Hermessence Cuir d'Ange

The master of minimalism does it again, with a fragrance unlike much of his previous Hermessence works. Here we look at leather in a different light, diminishing the libidinous qualities and the sexual timbre of phenolic-driven leathers, often layered with hints of super sweet fruits and rectified birch tar smelling like sweat and shoebox. I can’t recall an Ellena fragrance that uses predominantly a leather composition, so I naturally looked forward for his take on it. Like most of Ellena’s Hermessence work, he always has a certain angle to a perfume. Iris Ukiyoe was inspired by Japanese watercolours, whilst Poivre Samarcande was inspired by a grand oak tree that eventually grew ill outside of Ellena’s house. The tree felled, and released a scent Ellena loved and recreated through fragrance. Thus, Cuir d’Ange is inspired by Ellena’s great love of literature, and his deep affection for the works of Jean Giorno and in particular Jean le Bleu which mentions the term cuir d’ange, or angel leather. Jean-Claude wonderfully implies that he himself is an author – but uses smells and scents as his words. And hence, Cuir d’Ange is poetry for leather on skin – a seamless duet, balancing between romanticism and tautness. A novel take on a leather fragrance. Deceptively simple, I pick up two accords from Cuir d’Ange: The first is a leather accord of superlative degree. It is supple, smooth and hosts an airy richness. I am instantly reminded of handbags; the best kind of course. Hermès is a house famous for their leathers (I personally love their silks too) and they use an assortment of amazing calf leathers with an amazing sheen quality to it, with a persuasive sturdiness. I am particularly fond of their colourful Ulysee notebooks with a delicious leather cover and the revered Sac a Depeche, which I call colloquially: the male Birkin bag. I have delineated my love for Hermès leather because of the quality and in turn, the quality of its scent. Jean-Claude explains how leather innately contains immense complexities, with very delicate floral nuances. Ellena visited the trove of leathers stored by Hermès and was captivated by the luxuriousness of it all. He explored the subtle differences and the differing smells each piece of tanned leather contained and found that “The most expensive pieces smelled of flowers”. Leather innately has a restrictive feel to it, a sense of tension and constriction. The robusta and gusto of leather is romantic when it smells worn in. Cuir d’Ange opens with a dizzy and imperceptible floral accord (the other accord) lifting the leather to its angel status. Diaphanous yet imperative in achieving the desired effect, the florals give a saccharine tang against the leather backdrop; like flowers in a leather vase. A clean style of musk is obvious throughout the life of this fragrance, hinting at tobacco and beeswax subtleties and connotations. I am also fond of the use of heliotrope, giving the old school melancholy feel, entwined with fleshly hawthorn flower that opens with a note reminiscent of sesame seeds and a very light eugenol clove giving warmth and radiance – I get a metallic jump from the violet used, only adding to the skin and leather effect. Cuir d’Ange also has a soapy quality surrounding it, as if rough skin has been scrubbed and polished to buttery state. Cool tones of iris, suede, heady narcissus and a contrasting bitterness are also to be found, and together smells like copy paper and new books. It is creamy without the usual vanilla, and that’s rather pleasing to smell from time to time. This fragrance is narcotic for sure, and very comforting. I love to contrast this against Tuscan Leather by Tom Ford, with this being the romantic fragrance, and Tuscan Leather being the raspberry and raunchy driven aftermath. The overloaded musk gives Cuir d’Ange its romantic appeal, with the dry leather as well being tempted by a pale almond note. A leather made into watercolour. Very well balanced. 4/5

I believe Cuir d'Ange is Ellena’s best work. Despite being considered by many as one of the greatest perfumers of all time, I am not a fan of his “watercolor” style. Alas, there are a few compositions signed by him that I love. And while I enjoy Ambre Narguilé more, I have to bow my head to Monsieur Ellena for his tribute to leather in Cuir d'Ange. I believe this was meant to be a response to Chanel’s Cuir de Russie and Dior’s Cuir Cannage. Of course, Hermes did it in style, with Cuir d'Ange. I also believe it was the last perfume Jean-Claude created for Hermes. What a way to pay tribute and end such a prolific collaboration. The perfume is not overly complex, and the name is well chosen. This is how I’d imagine a fragrance called “Angel Leather” ought to smell. It presents a clever duality between this gauzy, dreamy, dusty floral part and the robust, textured, and salty leather; light and darkness. And to my nose, it boils down to this interplay of leather and hawthorn. What an unconventional pair. I love Hawthorn; the smell and the taste of Hawthorn bee pollen. Various perfumes did a great job in mimicking an accord, but none that I come across thus far has been as precise as Cuir d'Ange. Jean-Claude brilliantly renders this accord, and it encapsulates many of these fascinating flowers' facets: sweet, almondy, bitter, green, slightly medicinal, musky, and powdery. With clever use of musks, he further veils the accord and gives it a nice lift, like Angel dust. The leather component makes me think of fine leather goods, as only Hermes knows how to do. It’s devoid of smoke, while there is a prominent salty quality that I absolutely love. It hints at human skin, making for quite an intimate touch. When I first tried Cuir d'Ange, I was taken aback since I did not expect Hermes and Jean-Claude to present such a crude and assertive leather. There is a slight stable-like and rural vibe to it, but in the most elegant way. After all, this is Hermes. I find it interesting how there isn’t much talk among “Cuir aficionados” about this perfume, despite being one of the most brilliant, definitely skillful leathers around, in my humble opinion. It is a true testament of “the materials are important, but the nose is the most important.” And it does not resemble any other perfume. Clone houses seem more preoccupied with duping Ambre Narguilé, the darling of the line. However, true connoisseurs know about Cuir d'Ange, and the ones I know and value hold it in high regard, deservedly so. If you fancy yourself a Cuir lover, you have to sample this. It is not only one of Ellena’s best works, but I believe it is one of the best leathers ever made. IG:@memory.of.scents

In some depictions of Michael the Archangel we see God’s General wearing gold armor with brown leather straps holding it in place. Odd that such a heavenly power would be wearing such earthly things, but if he did and if the leather had a smell, it would be Angel’s Leather. Cuir d’Ange is not powerful in the way we would associate Michael or most modern leathers, but there is an unyielding confidence and tenderness to it. To my nose this is less about the leather than it is the very clever and very beautiful materials that help bring it to the fore. The trick Ellena employs to do this is apparent in a reading of most of the non-leather notes of the pyramid: hawthorn, ambrette, narcissus, heliotrope, and musks. Experienced noses know these profiles have very similar notes. Hawthorn evokes a sweet and floral tonality with a warm, nutty dullness and a bassy sublayer of musky, rotted kitchen compost. Ambrette? Musks and nutty warmth. Narcissus? Sweetened florals with a hard and dull green edge. Heliotrope? Almonds. Musks? Gray animalics that sort of live between the compost and the ambrette warmth. You have the picture I think. Leather and hawthorn are the most readily identifiable and complete, which is an inspired pairing. My family had a dogwood tree and the smell of its flowers was challenging, and very similar to hawthorn; it took years for me to appreciate its strangeness, and longer still to love it. It wasn’t until I experienced Cuir d’Ange many years later that the combination with leather would hit me like an epiphany, and I love Cuir d’Ange for that revelation and for so convincingly bringing back those memories of that weird but beautiful tree. The leather is steered in the direction of lady’s handbag without going too far in that direction to knock it off the unisex line, and it has the hawthorn’s notes to thank for this effect. The balance with its feminine side is achieved with an effervescence of powdery and rooty orris, a natural bedfellow to leather in perfumes, and in Ellena’s lightweight and transparent signature. It is a gorgeous, restrained, celestial leather that is just the right amount animalic, just the right amount musky, and just the right amount sweet and floral to feel like a tender embrace. Ellena is quoted as saying "I wanted to write a poem to rekindle the love duet between leather and skin. Its softness and lightness, its tension and its caress through leather and musk." He nailed it. Beautiful work.

Cuir d'Ange was probably the only Hermessence that made me swoon on my first smelling. It's austere, with just the barest hint of a floral married to what feels like an extremely carefully balanced leather accord, presumably made up of several leather-oriented materials and arranged delicately like a house of cards. It's minimal, yet also thick and rich, not particularly angelic to my nose per se but rather does evoke luxury leather goods very effectively. There's just the barest hint of trodden earth, and an ever-so-slight animalic component to this waxed, smoothed and cured leather note. And yet, I find when I wear it out and catch it in the air, I don't enjoy noticing it. It's really quite inexplicable to me, as the smell itself I think is fantastic, but there's something happening on an emotional level here which just doesn't resonate for me. It's not even the meta-knowledge that the perfume comes from a house known for its odd snobbery, nor the heavy attempts at evoking luxury. There's just something dour, almost cynical to my nose in the way it smells. This is not a joyful leather, but it's not a beautifully solemn one either, rather there's an almost nihilistic quality to its minimalism, its enormous coating of wax. Perhaps it's the smell of the artificial attempt at preservation? The "over-curing" if there is such a thing? This is not a leather jacket for spilled drinks and kissing boys, it's a pristine handbag which will be offended at the slightest scuff or dust mote. If she'd only undo her top button I might be able to enjoy it but, alas, I'll stick with White Suede and Daim Blond who don't mind having a good time when it counts. A cold love from me.

dear fellow fragrance enthusiasts (u know who u are!) ive to share my experience and i hope this will be applicable to evryone and not just me. ive noticed that after i store my perfume in a glass display cabinet in room temperature (not even a temp-controlled room), my perfumes have becoming pleasantly concentrated and intensified my les exclusifs edps are all becoming super-intensified and all the good elements in each of em are beautified (for example, the patch in my coromandel edp is now insanely pronounced, the leather in cuir de russi edp is becoming even more animalic, etc) and this beauty!!! when before i seemed to struggle just a bit with performance (same goes with ambre narguile), now both of them are insanely long lasting. and strong. for the first time today i almost choked someone with this one with my usual 3 sprays (not something that im proud of but, yeah!) i dunno if this wud have any negative impact on the perfumes age-wise (i hope its not!) but i would say its a very welcome side effect. afterall, we will never stop experimenting when it comes to fragrance rite? we are all freaks one way or another. as for this beauty, one of the best leather fragrances that have ever existed.

I'd like to say it reminds me of an 18th century French aristo slapping me in my powdered face with his lambskin glove. But it doesn't. It reminds me of my mum when she was dressed up for an evening out; or me going through her handbag when we were bored in church and she had lipstick on (ignore the incense). Soft, supple, expensive leather handbag, with lipstick and powder. Must be up there as one of the best 'we-tried-to-make-it-smell-like-a-real-thing-and-succeeded' projects. A remarkable feat. The name neatly sidesteps just calling it 'Nice Smelling Handbag'. Cuir d'Ange manages to feel light and airy whilst still being rich and sumptuous. A worthy successor of Cuir de Russie, albeit in a slightly different vein and toned down a few notches. (With CdR the notes stick out and contrast more; with this they sit more in the same place and blend in...just like smelling angels instead of Russians...?) Both are divine. Despite this, the leather in this just keeps it unisex enough but only just with the powder pulling in the opposite direction. I have to admit I do feel a little saucier in CdR though. I don't often yearn for floaty handbag but if I did this would be number one.

An impeccably-crafted diaphanous abstraction. Utterly beguiling, supremely elegant. Cuir d’Ange opens with a dizzy and indiscernible floral aldehyde accord. Distinguishing itself immediately, hawthorn lends a sweet, fleshy waxiness to the opening. A flood of dry airy leather that smells simultaneously refined, purified, and indicative of birch wood follows. All the while, a clean musk carries through, hinting ever so subtly at tobacco and beeswax. The result is a conceptual suede-hawthorn accord reminiscent of the buttery suede lining of a pair of finest Hermès kid gloves. Cuir d’Ange is relatively linear in its evolution; instead of developing new characteristics as it ages, it waxes and wanes to amplify the cool nuances of iris, heady narcissus and a contrasting clove-like bitterness before hiding them once more amongst its clean, wispy suede-hawthorn accord. At times melancholic, at others romantic, Cuir d’Ange is soft, sheer, and effortlessly elegant. Certainly unisex, if leaning slightly masculine. Suited to cool weather wear. Longevity is moderate, sillage is moderate-cum-soft by the second hour. 8.5/10

Cuir d'Ange strikes a perfect fragrance harmony. There are leather notes, but it's not crass; floral notes, but it's not flowery; powder notes, but it's not stuffy; soapy notes, but it's not a bathtime smell. It does bring to mind a supple leather - perhaps one of the Hermes bags that pairs leather with cotton or linen. It's enchanting, and so, so sophisticated. It does start more hawthorne heavy and eases into the leather (on my skin). It has decent lasting power on me. Again, remember it's part of the Hermessence lines, so it's not going to be baked into your clothes for days. I get whiffs of for around 6 or so hours (especially with a few sprays on my neck). If this were in a lineup, and someone asked me to identify which scent was called Angel Leather (assuming I hadn't smelled this before), I would immediately choose this one - so, there is some truth in advertising (figuratively at least). I would highly encourage anyone to whom a soft, supple, smart tender floral leather scent appeals to sample this one.

My grandmother's makeup powder and the inside of a leather purse. Soft and smooth and very pretty - I'm surprised because I usually don't like these types of scent. There's a slight mimosa/honey/almond from the hathorne mixed with the powdery melancholy of violet and heliotrope. Nostalic scent. I think this has to be sprayed heavily to get the full effect. My dab sample was dissapointing - just a makeup-powdery violet with a smidge of suede. I'm so glad that I went to Hermes and got a spray sample. The anise aspect of the heliotrope and the cumin-y undertone really comes out when sprayed on clothes. When sprayed on my skin, I get lovely wafts of violet, hawthorne, heliotrope and leather. It's really not my kind of scent, but I can't stop sniffing it. I think the nostalgia and the fact that it's powdery yet delicately effusive (and never chalky) keeps me sniffing!

This is by far one of the most stunningly gorgeous fragrances I have ever encountered, and of all of my Hermes fragrance collection, my absolute favourite. It would be my signature fragrance, however I have had either no feedback when I wear it, or the odd negative feedback. ‘It’s too leathery’ or ‘all I smell is leather’...’the leather smell is quite strong’ in the comments here are baffling to me. Maybe don’t review or test a perfume with the word ‘Cuir’ in the name. And for those of you who smell paper or CARDBOARD...please move on...this treasure is wasted on you. This IS a unisex fragrance and easily worn by a man...think George Clooney or Bad Bunny! Elegant men. Classy men. Sophisticated men. Really one of a kind perfume and not to be compared to anything else leather. Another Ellena masterpiece. 9.5/10 darlings.

I think we can agree that Hermes conjures up thoughts of understated taste, elegance and a touch of mystery. On my skin, the narcissus seems more animalic than the musk. It just seems to keep blooming as the musk is content to give the leather center stage. Narcissus can be a scene stealer, and I think it is here... giving the leather a run for the money. I love this composition. The fleshy blossom is a perfect counterpoint to the leather; and almost as potent on my wrist. I know the guys seem to love this (and it is unisex) but this bottle is mine, LOL. People do like to characterize perfumes, myself included... I'd conjure up our first visage of the real Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown.

Every time I’ve worn Cuir d’Ange I’ve loved it more and it's become a winter staple of mine. Elegant, soapy, quality leather. It settles beautifully on skin, simple, a little cool in tone. Here's the hawthorn and brown, earthy narcissus with a demure violet. There are little powder flecks of heliotrope in the opening, no sweetness though. Cuir d'Ange starts soft, quietly floral before moving closer to the saddlery, becoming more of a traditional peau d'Espagne, waxy and woody. Overall smoother, more airy, heavenly perhaps, than its competitors. It’s a polished production as befits Hermès. I think it's bewitching. The best of the Hermessences and one of the great leathers.

This wasn't an instant love. It was slow burning. To be honest, my initial reaction was of mild disappointment. I was smelling a luxurious ointment or moisturiser, not a high end perfume. Remaining curious, I've exhausted my sample and I've moved beyond my early reservations, beyond simple appreciation for this wonderfully restrained elixir and now firmly embrace my love for this scent of ethereal beauty. The soft suede, insinuatingl, warm musk and puffs of floral powder aren't going to appeal to the huge sillage boasting attention seekers out there. This is a scent for you and anyone lucky enough to be within close quarters.

An accord that smells like the inside of a luxury leather bag tinged with floral perfume. Starts with a blast of soft leather and white florals. After it blends smoothly into florals (violet, heliotrope, hawthorn), leather and white musk. If you stick your nose to your arm and be super critical about this, you get a hint of spice (i.e. cardamon or cumin) and the smell of “skin”, but mainly a modern, almost linear, soft leather fragrance (which to me isn’t a bad thing). Refined, Angelic and dare I say - expensive smelling. A classic year-round fragrance and a potential signature for those that can afford it.

Leather but through JCE’s perception Floral but in a good way nothing overwhelming It’s an incredible fragrance but at what cost ? As good as it smells but still toned down for me I really appreciate the perfumers effort here it’s a very solid scent that captures leather beautifully Sadly it’s not worth the premium price I sprayed almost 5 ml’s out my bottle and still I can’t smell it like I want I like it but I can’t buy it imagine if he did it with Fredrick Malle it would be one of the greatest leather fragrances of all time It’s one of the better ones from the house but the performance Is disastrous

Such an intriguing perfume, unbalanced in the most beautiful way. The opening is terribly classic and clean with the bitter flowers and the powdery notes but it plays tricks on you with a slightly dirty animalic and smoky scent in the back that makes it more real. It seems to be flirting with a lot of opposites and that is why i called it unbalanced, not because of the scent but because of where it stands, between polite and naughty, delicate and strong, feminine and masculine; never reaching an agreement yet creating a stunning harmony, just like this human figure wraped in mistery - an angel.

It was love at first scent with Cuir d'Ange and it only grows stronger. I think it has one of the most beautiful clean leather accord I have encountered. It smells like the most luxurious leather; it's clean and buttery, far from being butch or rough, even in the slightest way. The leather accord is clearly dominating the fragrance from the first second until the end. It's very slightly smoky and the heliotrope and iris gives it a nice distinct cool and buttery smell. It's soft, airy, minimalist, masterfully blended, classy. Pure luxury. Scent: 10/10 Longevity: 8/10 Projection: 5/10

I have smelled the Hermessence line many times but nothing really pulled my heart strings (or rather my wallet strings) until Cuir d'ange. It took me awhile to get Cuir d'ange soft supple expression of leather with just the right depth of eccentricity and dryness. Once I did, I am hooked! This reminds me in some ways of a tannery or a laboratory and it's wonderful! Honestly I am not a fan of usual hot favourites like Ambre Narguile and Vetiver Tonka from the Hermessenence line. To me, others behind Cuir d'ange from this line are Poivre Samacarde and Santal Massoia!

I did not expect to like Cuir d'Ange so much. To me, this is the most surprising scent from Ellena in a long time. I love the creamy heliotrope note, which here is not foody/vanillic at all, and is perfectly balanced with the other notes. My only prior experience with heliotrope was from my parents garden, and I would never have imagined it could be blended in such a way that it could feel masculine. Soft and clean leather, unsweetened, unsmokened, uncomplicated. The work of an artist (as if there were any doubts). 9/10

Smells like cardboard (some damn nice cardboard at that!) But being serious, this is a gorgeous floral leather. The flowers are not overtly flowery, in your usual obvious way. This is way more muted and classy. There is some salty aspects here, and zero sweetness. It smells like brand new leather bag straight from factory. Im not sure that i would like to smell like that, but i really, and i mean really, enjoy this scent. A big problem i have with this - the longevity and projection are shamefully terrible.