Cuir Fetiche

by Musette-with-a-Whip

 

 

 

 

I adore leather.   leather gloves.  I have a glove collection to rival Imelda’s shoes, in all colors and types. Leather dresses.   I wore a Harley-Davidson  black leather evening gown with red leather opera gloves to a conservative charity event.  It was weird – the leather part (the gown design is a plain black v-neck column) – but fabulous.  Biker jackets.  Before ballistic nylon and its ilk, it was the hide that would save your hide in event of an unexpected get-off.   Soft, tough, sexy leather.   The smell of a leather coat worn by a beloved someone.  A tissue-thin evening glove with a hint of skin-scent and hand cream, maybe a touch of perfume.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier has captured all of that in their new scent Cuir Fetiche.     This is one of the sexiest scents I’ve smelled in a very long time, mostly because it doesn’t seem to be trying all that hard, corseted bottle notwithstanding.  The leather doesn’t come on strong at all, which you would think would be a negative, given my love of leather.  But the first, developing notes conjured an almost visceral image :  slowly sliding a soft, glove-leather jacket off someone you adore beyond reason, someone you want so bad it makes your gums hurt and your skin feel just a tad too tight, whenever you are anywhere near them.  That faint buzzing in the ears, where you can’t be sure you aren’t behaving oddly because …..well, just because.  And then.  And then, you finally arrive at a time and place where you can make the buzzing stop – and perhaps the first step is sliding that leather jacket off….

that’s what I got out of it, anyway (“I’ll have what she’s having”).  On first spritz I get a touch of soapy powder over leather but in the time it took me to write that the soapy powder settles down and becomes a very intimate, human-musk skin scent, with soft floral overtones.  I usually hate musk so I was surprised to find it so ‘intimate’ and pleasurable.  Weird as this sounds (and remember, I wore ball gowns to my last office job) I could see how this could work as an office scent, as long as you don’t mind your officemates following you around like snuffling dogs all day long.  Notes are courtesy fragrantica:

Top: red mandarin, bergamot, lemon, geranium
Heart: leather, ylang ylang, jasmine, rose, iris, vanilla
Base: Musk, ambergris, patchouli, cedar, sandalwood.

 

check out this gorgeous bottle!

 

This is my first MP&G so I had to read up on them – Jean Laporte, the former owner of L’Artisan, inspired by Parisian gantiers (glovemakers) who supplied scented gloves to 17thCentury aristocracy began this company in 1988 and apprenticed  Jean-Paul Millet Lage, a former banker-turned-perfumer (at first I read ‘baker’ which made more sense than ‘banker’ but as a machine-shop-owner/artist I am in no position to judge.  Talent and occupation are not always in sync).  Just stop for a second and read that word ‘apprentice’ again.  When was the last time you heard of anybody other than a union tradesman ‘apprenticing’?  In this day and age of instant expertise, the idea of a banker being willing to apprentice himself to a perfumer to learn his craft is ….well, it’s heartening.   I don’t know about his other MP&G scents (but reading comments indicates this is a bit of a polarizing brand, with the soapy and the musk)  but this one is really nice – though it reminds me of something else…the skin-scent drydown, with the touch of leather, is remarkably close to another scent….and for the life of me I can’t remember what it is!  I am going off my notes from a few days ago and am now at the onset of a flu I thought I’d dodged, dammit!  My nose is in shredsI’m not even going to bother trying to do scent-detective work.   Instead…I’m going to do us all a favor and do a giveaway of my little sample.  To enter, tell me how YOU feel about leather.  Or this line.  Or both!.  I’ll have Pickle pull a winner via random.org on Friday.  He will NOT be wearing this:

 

(though Mario is ROCKIN’ this!  Hard!…and c’mon.  I had to include it.  When else would I ever get a chance to use it?)

 

sample: gifted by a dear Perfumista friend                                                                                                                                       (Mario Lopez in Nip/Tuck)

Cuir Fetiche, an Autumn 2011 release,  is not on the MP&G website just yet.  It’s supposedly going to be offered through aedes and luckyscent, though it wasn’t on either site as of last night.

 

Update:  Per a post on Perfume Shrine, M. Laporte died recently.  A sad loss to the Perfume World.  Condolences to his family and friends.

  • Rachel says:

    I love leather scents. Cuir de Russie is my favorite. Cuir de Lancome was an unsniffed purchase that (fortunately!) worked out. Daim Blonde is another one I enjoy.

    Cuir Fetiche sounds interesting. I’ve been wanting to try it since someone mentioned it’s pending release a few months ago. Thanks for the great review. Please enter me in the draw!

  • Johanna says:

    Sounds amazing, I’d love to be entered in the draw: I’d like to be able to smell leather scents without thinking of my ex’s leather jacket, and this sounds just the ticket…

  • Fernando says:

    This sounds interesting. I have mixed feelings on leather perfumes, loving some and finding others a bit harsh. Human skin after leather has been worn on it… I like that description!

    I don’t really know the MPG line that well, and that’s another reason to be curious!

  • Lizzie says:

    I would love a sample of this, please enter me in your draw!

    I’m a total leather hound, and just based off this review and that awesome bottle I may have to blind-buy if I don’t get the sample. :P Just out of curiosity, how does it compare to other leather scents like Bandit, or Cuir Mauresque?

    In any case, thanks for the generous giveaway!

    • Musette says:

      Totally different from Bandit. I confess to having totally blanked on Cuir Mauresque. Bandit has that chilly, shiv sensation, like a cold blade sliding out of a leather sheath. This is more human skin after leather has been worn on it 😕 – yes. that’s it.

      xo >-)

  • mals86 says:

    Babe, I luvs this post. Steeeeeamy. Just the sort of thing I needed to read after writing 15,267 words about teenagers learning to kiss for NaNoWriMo… they have NO IDEA what’s in store for them down the (literary fictional) road.

    Leather’s iffy for me. Like just about everything else, I tend to like it if it’s strongly floral: Cuir de Lancome, Citizen Queen, (vintage parfum) Jolie Madame… Have yet to try Bottega Veneta, which I am afeared that I will love. Bandit terrifies me, and you might remember that Cuir de Russie was for me a Complete Dead Ringer for our cattle working pens (eek!).

    I am up to ma ears in samples and NaNoWriMo, so please don’t drop me into the draw. Just wanted to say this was the best laugh I’ve had in at least a couple of days (and I even watched Princess Bride the other day with Bookworm and PETBoy, so you should be flattered.)

    • mals86 says:

      … um, I was just making it up about the 15,267 words. I don’t actually count words about teenage makeout sessions. REally. Why are you backing away from me? I’m sane.

      Really.

      • Musette says:

        Thank you SO much for that! I let out one of those braying shrieks that scare the dog! (CdR= cattle working pens…:o )….

        the very idea of teenage makeout sessions …….b-( ….yet I remember it being the Very Pinnacle of My Existence, back when I was a teenager (when we weren’t dodging velociraptors and pterodactyls ;))…are you using NaNoWriMo to continue that very intriguing piece you shared on MiWS? I sure hope so. That was some compelling reading!

        xo >-)

        • mals86 says:

          Yes, continuing that story. Will probably post an excerpt on the blog sometime soon.

          CdR has got rawhide, dust, dried manure, cattle fur, iodine, all those medicinal smells, plus the smell of animal fear… can’t wear it. Maybe it’s just me – I don’t think I’ve ever smelled it on anyone else.

          • Musette says:

            YAY! on the story. That really was intriguing. looking forward to it.

            You get ‘animal fear’ from CdR? 😮 day-am. Are we talking the perfume, which is way warmer than the Les E? I don’t have the involved relationship you have with cattle (we have a lot of Black Angus here and they are always crabby and I’m allergic so I stay away. Dairy cows are just so damn BIG! And since farmers don’t like them messed with in any way, I stay away from them too. No 3:-o relationships here, until they reach their end-use stage 😉

            I get just a whiff of iodine in CdR but never associated it with a cattle pen. 😕

            xo >-)

  • Joe says:

    Hi, love. Almost a day late here, but I’ll have to take another little spritz of this before I send it off to a pal. I don’t remember a “I’ll have what she’s having” moment, but it was a nice leather. (No need to enter me in the draw, btw.)

    Now, MY idea of a sexy-as-all-hell leather (just sexy period) is ELdO Vierges et Toreros. Oh, baby! If you haven’t tried it, you have just gotta. Seriously.

    I’m a fan of a few MPG scents. I just got a big bottle of Un Jardin du Néroli for a song a couple months ago — more than a bit soapy, but a fun, green, sorta minty neroli. Secrete Datura is a pretty nice floral melange too — not a photoreal datura, but it suggests that flower. Fleur de Comores is awesome too: a slightly more floral L’A Vanilia, based on ylang ylang.

    • Musette says:

      My sweet darling! 😡 How nice to see you on here! =)) at my quick, careless translation of the EldO: saw ‘toros’ and though Virgins and Bulls??? 😮 That’s not sexy. That’s terrifying! Virgins and Matadores, now that could be VERY sexy in that Madonna video kind of way (that torero is sooo hot!)

      anyhoo, I’ll have to try that. I’m also going to investigate the MP&G line, seeing as I was so taken with this one.

      xoxoxo >-)

  • Ann says:

    Hi, sweets! I’m a little late to your lusty leather party, but this one does sound good, even to the ears of this leather neophyte, though I’m learning to love it in a few things. Thanks for a fun review …

    • Musette says:

      I think leather has to grow on a lot of people – my first couple of leather scents were a big ‘huh?’ and even now, some leathers just smell too…..oily? maybe. I have tried – and failed- with Cuir Ottoman for 3 years now. Time to give up, I guess. And yet it is so beloved of others…

      xo >-)

      fwiw, this is NOT leather in the traditional sense. It’s more ‘sexy skin upon coming out of something leather’ – at least that’s what I get out of it.

      xo

  • denise says:

    If I read that a fragrance has a leather note, I am a goner. I have a fairly big collection of leather scents and I am smitten with many of them. I bought Amouage Memoir Women and Arsene Lupin Dandy unsniffed because I read they had leather notes. I was anxiously waiting Cuir Fetiiche to be released and would love to have a sample. Please enter me in the draw.

    • Musette says:

      how do you like the Memoir? I have a sample but have not gotten to it yet (and right now all I can smell is hamburger grease from El O’s fry-up b-( November: and I have the windows open and the fan blowin’!

      xo >-)

  • rednails says:

    I love leather so much that I’m considering wearing an old bottle of Cachet that I found in my building’s recycling pile because, even though it’s a cheap and trashy dime-store scent, it has a fabulous dirty leather note. Please enter me in the draw.

  • Olfacta says:

    I love leather because it couldn’t be less fashionable.

    • Musette says:

      I was going to use the giggling emoticon but it won’t let me, saying it’s a ‘duplicate comment’ – guess I can’t giggle more than once. :-< xo >-)

  • Scentred says:

    How does this compare to Cuir de Lancome? I LUV CdL and am nearly at the end of my small & much loved decant – which i believe came from you, Ms Musette
    :-) .

    Please add me to the draw.

    • Musette says:

      I think they are somewhat similar – in fact, I am going to take one little sniff of the CF again against the CdL – that may be the scent I’m trying to remember, during the CF drydown!

      xo >-)

  • minette says:

    love leather and loooove musk, so this sounds really good to me. favorite leather scent is cuir de russie by chanel – possibly because it’s so ladylike and sexy at the same time. plus, my grandmother wore it, too!

  • elizrj says:

    Musette, thanks for a lovely review! I started off saying I didn’t like leather in scents, (watch what you say, right?) then I tried Cuir de Russie. Ok, maybe I was wrong? Been working my way through others now, like Bandit and Kelly Caleche. I’m finding myself surprised by the range. I will have to check out this one! Thanks for adding another to my “to sample” pile!!

  • Lindaloo says:

    Read your great review last night, but it sent me off into deliciously distracting memories so “no comment” then.

    I love the scent of leather anywhere, including in leather gloves (which look gorgeous no matter one’s size) and have been spotted sniffing at my hands after removing a pair of gloves to get that lovely lingering of leather on skin.

    I’ve also been wondering since your Hallowe’en post if there’s any old scrap of leather around that I could douse with what used to be my signature scent many, many moons ago — Aromatics Elixir. Just as an experiment :)

    • Musette says:

      You are just Eeeeeevil! 8-x

      :d

      fwiw, I LOVE Aromatics on others – it really is a beautiful scent. On me (or on a leather chair) it’s just A Migraine Waiting to Happen…:((

      xo >-)

  • Tourbillion says:

    When I was in college I lived in an apartment above a leather shop. Whenever I went up the stairs there was the most delicious leather smell. Somehow, leather scents have become one of my favorites. I would love to try this new one.

  • Dana says:

    I love leather fragrances, with Cuir de Lancome being one of my favorites. Would also love to try this. Thanks for offering!

  • LindaB says:

    I absolutely LOVE leather – always have. I wore enough of my boyfriend’s biker leathers in high school to conjure up that smell in a split second. Leather just soaks up the best parts of a person’s smell and holds it forever.

    Would love to try this scent…thanks for entering me in the draw!

    • Musette says:

      I agree. You can pick up a person’s coat yonks later….and they’re still there! 😡 It’s also the same with gloves. I inherited my mother’s glove collection and the cotton ones – poof! she was gone in a flash. The leather ones are like her parachute silk scarves from the late 40s. They still smell like her – and she’s been gone 25 yrs!

      xo >-)

  • Joanna says:

    Just reading your description of the scent makes me want to purr. Sounds devine. Love the scent of leather. I wish there was a scented candle that would make my bedroom smell like a tack room from a barn. :) And please won’t you post a picture of yourself in that Harley evening gown? I worked for a Harley dealership briefly in the gift/clothing section. I hated the job but loved working around the scent of leather all day.

    • Musette says:

      when I’m back to a decent size, yes. I don’t have any photos of me in the gown, alas. When I do post, I will tell y’all the Very Odd Story of how I came to own it!

      xo >-)

  • Janice says:

    I was uncertain about leather as a perfume note but have really come to love several now—Dzing, LL Patchouli 24, Sharif. I like Bottega Veneta, Kelly Caleche, Daim Blond. I like Cuir de Russie but don’t actually wear it, and for some reason have not tried Cuir de Lancome but it’s on the list to sniff.

    Your glove collection sounds wonderful.

    • Musette says:

      :-w

      okay. that’s it! Patch24 is ON THE LIST! 🙂

      My glove collection is extensive-ish. Needs some repair work and upkeep this year. But I do love ’em so.

      xo >-)

      • Janice says:

        My husband calls Patch 24 “vanilla swirled in an ashtray” (and he likes it a lot). I get lots of smooth leather, no patchouli at all.

  • Meg says:

    I don’t think I have experienced a leather fragrance, or atleast I have yet to recognize it in any perfume. So I clearly need this to enhance my perfume education ;)

    • Musette says:

      It can either be a very subtle note or an ‘in yo FACE’ note – much depends on what you’re looking for (and can smell. I’m still trying to replicate the incredible leather hit from my first app of Tarantella! Alas…:((

      xo >-)

  • jirish says:

    Leather was probably my first favorite note, even before I knew it existed in perfume form. I distinctly remember being not more than 10 or 12 and walking by a leather shop with my aunt, taking a huge huff, and saying to her, “I love that smell! Why don’t they make perfume like that?” She mysteriously said, “Who says they don’t?” but left it for me to grow up and discover.

  • Maureen says:

    Wow, what a review… I am definately fanning myself after that.

    I would love to try this fragrance…please enter me and thanks for the draw.

  • Patty says:

    I do love me some leather! Habanita, Bal a Versailles, Azuree, Bandit…. Please enter me in the draw!

  • jen says:

    I feel like smoking a ciggie after that review, and I dont smoke. Love leather.

  • dremybluz says:

    This sounds fantastic. Do luv my leather. Please enter me in the draw.

  • Cheryl says:

    Me too! Love leather and suede in a perfume. Love Dzing. Love Cuir d’Ottoman. Love Cuir de Russie also…though I hate to say the bottle I recently bought at a channel boutique is much flatter than the previous samples I had from ‘tpc’. Has the formulae been changed, cheapened? It’s missing some tiny thing and now seems a might shrill andacidic where it was lush and plush??? Please enter me
    Cheryl

    • Musette says:

      On the CdR, are you talking about the perfume or the Les Exc? I don’t like the Exclusif myself, having always found it missing something – but the parfum! 😮 ^:)^

      xo >-)

      • Cheryl says:

        The parfum is the ULTIMATE. The EDT in the exclusives line…is the thing that some how seems ghosted of some element I believe was there in prior samples…

  • helenviolette says:

    yes, please. I am a fan of the leather! Today I am in the new Botega V.

    • Musette says:

      How are you liking it? I got NO leather from it but to be fair, I had a sinus infection and perfume nose-fatigue so I’m going to give it a try once the sinii settle down.

      xo >-)

  • Alice C says:

    Sounds delicious! I have loved the leathers I’ve tried, but this one sounds special. I would love to try it! Thanks for the chance!

  • bookhouseshell says:

    My leather jacket was my home when I was a teen. It was my armor, my pillow, my blanket, and it had holes into the lining so I could carry 6 bottles of of beer. Please enter me in the draw.

  • Bevfred says:

    OMG, what a review! “When your skin feels just a tad too tight.”
    Yes, yes.
    OK, leather. I too love leather in it’s many forms. I was into leather and lace long before the lace revival. And leather and silk, oh my. Yesterday my perfume was Cuir de Russie, I love Kelly Caleche, Caleche.
    I would love to try the MpG to further expand my repetoire and knowledge.

  • Mrs.Honey says:

    I love the scent of leather, but have mixed feelings about leather perfumes. LOVE Cuir de Russie, like Daim Blond, like Kelly Caleche in EDP not EDT, liked Bottega Veneta although it was not me, but don’t like Jolie Madame and haven’t reacted real well to others I have tried.

    Please enter me in the draw.

    • Musette says:

      You are in – I think, given the ones you do like, that you might like this one. It’s not about the leather as much as it’s about the idea of leather ON someone – if that makes sense?

      xo >-)

  • AubreyZ says:

    *** Can anyone compare this with Bottega Veneta? ***

    I think of myself as someone who really loves leather, because Chanel CdR is my absolute favorite perfume ever. I’d give up the rest of my collection to have it– and as you all know, that’s saying a lot! I’ve tried a lot of other leathers, but nothing else comes close to the feeling of love that I have for CdR. I also love Bel Ami, #19 and Kelly Caleche (especially the parfum). But nothing compares to CdR in my book.

    I drove an hour out of my way on Sunday to smell BV and was instantly disappointed– but over the next 10 hours, I fell for it, and am now desperate to find a swap. I’d put it on my Xmas list, but I don’t think that I can wait.

    You made the MpG sound fantastic. This house really works for me already (Bahiana is brilliant) and this sounds like another winner.

    • Musette says:

      Nothing compares to CdR in ANY book, at least in the perfume. Are you looking for a sample or a FB of the BV?

      xo >-)

      • AubreyZ says:

        I’m hoping for a fb or pb of Bottega Veneta. What’s funny is how disappointed I was when I first smelled it, compared to how much I want it now. I’m not sure that my desire is fully justified after just one wear, but I still really want it…

  • pam says:

    I love the smell of leather and leather scents. Your review makes me want to check this out bigtime! I have a new pair of leather boots in the closet, and they smell soooo good.

  • March says:

    What a wonderful review. I’ve never tried this and you’re making me want to. I remember your story of the leather gown — I want to see a photo, darnit! You must have been HAWT!

    No, don’t include me in the giveaway. 🙂

    I’m a weather weenie (although I might like this one.) I like those softish ones like Bottega Veneta and my BFF Cuir de Lancome, the new version.

    • Musette says:

      I was HAWT. Then I got FAT. So until I finish dropping the ell-bees that gown will remain in storage. ;))

      You would like this, precisely because it’s not all ‘in yo’ FACE’ leather. The leather is more the idea of leather, which is why I was so surprised to like it!

      xo >-)

      • dinazad says:

        Wishing you a financial windfall, so you could have another one made in your present size (with photo, please!). ‘Cos a leather gown on a big girl….WOW! Makes me reach for my ever-present fan….

        • Musette says:

          Well, I’m not ‘good’ big, alas. Naturally Big Gals are so sexy it can stop your breathing. But I’m a Fake Big Girl (avg sz 8-10. Now pushing 14 and my back is achin’!). Once I’m back to regular size I’ll rock that leather dress for y’all. Promise. I’m down half a dress size already! whoo hoooo!

          xo >-)

  • Nita says:

    Marvelous review! I love the smell of leather- but don’t have any leather fragrances. Please sign me up for the drawing!

  • Francesca says:

    Wow, what a sexy, beautifully-written report to read first thing in the morning/1

    I’ve only recently come to the conclusion that I like leather fragrances, too, so I’m very curious about this one. Vintage: Bandit, Jolie Madame and a teensy weensy little sample of Doblis. New: Daim Blond. Would love to give Cuir Fetiche a sniff. I guess a stroll over to Aedes will be in order.

    I own a fb of MPeG George Sand. It’s a great spicy rose, a bit like really good old-fashioned pot-pourri.

  • loverdoll78264 says:

    I too, love leathers. That being said, please enter me in this draw.This one sounds positively delicious.

  • civava says:

    As I’m enthousiastic motorcyclista, a love to leather comes hand in hand with that. But even if i hadn’t been that, I had loved the smell of leather as far back as I can remember. Beside that I also own quite a collection of leather perfume samples. I’m just waiting to win the lottery so I could buy some full botles.:d

  • dinazad says:

    Oooh, that sounds gorgeous! Even if it’s MPG (the first MPG I tried was Soie Rouge, which was AWFUL on me, I’ve been wary of the line ever since, even though I’ll admit that Eau des Iles is wonderful). I love leather scents (although I find Daim Blond a bit too much rotting apricot for my taste) – and the smell of a new leather bag… bliss!

    Off topic (sort of): To my knowledge, Jean Laporte was L’Artisan Parfumeur before he left and founded MPG. Where does the ginormous bottle I found in a junk shop fit in, which states that it’s “Chypre”, one of the “Eaux Orientales” (huh? Oriental chypre?) by Jean Laporte? Maybe one of the wise perfumistas here knows something about it?

    • Musette says:

      Hi, doll! So glad to see you on here. I read that Jean Laporte actually owned L’A which could mean …..WHOA! apparently M. Laporte just died! 11 November. Damn. I just read it on Perfume Shrine as I was trying to get some info. @};-

      xo >-)

  • Gina says:

    Leather is my favorite, and while I have many loves, I’m still searching for The One. I would love to sample Cuir Fetiche (just the name thrills me). Thanks for another great review.

  • Irina says:

    Very inspiring review, thank you and lots of health
    I love leather like in “cuir de Russie” and “daim blond” but I am still looking for “my best loved ever…”
    please, enter me the draw
    thanks

    • Musette says:

      You’re in and thanks for the health wishes. This ick is almost over. Luckily (for this, at least) I am little in contact with others, so don’t often ‘catch’ stuff.

      xo >-)

  • Brooke says:

    I enjoy leather but didn’t realize how much until I looked at a few almost empty bottles – Bel Ami, Cuir de Russie in parfum, Daim Blonde, Smellbent Chastity Begins at Home, and Cuir Mauresque. The only bottle with a sizable amount is brand new…Bottega Veneta. I think I am a bigger fan than I realized!

  • HemlockSillage says:

    Whoa, Nellie! I need a moment to fan myself. Is it hot in here, or is it just Madame-with-a-whip?

    This sounds amazing; thanks for such a fun review. As someone who just upended a sample of Histoires de Parfums 1740 in the bath, I can say I adore leather fragrance. I wore SL Boxeuses today. From soapy leather, to suede, to whip like leather with tobacco and spice, I love them all. I look forward to trying MP&G’s take on this, soonest. Thanks for inspiring lemmings :) Be well.

    • Musette says:

      I KNOW!! I’m blaming it on menopause, meself! ;))

      I love the idea of 1740 in the bath! How luxe! How louche! I’m coming over to YOUR house!

      Your leather range is extensive – and you should try Liz Zorn’s Leather Kreme, which is next on my list of leathers to review. Sigh. I Love My Job! 😡

      xo >-)

  • cheesegan says:

    I LOVE leather. If a perfume has cuir in the title, I want to try it. Please enter me in the drawing.
    thank you.

  • DinaC says:

    I’ve got a developing interest in leather notes. I love Cuir de Russie. I like Jolie Madame very much. (I might love it if I didn’t have a bottle of the modern reformulated version.) I’ve sampled Cuir de Lancome and like that one, too. Sampling the Bottega Veneta is on my to do list.

    I think I’ve mentioned before that my grandfather was in the leather business — he was a salesman that represented the tanneries in New England and sold to garment manufacturers all over the world. So for me, leather is a comforting, cozy, homey scent not a sexy scent. (His home office had stacks of skins and samples, so the basement smelled of it in a glorious fashion.)

    This one sounds good as long as my skin doesn’t magnify the musk. I’ll try to sample it in the coming months.

    • Musette says:

      Your basement sounds incredible! ^:)^ You have mentioned that before and each time I conjure this wonderful vision of a comfy office with a big wooden desk and stacks of skins, just like you describe. 3:-o must’ve been terrified to come anywhere near that house! ;)) (we say that about :@) around here, bacon-lover that I am. The only reason I am not the consort of Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said is that love of bacon. Heartbreaking, but there you have it

      It is said (by me, no less) that I hate musk. And well I do. Which is why this particular musk combo is so startling!

      xo >-)

  • Susan says:

    This is exciting – there is a shop in Austin that carries MPG, so I might actually get the chance to try this one soon! I do enjoy leathers and a leather skin scent sounds right up my alley…

    • Susan says:

      I guess I should add something about MPG since I’ve sampled many of their line – I do own a full bottle of their Tubereuse, which I like very much. I find the line incredibly solid , but it’s very traditional – I feel like the scents are scents a house could have put out for 100 years or more. Of course, that’s really in line with their branding. Don’t go looking here for super-edgy experimental perfumes. But everything I’ve tried here is very solid, haven’t experienced a scrubber in the bunch. There’s definitely an emphasis on florals which suits my predilections. Really excited for this leather one, though.

      • Musette says:

        Susan, I noticed that Austin shop when I was trolling their website. The notes listed in the other frags hint at traditionalism, which is fine by me – and even this one has a traditional feel to it. I get the sense of a corset rather than ‘bondage’ which Fetiche usually denotes (to me, at least). I’ll be interested to see what you think of it!

        xo >-)

    • Style Spy says:

      WTH???? There’s MPeG in Austin!! Wooo-hooo!!! I’ll return the favor – Susan, did you know that there’s a place up in the Domain carrying some Carons now?

      Since I’m here… J’adore le cuir. Perfume, clothes, accessories – lea-thah, baby. Musie, darling, we should compare glove collections. My favorite are my elbow-length black patent leather ones. I have Reynaud’s, so I really should wear mittens, but I can’t bring myself to give up my sexy leather gloves.

      I think my favorite leather frag right now is Patch 24 from Le Labo, which is quite yummily leathery on me. Ambre Fetiche from AG is also pretty wonderful. I only wear one MPeG fragrance regularly, but it’s one of my favorites and an underappreciated darling – Eau de Camelia Chinois. I’d love to sniff the new one.

      • Musette says:

        Black. Patent. Leather. Gloves? 😮

        Several of my gloves are now at the repairer – I actually ‘wear’ them and time and hard goin’s have taken their toll. Little finger splits, etc….once they come out of hospital we will have a party!

        You are another with the Patch 24. I will have to revisit that. See, that’s the weirdness of LeLabo. I steadfastly avoided that, since I’m not a huge patch fan. If I find out it’s leathery on me I’mo slap me so Labo Somebody (whoever they are) :-w

        xo >-)

        • Darryl says:

          Oh, do try the Le Labo – it really isn’t about patchouli at all. The patch just hums gently in the background, rounding out the tarry smoke and woods, grounding the vanilla, and adding to the overall leathery effect. People always go on about birch tar this and isobutyl-quinoline that when discussing leather notes, but I think a good leather fragrance needs at least a dash of patchouli, almost as a seasoning agent, to be truly convincing. Like civet, you might not notice it unless you’re looking for it, but you’d certainly notice if it was missing.

      • Susan says:

        OK, I live right by the Domain and used to work there at one of the stores… and have never tried a Caron (FOR SHAME! I KNOW!). Which store is this? Because I’m so there this weekend.

        The store with the MPGs is downtown… Enchante! They also carry Fragonard, Jovoy, Juliette Has a Gun… quite a few different lines, but a weird assortment IMO. My favorite of the things I’ve tried there have been the MPGs.

  • nozknoz says:

    LOVE leather – from vintage Lanvins like Scandal to SL Daim Blond to Dzing! to Pd’E Cuir Ottoman, I just love it! And this one sounds like it would take some of the crankiness out an old bat, so I could really use that sample.

    • Musette says:

      From one COB to another ;))

      I just revisited Daim Blond (more on that next week) with surprising results. Cuir Ottoman :-< ....... you know, based on your and Darryl's comments, I think I might do a post on leathers that work (on me) and leathers that don't! see what the rest of you have to say about it! What do you think? xo >-)

      • nozknoz says:

        I think that’s a GREAT idea, Musette! It would be really interesting to see how the results of what works and doesn’t among the Posse. I’ll be watching for this one!

  • (Ms.) Christian says:

    Whoo. I need some cold stuff on my pulse points after THAT review, Musette! Goooooooood writing! #:-s

    • Musette says:

      well, and I thank you! Read Darryl’s comment above yours for even more pulse-quickening prose! We are such a bunch of sensualists!

      xo >-)

  • Darryl says:

    I can take or leave most so-called “sexy” perfume notes and accords – amber, musk, patchouli, tuberose, what have you – but a good leather note hits me straight in the groin, bypassing most (if not all) of my critical thought and faculties. Little can top a well-done leather fragrance in terms of sexiness, intelligence, and pure wrist-huffing nose candy. I adore leather, in every flavor – new-handbag leather (Kelly Caleche, Bottega Veneta); smokey leather (LL Patchouli 24); smooth and unsettlingly industrial leather (Bulgari Black); outdoorsy leather (Azzaro pour Homme, Aramis); musky jacket leather (Fahrenheit); and the bitterest, greenest face-slap leather (what else…Bandit). You have borne in me a most terrifying lemming, Musette, and for that I curse and thank you. Sign me up for that draw!

  • I love leather. I won’t carry anything but leather handbags. Or wear anything but leather shoes, and well, yes, leather gloves. I also ride (a motorcycle, not a horse), so leather is my winter go-to jacket. When a lovely, sensitive vegan wrinkled her nose at my jacket and gloves, I did have to suggest that I had not fought my way up the food chain to wear a plastic jacket. I digress. This sounds heavenly, but the musk put a dead stop to it. Musks and I don’t like each other. Not skin musk, not white ‘musc’, not musks at all. Sigh, it did sound lovely.

    • Musette says:

      QC, I didn’t know you ride! What do you ride? El O and I are avid riders (well, we were – now all we do is work – but when we don’t work, we ride!) I have a Road King, custom painted in retro aqua/white….

      I nearly spit out my coffee at the ‘top of the food chain/plastic jacket’ remark. SO true.

      I’mo put you in the draw anyway. I am well known for my musk-hatin’ ways…..which is why my delight in this was so stunning. So ya nebber know…:-? if you win – and you hate it- you can delight some other perfumista!

      xo >-)

      • I’m trusting you on the musk. It’s true, you never know. And, despite Luca T’s head-shaking, it is an individual chemistry thing.

        I ride a Honda Shadow 750–nimble enough to be comfortable to handle, big enough so I don’t look like a bear on a bike. And it’s a cruiser, because I really don’t want to pick my ovaries out of my ears after a ride. A custom painted Road King is a sight to behold!

    • March says:

      Seconding the lulz on the food chain/plastic jacket line. I hear you. We don’t eat much meat at all, but I love me some leather. Although as I said below, not particularly in perfume.

      I’ve spent years looking for the perfect, legit black leather motorcycle jacket — a vintage one, already worn in from use, not too overloaded with doodads and with the proper zippers. Not for actual riding, obviously. But they’re always either a hair too big, or they’ve got that weird lady’s-style thing where the jacket is cropped too short. I need one from a teenage boy or something.

      • I found a great leather jacket in a vintage store in the Del Ray section of Alexandria–on Mt. Vernon Ave, about 5 years ago. Store may be vanished. It was a man’s jacket and a bit big and I took it to a shoe repair shop to have it altered. He did a perfect job. But it’s very, very heavy. Vintage motorcycle jackets are made with full hides, not split ones, so it’s an upper body workout to wear it.

  • Catherine says:

    This is brilliant news–as a lover of leather fragrances, I have to check this out in Paris. Even better, I wanted to peruse the glove selection at MP&G, so I can do both at once (I’m thinking a beautiful pair of gloves might be an excellent souvenir from Paris–and it seems you might agree, Miss Glove Collecteuse).

    • Musette says:

      There is nothing like a well-made glove to put a fine finish on an outfit, imo. My mother left me a lovely collection of gloves and I have added to it over the years (as well as being gifted with gorgeous gloves in remarkable shades and styles). Even though Envy Is A Sin I do envy you going to MP$G – I would bankrupt myself, I fear!

      xo >-)