5
Very helpful Review
Unicorn Leather
As I was expecting another limpid, abstract floral leather like Kelly Calèche when I was testing Cuir d'Ange for the first time, my jaw almost fell to the floor when not only did it hit me with a realistic leather, but also a fairly noticeable cumin as an companion.
However, this doesn't mean that Cuir d'Ange smells like a dirty, butcher leather. While the leather note here is mostly dominated by its barnyard-y, hay-like facet probably resulted from narcissus, it's juxtaposed with a supple, lightweight, suede-like texture (suederal?). With the presence of the cumin, there's also a clean white musk and vegetal, floral undertone, almost like a floral ivory soap. It's as if Ellena pulled the trick of the juxtaposition of dirty-clean in Cartier Déclaration again in this leather composition, resulting a convincing impression of a finely-cured real leather.
The focus on this slightly spicy, hay-like leather starts to blur with time, as the clean powdery white musk and heliotropin gradually melds into the leather, until it finally becomes a feather-like, abstract, pristine floral powdery skin scent in the late dry down. I can definitely relate to the comparison of Cuir d'Ange as a leather variation on Frédéric Malle L'Eau d'Hiver. The transition happens in an incremental pace, but I would say that starting from the 6th hour, the leather behaves more like a salty undertone undertone.
The sillage of Cuir d'Ange is close to skin, as most Hermès fragrances are; the longevity is around 10 hours on my skin.
In my mind, I would picture Cuir d'Ange as a leather made from unicorn or pegasus skin. It has this ethereal, other-worldly aura, but firmly displays an animalic (not necessarily dirty) aspect. When I try to compare it with other elegant modern floral leather, Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur is handsomely animalic but lacks this strange diaphonous aspect; Penhaligon's Iris Prima is too clean and too abstract as a leather in comparison; Louis Vuitton Dans La Peau lacks the animalic quality despite its realistic leather handbag impression, and its execution as a whole is rather conventional in style. Therefore, Cuir d'Ange strikes me as a rare exemple that manages to unify these two seemingly contradictory qualities. I would definitely recommend it as a graceful, lightweight floral leather, and a gateway animalic leather as well.
However, this doesn't mean that Cuir d'Ange smells like a dirty, butcher leather. While the leather note here is mostly dominated by its barnyard-y, hay-like facet probably resulted from narcissus, it's juxtaposed with a supple, lightweight, suede-like texture (suederal?). With the presence of the cumin, there's also a clean white musk and vegetal, floral undertone, almost like a floral ivory soap. It's as if Ellena pulled the trick of the juxtaposition of dirty-clean in Cartier Déclaration again in this leather composition, resulting a convincing impression of a finely-cured real leather.
The focus on this slightly spicy, hay-like leather starts to blur with time, as the clean powdery white musk and heliotropin gradually melds into the leather, until it finally becomes a feather-like, abstract, pristine floral powdery skin scent in the late dry down. I can definitely relate to the comparison of Cuir d'Ange as a leather variation on Frédéric Malle L'Eau d'Hiver. The transition happens in an incremental pace, but I would say that starting from the 6th hour, the leather behaves more like a salty undertone undertone.
The sillage of Cuir d'Ange is close to skin, as most Hermès fragrances are; the longevity is around 10 hours on my skin.
In my mind, I would picture Cuir d'Ange as a leather made from unicorn or pegasus skin. It has this ethereal, other-worldly aura, but firmly displays an animalic (not necessarily dirty) aspect. When I try to compare it with other elegant modern floral leather, Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur is handsomely animalic but lacks this strange diaphonous aspect; Penhaligon's Iris Prima is too clean and too abstract as a leather in comparison; Louis Vuitton Dans La Peau lacks the animalic quality despite its realistic leather handbag impression, and its execution as a whole is rather conventional in style. Therefore, Cuir d'Ange strikes me as a rare exemple that manages to unify these two seemingly contradictory qualities. I would definitely recommend it as a graceful, lightweight floral leather, and a gateway animalic leather as well.