Cuir Sacré

It reminds me of my beloved Oud Wood from TF with a prominent leather accord, and for that reason alone...it is gorgeous. Edit: As much as I love this scent, it barely has any projection whatsoever. It stays a skin scent the entire experience. What a shame...

I was kindly provided samples of a few offerings from Atelier des Ors by a blogger friend(thank you!). Here is my experience with Cuir Sacré: On my skin, Cuir Sacré is primarily a vetiver fragrance, contrary to what the name might imply. At first glance (or sniff should I say), the fragrance seems quite linear and simplistic. But upon close inspection, different notes do demonstrate their distinct facets even though they're overall very well blended. Cuir Sacré opens with aromatic, fresh, almost crisp juniper berries and vetiver. The vetiver here has some of its woody, salty smoky ham-like aspects, grapefruit-like sourness and even mineral tonalities, but it feels essentially awashed and pale. It recalls to me the bleached vetiver in Frederic Malle Vétiver Extraordinaire, a type of vetiver interpretation that I have had hard time with. However, what makes Cuir Sacré much more interesting and wearable for me, is the wonderfully fleshly cardamom-saffron-creamy leather accord that I also enjoyed a lot in the opening of Lune Féline. The spices here are much more demure than in Lune Féline, and the leather is more like an abstract velvety texture. But they effectively cast a soft tanned glow on the pale face of vetiver. Cuir Sacré doesn't go under any significant change once all the elements are in place. I can catch glimpses of the green woody sparkles of cypress, but generally speaking, the fragrance remains a gently spiced vetiver through and through during its 8-hour longevity. The sillage is also quite intimate. It generally stays very close to skin, and the fragrance feels rather airy and transparent. Because of my personal preference to a darker, more robust vetiver interpretation, Cuir Sacré ultimately doesn't suit my personal use, but I thouroughly enjoyed the delicate yet carnal cardamom-saffron spices. I would definitely recommend it as a modern, sleek vetiver fragrance, especially to fans of Vétiver Extraordinaire but would like a bit more sensual warmth.

Cuir Sacré is said to be inspired by the town of Cordoba in the South of Spain. I don’t know from Cordoba, so I called up some pictures of Moorish architecture and put on Spanish Castle Magic*. Turns out it’s very far away; it takes about a half a day to get there. Now that I’m in the mood, let’s get sniffing! It starts off with a sharp herbal spike (the juniper, I assume; I mostly know juniper through my consumption of martinis, so my knowledge of the scent is…hazy). There’s a slight soapiness, but it vanishes quickly. The next thing I notice is a hint of what I think of as “swimming pool,” a note I’ve smelled in more than a few leathers, particularly from Floris. There’s also a surprise “skanky” quality that is, to my nose, the dominant note of the first hour. Where the hell did that come from? After about 15 minutes I start to smell the rubbery kind of vetiver (one of my favorite scents these days) that becomes the core of the fragrance, at least on my skin (on paper the notes are the same, but vary greatly in prominence and duration). Towards the end I start getting the cedar and, perhaps, cypriol. I don’t find any incense or saffron, at least not in the way I normally understand them. Good news/bad news: This is obviously a nicely crafted perfume, well-blended and with good ingredients. Longevity is excellent, too, such as it is. And by that I mean to say that a modest application of Cuir Sacré quickly becomes a skin scent. If you’re a projection queen this is really going to cost you in sprays. Speaking of which, Atelier des Ors doesn’t come cheap, so I guess it’s appropriate that the brand is really digging the gold theme they established with their name and adding little gold flakes to the bottles. It’s a little silly, yes, but I bought a bottle of Fragile back in the day, so far be it from me to pan the gold. Besides, it’s not like that $1.18 in gold flake is what’s driving up the price here. If you like a good leather/vetiver and you’ve got the gold, I say go for it. *One of two songs about castles on the Jimi Hendrix album “Axis: Bold as Love.”

Not being able to enjoy a fragrance because of how weak it is , it’s considered a 🟥 flag for me It smelled nice in the opening and then no mid and no dry down almost disappeared I didn’t like it since iam a power freak If you appreciate weaker fragrances give it a try

An exceptionally uncommon fresh leather fragrance that feels more like an incense based Oriental. This fragrance inspired by the perfumers travels to the Andalusian region of Spain begins with an interesting opening of cypress, cardamom and juniper berries and moves to a heart composed of incense, saffron and cedar before settling into a base of leather, vetiver and cypriol. The unisex perfume is blended beautifully and offers moderate sillage and lasting power. Unique, mysterious and evocative, this is a very different take on a leather perfume that evokes memories of a horseback journey along tree laden forests. Very unusual and very interesting. Enjoy!