Second Skin

I ordered four samples from Anna Zworykina Perfumes. I have sampled two so far - Second Skin and Cuir de Russie - and based on my experience with these two, I believe I have found perfume heaven. I want them all. Full bottles. Life-time supply. I imagine that this was the quality of the first perfumes ever produced. The quality that vintage perfume chasers are forever seeking but never quite able to achieve due to the nature of scent. The quality that new brands could never hope to come close to achieving and frankly, don't bother to. The naturalness of each note is incomparable and worth every cent. About Second Skin: it is a musky oriental (?) balanced by heady florals (tuberose and Jasmine- but not too much!) crisp geranium, and spices in a perfectly balanced smoky medley. Patchouli and cedar play dominant roles in this perfume as time passes. Syrupy, smoky, heady. Delicious. I put a question mark next to my category 'Oriental' because I looked to see how Fragrantica categorized this scent and saw "Leather." The sum of the parts is leathery, but I do not smell a separate leather note. Sillage is about 5 " inches from the skin. I was so excited about this perfume that I started my review one hour into wearing it, so I'll return at the end of the day to edit my review to include longevity. Vintage lovers...try out this line! Zworykina's site is very helpful in choosing your scent - notes are listed and olfactory notes are categorized. I am in the USA and waited patiently for my samples from Russia to arrive. Truly worth the wait. End of day: Longevity: maybe 5 hours. Dry-down is soft bergamot and tobacco leaf. Close to the skin. I hope that the other fragrances last a little longer and are stronger, but boy, when this is on, I am in heaven.

Ambery indolic floral leather I dislike the first hour of it. The dry tobacco and indolic aspects of white flowers create some slightly animalic facets that remind me of warm caviar. On the way to the drydown, the floral heart gives way to mossy, woody and herbaceous notes (typical AZ's accord). Dusty labdanum and immortelle are particularly prominent and make it feel warm but The Second Skins still remains more austere than HdP 1740, a fragrance that features similar notes and parallels it in some ways. Eventually, it dries down to dry cedar and mosses with lingering around labdanum. From what I understand it was meant to be a lighter leather scent without any smoke and other overwhelmingly dark notes and she surely accomplished it but it's not my cup of tea. If you like white florals (and actually know what they smell like in nature), then go for it.

Second Skin opens with chype-style bergamot top note along with an aromatic tea accord, green bitter Artemesia and smooth creamy sandalwood followed by a floriental heart with noticeable thick creamy slightly green tuberose, sweet orange blossom, spicy floral carnation, bitter dry tobacco and hints of immortelle and cedar. There is an illusion of a soft leather accord, think of the soft leather accord in Cuir d’Ange, it is very different from the usual smoky tarry leather that the perfumer usually uses in many of her compositions. There is a beautiful interplay between the floral sweetness and tobacco dry bitterness in the heart. The fragrance finally moves to a mossy chypre base of labdanum and bitter inky oakmoss with hints of musky ambrette and an animalic note reminiscent of castoreum.