1740 Marquis de Sade

I had a tester. Off of ONE wear I bought the 100ml bottle. It is now one of my favorite scents but I will probably never get through the whole bottle. Here is why: It opens up DEEPLY animalic and boozy and sexual. The fragrance is loud with monster projection and sillage, even on my skin which normally destroys projection and longevity. It smells like sex. I don't mean tender "marvin gaye in the background" lovemaking either...it smells like a pipe tobacco and Hine cognac fueled swingers party that busted through the velvet rope of some historic mansion tour and went to town on the antique learher chesterfields and didn't care who saw. "To hell with your guided schoolbus tour little Timmy! Show some ID and jump in, or bounce!" Now that being said in a very non-perverted kind of way it smells beautiful and sophisticated (nobody took off their stilletto heels or Brioni neckties for this romp). But it still makes me feel apologetic if not slightly embarassed-and normally I love the unique challenging scents. I got looks all day from people in close proximity that fell somehwere between the "Does your spouse know what you did on your lunch hour...?" To "you need Jesus". In the heart, as it settles down, the immortelle flower scent really shines and it is one of my favorite scents. The leather is surprisingly minimal to me and I get more amber and dried fruits and vanilla as it reaches the dry-down and after 8 hours it smells very similar to what I believe Bond No 9's new Haarlem was meant to smell like...also it smells like a pancake brunch at the four seasons that was just crashed by an over sexed hungover rock band just getting up from the night before. If IHOP hosted the Players Ball, this is what it would smell like. Transcending each stage of this masterpiece is a sultry, barely leathery but ofter more boozy note that has echos of Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille. 1740 is a true opus and if you are a gourmand lover, a leather musc lover, or the kind of person that drinks kopi luwak coffee with hazlenut creamer in your freshly detailed Mercedes...this is for you. Scent 10/10: a true masterpiece but definitely should be carefully selected for the ocassion. Projection 8-9/10: even on me this juice is palpable when Im in proximity. Sillage: 7/10 mercifully, by the time you walk by and someone smells it, you don't have to meet their gaze of judgement...but they definitely will notice it. Longevity: it has been nearly 9 hours now since I gave ONE spray on my left forearm and I smell it just fine within about 12" nose-to-spray site. Would I buy this again: I doubt I'll ever go through the whole bottle but yes if I ever ran out. Who do I recommend this to?: B!tc#es and rouges who don't give a £@&¥

On its opening what I get is a very strong accord of Mulled Wine that i've smelled before on the opening of Atelier's "Gold Leather" followed by Smoke from Birch & a Black Glove Leather. Theres also this combination of notes that create nuances that bounce back & forth between smelling like Geurlain's "Habit Rouge", & Xerjoff's "Richwood" sitting on top of a note of Labdanum that gives a quick impression of Tom Ford's "Amber Absolute". The Spices. Cardamom & Coriander along with Vanilla create somewhat of a Cola vibe that I've noticed is missed by most noses. At the same time you have the Immortelle creating this Maple Syrup vibe. During this stage there are faint moments on my skin where this phantom Cola vibe sends me ghostly reminders of Frederick Malle's "Musc Ravageur". Patchouli then comes in strong with its Earthy character & then settles into this fusion of Habit Rouge & Richwood with strong Smoke, Leather, & Spiced Boozy nuances. Its at this point when 1740 settles into its own character. It settles into this Semi Dark & Earthy, Smoky, skanky Leather fragrance with lightly spiced Boozy undertones resting on top of a vintage style powderiness that gives it just a hint of bourgeois sophistication. NOTE: Theres also a hint of "Skank" here, & i'm sure its Castoreum. As a lot of times in fragrances Castoreum is used to create or enhance Leather notes. 16 hours later you're left with a skin scent that smells like a Vintage Talc nuanced with soft spices, Earthy Patchouli, & the slightest hint of smoke. Which continues to dry down even further into Immortelle & Labdanum, then giving the impression of a Dirty Maple Syrup, or sweet sticky Musky Skin. In its early stages 1740 is the type of fragrance I imagine catching wafts of on a cold November Night in a smoky dimly lit 1920's Jazz Club on a dangerous side of town. In its later stages it smells like the aftermath of the debacherous drunken sex that took place after you left that Club. You can say that 1740 smells like a lot of other fragrances, from Habit Rouge, Richwood, Zino, Beau De Jour, Musc Ravageur, to Amber Absolute, or even things like Maple Syrup, or Cola Syrup...& it does, but it also doesnt. Suffice it to say 1740 Marquis De Sade is a very complex fragrance. Its a very confusing fragrance. But its its own fragrance. An evolving fragrance; that I believe captures the drunken insatiable nature of Marquis De Sade. Lastly, much like De Sade himself this fragrance knows no boundaries. Which would also make it an interesting wear for women. A 10/10 fragrance for me.

The brand of warmth immortelle offers is just sth else. Boozy but without any sharp alcohol, comfy, oldschool kind of avant garde, like a Grillet movie, confusing yet sexy as fuck, strange yet familiar & comforting. The leather (labdanum and birch) is way in the back, patchouli is the second herb to immortel, I get no bergamot. I can call it herbal more than anything, but far from the typical herbal, all the herbs here have more character than the average oud. Artemisia isn't at its sharpest full-body presentation here, just some aspects of the herb is present but still the little sharp hints of the plant makes this all more interesting, the leather is smokiness of birch and a body of labdanum with no musc, the texture is oily but not cloying, it has enough space to breathe, the booziness is hard to decipher, it's like a great smelling man who has drunk some great whiskey, not whiskey itself. Oh I love it. It's noticeable and unforgettable but not annoyingly. Instead of shouting a sharp tune de Sade has a damn sexy deep voice. It lasts more than I could measure (8+, probably 10+) and doesn't change much but is deep & interesting enough to never get close to boring me. What does it make me feel? The handsome flirtatious man with great attitude I wished to be one day, as a little boy in 90s. What do I imagine when wearing this? A luxurious crowded party in the old days. A young Marilyn Monroe's laughing to this perfume's flirtatious jokes. Who do I imagine wearing it? You've got it by now. Let's settle on Jude Law with his signature dirty looks. To whom do I recommend it? If you like immortelle, or other oily herbals, like Yatagan, this here is for you, if you enjoy opulent naughty perfumes, this is it, oldschool hippy patchouli, masculine Shalimar, wild Habanita, dirty Noir Patchouli, if you like those ideas try Marquis de Sade 1740. If you're afraid of sweetness or booziness or leather, they shouldn't be a problem do not overlooked this. And really, it's all about immortelle, if you can't handle it leave this, if you don't know immortel and hate wet heavy hippy patchouli, you won't enjoy this. Don't expect a dominant leather or sharp booziness. Playful, charming, mature, flirtatious. Love 🤎🌹

I believe Marquis de Sade from Histoires de Parfums can be considered a modern classic in the leather genre. I'd guess the most appreciated from the house among enthusiasts who know their perfumes. Even though it has been tamed and polished since its original release, dressed up to appeal more to the current tastes by pumping in more vanilla and taking out some of the smoky birchwood, ironing the creases of the leather, I believe it remains still an amazing perfume worth checking out. If you are going to put your perfume into an amazing flacon, you better do it justice. And justice has been done. I think the original flacons Histoires de Parfums had back in the day are some of the most beautiful and original I have come across. The perfume itself matches, offering a complete experience. Overall, it is a smoky leather fragrance, yet offers way beyond that. You get lots of immortelle, a beautiful davana note in the opening, plenty of patchouli and cistus in the base, and even some tobacco. It is quite harsh, especially for the first few hours, a loud and butch fragrance that might polarize your surroundings and sometimes the wearer. In the opening, you get a short-lived burst of spices, mainly coriander, and a sharp, boozy accord from the davana and artemisia interplay. Shortly after, the leather-smoky birchwood pair kicks in. Picture yourself an old, rugged leather garment infused with birchwood smoke over which someone spilled a generous amount of wine. Let it sit like that for a few centuries, and you get the idea. Quite harsh. It starts to mellow down, however, and the immortelle comes into the picture together with the patchouli. They provide a beautiful herbaceous touch and sweetness to the composition. In the base, it becomes resinous from the cistus and the styrax, blending with the smoky leather, the immortelle-patchouli combo, and sprinkled with some woods and faint tobacco. It smooths out the more it lingers on the skin, developing into an intoxicating woody-leather scent with alluring sillage. One of the most unique takes on the leather genre, one of the most complex, and well put together. Relevant, even today. IG:@memory.of.scents

Dangerous Liaisons & the smell of French Vintage... Imagine the Scarlet Pimpernel, with his cravat askew and missing some buttons from his recent duel with one of Citizen Robespierre's officials. Looking on is Marie Antoinette clutching a bloody handkerchief she used to dab the wounds her fingernails made in her palm. A wooden cart passes by filled with straw and soiled Aristos in silk finery, heading to meet their fate at the hands of Madame la Guillotine, leaving a trail of sweat, fear & days-old expensive perfume. More's the pity. This smells very French and my first thought was 'Marie Antoinette' when I smelt it. There's an angst in it. Although that was possibly because I bought it in the Louvre souvenir shop in summer jammed with tourists. But still... Imagine wearing Magie Noire Lancome on one wrist and Opium (1977) Yves Saint Laurent on the other, with a little straw in your powdered wig that's just caught on fire, and you will be in the ballpark. It's deep, dark, spicy-sweet, herbal, amber, woody & leather-y with the HdP trademark patchouli. This is marketed to men but reads unisex to me. 10/10. I guess what Marie Antoinette & the Marquis have in common is a dangerous flirtation with destiny... Update 07/08/25: Immortelle & deep, dark, fluffy sour-sweet French Vintage... Sprayed this on again today after reading Eddie's article about immortelle. I've loved this scent for a long time (it was love at first sniff), although tbh I wish it had a different name/dedication. I drained at least a half of a big bottle back in 2016-17 (it was the first one I picked from the Histoires de Parfums discovery set). Dark, sweet, woody, resinous & spicy with that slightly fluffy & sour immortelle (the sourness enhanced by elemi), and a vague powderiness that smells distinctly vintage French to me, in the way that Histoires de Parfums does so well. This may be a heavier scent, more for cooler weather, but I like it in summer because it reminds me of tanned skin for some reason. Love it still.