Halfeti Leather

**The definition of a true 'oriental leather'.** Where to begin with this one? This is such a wonderful scent in my mind. The definition of a true oriental leather, and a sensual, fun one with a slightly mysterious tone. It's definitely not an overly serious leather, nor an animalic one, but what it lacks there it makes up for in its lusciously opulent, dark gourmand notes. It's boozy, certainly, think rum and Armagnac brandy, but what what no one else seems to mention coming through (both on my skin and on clothing) are the rich chocolate and coffee notes underneath the sumptuous, candied plum. Backed up by the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, ginger) and richer florals (rose, violets) and at the very bottom, the persistent cedar wood, oud, and incense, this is overtly oriental, sensual, and gourmand, yet also masculine and mysterious due to the strong leather (and coffee and boozy notes). It makes me think of a bustling Arab bazaar at night, or an invite to an Sheikh's feast outdoors during the late hours. The man who wears this scent comes across (to me, at least) as a hedonistic traveller, who sleeps by day and indulges in all life has to offer when the sun goes down. Truly one of the great leather scents, and deliciously enticing to the ladies, in a 'come hither' manner. Charming and masculine, tantalising and bounteous, dark and mysterious. 10/10 Oh and, great longevity/sillage guys. 10+ hours on clothes. Lingers in the nose, but in a beautiful way.

This is great. My dad (65) has been looking in vain for something to replace M7, his old signature. We got half way there with Zoologist's Camel, but it's a bit too bright, fruity and hopeful... and sadly, it doesn't last on him or project. I tried Penhaligon's library recently and was very impressed with all of it, buying a 10ml Halfeti for myself. Then I ordered some free samples from their site, including this. This is the darkest, grimmest oud I've been able to find on the market. You only need half a spray. If you're after the most dark, spicy, intense, Arabic scent - then you must try this. (You can grab a free sample off their website. Penhaligon's will send you 4 x 1.5ml samples free and you just need to pay the postage.) I got in the car with dad yesterday when he'd just put a spray on. It was like he'd burned 10 incense sticks with the windows up. This stuff is hardcore. It's expensive, and I'm going to wait and hope a 50ml or even a 30ml comes out and then I'll certainly get some for dad. The sparing amount you need of this, he'd never get through 100ml anyway. I think a lot of Penhaligon's scents are more evocative of different spaces/rooms, than they are people. So this smells to me like a very masculine room (cigar burning, leather everything, shadowy bookcases - like Bluebeard's library). Having said that, why shouldn't a woman want to smell like Bluebeard's library? By that logic, it's gender-neutral.

Halfeti Leather is an intense combination of leather, boozy plum and powdery incense. I really like how one reviewer described it as "rifling through old leather bound spell books in an occult store." That's exactly the vibe I got from it as well. It opens with a burst of boozy cardamom and citrus , then settles into a sweet, powdery plum/jasmine/ patchouli incense that swirls close to the skin. I do not get a lot of cedar scent out of it, to be honest. For a fragrance so intense, it's unbelievably light. I would call the sillage subtle, and if you take it easy on the dose, it will not be overwhelming to you or to others. It's a long lasting fragrance too, and I can always still smell it the next morning. I received a small bottle of Halfeti Leather when I purchased another fragrance from the Penhaligon's website and absolutely fell in love with it. Sadly, on the US site, it is out of stock and so I had to shop other stores to find a bottle. Thankfully, there are some deals to be had around Christmas and so I bought it. It is expensive, but has quickly become one of my top three favourite fragrances from Penhaligon's House. The other two favourites are Luna and Revenge of Lady Blanche.

This is a flanker of Halfeti, so like the other flanker (Halfeti Cedar), I'm reviewing this one based off of my review for the original. Oi! This one took me by storm. I honestly didn't expect the original could be beaten. Over the last few years, I've grown to have a liking for animalic fragrances and while I'm still not a massive leather fan, I had high hopes for this one. I'm glad to say my expectations were blown out of the water! This is bold, perhaps bolder than the original. The smoky, leathery aspects bring out this animalic nature from the original that the rose isn't there to hold back, and I'm there for it. This is Halfeti for the animalic lovers. It's smokier, bolder, more mature and definitely not for young guys. This one seems to comes straight from the vintage years. It has that powerhouse vibe. Longevity and projection are on par with the original (so, beastly and 12+ hours) If you love oud, spices and leather, you have to get your nose on this one. I have a bottle of the original and a decant of Halfeti Cedar but this one made me buy a full bottle straight away. It's that good and I adore it.

This is such a gorgeous spicy, vibrant, yet dark, fragrance. Very similar to halfeti of course but I think this takes it up a notch and is even better. I’ve been wanting to add a penhaligons fragrance to my arsenal for quite a while now and I started off with this one. I love their whole style - super elegant and also playful. Very friendly and appealing to the modern masses - I don’t think they make a single fragrance that’s polarizing or obtrusive. I’m a huge fan of the blazing mr sam and original halfeti and would easily have bought either of the two if I didn’t already have Nishane Papilefiko which has the same vibe as mr sam and also with the original halfeti although slightly different. So buying Mr Sam or original halfeti would have felt redundant. Halfeti leather has that added leather note with a touch more spice and some other notes that I love about it. It’s warm, smooth juicy while remaining bold and dark. It checks all of the boxes I love in a fragrance. I can’t express how much I love this one. An easy 10/10 for me