Chanel
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Mandarin and bergamot burst forth with immediate citric brightness, caught almost mid-air by a peppery leather that's simultaneously rough and elegant. The orange blossom adds a creamy floral texture, but the leather swiftly establishes dominance—this is unmistakably animalic and unapologetic from the first breath.
As the citrus retreats, jasmine and ylang ylang emerge from behind the leather rather than softening it, creating a strange, almost discordant dialogue. The florals remain woody and slightly green, never becoming sweet; rose joins as a structural element rather than a romantic one. The leather deepens into something almost skin-like, intimate.
Birch wood becomes the sole voice—slightly peppery, faintly animalic, remarkably restrained. The fragrance becomes a whisper, a distant memory of leather and something faintly woody-floral. Longevity is minimal here; this is a fleeting composition, gone within 4-5 hours, which somehow feels intentional rather than a flaw.
Cuir de Russie is a fragrance that refuses to whisper. Jacques Polge has constructed something deliberately austere here—a leather composition that treats florals not as softening agents but as counterbalance, the way a jeweller might set rough diamonds against polished platinum.
The leather dominates from first wear, but it's an unusual leather: birch-wood derived, slightly peppery, almost animalic in its rawness. It's the scent of a worn saddle or well-used gloves, not the synthetic suede of modern fragrances. Beneath this, a triumvirate of white florals—jasmine, ylang ylang, and rose—emerge not to romanticise but to create friction. The citrus top (bergamot and mandarin orange cut through with orange blossom) arrives bright and almost discordant, refusing to smooth the leather's sharp edges.
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3.8/5 (140)