Cuir de R'Eve David Jourquin 2014

Often I have a type of woman or man in mind when I test a perfume. On the basis of the reviews here I read then again and again that it goes to many of you so.

Belle de Jour is a film classic for me. A story that repulses me, yet fascinates me at the same time. A married woman who finds no sexual satisfaction in her marriage and goes to a brothel during the day to get that satisfaction by being tortured. And while it may have been scandalous in the early '70s... Don't crow about it today, think 50 Shades of Grey - similar in that it's about a woman finding sexual fulfillment in being tied up and beaten. I like these classics of yesteryear because they often don't even show what's happening and you can only guess at it, it's often even better in fantasy. Whereas today every naked a...h is shown on TV. The film is partly confusing because it is hard to distinguish what is the woman dreaming now and what is real.

Tippi Hedren in The Birds or Grace Kelly in The Upper Ten Thousand also fit this type of woman. I see a Nordic-looking woman, cool, in a tight-fitting yet high-necked costume, skirt over her knee, gloved in leather, legs crossed, blonde hair tied up or pinned up, great lipstick, but not red. In her hand she holds a cigarette holder.

Cuir de R'Eve is for me a very fine and delicate fragrance. A mix of patchouli and leather, soft and noble leather, sweet through heliotrope, spiced with vanilla and also clove, which I find subtle. Has a bit of Coromandel, also of Cuir Beluga. I also detect a caramel note, the iris suggests a lipstick and the fruits initially give a nice accord. While that gets lost as it progresses. The durability is great.

In his imagination, everyone can be what he wants. Sometimes I want to be that Nordic beauty, blonde, restrained sexy, shy and gentle. And I have that woman in the bottle now.