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Cuir de Chine Les Indémodables 2016

7.4 / 10 118 Ratings

A perfume by Les Indémodables for women and men, released in 2016. The scent is floral-leathery. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Floral

Leathery

Fruity

Spicy

Green

Fragrance Notes

Chinese osmanthus

Chinese osmanthus absolute

French clary sage

Turkish light tobacco absolute

Egyptian jasmine absolute

Perfumer

Florence Fouillet

Ratings

Scent

7.4118 Ratings

Longevity

7.090 Ratings

Sillage

6.591 Ratings

Bottle

7.369 Ratings

Value for money

5.949 Ratings

Submitted by KingLui, last update on 10/10/2025.

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Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/28/2025

9Scent 6Longevity 4Sillage

Chrysoptera
105 Reviews

Chrysoptera

Helpful Review 3

Osmanthus and loose tobacco

Osmanthus is the star of the show, and it's giving apricots and leather. So beautiful. Underneath there's a hint of tobacco, more loose tobacco than smoke. Like some of my other favorites from Les Indémodables, Cuir de Chine's appeal is in the simplicity, elegance, and high quality natural ingredients. I think this is quite masculine but that won't stop me from wearing it because it's just that good.

12/01/2024

8Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Ninamariah
282 Reviews

Ninamariah

2

It's all about Osmanthus, dirty leather, not so much Apricot like aroma

Besides Oriental Velours , Cuir de Chine is one of the simplest scents from Les Indemodables. There is a leather note which is typical from Osmanthus and there is a fruity kind of aroma which is a little bit dirty and not so attractive. An utterly light tobacco is lurking in the background but it's not smoky. For those who are not so familiar with Osmanthus, main accords look really misleading - this is definitely not traditionally fruity nor even traditionally leathery (like Osmanthus never is). The scent is made of good quality ingredients like all from LI but I'm still disappointed with this and it's a way too simple and boring. I realize that I'm not the right target group, because either I miss a little power and complexity in fragrances made from such natural ingredients, or the scent has to be a solifore of one of my favorite notes. I think this is more masculine and it's really great for work where you can't smell much, because the scent is completely intimate. Longevity is moderate.

Osmanthus alcoolat Chine Grand Cru 10%,
Jasmin absolue Égypte fin de récolte Grand Cru 1%,
Osmanthus absolue Chine 1%,
Tabac blond absolue Turquie 0.2%
Contient de l’essence de Sauge sclarée des Alpes*

Thank you for reading, I hope you liked my review.

11/09/2022

7Scent 6Longevity 5Sillage

Kurai
388 Reviews

Kurai

2

Fruity-tobacco osmanthus

An osmanthus from Les Indemodables. Not just any osmanthus from the IFF catalogue, but "Chinese Osmanthus alcoolat Grand Cru 10%". Just so you know. Admittedly, I was pretty excited to get acquainted with this one after being blown away by Ambre Suprême. In anticipation of my first wear of Cuir de Chine, I figured this could either go far out with insanely twisted ratios or stay "true to nature" and end up overly timid.

The opening is a soft fade-in of fruitiness. It just keeps getting stronger until one finds him-/herself in apricot jam galore. This eventually settles down again and then transitions nicely into a grey-brown shade. Not so much leathery to me, but I do clearly get a tobacco note and even some clary sage. From here on, everything stays very mild and yeah more "true to nature" than insanely twisted. A fresh-fruity floral with a brownish base.

A fine view on the osmanthus note without any surprises, really. Lacking a bit of excitement even, so I am not really convinced so far. I do suspect this may work better in warmer days, though, so I am not giving up on this one just yet.

06/10/2025

ClaireV
969 Reviews

ClaireV

1

Herbal Essences shampoo over surprisingly gamey leather

This is an interesting one. At first spray, an explosion of apricot-scented shampoo bubbles and Galaxolide musks comes spilling out over me like I’m in one of those Herbal Essence ads, so I shuffle the index cards in my head until I find the slot where I’d file the sort of clean, fruity-soapy osmanthus tea thing that Jean-Claude Ellena would classify as ‘un parfum d’après midi’ and wish he’d thought of it while he was at Hermès (except, he did, and it’s called Osmanthe Yunnan).

But not so fast, lady! A surprisingly gamey leather accord quickly elbows its way past the pretty apricot, and lest we make any mistake about it, this is the pungent odor of raw leather rather than the smoothly-shaved and powdered pudenda of Tom Ford lore. For a while there – an hour tops – Cuir de Chine lurches between peach shampoo and grimy chaps until I feel like I’m Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (‘She’s my sister’ *Slap* ‘She’s my daughter’ *Slap* ‘She’s my sister…’ *Slap*). The scent eventually gentles itself, the pungency of the leather burning off into a soft suede accent that might be mistaken as a naturally occurring feature of osmanthus oil, whittling down into a tandem of equal parts suede and osmanthus (‘She’s my sister and my daughter’). I like Cuir de Chine a lot; it adds something new to the genre. I do wish it lasted longer, though (this is the case for most of the Les Indémodables line, by the way, apart from Vanille Havane and Chypre Azural).

09/02/2025

7Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

xtermn8
168 Reviews

xtermn8

1

I expected to hate it, but it's actually okay.

Personal: 7/10 - I expected to hate it, but it's actually kinda wearable and not... bad.
Mass appeal: 6.5/10 - Leather scents always polarize people, and this one is no exception.
Performance: 7/10 - Average, which is disappointing considering the notes.
Value: 3/10 - Over $300 for something particularly mediocre is heinous.
Uniqueness: 7/10 - It's not often I smell an osmanthus fragrance, but it's balanced unlike some leather fragrances.
SCORE: 61/100

Full bottle buy? NO, not at this price.
Blind buy? NO, osmanthus leather isn't blind-buy safe as it's particularly herbal leather.
Recommend? YES, if you want something a bit leathery-herbal and fruity without smokiness.
Date night? YES, it's a smooth romantic vibe, but don't overspray this one.
Office safe? NO, too leathery and bold for the office.

Pros: Smooth, wearable, herbal-ish take on leather. Well blended. Smoothed out by fruits.
Cons: Hideously expensive, not THAT unique, and not universally likable.

I expected to hate it given I don't appreciate osmanthus as a note, but I don't mind it here. It's a more vegetal, herbal leather to my nose, but the presence of fruity accords helps to balance it out. It's fairly smooth, a bit unique, and pleasant enough that MOST people will enjoy you wearing it. Just be careful, as this one could be very cloying if oversprayed. It's not a sharp, smoky, or otherwise offputting leathery fragrance. Some may appreciate it.

A leather I don't hate. But I also don't really like. Not sure when I'd reach for it.

*Review #29 in my fragrance journey - this fragrance I own as a decant*