by Moosette

Aiiyy!  We are having That Midwest Weather Thing again.  Hummingbirds and margaritas one minute, Dorothy Gale and heavy socks the next.  (at this rate we will have sweet corn in September).  Dang (stomping back up the attic stairs to pull the hoodies back out).  I was all set to review some classic leathers in the heat but Nature has other plans – so I’m going to review niche leathers in the blustery weirdness.  Leather is a note I absolutely adore but don’t always want to wear (except vintage Diorling which I hope to die in sometime way down the line).  And for me they, like oudhs, work best in extreme heat but your mileage may vary.  I’m reading the latest issue of Shotgun News, hence the gun references.

So let’s start with Heeley Fine Leather.  I didn’t even know this existed – I was in Barneys, sniffing Oranges and Lemons Say the Bells of St. Clement’s which, btw, bears a shocking resemblance to 4711 – a reverse “If You Love _________”.  Musette says: save your simoleans, go to Loehmann’s and get the Real Deal for $19.99.

Sorry.  Where was I?  Oh, yeah.  Heeley  Cuir Pleine Fleur, aka Fine Leather.  Bradley spritzed this on me and I was pleasantly surprised!  I’ve had troubles with Heeley in the past, with Ophelia boring me to tears, Cardinal making me sneeze, etc…and then O&LStBoSC just insulting me….but this one, Fine Leather?  It’s really nice.  It’s a soft, flowery leather, not chilly, not oily and there’s a nice powdery aspect to this that makes it a bit more ‘femme-y” than some other leathers but has just enough of the butchy stinkeye to keep it interesting.

Gun quotient: If someone stuck a shotgun in my face and said I had to buy a Heeley this would be the one.

Notes: violet leaf, bergamot, mimosa, aubepine (acaccia), hawthorn blossom, birch, suede, vetiver, cedarwood, castoreum.

Mark Buxton Hot Leather.  I got this in a split – tres cheap, thank Floyd. Oh, Mark.  I expected way better from you.    ‘tis neither hot nor leather.  It’s a lukewarm attempt at ‘cool’, like somebody threw one of those cheap cowhides on a shiny vinyl floor and tried to make it look Bauhaus.  It’s not bad-smelling, don’t get me wrong.  It’s a very nice Generic Masculine-Pretty that has some pretensions to elegance – Tony Curtis wore something like this in 40 Pounds of Trouble, I’m sure of it.   Only his was cool.

Gun quotient:  It would have to be a Very BIG gun.

Notes: citrus, bergamot, coriander, mandarine, orris, jasmine, patchouli, cedarwood and vanilla.  March reviewed it here

Tom Ford Tuscan Leather. Maybe I’m just crabby…but Tom Ford gets on My Very Last Nerve.  I want him to stop preening, take a shower, put his clothes on and act like he’s got some sense.  Then I smell something like Tuscan Leather and I’m reminded that the world is full of  non-greasy, sensible people – and very few of them would have the huevos to create what he does.    Love him or loathe him, we need narcissistic freaks like Tom to keep things interesting.  Tuscan Leather is interesting.  A smoky-woody leather, it’s bling-free, elegantly dry and simple, with all the complex bits on the inside, like a bespoke suit or a vintage Roadster or a swan.  For women this is the perfect leather to wear with an Anne Fontaine pintuck blouse at work and a black sheath and some chunky gold jewelry come nightfall.  For men, it’s a perfect scent, period.  Thanks, Tom.  Sorry I skeeved on ya.

Gun Quotient: No ammo need apply.  I would happily wear this, though I would rather save for a new 12-gauge than for a  full bottle.

saffron, raspberry , thyme, olibanum , jasmine, leather, black suede and amber.

Liz Zorn Sonoran Leather. Yeah, y’all know me as the Liz Zorn FanGirl Absolute.  So it’s always a surprise when I put this one on – and am immediately freaked out.  There’s a whole lot going on here, upfront.  I get jams and plums, cowhides and smoke andfireandtarandsoundandfury(pant!pant!) and it’s terrifying and I always want to cry because I’m so used to loving her stuff and I love leather and……and…then I scrub it off so I don’t have to think about it anymore.

A mistake.  And one that I’m glad I was forced to rectify last night.  Wore it après-bain. I was so whupped that I could barely crawl into bed.  Forget getting up to scrub.  Too early to sleep, too tired to think….I read some more Shotgun News and a Brad Thor novel and about 40 minutes into my settledown I brought my wrist up to my nose, wondering ‘what the heck is that incredibly beautiful…?” …It  smells exactly like a Baja California night or how March always describes New Mexico.  Mesquite? No.  That’s barbeque.  Pinon!  Yes, pinon. Or juniper.  That oily-citrus tang.  Just a touch, with those little flowers that always dot the desert floor whenever it rains.  Butter-tan cowhide drying by the fire.  Rough but so rich.  Then just smooth and beautiful. This is a challenging one to wear, going in but I do think it’s worth the effort.   Give it time to drydown and smooth out – once it does it will transport you to a midnight-blue, starlit desert sky.

Notes from Liz:

Leather (suede) Choya Nakh, Birch Tar, Tobacco, Cinnamon, Cloves, Animal Musk Accord, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Tolu.

It also has Jasmine and Rose in lesser amounts.

Gun Quotient:  Her prices are sane.  No armed robbery necessary.  Shotgun (and Shotgun News) safely back in the cabinet.

What are your leathers?  Do you have a particular Leather Weather?  I know lots of folks love ‘em in the winter cold – not meee!  I like ‘em HOT!

ps.  I was going to rave on about the leather note in Tommi Sooni Tarantella but I’ve never been able to replicate that first experience, where the leather just glided in, midway, and gobsmacked me. I’m starting to wonder if I made that up…

When I read on Now Smell This about Australian niche house Tommi Sooni´s fragrance debut – a chypre called Tarantella, targeted at women age 25+ and inspired by a walled garden in Avignon full of native plants from Sicily – I was thrilled. It sounded like a far cry from most of the new batch of releases here in the U.S., and I´m a sucker for a classic-style perfume. So I emailed and asked for a sample of the fragrance, named after the Sicilian dance. The only remaining question being: was it any good?

The notes for Tarantella are neroli, galbanum, aldehydes, Sicilian mandarin, muguet, orris, rose, frangipani, Egyptian jasmine, clove, laurel, honey, leather, amber, oakmoss, sandalwood.

Looking at that list gives you an idea of the classic form of the fragrance, and while it is sensual, it’s a spill of ruffles more in the direction of Balenciaga Le Dix than something more dark (Jolie Madame) or imposing (Diorella). The galbanum and muguet give Tarantella a cool, green opening, and I find the aldehydes to be extremely moderated, so if you don´t love them, you don´t have much to fear here.

Reviewing the company´s marketing materials, I was worried the green notes and the “Sicilian flora” were going to translate into a sharp, herbaceous opening popular in some green chypres, the sort you get with bergamot, clary sage and/or a lot of citrus (and here´s lookin´ at you, Aromatics Elixir and Ma Griffe). Even from the opening, the rose, frangipani and jasmine set the tone with a playful, sensual sweetness. I admire Aromatics Elixir and Ma Griffe rather than enjoy them, so I was happy. The spice notes appear after a few minutes, the aldehydes fade and the green notes become more muted but still present, and at that point, 15 or 20 minutes in, the fragrance reaches a balance between its elements of green, floral, and chypre. The leather is soft and cured rather than bitter, and its arrival is quiet. It´s a smooth fragrance, and over the course of the next several hours it fades as a whole, rather than leaving me with just the base notes.

There´s nothing “light” about Tarantella, but it has a youthful charm. It adheres to a classic type while possessing a modern, unfussy feel. I think it´s lovely, a fragrance that would fit in with, say, the Teo Cabanel line. If you like your chypre on the soft, pretty side (more Molinard, less Sisley), this would be a fine one to try.

Tarantella is an EDP ($165 Australian) available from Peony Melbourne. I got a sample by emailing Tommi Sooni here.

Dancing the tarantella: virtualitalia.com; Tommi Sooni Tarantella, tommisooni.com

And furthermore …. Allure does it again! The current issue with Mariah Carey on the cover (and Mariah, call your lawyers, because that photo is terrible) has an excerpt from the eagerly anticipated Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, with a taste of the reviews (quick — what’s the relationship between Tommy Girl and Mariage Freres?), and an article with Sophia Grojsman telling us how to apply fragrance, and a short on berry-note perfumes that manages to cover Teo Cabanel’s stellar Julia. There must be somebody over there who’s really interested in fragrance.

March