Cuir

The most difficult perfume I've come across so far, is Cuir. It took me almost two years to finally fall in love, and at least 2 dozen tries. But once you get it, it is one of the most beautifully brutal leathers. Cuir has a few notes and a lot of twists and turns. It's, in a nutshell, the most animalic smoky leather around in contemporary form*. If you've ever smelled Gauloises this is the opening; disgusting to many, the smell of cigarette smoke dominates the first half hour. It's a smoke curtain that doesn't allow you to see through, you have to walk past it in order to get through the development of the heart notes. There, you get punched by castoreum and leather done in the old fashioned way. This ain't your average soft leather bag, or smooth suede. This is worn leather, left in the sun to cure, steeped in spices and animal fat. Isobutyl quinolene to the max. This is what Germaine Cellier would have liked, had she been around today in this sanitized environment with IFRA restricting everything. This is what Marlene would be wearing, maybe layered with a heady floral. As unpleasant it may sound, or not depending on your mileage, Cuir is a true interpretation of a badass leather. It could have been called Bandit and it wouldn't feel wrong. If and when you get past the opening smoke screen, the rest of the path is full of animalics, leather, and some opoponax to cut through the brutalism. There's an underlying sweetness after the first couple of hours that softens the scent and makes it much more inviting. It lasts linearly in this stage until the drydown after a good 10 hours, still projecting quite well. Mona had a lot of talent, unfortunately many were late to the party. A real stunner! *Having tested old and new 75 ml bottles, Cuir has been toned down quite a bit. While the perfume smells identical, all of them actually not just Cuir, the boldness of the original release is missing. Still amazing, but just like Mona, there's something missing. Review based on original formulation/bottle.

Oh my. This one packs a WALLOP. A huge and completely bewitching gust of smoke (delicious woodsmoke for me, none of the ashtray note some people detect and hate), twists of spice, and then a thorough pummelling with some serious, aged, animalesque leather. I too fell in love at first sniff. A beast, in all the best ways - but weirdly, not a beast-mode perfume, see below.. Like taking a motorbike ride in a beloved leather jacket you've had forever, with the inside of your helmet laced with exquisite spices. Only much more pleasurable and less dangerous than that. The intensity of the woodsmoke and the rawness of the leather will probably make this too weird and spiky for many, but it's seriously beautiful. To my nose it's never rank or bitter - or overpowering; while the scent is concentrated and full of character, it doesn't choke you, and the projection is discreet. You could wear it to the office and be thought edgy, but not obnoxious. Absolute adoration from me. I only wish it weren't so dear and the longevity was just a bit stronger - when the whole concept and execution is this bold you don't want to have to keep reapplying 2-3 times over a day, which I had to do with a tester. Perhaps a proper spray or on clothes it's more durable.I hope so - and hope I get the chance to find out. PS - agree with earlier reviewers saying that it's at the rougher tougher end of leather - it's definitely more Bandit than Daim Blond - and that if you like Lonestar Memories you'd like this. (though for the record I find the Mona on a totally different, more sophisticated and classy planet than Knize Ten, eurgh.) fwiw - I'm female and like masculine-skewing niche stuff but not outright manly man man man smells, and to me this one is beyond gender - it's all about character. Either you will fall for its smoky, reeky, delicious charms or you won't.

This was my beloved leather based fragrance... First time I've sniffed Cuir in late 2013. Love from the first sniff. Let me invite you to my journey... Bold, raw, animalistic leather, so bold, that you can almost feel that it was alive few moments ago, with all its secretions... It opened up with dirty castoreum, suddenly the leather came in and started to play with it. Animalic, realistic combo - not for the faint hearted. For men only? Well, I would argue with that. A "tough", firm woman could surely pull it off. Almost one day longevity and very big (on me over 8 hours easily) sillage. That was a masterpiece written with capital M. A jewell. Few months back I saw a 75 ml (2,5 fl oz) bottle. I took a sample. Damn, it's not the same fragrance anymore. It seems to be very herbaceous, toned down on animalistic notes and leather and not in your face anymore. If 1 spray of previous version was more than enough, with this one you could pull the trigger 3 times easy and you wouldn't kill anyone. Of course, every single note is there, so I wouldn't suggest spraying this more than 5 times, because either you would choke out or you could make choke out someone standing near you. However, it's not worth the price anymore. So sad. Mona di Orio passed away in 2011. Cuir died in 2016 - at least for me.

I added "Cuir" by Mona di Orio to my collection a couple of weeks ago and it was love at first sniff. Evocative, warm, enveloping, seductive and very masculine. The beginning is represented by a strange marriage between the cardamom and wormwood. After this very special debut of spicy and green notes, in the heart appears the true protagonist of the fragrance, Cade, which is the wood of a particular species of wild juniper that grows in Provence, that gives to this fragrance its aromatic, rough, burnt, but at the same time comforting and poetic character. This note can be perceived at every phase of the fragrance. We find in the heart notes also leather, which strengthens the character of this rough and masculine fragrance without getting dirty too. The base notes are the opoponax, which refines a little bit the fragrance, but don't makes it sweet, and castoreum, used to fix the fragrance, because although "Cuir" is an Eau de Toilette has an incredible persistence. I'm using "Cuir" in this hot period of summer but I'm sure that it will gives the best of itself during the cold seasons.

This fragrance is very difficult to digest and thus play first smell and can smell you a dirty ashtray if you look without giving a margin of days of use, and in addition to proper interpretation. Cuir has nothing to do with a simple smell of smoked leather, develops as a whole and makes it a much more interesting and unusual fragrance. Cuir is a tremendous job, so complicated that is clear and walks straddling a dark green moss path tonal smoke input from the beautiful wood Cade and the brink of an animal leather for the powerful contribution that Castoreum It feels very wild in true retro style of some eighties mythical fragrances, this duality is not defined well but it is certainly beautiful, giving a stroke of different, unusual and postmodern effect leathers we are used to smell, and this makes in a unique aroma, and incredibly refined masterpiece. Tops drydown opopanax the important contribution of rounding, balances and modulates animal smoked more pleasant feeling especially vital, tender and pleasant, like a story with a happy ending. Cuir is Brutal !! Rating: 9