Suede

Suede is big, butch & a little bit dirty - It's a thick, meaty and unapologetic leather & I adore everything about it! It's quite unique in just how realistic it smells - It's rugged, dry and there isn't really any sweetness, it's like breathing in a 'new' leather hide, so I can kind of understand why some people say that this is 'challenging', as leather is often presented as sweetened up or cleaned and polished - like a new pair of boots or a car seat - and if Suede smelt any more raw & natural than it does, it would be mooing! To me, Suede is beautiful & evocative - and there's something about it that I find quite sensual. It should probably make think of tanneries, leather stores - anything along those lines, but instead it takes me away to a hazy land of dreams and memories. I'm at a beach party at the end of Summer, there's a barbecue in the distance and I'm drinking & chain-smoking, sitting around the bonfire, watching the tide come in, the night air filled with smoke & the moon is high, full and bright. I open up another new packet of cigarettes, snatching away that silver tab and I'm welcomed by that first burst of fresh, unlit cigarettes - I breathe it in deeply and let that intoxicating aroma fill my lungs. I'm flirting with a cute guy that I've just met & as the night draws on, he offers me his leather biker jacket to protect me from the evening chill, I'm not cold - but I accept it anyway and he places it over my shoulders, I snuggle into him & into that oversized jacket, nestling into it like a newfound sanctuary; His smell on the collar, the thickness of the leather, the warmth of the fire - all wrap me up in hopes and desires that run wild & untamed, the thoughts of what may come; I lean in closer and whisper into his ear...

Extremely intoxicating combination of suede base with bias to leather, with some faint degree of singeing, and the lightest amount of sweetness to combine all the notes together--it marries with a smooth but alluring tobacco facet. Funnily enough, I had smelled something exactly this, probably something like leather/rubber synthetic footwear many years ago, so I guess there's that (albeit an odd smell for a garment--starting to think a vintage perfume has done this profile before). Either way, I'm a big fan of leather/rubber scents, but even though this didn't hit the marks that I was going for, it was certainly a nostalgic kind of fragrance (in an intimate way). Would wear everyday, has good projection, silage, and longevity. I'm not here to tell you a woman couldn't wear this, but this isn't really a "run of the mill" kind of fragrance--it's not really distinctly sweet in that regard, but to each their own. This develops into a more vanilla bias over time, but it's still really subtle that the main notes I had discussed still stand out.

[Suede] ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️ DRY - ROUGH - ANIMALIC Suede is a dry leather and isn’t forgiving in the slightest. The main theme for me is castoreum which really contributes to the dryness and minimal sweetness. The fragrance is gruff and intense. There’s a lot of texture too as though I’m running my fingers along the grain with all of the imperfections. The smoke here isn’t dense but comparable to that of a nearby bonfire where the breeze has carried the smoke across to your open window. It could have easily dominated the whole composition but it doesn’t. It’s controlled and adds another dimension to the leather. It is another great release from Rook which hasn’t diminished in quality or scent at all since it’s re-release and reformulation. It is as seamless as it ever was.

You just got home from a wild night in the club. You spent some time outside chilling, everyone around you was smoking. You put away your vintage leather jacket and you smell the night you have passed, fading away before bedtime. This is what's about. The best leather+tobacco perfume by far I ever tried.

When I lived in Zambia as a kid, I remember regularly eating a spicy, meatless, bologna-like snack called chikanda. This is SO reminiscent of that. This is why I love niche perfumery - this is so experimental and unique