Private Collection - Cuir d'Iris
Parfumerie Generale (2007)

The secret to Cuir d’Iris is that it is simultaneously sooty and wet. Bone-dry cedarwood and iris kick up dust eddies as stale as the air from a newly-fired radiator. Floating in this thick miasma is the scent of the milking shed, successive days of cow juice coagulating slowly on the concrete floor, soured slightly by the sun. Wisps of charcoal or soot add a grainy dimension that might be interpreted as smoke of some sort.

Add to this Pierre Guillaume’s signature amber-musk combo that smells uniquely intimate, like the sweet, yeasty folds of skin under a baby’s neck or the two-day scalp of a loved one, and you have yourself a result that stands less with the Cuir de Russies and the Knize Tens of the world, and more with the L’Air de Riens. And yet, step back, and this is still clearly leather – freshly cured, curdy, a bit raw and thin. But leather is just skin after all. And human skin is still animal skin. In the series ‘Hannibal’, his therapist tells him that while she admires its construction, what he is wearing is a well-constructed person suit, suggesting that his humanity is something one can slip into (or out of) as easily as one would a pair of dress pants. Cuir d’Iris, with its organic, lived-in human-ness, is the ultimate parfum de peau. Robots and psychopaths, take note.

There is something rooted in physically; the describe body of a lover and not just his or her unique personality traits or dazzling mind.this is a lover that must make love;i think of Dante and a universe in which love maybe heavenly or eternal but for which we pay a physical price.it has depth and emotion more than a flirt It's a dare.it smells like love and pain,it smells like memories. highly powerful chypre-leather extrait and a full-on olfactory assault for the first ten minutes.

This is not just leather,this is skin leather, it's leather being uaed in contact with the skin in high-intensity activity.iris provides some creaminess and refinement,and incense together wit amber take this juice out of the obvious, and repeated leather-iris compositions.it has some sweetness, but not directed to create gourmand nuances,but amplifying the effect of warmed uo bodies.as it dries down the leather with animalic notes becomes a bit more powdery,but keeps it's overall character. good projection and longevity.

I would simply love to smell this on a man. Or on the world's most chic and sophisticated woman. (Erin O'Connor or Tilda Swinton might fit the bill.) This is dark leather. It isn't bitter or brutal, but it is black or very dark chocolate in its coloration. It has an aristocratic nose and Vikings somewhere in its heritage. This perfume has a spine of steel and it occasionally mucks out the stalls, and then puts on a a beautifully tailored frock coat and smokes a cigar.

Okay, but how does it smell? Like uncured leather combined with some rooty vegetation, a hint of tobacco and the darkest, richest, bittersweet chocolate money can buy.

Hyper soft (though really straight forward and never fully structured) silky aroma from Parfumerie Generale. Cuir d'Iris is basically one of the smoothest "waxy" leathers (leather/suede) ever. A pleasant spicy connection of super smooth leather, iris, musks, balsams and patchouli. Well, if you love musk/suede accords a la Cuir de Lancome, Parfum d'Empire Cuir Ottoman, Dior Homme Parfum, Laboratorio Olfattivo Daimiris but also scents a la Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur, Naomi Godsir Cuir Velours and Ramon Monegal Mon Cuir, well...this one should surely appeal your pleasure. Cuir d'Iris opens with a stout combination of fresh spices (cardamom) and wet hesperides, immediatelly joined by a subtle dodgy hint of rich leather yet emerging from the background. Gradually, in the central phase, a dark poudre type of saturnine Iris discloses its powdery black soul, as supported by a rounding chocolatey envelop from dark cocoa (cioccolato fondente). Patchouli jumps gradually on the stage as sinister protagonist supported by a warm animalic accord of leather, amber, chocolate and soothing balsams. Overall is surrounded by a general musky aura with a touch of metallic saltiness (vetiver??). The deep dry down is really misty, a cedary-kind of incensey dark accord of leather and patchouli with a vague lipstick feel and a green/vegetal temperament. Frankly is hard for me to properly detect vetiver (I just catch musk, labdanum and green leaves) while I get something kind of lacteous and warmly animalic like rich fat milk (a sort of unpasteurized "beastly"milk ideally enriched by cocoa dust and a touch of coffee). Finally the animalic notes prevail over the general silkiness and the aroma turns out dirtier and more interesting. That's the part more interesting (though fleeting), something slightly acid, milky, ambery and green-lymphatic (as a sticky lymph pouring from a fat plant). Really faint longevity on my skin.
P.S: dry down is mostly incensey-chocolatey and frankly somewhat boring.

I love leathers and I love iris. The name of this scent seemed to be a perfect come hither promise of fulfillment in these two areas. The best iris around is of course Lutens' Iris Silver Mist with its abundance of orris butter, which creates the impression of a soft Italian leather in glove, jacket or purse.

Cuir d'Iris has a smoky harshness to it (the Oud, Patchouli, and Cedarwood), which reminds one of coal tar. It is not warm, sweet and enveloping as a great leather needs to be. It balances a line between a rough, uncured leather and uncured tobacco leaves. The use of the iris is very restrained but constantly present. A warm leather requires some violet in its make-up, but that is not present here.

Some of the early "cuir de russie" scents from the late 1890s and the early 1900s had this harsh, smoky, uncured effect, which made sense in those days of unhygienic body odors permeating society on all levels. This doesn't work for me, but it's a perfectly fine scent for those who want their leather this strong.

I'm in the camp of those not moved by this fragrance. I smell a very restrained leather on support of iris. Then massive fade out. Then slight stale booze in a taxi. I wish to have a deeper experience, but the composition eludes me.