Reviews of Russian Leather by Memo

I get a blend of basil, mint, rosemary, and clary sage that creates a soapy scent. The leather provides a foundation for the fragrance to last an entire day. However, even though it performs well, this scent hasn't changed my perception of Memo, and I still find it underwhelming.

I found this rather feminine to my nose, maybe it's my skin chemistry?

This feels like a powdery floral wall of tapestry, with a base of Dior Eau Sauvage Parfum (2012) weaving in and out.

Very nice blending and quality of materials, it's a very nice fragrance.

But this leans too feminine for my tastes. Very glad to have tried this, so thank you anonymous BN'er who graciously let me sample this!

Will definitely try the other leathers from this house, as this is a fine specimen of perfumery.

This stuff is next level. Period.

Highly aesthethic, very mysterious, masculine, with great performance.

Lovely this fragrence house.
I can smell all the ingredients here, especially the Cedar and Pine. Very high quality straight out of the bottle.
Very herbaceous and green, I love Leather but here it is in hiding, but it is still very nice and addictive smelling.
Green and fern like and very easy to wear for any male over 20s.


Scent 9- 10
Performance 7.5- 10
Silage 7- 10
Fantastic green fern smell, clean and fresh.

Memo Paris calls this the scent of a "frozen fern", as it's supposed to smell like a winter forest in Russia. And I think it accomplishes that to great effect. I smelled the entire Memo Paris line once and this one captivated me particularly due to its rosemary and pine notes (two aromas which I realize I really love in perfumery). Russian Leather uses high quality ingredients like basil oil, cedar leaf oil, Siberian pine needle oil, lavender, mint, rosemary oil, patchouli oil, and cypress absolute. It definitely feels like a high-quality fragrance, and performance is great as well with moderate projection and good longevity (6 hours at least). The scent to me smells really 'cold' (especially with its mint note) and basically smells like a coniferous forest, with individual notes of pine, mint, rosemary, cypress, and basil really coming out (it's not much of a 'leather' scent truth be told). Regardless, I really enjoy this one, especially in the wintertime, and it's one of my favourite fragrances ever.

4.5/5

Slightly sweet leather and pine with plenty of soapy lavender. Opens nice and stays nice from start to finish, meaning there's nothing harsh or disappointing about the scent. It's masculine, classic without going into old-man territory, and has great performance. However, this is not for the hardcore leather lovers. It's a good choice for those who like a tame leather scent.

This feels best for a night out during cooler months. Otherwise, it probably leans formal but has some clean and sweetness that allows for some playful daytime wearings. Just go easy on the trigger as it lasts and projects all day.

Starts out rather masculine. Quite seductive. Mint, spice, herb, and pine shine. Smooth, with lots of sharpness from time to time. Lavender, rosemary, and wood are just fine here. More spice and "brown-smelling" herbs. The leather is noticeable; not too loud. There is a gorgeous, noticeable cypress note. Pretty much all the notes vibe well together.

After time, leather & lavender are the main notes that stay strong. Patchouli rises up to take notice, hours later - Tonka as well. It is a kind of gentle sweet, amber-like lovely ending. This one "works", on me.

I enjoyed this scent. Despite the name "Russian Leather" I found this one to be much more similar to the many "barbershop" scents on the market as opposed to the many "Leather" or more particularly, "Russian Leather" scents out there.

It is described by Memo as an "icy fougere" or something in that vein, which is an apt description. However, I found this one to be quite similar to Maison Margiela's Replica At the Barber's. To my nose they both even have a prominent Basil note and a feint leather accord in the background.

My conclusion is that this one, despite smelling quite nice, is not at all worth the price of admission considering you can get something nearly identical for less than half the price. This one does have a really, really cool bottle though.

This is a fougere more than a leather fragrance, but I can imagine a hint of leather in the background. The lavandin (as it's called on the sample card) can be harsh, and there were moments I didn't like it and considered giving it a thumbs down, but I eventually appreciated it more for being a complex variation on a classic style.

Tested Russian Leather for several days. In that span I received several compliments. One I was told it smells sexy on me. I don't look for compliments, they are a bonus.
Russian Leather comes off as Very Green. I love Green fragrances, so this is for me. Being that it's loaded with Cypress, Cedar and Pine Needles, I would consider this a Fougère. The sharp opening has a briskness to it, like walking into an arctic blast of cold air. Picks me up, pulls those shoulders back. Mid starts to turn Herbal, which I love. I was wearing this in warm February air. So this is very versatile. Some say it's a Winter scent. Not to me.
The base starts to kick in and after 4 hours Russian Leather is still going strong on my skin. Projection is above moderate. The Leather starts to peak out, it's a fine Leather. You get some green Patchouli leaves, not dark or dirty. Tonka smoothes it out. Find myself wafting my shirt to get billows of this fantastic fragrance. This lasted a good 8-10 hours. This is full bottle worthy to me and I will purchase it this week.

Definitely a green leather that is more unisex IMO. Kind of boring but pretty safe.

Memo's latest leather creation, Russian Leather, is quite green, involving not only the signature animalic leather but also pine, cedar, clary sage, and cypress. So it's a bit green, a bit herbal, a bit woody, and of course a bit leather.

To its credit, Russian Leather has a bit of complexity, an interesting variety of notes that make it a little less straightforward than other leathers but surely up to par with the odder leather creations that Memo has put forth before. Still, it's a little dirty for my nose, something acerbic and animalic making it even off-putting in one sense.

Performance is decent but as with the standard Memo pricing, $250 for 75ml is a bit steep unless you love this, and I wouldn't even say I like this very much, let alone love it.

6 out of 10