Cuir Cannage

Cuir Cannage is significantly better than what I had initially thought. I was very young in my fragrance career. This was actually my first experience of a high end fragrance. I believe this was back in 2015 and I had no idea what Iris or leather smelled like. So I did not enjoy it at all! I just simply wasn't ready for it. I'm so happy that I did not throw it away or sell it. For some reason I always thought Christian Dior was higher quality if nothing else and I wanted to hold onto Cuir Cannage just in case I wanted to come back sometime later. And here we are! 10 years later and now I am a fragrance aficionado. I can say with 100% certainty that this fragrance is exceptional. I am aware that it is still not for everyone, and I do not recommend that you purchase before sampling it. However, if you are a fan of smooth leather and iris, it's very difficult to go wrong here. I have not smelled Dior Homme Intense unfortunately, but I assume it is similar and perhaps was supposed to be a substitution for this. Now they are both difficult to find! How ironic. But of course there is a reason for that. It's classy and elegant. If you are sick of the sweet and almost immature fragrance releases as of late, this might be a little relief for you. It is for me. I'm glad I have it and I will be searching for a full bottle. Not going to lie however. I'm going to purchase Patchouli Imperial first if I can find it. I freaking love that thing. And of course Mitzah if I can find it. A few others. There are so many truly exceptional fragrances from this line and I have no idea why they stopped making them. All of the new stuff lately is trash I'm sorry to say. I really am because I like Francis. They are just not even in the same vicinity. If you guys have not tried the original fragrances from the line you are doing yourself a disservice. Figure out a way to try them out and then come back. Cuir Cannage should be applauded and then immediately added to your collection. Along with everything else from Francois Demachy.

Despite Dior's usual over the top rhetoric, Cuir Cannage is neither original nor groundbreaking. There are a fair few floral leathers around, so it's best to dispense with the notion that its blend of notes "open up a whole new realm". All the same, Cuir Cannage is beautifully crafted. I've read both below the line and elsewhere that the opening could be considered 'assertive', but on me it's not full-bodied at all. A little boisterious, certainly, with clear barnyard elements, though this barnyard feels aired-out with the animals having bolted a while back. If there is an issue it's that the composition is somewhat imbalanced at first - a whole lot of leather and very little of the floral component. Turns out it's just a case of the notes needing to settle into a natural order - which is all of 15 minutes. Thereafter you get the best of both worlds. The leather is generous and plush and, much as I'm loathe to reference it, indeed smells somewhat like the inside of a designer handbag. I like the analogy of a wallet with a well-worn character and charm better, though. (Hey, I'm a guy!) In terms of texture I get pebbled instead of smooth, probably my muddled way of saying that Francois Demachy has managed the *ahem* tanning aspect of the fragrance quite masterfully: a fully-formed leather that still manages to subtly retain its rawhide origins. The final stage of the treatment process is a smoky birch overcoat. The florals are also excellent. Orange blossom is most prominent, followed by iris; jasmine, rose and ylang-ylang are difficult to isolate but it's not a source of criticism or frustration here. On the contrary, it wears wonderfully on skin. The best surprise is that there are ocassional breakouts of freshness from this bouquet, as if a self-regulating mechanism to ensure that any danger of the leather building up too heavily is avoided. Clever and creative in one. Projection is minimally intrusive, longevity excellent. One of my favourite releases of 2014 so far.

While Cuir Cannage may not be among the most original Dior releases, it is my favorite, second only to Eau Noire and overtaking Dior Homme Parfum. I'm not a fan of this house, but I love what they did with the early Privee line. Many critiqued Demachy, but he had a good run at Dior. Now, "Captain Diabetes" is in charge, and if you could still get perfumes like Cuir Cannage in Paris before, Kurkdijan decided to make it easier for you and completely terminate the best scents from an already elusive line. As I said, Cuir Cannage doesn't bring anything new to the leather genre. Yes, it was inspired by Chanel's Cuir de Russie and then sits right in the same lane as perfumes like Knize, Tabac Blond, Cuir Mauresque, and Great Britain, but for me, it shines more than the others. It easily tops the Chanel; it is less sweet/syrupy and more about the leather compared to the Lutens (which I owned, wore, and loved for years), and it is not as powdery and floral as the Roja. It walks the perfect balance between a smoky/ashy leather with woody and musky undertones and beautiful floral notes (orange blossom mostly with some ylang and iris). It is assertive and even slightly aggressive, but never crosses the line. It is elegant and sophisticated but knows how to make a stand. For me, it plays the perfect tune. The right amount of everything, while nothing feels out of place. I like the dry and ashy aspects of it, but also the oily-sweet muskiness it dries down to, with just the right amount of birch. I don't find it overly floral and detect more of the orange blossom over the iris and the ylang-ylang, especially in the opening and through the heart, while the base is more about the smoky woods and faux castoreum. IG:@memory.of.scents

I'll compare Cuir Cannage to Cuir de Russie: Cannage is bigger, bolder, not as dry, far 'oilier' than Cuir de Russie, and somehow gives me a kind of 'waterproof' sensation, like the leather is airtight, squeaks and creaks when it moves, kinda impression. think Cannage is whiter and brighter as well, and not as smokey as CDR. I've never felt a beluga whale's skin but the supple, white, slippery leathery feeling I get from Cuir Cannage had images of Beluga whales swimming around my head. I love my Cuir de Russie (before the bad new EDP reformulation) but I admit that its just so painfully subtle and quiet that Cuir Cannage is really coming in handy when I want a classic floral leather that isnt so retiring. Also, people in wet climates will understand how dry scents get wiped out in the rain. Cuir Cannage stands up to wet weather when Cuir de Russie disappears. There's also a hot-cold vaguely mentholated accord to Cuir Cannage that is really interesting and modern to my nose. It's also long lasting and has a wonderful smokey, cold-creamy dry down to look forward to. EDIT: Shop around for this if you can, I tried Cuir Cannage and the standalone Dior boutique and it smelt quiet different than what I tried at Nordstrom. Quality control seems to be an issue.

This is a lovely fragrance and has many stages of development. The broadest description I can summon is that strikes me firmly as a very high quality Nag Champa incense stick, unburned. It launches with a blast of orange blossom and ylang, rounded off by a thick powdery iris note, and contrasted by the astringent woody birch. It smells like a blend from 100 years ago, in a good way. As it develops, the powdery vibe grows in intensity, woods surface, and I detect a whiff of patchouli mated to a clean fruity accord, as gentle sweetness pokes through. Stage three evokes aromatic spices; cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, and a creamy delectable musk seems to magically appear, the combination evoking rice pudding. The musk grows in depth, reminding me of hyraceum, maintaining a purring animal warmth in tandem with the floral bouquet, violet, and anise, as sweetness subsides. This is the most sensual portion of the journey, which gently drifts off cleanly over time leaving behind only faint traces of flowers. This is gorgeous. It really stands out from modern trends, and avoids those same pitfalls.