Leather Blended Softly, or “Maybe This Costs A Lot For A Reason”
When I started looking into fragrances and the industry and the Big Three Suppliers and all, I was under the impression that despite how much I loved good smells and smelling good, the business of it was a racket. Surely there isn’t much originality after all these years, and the ingredients are probably a high margin thing given how expensive a bottle is, et cetera et cetera. And in some instances this take’s right. Not every perfumer is giving it their all every time; not every creation is done for the sake of self-expression or art; maybe we’re being played by factories. I’m sure Ropion wasn’t putting all his time and energy into every Y Eau de Parfum variant. Sometimes an industry that’s putting out artistic expressions is just putting out the product they think the people want.
And yet here I am with my third bottle of Penhaligon’s: an expensive company owned by another company, making fragrances that don't usually break the mold so much as recreate vintage ideas, and also a niche house that fights similarly to Chanel to discourage reselling at lower prices. Surely I could find an affordable traditional fougere with some leather instead of a more leathery Endymion; that’s like an entire decade of men’s fragrances in a nutshell. Some of those are twenty bucks at any pharmacy. I could simply buy a bunch of cheap bottles, given samples aren't really available and decants are silly to order when they're nearly the price of the bottle to make and ship, and throw the bad ones out, maybe.
But here’s the thing: I haven’t liked just about any fake-leather fougere/fresh scent I’ve come across. "Paradigme | Prada" tried it with geranium and leather, and it dried down to Bad Aggressive Felt. Tuscan Leather Eau de Parfum, Ombré Leather (2018) Eau de Parfum: couldn’t even find what they meant by leather, it was just sweet. Same with Fahrenheit Eau de Toilette and Fahrenheit Parfum, two fragrances I was psyched to check out given the cries of "oh no, it smells like gasoline" (I would love that!), only to find a bit of mild fleeting sweetness on me. Sky almost does leather-fougere with some lower-grade labdanum, but it’s a bit harsh and the whole thing is fleeting. Speaking of fleeting, Spicebomb Dark Leather almost nails it, and it disappears so quickly, leaving you with pepper. You’d think Labdanum 18 Eau de Parfum would be a fresh leathery curiosity, but not really, it’s soft and sweet. Although I'd say 18 came closest to a good one for me. Not my thing, but close. I haven't gone out of my way to try Memo Paris' many leather variants like Irish Leather Eau de Parfum, or the bold Matiere Premiere Falcon Leather Eau de Parfum while we're at it. But we're in niche, pricey territory now anyway; what's the point? And oud and I don't get along, so there's no Leather Oud or Oud Stallion for me. I still have my eye on Attaquer Le Soleil - Marquis de Sade but I'm not optimistic about liking it given my cistus experience. The old 80s favorites don’t hit the same either; possibly because they haven’t been the same since the industry left animal products behind. This may be at my leather issue's core: the pleather chemicals and pleather incenses being used aren't for me. Usually. Like, 99% of the time. The "mostly vegetarian diet unless I'm too picky to get the one thing on the menu" part of me fights with the "I love the smell of a good leather jacket" part too often on this issue.
And just like when Penhaligon’s made me like a rose scent with Much Ado About the Duke, here I am with Endymion Concentre, in all its costing-too-much glory, because it made me like this non-animal-product suede for the first time, proven wrong about my learned preconceptions. And like with my other "Well, guess I'm just going to empty my wallet" moments with Penhaligon's, I couldn’t tell you why; what's different, what proved me wrong. I can guess: I think their lavender is a kind that I'm into (there are different kinds!), blended well enough to balance the pungency of leather aromachemicals, I think their bergamot is exactly the kind of dry bergamot that I like and brightens the leather up (Penhaligon's seems to use a peel-derived bergamot frequently, where a lot of bergamot notes come across as "citrus juice"), I think the frankincense is super understated to bring just a bit of wood to it, the geranium isn’t forward enough to punch you in the face but enough to make the florals just a little prominent. And I love a good lavender, a good bergamot, and grew up with geraniums. So you’ve got me there.
It doesn't have the maximum sillage you'd need in a nightclub or a crowded city; I'm also someone who doesn't like announcing their arrival, loud noises, or crowds, so while that's fine with me, this isn't necessarily Hit The Clubs material for someone who loves that. And then the drydown is leather/suede, right? Like everything else! But I do really like *this* leather/suede. It’s got a particular personality that works for me. And that has to do with both sourcing and blend; human work that’s tough to come by. And expensive to keep on staff. Maybe that’s why this is expensive. Or maybe they make this stuff specifically for older men while others shoot for youth, for virality and virility. Or maybe I’m a mark. Either way, I now have 100ml of a great thing.
