Fruit Leathers

Posse!… it’s January in the Midwest.  Leather Weather, right?  Welll..Not So Fast.  Here’s the thing: in the deep depths of Winter the ‘typical’ leathers, those heavy hitters like the Cuir de Russies (alladem) Mme. Laurent’s Treizieme Heures (yikes!!!) and the brutal, birch tar bases are a little…dare I say..brittle(?) at least on me.  Those big’uns do better in the blinding heat of Summer – again on me.  Ymmv.

What really works for me in the Right Now, uplifting while cosseting me in soft, weighted cashmere, are the warmer, fruitier leathers.  Leading that pack is Uncle Serge’s gorgeous Daim Blond, which brings up my lunch in Summer (go figure) but I wear in great swathes ( a LOT of swath!!!) this time of year.  In fact, I was wearing it whilst reading Tom’s fabulously funny post on DB and Miel!  I’m wearing it again this morning, as I look out onto sopping-wet snow falling from the skies like somebody’s paying it to do so.  Grrrrr!   But it’s Sunday, I have my hair in a mask and heat cap (oh, Sunday, Sweet Sunday! when nobody rings your doorbell).. my toes are done and my larder is full (it’s SNOWING!!! and I only have SIX POUNDS! of coffee!  Oh, the humanity!)… and I am soaked to the gills in Daim Blond.  A lesser, saner person would be choking in it – but I’m greatly insane and nobody’s around so (insert Uncle Serge-level DNGAF here).

Cuir de Lancome is another one perfect for this type of weather.  Created by the vaunted Calice Becker (and an unknown-to-me perfumer, Pauline Zanoni), the notes are (per Fragrantica) mandarin orange, saffron and bergamot; middle notes are patchouli, hawthorn, jasmine and ylang-ylang; base notes are orris root, birch and styrax.  Those notes combine to create a soft, juicy-light leather.  Smells like when you take the soft leather jacket of a very attractive man (to hang it up, obviously)…and catch a quick whiff of clean, male skin scented with some warm citrus… okay maybe that’s just me.  But that’s what it smells like, while still smelling very feminine.  Huh.  No matter how weird that sounds, I likes it!  I would spray CdL on a man I found attractive but I don’t want to end up in the back of a SWAT van.  Or out of a job because I cannot get out of bed.  Okay, maaaaybe that last one.  Life is Uncertain.  Live it!

One more – and one I dare not spritz on a man I want (unless we have a LOT of time.  Like days.).  Killian Hennessey’s Dark Lord. Created by my beloved Alberto Morillas, who knows a thing or two about sophisticated fruit notes.  cinnamon wrote about this, piquing my interest.  So.  Got a sample from Surrender to Chance….HOLY KAPOW!!!  “Dark Lord “Ex Tenebris Lux’ is a gentleman of the night. Meet him in the most surprising of circumstances and his mystery slowly unfolds: A head-twisting mix of shadows and light, it seduces in seconds with its elegant, long-lasting accords of leather and strong vetiver, its jasmine drenched in rum, and a dandyish entrance of bergamot and pepper.”

okay – the Killian copy is a bit over the top – but …well, not really.  I’d meet that gentleman any damb night…and take my chances.  It’s fruity – but a dark alcohol-soaked fruit (a signature Hennessy note and one that M. Morillas wields, deftly, like a rapier) .  I’m sure the vetiver is there (it would need to be, to anchor this gorgeous thing) but it’s subtly, perfectly blended, which makes me happy, as vetiver isn’t my favorite note.  I get smoked cherries and a touch of smoke-other (the vetiver, I’m thinking).  You’ve bumped into this man on a dark street, on a cold night.  A big man. Elegant..with a hint of danger about him.  Silken, ebony hair. He is clad in a midnight grey cashmere greatcoat, with a leather vest underneath, atop a heavy linen shirt.  The heat coming through the leather brings with it that scent of smoked cherries (a pipe? just out of a smoking club? his natural scent?  who knows)… he reaches out to steady you and the heat of his grip is enough to sear your soul.  A quick twist of terror. Then a feeling of complete safety.  Then that hint of danger. A roaring of lust.

And then he’s gone.

At least that’s what I get when I put this on.  Ymmv.  But lordt JAYZUS!  I hope not.  Unless what you get is even better!  Then I’ll have what you’re having.  For a more erudite take, read Mark Behnke’s beautiful post here.  I’m gonna go take a cold shower.

Those are 3 of my favorite fruity leathers.  Do you have a favorite (or 3?) When do you wear them?