4
Very helpful Review
Linear Soapy Leather...
Cuir d'Ange opens with slightly animalic musky leather softened by almond vanilla-like heliotrope support. Moving to the early heart the composition stays highly linear as the musky leather continues to soften as the almond vanilla-like heliotrope melds further into it. During the late dry-down the leather gradually recedes, leaving its remnants in support of the remaining heliotrope and musk through the finish. Projection is excellent and longevity outstanding at over 20 hours on skin.
I haven't had a lot of luck with the Hermessence line from Hermes in the past, so I went into sniffing Cuir d'Ange with quite modest expectations. When initially sprayed on skin the heliotrope arrives just a hair before the leather, resulting in a relatively interesting and pleasant smelling open. The combination of the heliotrope with the slightly animalic leather conjures up vague memories of using saddle soap on fine leather furniture. If one could stop time right here I think Ellena and Hermes would have a moderate winner. Unfortunately, things really don't change much hereon, and over time as the almond and vanilla-laced animalic leather combination goes on, and on... and on, it gets to be more than a bit overwhelming and mundane. The enormous performance metrics of Cuir d'Ange while commendable on the one hand, actually work against it over time with its highly linear nature, and when you *want* it to go away it won’t comply. I suppose if Ellena could have changed the progression up a bit along the way, the result would have been more appealing, but as it stands I can appreciate the linear minimalist work but really can't muster much enthusiasm for the end result. The bottom line is Cuir d'Ange starts off relatively impressive, but the lack of significant development coupled with the tenacious vanilla almond heliotrope gets mildly annoying over time marring the overall effect, earning it an above average 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5 rating and a neutral recommendation with a slight positive bias.
I haven't had a lot of luck with the Hermessence line from Hermes in the past, so I went into sniffing Cuir d'Ange with quite modest expectations. When initially sprayed on skin the heliotrope arrives just a hair before the leather, resulting in a relatively interesting and pleasant smelling open. The combination of the heliotrope with the slightly animalic leather conjures up vague memories of using saddle soap on fine leather furniture. If one could stop time right here I think Ellena and Hermes would have a moderate winner. Unfortunately, things really don't change much hereon, and over time as the almond and vanilla-laced animalic leather combination goes on, and on... and on, it gets to be more than a bit overwhelming and mundane. The enormous performance metrics of Cuir d'Ange while commendable on the one hand, actually work against it over time with its highly linear nature, and when you *want* it to go away it won’t comply. I suppose if Ellena could have changed the progression up a bit along the way, the result would have been more appealing, but as it stands I can appreciate the linear minimalist work but really can't muster much enthusiasm for the end result. The bottom line is Cuir d'Ange starts off relatively impressive, but the lack of significant development coupled with the tenacious vanilla almond heliotrope gets mildly annoying over time marring the overall effect, earning it an above average 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5 rating and a neutral recommendation with a slight positive bias.