Russe Leather

What a brilliant homage to the Holy Grail of leather barbershop fragrances! Russe Leather is 85%-95% similar to the Memo OG and definitely worth having in your old school collection given the affordable price tag. The blend of smooth leather, brisk pine, aromatic lavender, and lush green herbs evokes a sense of true autumn serenity. With a smoky wink at Aventus and an animalic-fougère nod to the likes of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme and Kouros, its projection and sillage remain nevertheless unostentatious. That said, an uber-masculine creation this elegant never needs to raise its voice to be noticed. My only beef with this scent is the bottle, which is opaque, so you don't know how much you have left. That said, I can't wait to try Maison Alhambra's other dupes.

#938 in my "Tour de Fragrance" Maison Alhambra impresses yet again with a damn fine clone of Memo Paris' "Russian Leather," with all the pine forest greenness of that excellently masculine scent, and none of the artificial conifer nastiness of a Pino Sylvestre scent. $25 instead of $120? Yeah, I'll take that deal. Like the Memo Paris original, it's just barely EDP strength. So it makes it to lunch, but you'd respray midday. I think this is car pool, elevator and small office safe. Appropriate date wear. Despite the similarities, I still think there's a place for original Polo and the less old school Polo Cologne Intense in your collection, but if you only have room for one on your shelf, or in your budget, get this Alhambra scent.

Very close to OG, wouldn't say it is 1:1, but it feels like it is 80% there. In terms of the smell and sillage, this dupe outperforms the original. However, it comes with a cost of longevity. On my skin, OG sits for more than 8 hours, while this one can still be detected after 8 hours but is way more faint. In terms of smell, the OG has a more animalic profile, while this dupe is surprisingly more elegant. It is also heavier on aromatics than leather compared to OG. I would say I like this scent more than the original, which is quite rare. Both of them are beautiful fragrances, which I adore. Although personally I prefer this dupe, and 10x the price for the OG is not justified.

Spot on interpretation of Memos Russian Leather and for $20/80ml... As opposed to $120-ish.. Presentation is on par with Memo’s... In fact, the atomizer is better and the cap is a little nicer / heavier... if you care about that kinda thing... Bottle is nicely made and feels good in the hand. The actual box is well made.... Not to the standard of a Memo Paris box.. but a solid all around presentation. Not a huge performer but not bad either... 4-5 hours on my skin.. given the type of scent, I’m fine with it.. Again, for the price... This is the way to go.

Wore this 2 times.. I want to state my first impressions : Have you ever been into a flower shop? That green smell hits you right away when you spray this.. It does have a leathery background, but the main thing is that green, realistic, slightly floral smell .. It smells good, but I need to spend a little more time with this Will get back with a full review

Most everyone marked the sillage as moderate but I think it's strong. Especially after maceration. This is a fantastic scent and I absolutely love it. This feels like a great year round scent aside from maybe the super high heat. All the green notes really come out in it. Smells like a pine leather fragrance to me.

fresh out of the bottle - smells like an oldschool leather car seat with a pine air refresher.. in a good way!:) seriously, its very pleasant. definitely leaning more masculine than what's its advertised as ive heard maison alhambra products love to macerate, and as such ill provide updates when the time comes..

I would describe it as a sexy lumberjack scent. After an hour it has a powdery feel to it, like the dior homme intense DNA but with a huge amount of pine added to it. It's pretty amazing. Longevity 7+ hours, it stays on clothes for day or two. Ladies buy this for your husbands!!!

Pleasant surprise, very masculine profile. Green herbal slightly leathery woody. I don't know what it is inspired by, but I like what it is. Only not for the heat of the summer days, otherwise a good everyday/situation scent for a mature nose

Ah, yes! A nice, manly, leathery, elegant, fresh green scent with the best of the past and a contemporary, attractive feel. It has an average projection and an adequate longevity (say, 7 hours). Excellent QP ratio. Overall, a great buy.

It basically smells like a photorealistic pine forest after it rained, then dries down into an after shave. Love how natural and smooth it is, but the only downside for me is the longevity. You’ll be lucky if you get 3 hours. 7.75/10

Really masculine, inoffensive, and green. Lovely fragrance, reminds me of polo green but not as spicy. Very nice and well fragrance, would recommend for green, pine, earthy lovers.

I LOVE this fragrance but my boss told me she could taste my cologne from a mile away. This bitch is nuclear. Very pleasant barber shop esq frag. Deep and well worth the money.

This definetly has a leather base to it, which I think gives it some longevity. Greenery abound, absolutely fantastic offering!

Fantastic smell, moderate performance, 100% worth the price!! I believe it is more to the male side.

Lattafa, with its sub-brand Maison Alhambra included, rarely strays from its Middle Eastern roots, making Russe Leather a surprising outlier. One of those exceptions, offering a classic European composition interpreted in their own way — much like the entire Leather collection housed in rectangular bottles. Russe opens with a bold blast of pine. It's a clean, coniferous sharpness softened by hints of mint and basil — green, herbal, and slightly camphorous. There's a noticeable sweetness, possibly from lavender, which keeps the sharper edges in check. The scent doesn't undergo a dramatic transformation or progression; instead, the balance of notes subtly shifts over time. As it dries down, it leans toward a creamy and woody character. Leather is present but remains subtle, blending with an array of aromatic and earthy accords. It's distinctly masculine. What's particularly striking is the temperature of the scent. It wears cold. It's reminiscent of a smooth stone in a freezing stream — polished, but chilled to the touch. It evokes a winter forest, where its naturalistic composition seamlessly blends with the environment, bringing to mind a morning where breath fogs the air, but the sun is sharp, and the sound of wind rustles the trees. It also reminds me of some kind of medicinal balm, like a cooling herbal salve. However, performance is a clear weakness. Longevity is limited, lasting a maximum of 3–4 hours, with only the opening making a strong impact. After that, the scent lingers faintly in the background, even with excessive overspraying. Sillage remains subtle throughout. While the bottle design, like the rest of the collection, is aesthetically pleasing, as I previously noted in my Afro Leather review, if you're familiar with the original, this bottle feels like a direct copy-paste from a Chinese store. Although I'm generally not a fan of straightforward green scents, Russe Leather has something intriguing about it. It isn't revolutionary, but it's quietly compelling. The note pyramid on Fragrantica doesn't fully capture its subtleties. It is more nuanced than it initially appears — worth exploring, but perhaps not a must-have. Opening note: 8 Sillage/Projection: 6 Drydown: 7+ Longevity: 5- Blend/Composition: 7 Versatility: 6 Uniqueness: 6 Value for money: 7- Bottle design/Aesthetics: 6+ Overall experience: 7- Blind-buy rating: 6

It smells like being in a Pine tree forest in spring or early winter. On opening you're instantly greeted by that smell, which is really nice and triggers memories if you've been in such environments. It pulls back to something powdery after an hour or so. There is definitely leather accord in there, probably in the base, and it come out more the longer it's on skin. Doesn't project as much (at least I don't have a feeling it does). Overall, very nice pleasant manly smell, borderline fougere, I think it reminds me of Pino Silvestre with Leather in it (of course it would). I'd usually just wear it if I had a clean shower and shave, and just wanna feel fresh and manly. Definitely nothing unique, I don't know who would buy OG from Memo for full price, I would say at 25$ for this dupe is very good value and fair price for what you get and the type of scent.

Fresh Leather is what i get from this. This was a blind buy. FNet was doing a clearance sale on Maison Alhambra, so I snatched this for 24CAD. It is a decent blind buy. What a weird smell. I have never smelled Memo Paris Russian Leather so this was my first time smelling this profile. I like....it? It's much better when it dries down on skin. On a smell paper it's a bit offensive to the nose. I saw that it had similar ingredients to Polo Green so I bit the bullet and purchased it. It isnt like Polo Green at all. It is....almost sour but definitely leather. If I was to describe it, I would say it smells like shower gel as you scrub your body while in the forest and in the early morning. It is not bad by any means, it is more of a journey. Not for everyone but worth the adventure.

A lot of people reviewers included say they don't smell the leather in this, or that it is so light it can sometimes be worn in summer. I wouldn't say so. I do smell it, it is the kind of warm, manly leather note paired with aromatics, the same way that azzaro pour homme and polo so well do, it is exactly like that, minus the array of aromatic herbs with the citrus ofc. The opening has no top bite, its linear profile is very much what I imagined aramis' leather to be, aromatic, dampened and heavy, manly, stable, instead of aramis' airiness. Leather blast up front, with green plants and wood like Drakar Noir slowly coming in and staying for a while with the leather. Old school vibe, manly winter scent, all bass and little treble. Sticks to the skin, amazing longevity.

Going into this not knowing what Russian Leather smells like. This is heavily masculine leaning, smelling like a punch of greenery, specifically pine while carrying a cold minty feel. Definitely agree with the comment of this smelling like a Christmas candle. Strong projection with good longevity, sprayed 3 times, went out to shop and overheard someone saying it smells like too much perfume. Do with that as you will.

I like it! Yes it is for a mature generation >40. But it doesn't smell outdated. Yes woodsy and "Man". It lasts on my skin around ~6 hours - right profile for an evening. This is what you would were with a suit for an evening event - not your everyday baseball cap and shorts. The price point is undeniable attractive <$20. I would buy it again. It is elegance in a bottle.

A great more masculine-leaning staple for the colder months or the evening in my opinion - it does have some freshness but it's a scent with presence and I believe it's more adequate for occasions rather than the office for example. It's pretty strong, people will notice you. I'll be gifting this to my father and brother.

A woody, green, slightly sweet fragrance with a hint of leather. It's definitely more niche than designer as it transports you straight into a lush green pine forest with some florals and herbs growing alongside. I would find it suitable for cold humid evenings.

This is extremely close to the original but lasts about 16 hours. The scent itself is okay enough, smells fresh and clean.

Barbershopy, green, with a very clean feel to it. Surprisingly good, however, I can detect 0 leather in this one.

• A decent value, but not an accurate clone. • The selling point of Russian Leather is its icy opening. It's drydown is pleasant but indistinct. This skips the icy opening entirely. • Smells like a pleasant and slightly masculine scented Christmas candle. • Only $20 for a nice fragrance in its own right. It's just not an accurate clone.

A generic green, botanical fragrance with a strong herbal character. the leather note is barely noticeable, while the scent is dominated by green herbal tones that come across as chamomile-like and medicinal. It feels bland and unremarkabe, I mean it’s not unpleasant, but it’s also not particularly interesting 4/10

Super Masculine, will definitely need to layer this to blend it, but if masculine and distinct is your thing then yeah, go for it

After 10 minutes it becomes a skin scent like all alhambras

This ended up being my least favorite of the MA Memo dupes. Its a bit too shaving cream for me, and even though I've let it mature mine is pretty weak. I'm glad some of you got a beefier version!

yes its green but something about it make it smells like middle eastern parfume for me. and ITS STRONG. dont overspary it.

Fresh, clean and green. Ridiculously good deal.