Grand Cuir

Grand Cuir by Parfums Rétro is a dramatically stunning perfume that recalls the lost last age of elegance. Created to be worn by both men and women, it is very classically French in its olfactory signature. Grand Cuir is purely rich and evocative of Pairs. It recalls an age of beautiful women who dress in chic elegant style at every hour of the day, who, for every occasion, had a perfume to match each mood, atmosphere and destination. Be that a shopping excursion, a romantic interlude or an evening alone at home reading “Bonjour Tristesse”.Yes it recalls all these things about women but when a man wears Grand Cuir it takes on the memories of women whom he has loved. The perfume’s tag line reads “A leather with soul.” This is true, it has soul, but it is not the soul of cool like in the late 60’s. It has the soul of chic from the earlier and too brief period between 1960 and 1964. It is complex, interesting, a bit demanding of your attention and utterly devastating. It is a brand new perfume created in 2013 that shows you can be modern and yet reflect elegance from the past. The perfume opens with a little naughty slightly skanky labdanum which gives it its initial Gallic flavor. There is birch tar, clary sage and a resinous pine needles that keep it from wandering into Place Pigale nasty mademoiselle territory. It is perfectly controlled, bright and pops with an aldehydic shimmer without being to loud. None of this lush French opening is lost as the heart notes come into play. There seems to be a note from every arrondissement of Pairs here and it works the perfume to perfection. Green from the geranium, violet leaf and a pinch of tarragon start to waft up from the Marais then from the Left Bank we get orange blossoms and cinnamon. Montmartre chimes in with lavender and finally a beautiful rose from the gardens of les Bois de Boulogne. In the base it is all about warmth, sensuality and a masculine edged of expensive leather. The dry down is packet to baroque levels with leather, patchouli, sandalwood and rosewood. The musk and moss notes support and finish off the perfume at about eight hours. There was only one thing that did not impress me about Grand Cuir and that would be the bottle. Such an elegant rich and expensive creation should be if at all possible presented in an equally stunning flacon. What we are given is a generic “perfume” bottle that is used by every new perfumer around. But I am being picky here. For really what is most important is what the juice does on the skin. And what Grand Cuir does to the skin is something wonderful. It creates a world of sophistication and beauty from which memories can be made. Grand Cuir by Parfums Rétro Five Gold Stars ***** (FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CHECK OUT MY PERFUME BLOG ~ SCENTS MEMORY)

For those of you who ever wished someone would create a fragrance that parallels the plot twists of an Italo Calvino novel you need not look further. I have to admit that this fragrance frustrated me ... at first, because every time I sniffed something interesting it would begin to change. Fortunately I wore it a few times and realized every time it changed I would forget about what it smelled like just minutes before and would instead become intrigued in it's present state. Luckily for me, there is an ashy leather note that lingers throughout and seems to tie it all together and give it a story line. For anyone who enjoys fragrances that develop and change over a few hours you might want to give this one a try. It starts fresh and invigorating and somewhat herbal and humid in a Dior retro way. Add to that a slightly vaporous dry-cleaned shirt - immaculately white. A powdered musk note keeps the fragrance light for at least the first half hour before it starts to settle into a clean ashy sweetness. On my skin there is a soft leather note that really begins to come forward after the intitial notes begin to fade. It also starts to get dry, floral and woody. The ashy note is really comfortable juxtaposed to the soft leather and a clean note that feels like clary sage, rose and patchouli. The wood and the clary sage last to the dry-down as does the clean ashy note and a bit of spice like cinnamon and some light pepperiness. The combination gives it a very subtle liquorice quality. There is a clean musky soapiness in the dry-down as mentioned by other reviewers. Pleasant. All of that in around 8 hours. I am no longer frustrated with how this fragrance changes and instead am quite enjoying the ride.

I can't compete with some of these other reviews, but I felt I had to comment. Does anyone else get "Barbasol" from this? At first spray, and still about an hour later, it reminds me of my dad's shaving cream from the 1980s. I think I love this. There's obviously more going on here than shaving cream, and it will take a few more wearings to explore. But for now it reminds me of my childhood and smells like "home." Not feminine enough for me to wear out, really, but I imagine wearing it as a comfort when I'm stuck inside on rainy days and feeling lonely or nostalgic.

I liked the super fresh top of this best before it turned into "big leather" boring territory. Maybe retro conceptually, but not in execution.

A perfume not so easy. Yes is not so easy to have the opportunity to smell such Repellent fragrances. Smells of mothballs aromatized with lavender the one like gled gel lavender.. that deodorant into the plastic box with holes that you put into the closet or the bathroom. just add some pure leather shoe. And Grand Cuir is Done. sincerely this scent remember me the the plastic wardrobe for shoes of my grandmother: wax, shoe polish, and white petrol that she was used to use to remove stains. Plus a hint of fake synthetic lavender. my god. tremendous. based upon the opinions here I have ask to a friend to carry two samples from California. I put one drop and I wanted to vomit. from headaches. I do not understand the other comments. perhaps in some countries do not use mothballs lavender to ward off moths from closets. but those who have an idea of Naphthalene, white petrol and cheap deodorant of lavender (that is far away to habe the scent of lavandula officinalis) can understand what I mean. Who has nostalgia of the mentioned elements can found those all well blended in Grand Cuir.