you're killing yourself half the fun. Cuir de Nacre wants to be treated like an EdP, otherwise it gives a rather short guest appearance