Guerlain Cuir Beluga, Dior Cuir Cannage, Hermes Cuir d’Ange
A vanilla and powder lover’s dream, soft suede leather perfumes
approximate the delicately-gloved rich lady who does not want to smell
dirty and animalistic. Guerlain did it the best: Cuir Beluga is all
about heliotrope and vanilla, with tiny wisps of amber and something
slightly earthy rising from time to time. Yes, it smells a bit like
pastry but there is not much sweetness there. All the powder-leathers
smell more like cashmere sweaters and the inside linings of suede coats
than anything in the dessert range.
(photo via canalblog)
Hermes continued its slight and airy fragrance line with a non-leather leather called Cuir D’Ange. So appropriate, if you ask me, to name the perfume in honor of an angel as it is a whisper of a scent that lifts the mood on puffy wings of fluff. Heliotrope works its magic here too. The notes speak vaguely of violets and leather but to me this is more of a light suede perfume with a crispness that is usually not found in skanky leather perfumes.
(photo via Olfactics)
Finally, Dior’s leather take is more traditional but nowhere near the birch tar masterpieces of yore. Yes, that note is present, which gives Cuir Cannage a bit more body, but there is that same soft suede note tempered by powder. It is the most leather-like out of the three, and in terms of lasting power and sillage, also the best.
(photo via gheir.com)
Will
leather lovers be satisfied? I doubt it. These are more for the leather
haters who like the idea of leather but not the tanned-hide and pee
reality which is hidden by other scent notes, but always pleasantly
present. There are hundreds of beautiful leather perfumes: these three
are the surrealist takes on the theme.
ScentedSalon