Leather Oudh Orientica 2018

I would like to take this opportunity to wish the community all the best. I have been a silent reader for almost 2 years and am publishing my first review here. "Yes yes, first review and declaring a leather perfume without rose or powder as a granny fragrance, can't be anything with that..." one or the other may now think. Come on, let me explain...

My grandmother lived on a small farm that we often visited when I was a child. Animals had not been kept there for a long time, most of the land was leased out and only a little was planted in a small, separate garden. The buildings were still standing, of course, and a rarely used old tractor was parked in a garage. And I mean really old, with a crank at the front of the engine to start it. It probably wasn't particularly big, but at 5 or 6 years old - combined with the urgent warning not to play there! - he was a metal monster in my eyes. A behemoth with a certain tendency towards incontinence, as it occasionally leaked a little oil, but absolutely awe-inspiring to my young self. I then recovered from my daring adventures (which mainly consisted of staring at the machine one meter from the gate) at Grandma's kitchen table with a glass of homemade blackberry or raspberry syrup dissolved in water and cookies.

Time jump by over 2 decades. Grandma is no longer alive and I haven't seen the farm for a long time. I found out about Leather Oudh through Parfumo and ordered it for a ridiculous €7.50. Up until then, I had no experience with leather fragrances (apart from the smell of my leather jacket in the wardrobe) and couldn't imagine anything at all about this scent. The first two sprays on my forearm were a kind of culture shock; when I first inhaled, I was latently overwhelmed, but immediately had the thought "You know this from somewhere!" in my head. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and took another whiff. And in my mind's eye I was back in that yard, bright sunshine (it didn't rain for 10 years in my childhood, really!), the metal monstrosity lurking in the darkness of its cave. It smells of engine oil, steel, the old rags hanging on the wall that have taken on the smell of the tractor over the years. The smell of raspberry syrup wafts over from the kitchen, distant at first, but then stronger, clearer. And immediately memories of my blessed grandma came flooding back, of her face, her food, sitting in the TV chair while I played with a wooden train set.

So my assessment is anything but objective. Objectivity is virtually impossible with perfumes, but the kind of images and memories that Leather Oudh triggers in me are unlikely to occur in many people. At least as far as H/S/PL is concerned, however, it should help some people: 3 sprays of this fragrance easily survive the two-hour drive to and from a metal concert as well as three performances (as spectators, mind you!) in a cramped, stuffy venue. After 13 hours and probably just as many beers, it is still easily perceptible, the performance is already bordering on beast mode. Anyone looking for a 48-hour fragrance is welcome to deduct one point, for everyone else: H/S: 10/10. I don't think I need to say anything more about the price/performance ratio.

TYes, that's it for me. The grandma fragrance, without any rose or powder, but with lots of grandma. I miss you. Thanks for reading!