Endymion Concentré and its soft, understated, disappearing a bit soon suede got me earlier this year. It convinced me of two things: one, I really love leather. Two, leather is hideously underrepresented in modern fragrance. Can’t swing my arm without hitting a tonka bomb or an apple pie wannabe. Every stronger scent dries down to fake oud now. But leather? Can’t find it. Ombré Leather (2018) Eau de Parfum? All Ombré, no leather. Vibrant Leather (2018) Eau de Parfum? I mean, it’s vibrant, sure, but that’s it. Where’s the Leather Bomb, the Leather Punch In The Nose?
Perhaps it’s the bans. I’m, well, mostly vegetarian, so I like that I can wear a fragrance and know nothing died for it to happen, but the old classics that used to exude leather just aren’t it anymore. They’ve lost their charm, their potency. And the modern takes using Suederal and the like haven’t impressed me, except that the bold Guilty Absolute pour Homme was discontinued too soon, a hell of a work of art! And Vintage, similarly medicinal, fades too fast. The Boss Bottled flankers with a leather aromachemical - the one that’s used in Bad Boy Elixir, for sure - treats it with way too much pungent, hippie-adjacent incense for me.
But here, in the least likely of places, right on the shelf next to Bad Boy Cobalt Elixir, the apple pie sugar bomb monstrosity- we have a winner.
Leather is the focus here - you’ve seen this suede before. If not in the stuff I mentioned, then maybe on the backend of the bewildering "Paradigme | Prada". But as you do in perfumery, you take one note and you do stuff to the edges. With Endymion Concentré, you soften leather with warm spices and liven it up with lavender. Here, it’s a bolder move - the dry chemical iris out of Dior Homme Parfum (2024) kicks it off, but underneath is a rounded, almost salty suede. Chocolate, but more like the savory cocoa in a molé, mediates the leather. And then the iris subsides into a support role at the top with some herbs and you’ve got a leather that I can actually wear for once. Bold, yes, but not overly smoky, or sweet, or bolstered with fake oud. Just a good leather. And that’ll jump off my skin for a few hours before drying down to a calmer, sweeter skin scent. But those first hours? There’s something phenolic, Laphroaig-esque about it. Love that.
Let’s get something out of the way: the bottle is ridiculous. It’s the Nickelback of bottles, the Fred Durst, the Papa Roach of bottles! A big lightning bolt. Heck, the name of this line is awful! Worst thing this side of This Is Him! Undressed. But this punches far above its personality: a good strong leather, finally.
