Destrier

I absolutely love this fragrance. In my opinion, I find the description and notes at the top of the page to be spot-on. Of the several fragrances from this house that I own, this is my favorite from the House of Matriarch and love this creation by Christi. I find it complex with a wonderful combination of leather, hay, grass, clover and woody notes. Nature, open sky, power, and independence comes to mind when I think of this scent. Interestingly, I actually get two different leather scents. Sometimes, I get a dryer, well worn and comfortable leather smell, and other times I sense a more oiled, new black leather kind of smell. Maybe that's just my skin or when my body warms up that it changes for me. Having spent an amount of time around horses, I do understand the scent description and name and find it quite fitting for this fragrance. Well-groomed, powerful, hard-working, and distinguished is how I feel when wearing this. The hay, grass, and clover scents are absolutely wonderful, too. This fragrance may be more suited for fall or winter, but in the right situation, I think it could be worn most of the year. What comes to mind when I smell some of these notes, is a slow evening drive on a country, tall grass-lined road during late spring or summer - maybe the juxtaposition of evening dew on dry grass. Windows down and taking in very pleasant, earthy, clean country air. This fragrance is 10/10 for me.

When I smell this, the scent image I get is almost a picture perfect representation of a well-worn horse saddle used by a seasoned cowboy in the wild-west era. The saddle sits in a old wooden barn occupied by horses and hay on a dry hot day. The leather smell is absolutely photo-realistic, never have I smelled a leather fragrance that actually genuinely smelled like leather (at least from other fragrance houses). It is most definitely a brown leather, think old-school gun holster style leather mixed with the smell of a horse and hay. In a way, Destrier smells like a flanker to Sex Magic (of which I own a full bottle of). Definitely some strong similarities between the two in regards to the leather smell. Where Sex Magic walks into the forest wearing black leather on a slightly cool damp humid day, Destrier rides horseback into the dry and hot wild-west deserts on a brown leather saddle. I have sampled most of Christi's 2017 offerings, and this one stands out among the rest and seems more in-line with her earlier work (Sex Magic, Orca, Devotion, Coco Blanc etc) than the other 2017 releases she has (such as Antimony, The Longing, Epiphany, Bitter Sweet Symphony). A lot of her newer offerings have something in common, perhaps heavy doses of Patchouli, which gives them all a similar backbone. But Destrier stands out among them as different IMO.

This is a higher quality and more complex ch men in a way.Saying that is a comparison and does not do this fragrance justice. I get the smell of a old log cabin, freshly rained on hay, a campfire of cyprus and a enchanting air. I love this fragrance and it almost is animalistic, but keeps a good balance. I find it wonderful and artistic when something that could be made daring,harsh or strange is done in such a appealing way This is different and not for everyone, but I love it ! If you wanted the complexity of chergui without sweetness and more on the oud side, then this will be amazing for you. I got 5 hours longevity and fair performance, but the memory goes on.

A photorealistic olfactory experience of riding a horse in the woods also makes for a very wearable perfume in this very strange, haunting and beautiful House of Matriarch creation. The central note as expected is leather with a variety of green, woody and floral notes surrounding it to evoke the ambience of a medieval forest. these include hay, clover, woody notes, valerian, hay, and smoke. To give the perfume an extra edge, the perfumer adds a horse tail tincture. The resulting juice as you can well imagine is only the bravest perfume adventurers. It retains a strange earthy beauty though and actually glows on my skin. If you are put off by leathery animalics please stay away. This is very interesting and creative modern perfumery using natural notes to create a modern perfume that evokes a medieval imagery. Superb!

This is a very strong scent, and it smells overwhelmingly of a well-worn saddle and HORSE! As intended. I love this scent and it invokes quite a bit of nostalgia for me. It isn't something I really wear often so my smaller sprayer of it is all I need, but it's very much evocative of a handsome bay horse in a clean stall, no animalic smell or poo to be found. I think if the leather were a bit more delicate, and something a bit sweet like chamomile or a lemony vanilla to go with the hay note were introduced, it would be perfect for me. It's first and foremost a heavy leather smell, and I really do think it smells like a horse's well-brushed mane. It's not stinky at all, I have to reiterate! I just don't ever wear leather scents, so unfortunately this is a special occasion scent when I'm missing being around horses.

sadly, i just dropped my sample and it broke, so i figured i've gotta use the last of it and test it now before most of it evaporates. :( right off i smell a very strong leather and it's a pretty gorgeous one. i smell some herbs and spices in the background but can't make them out. i think i get hay and the 'woody notes.' after about half an hour on the skin it hasn't changed much. it's primarily leather with a bit of greenery in the background but is honestly almost a pure leather scent on me.

This feels very similar to Sex Magic, which I tried recently and loved. When I first put this one on, I wasn’t expecting to smell horse, but I did. That particular scent of well-groomed, clean horses, clean stables and hay. This is one of the better leather scents I have tried – it’s very realistic, and with the smoke and woody notes, it makes for a lovely combination. Longevity is ok – I got around six hours. I like it, but I think I prefer Sex Magic over this one.

A country variation of Ephifany from the same house but greener, fresh and soft, which rests on hay and sweet flowers and grazes at a slow pace, among trees, on a comfortable and perfumed brown leather saddle. A nice walk in the sun. If you love wild nature but Ephifany is a little too, or too masculine, try this. Pleasantly unisex on the right days. Not bad .

Destrier from House of Matriarch is perhaps the first leather scent I have ever not just tolerated but actually liked. I’m not sure if I’m even a leather fan, but I appreciate that this one just goes so hard. It is not putting on airs, and it’s not in disguise; there is no mistaking it. AND it’s a rather 360° immersive scent experience as well as absolutely immediate, with no lead-in or preamble. Imagine you are an overachieving LARPer, and you took three years of leatherworking classes so that you could make the perfect leather coin pouch to hang from your belt for this intensely anticipated festival you’ve been dying to attend. Even though it’s a tiny piece of a larger, more intricate costume, you want every detail absolutely perfect, from the tanning to the stitching to the embossing. You’ve spent so much time on this accessory that you’re smelling those tanning agents, those fats and oils and chemicals and musks, even in your dreams now. And in waking life, too, even after the event, you are one with that leather coin purse, and you carry it with you everywhere you go. At this point in time, it is stuffed with cedar chips, sweet grasses, and soft moss...because you spent all your coins on those expensive classes and leatherworking tools.

If any of you work in the medical field. This is the closest fragrance you would find that smells like Iodaform imo (surgical wound packing). Sounds gross, but the Iodaform smells super clean, kind of a love it or hate it smell, most people agree with love tho. I really don't understand the ingredients - I get zero green from this. My bottle is from 2017. This scent can induce a headache. But if used just right, it has a really unique and sleek masculine black leather vibe. Not sure why it's labeled unisex, it's named War Horse after all lol. Like I was saying, to me this smells like Iodaform, so I will never get that out of my head. Others might get different notes tho. I can say I've tried samples from just about every note-worthy House, and this is as original as it gets. I picture wearing an expensive black leather jacket while out on a date, with driving a fast sports car. You would never find this scent in the woods, unless you come across a Bugatti in the woods 😅

Very buttery and high-end leather. If you like leather scents, you will LOVE this!