Saddle

I absolutely ADORE this one! Bravo Demeter! I spent many years as an equestrienne and if you took hyper-diligent care of your saddle, THIS is what it smelled like. DEAD ON. I poured this stuff on my arm, buried my face in it, and let the memories flood back. The leather, the soap, the chemicals. MMMMM delicious. I could practically hear the horses.

I am absolutely crazy for the smell of leather so I was looking for something like that for my husband for Christmas. The best leather scent I have found has been "Weathered Leather" by Scentsy. Now of course that is home fragrance so that would not do (even though it is by far and large the most real leather scent out there! seriously it is amazing) so I turned to our good friends at Demeter. Now, I know they used to have a scent just called "Leather" a few years back that was popular but has since been discontinued so I read the reviews on "Saddle". "Riding Crop" and "Russian Leather" and Saddle seemed to be the closest to what I was looking for. Since this is a present for him, he hasn't tested it yet so this review will be how it smells on me, which is unfortunate because he is a perfect scent canvas- things tend to smell cleaner and more true to bottle on him and last forever. My skin tends to drink up scents and disappear quickly and I turn a lot of thing bad! So here goes- When I first sprayed this on I did get a good amount of leather scent but there was an overshadowing sweetness to it. Many described this as a "saddle soap" or "leather soap" smell. Well I wouldn't know anything about that so I'll take their word for it lol. Unfortunately on me, the leather just doesn't come through enough, it's cowering in the background- hiding behind this sweet scent that to me smells a lot like Dr.Pepper. now after about 20 minutes of wearing it is all but gone and I have to sniff very deeply. I hope this is better on him! Dearest Demeter- Please please please pick up a bar of Scentsy's Weathered Leather and make that into a perfume! I think a lot of us a looking for just that!

This one had a really STRONG paint thinner / Sharpie marker smell. But after a few minutes, ends up smelling like leather! A really authentic leather. I was pretty surprised. After another 10 minnutes or so, i can detect something smokey in there. Something about this makes me think of Black Afgano. All of this doesnt matter though. Why? Because you need to jam your nose into your skin to smell it, and its completely gone in about 45 minutes...completely!

Accurate smell of saddle soap for cleaning tack. Pleasant association but it is quite a harsh chemical almond and not a classic leather smell for most.

Harsh chemical leather smell, almost like amaretto really. Pleasing. Lasts couple of hours.

this one actually does smell like leather! but it's overpowered in the opening by a soapy, windexy scent, sweet and sharp. this does fade away after a bit thankfully, and then it's not too bad. a little synthetic, a little bit new car, but also a touch of hay. it really does have a horse thing going on! it's both the most leathery and the most interesting of the demeter leather offerings! might actually wear this and use it for layering

For all those looking for ever stronger leather note; for those living their perfume obsession as if it were some kind of extreme sports, here it is. Wash yourself in an industrial-grade polishing liquid. It's a lesson in overdosing, and a reminder that Demeter is a Library of Fragrance after all, devoted to recreation before composition. When I spray Saddle on my wrist at home, suddenly everyone gets alerted. The strange thing is, after the first ten minutes, a sudden addictive clarity emerges. Chemical components settle down, and there's this pure, uplifting, almost refreshing note remaining - "pleasing", "delicious", in the words of previous reviewers. What is it? I guess it's because the different kinds of handwork this smell is suggesting can be deeply satisfying, we can all feel that somehow; the smell itself being a necessary prerequisite of the craftsmanship involved. This is not a perfume, but it's great.

One of the very best leather scents. It's absolutely spot on. Zero on the birch and the smell of wood-fires, this is a spanky, leather trousers scent, and yes, it is just a tad horsey. Think Motorbike Leathers. New ones, in the showroom, on the rail. It's only a short step of the imagination to hitting that electric start and tearing off for the weekend with a tent and a meths stove in your top-box/tank bag. One of my eloquent friends provides the most fulsome chatter for a fragrance such as this: "troosers Modum?? troosers?? does Modum like the clenched tightness of leather round her milky thighs does Modum?? Is that what Modum likes is it? The whiff of slain cowhide strapping Modum's nether regions in tight? Is that what Modum ENJOYS, is it Modum? ENJOYS the feel of her pelvic regions caressed by a nicely tanned pelt?? Oooo! Suits you Modum suits you.... " Genius. On all counts. Pure genius.

If you can get over the screechy beginning, after about ten minutes it settles down and it's almond and a bit of leather. It lasts on my skin for about two hours. Still trying to find a perfume that smells like actual leather.