Cuir Venenum 03
Parfumerie Generale (2004)

Like sophisticated lady, cigarette in one hand, leather handbag in the other containing candy for later. Very unusual leathery scent, definitely not your typically leather fragrances. Sweet but in a grown up way. It is a animalic leather with honey, and coconut. It's not a crowd pleaser yes. Of course if you are into designers recycling recipe you would not like this. Wear this if you want to leave a scent traif of life and mystery.

The opening is generic fresh citrusy with orange blossom. But the dry down is very warm and well balanced. The warmth of myrrh, and then you get a whiff of something else. Leather and smoke, giving some excitement to this persons unknown side perhaps. I get a hint of tobacco in the dry down. Great for cooler weather or a date night. Totally vintage smelling, with moderate sillage.

This turned much more sweet than leather on my skin. There's an initial puff of smoke (like walking through a cloud of incense) along with a quite tangy citrus. It dries down quite quickly to honey and vanilla with just the slightest hint of leather. Rare for something so intensely sweet to not also go sour on my skin, so that's novel. I was glad to try it and should I ever want to delve more into sweeter fragrances, I'll come back to this.

I usually dislike leathery scents as I find them too masculine. But this one I love. It's sweet, flowery. You can smell leather but also the myrrh, honey and something powdery in it. It projects well, I got compliments on it. And it stays long.

I loved grape soda as a child – it came as a powder in foil sachets, which fizzed for a bit while dissolving, rendering glasses of a highly synthetic pinky-purple drink. This stuff had likely never been close to a real grape; it had a potent ‘fruity' smell that I loved whereas fresh grapes hardly smell of anything at all (unless one is talking of perfumed varieties like muscat and gewurtzraminer); and it tasted of no fruit on earth. Joy.
The strong dose of orange blossom at the top of Cuir Venenum is for some inexplicable (to me) reason quite reminiscent of this childhood treat, and whereas for me it is fun indulgence, I can imagine others will consider it fruity muck. Choose your side. There's a touch of the hair oil, too, to this provocative accord.
However, this is clearly grape soda for adults, as the two other prominent elements in the mix are a bitter myrrh with such a smoky profile it reminds me of fresh cigarette smoke when all the deadly aromatic additions to the tobacco are still dancing in the air and a rugged but clean leather. I am fussy about which leathers I wear – spicy ones are usually a no-no due to their tendency to lapse into unendurable staleness.
Cuir Veneum is wacky and playful despite its pretty butch smoke and leather statement – the grape soda twist makes it almost a non-leather leather – and it puts a smile on my face.

Reviews are all over the place! Personally i fell instantly for that tangy herbal candy-sweetness. Not sure what it is frankly, juxtaposition of honey, myrrh and orange flower? Pretty sure there's a hefty dose of sweet musks or ionones in there.

As for leather... Sure i can picture some fanta soaked leather, but certainly not the first thing that comes to mind.

To be honest i'd probably say shampoo would be a more suitable medium for this, but it smells fucking delicious. A fun fragrance that simply makes me happy.

A resemblance to Nostalgia? It has facets but I prefer to wear the SMN.

This has more going on though except for the outrageous opening of Nostalgia.

Myrrh and leather are the main players here together with a slightly skanky note -- it might be the urinous aspect of honey.

I like it very much and worth having for leather lovers imo.

Genre: Leather

Cuir Venemum is a dry, tarry leather that strikes me at first as a leaner, sparer version of Santa Maria Novella's Nostalgia. It has some of that same new leather car interior vibe, but adds a bouquet of medicinal aromatics and shucks most of Nostalgia's tobacco. The result is leather with a bitter edge and not even a hint of sweetness. This is miles away from the fruity suede of Cuir Ottoman or Daim Blond, but equally far removed from the provocative animalic leather of Oud Cuir d'Arabie or Eau d'Hermes.

As Cuir Venenum develops, a very bold myrrh note takes over the role of bitter accent. The myrrh expands steadily until, after an hour on my skin, it dominates the composition. The ongoing impression is highly medicinal, but in a bracingly pleasant manner. The medicinal leather and resin accord soldiers on in a straight line for hours, fading more than altering when it eventually dries down. All in all I judge this a fine leather scent, straightforward but not stodgy, smelling of quality, and easy to wear. It will appeal especially to those who like their scents dry and their leathers relatively “clean.”

I don't see particular reasons to be severe with Cuir Venenum but frankly find it useless and almost uninspired. Can't really figure right occasions in my life for wearing it with full satisfaction. How to label it? I would not define this scent a straightforward leathery one for sure since the somehow coconutty honey and the citrus are heady and just finally "brushed" by a musky suede caress. Orange, a lot of orange blossoms, hints of balsams, a minimal touch of dried fruits and heady honey welcome the wearer while a drier (gradually rising up) musky suede closes the round. At the beginning the slightly sour citric vibe contrasts with honeyed suede and dissonant balsams (but paradoxically this weird "askew" one is the more interesting phase of the evolution). The final outcome is more restrained, woody, defined, still orangy and leather veined. Not bad in its final substance but a somewhat soulless and aimless one.

generally I do not tolerate perfumes whose centerpiece is leather but here appears comfortably, with the smoothness of suede but without losing character. Crown the smell at all times, a liquorish point (similar to Italian limoncello) that resembles the plum. Somehow it made me think, a much more enjoyable tuscan leather. I love the balance here between subtlety and presence.Great longevity

Leather!Weird take on leather some might hate it, I basically love it for this sour note which I can't define as dirty, a very original composition, at least worth a try...if not a full wearing!Pros: original take on leatherCons: limited sillage"

disappointingCV is a leather perfume alright and maybe even a quite original one in its take on leather, but after generously emptying a tester on my skin I had very ambivalent feelings. It was very powdery, sour and dry with very little sweetness ... a dry leather without warmth. What really spoiled it for me was a dirty accord. It was like I was smelling unwashed hair. CV was enveloping with a good silage for the first couple of hours then slowly it disappeared. After 4-5 hours strangely enough there was no trace of it on my skin which now that I think about it, it was probably for the best. Disappointing!Pros: dry take on leatherCons: dirty accord "

Oooo, this is unsettling...

It took me a long time to decide whether or not I like this and could wear it. Unfortunately I have reached the conclusion that it's just too disturbing! It's almost a fruity leather, with a juicy quality that makes my mouth water every time I smell it. I want more, I sniff again... and then I feel corrupted, on edge. There's something animalic about it, possibly bordering on fecal. That might sound gross, but this isn't an unpleasant perfume, it's just that I find it unnerving!

Despite deciding that I can't wear this fragrance I would definitely recommend sampling it. It's an experience! The sales assistant I spoke to said that this unsettling quality is entirely deliberate and is just what Parfumerie Generale intended.

My boyfriend LOVES this perfume and was pretty disappointed when I gave him my final verdict and told him it wouldn't find a place on my dressing table.