Cuir Absolu 2016

Cuir Absolu by Elie Saab
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8.0 / 10 14 Ratings
A popular perfume by Elie Saab for women and men, released in 2016. The scent is spicy-leathery. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by Shiseido Group / Beauté Prestige International.
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Main accords

Spicy
Leathery
Animal
Smoky
Oriental

Fragrance Notes

LeatherLeather

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.014 Ratings
Longevity
8.412 Ratings
Sillage
8.013 Ratings
Bottle
8.524 Ratings
Submitted by OPomone, last update on 27.06.2023.

Reviews

2 in-depth fragrance descriptions
10
Bottle
10
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
Belleotero

6 Reviews
Belleotero
Belleotero
Helpful Review 4  
a very complicated leather
In theory this is not a stand-alone, but mainly a perfume meant to boost/enhance/nuance any of the other Elie Saab Cuir series. I heartily disagree: this suggests to me that Francis Kurkdjian has more up his sleeve. I’m wearing it in 20-25 C weather and apart from the first blast/minute I would almost guarantee no one who walked in to my apartment during the last hour would have said “you smell like leather!”
There is a lot of at least two types of ylang (a heady/fruity and a gasoline/rubber) together with spicy mincemeat ; there is some smoke …
I want to call it a lesson in perfumery — in part because I am also currently sussing out Cuir Ylang and the overlaps I smell are not where I expected them.

What I can say, so far: this is highly unusual and potent, in my view gorgeous stuff. I think it leans just slightly masculine but it is so outside what most people are wearing it’s hard to say. It will not be everyone’s cup of tea. I have twice been told “ you smell (so) good!” but I have also overwhelmed someone who had to roll the car windows down. One person said “mmm, you smell like a lady!” — so I suppose it is not inherently more masculine! It does smell expensive. It really radiates.
I am going to have to spend more time on it. Back in two weeks.

(ok just two hours later but I finally found it: it is very reminiscent (not note for note but in intensity, vibe and construction) of my last few precious drops of Millot’s Crepe de Chine parfum. (Less complex< less powder, but a similar density and intensity and a certain kind of grit.) This Cuir may be a full-on chypre of the old style.
0 Comments
7
Bottle
8
Sillage
8
Longevity
1
Scent
Chizza

273 Reviews
Translated Show original Show translation
Chizza
Chizza
Top Review 14  
Emsland is calling
My first real snapshot, but maybe it's just me with Cuir Absolu because all the other new perfumes that have rated the fragrance see it at 7.0-10.0. Ungrateful for the perfume that I write the first comment with a rating of 1.0.
The whole thing happened because I appreciate leather scents and I tested it. I received a bottling and tested Cuir Absolu just the other day, I was out and about in my car. To cut a long story short, I sprayed my arm and - unfortunately sad truth - a feeling of discomfort rose up in me immediately. It smelled for me like strange leather, somehow fresh with a soapy undertone, I couldn't pack all that yet. I was only sure that there would be, that will be checked again but that was it. Hectic - as the smell of my arm in the warm car continued to rise - I sprayed the said arm with a Bleu de Chanel sample. Afterwards I checked this creation several times because Cuir Absolu reminded me of something.

At some point it came to my mind and so I have to say something to describe the scent from my point of view. Professionally, I travel to many companies. Everywhere you take impressions, sometimes smells. Cuir Absolu reminds me of certain smells from certain companies. Most of them can be found in the Emsland or also in Rheda-Wiedenbrück. These are companies where mainly pig lorries drive in and drive back empty or companies which process the "waste", e.g. the leather which is needed for the shoe production. The smell is sometimes beastly, I don't want to start a discussion, but many animals in a small space, which sometimes wait a long time until they are slaughtered; a smell that one does not forget.
That's when it came to me. Cuir Absolu reminds me of pigskin, reminds me of the big processors in the Emsland and surroundings. Why not, leather is not the same as leather and so every perfumer interprets scents very differently. It reminds me of the smell of these professional trips and also of how little I like this smell. In Cuir Absolu this has been refined, but for me it's a disadvantage. It's as if the pigskin had been put in the sun, with apricot peels fermenting happily and covered with a soapy film. For me this is Cuir Absolu and therefore unfortunately a very negative scent experience.
Many will see it differently, which is a good thing. I cannot perceive all the positive impressions of the others, maybe even Blumig most likely. Otherwise I can only state that this interpretation of leather is fundamentally different from the well-known and popular leather scents
8 Comments

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