Russian Leather ventures into the northern realms where humans are scarce and everything is intensely Russian. In this kingdom of bleak steppes, endless forests and icy plains, the boldness of plant life emerges in full glory and the stubborn fern challenging the tundra inspires a fougère accord. Fougère, frost, the call of the forest, lavandin, echo, large herds of reindeer, basil, no compass, pine needles, guided by the song of the thrush, running free, a carpet of rosemary, on the watch, clary sage, minus 48 degrees, courage, mint, ardour... A caravan suddenly looms on the distant horizon, tonka bean, without a sound, patchouli, sea of blue snow, palace of ice, tall cedars, burning light, hand hovering knife, lichen, ever ready for a fight, wolf leather, pride, a Siberian smile on the lips. Russian Leather is a unisex leather fragrance that launched in 2016 and was created by Alienor Massenet. It features notes of basil, cedar leaf, pine needle, coriander, mint, lavandin, rosemary, nutmeg, guaiac, patchouli, tonka, leather, clary sage and cypress. It is an eau de parfum, edp.
Fragrantica: "Russian Leather to me is a spicy, aromatic cypress-leather bomb. As it dries down the pine and cedar come out more to my nose and turn it into something of a manly Christmas candle. I'm not mad at it; it's very well done but it's not quite my taste--a bit boring honestly. A great fougere option and I will end up wearing it again most certainly, but probably something I'll only be in the mood for a handful of days out of the year. If I'm in a manly leather mood I would go for my TF Ombre Leather over this in most circumstances. I would be happy to wear this as a winter or holiday scent but with so many others in my collection (Profumum Arso, Serge Lutens Bapteme de Feu, IA Cape Heartache, Rook Forest, and a number of other pine frags) it's not something I needed. I may experiment with layering Russian Leather with my more simple fragrances to add a bit of a masculine edge. It does conjure the image of a man wearing a leather jacket in a snowy pine forest so if you're looking for a signature scent with that vibe then this is definitely worth a test."
Fragrantica: "A lovely blend of pine and cypress is the most prominent, the leather note is noticeable but it stays behind the former two, the other notes create a nice background with warming sensation. The profile of the fragrance stays rather stable during the wearing, only change I noticed - it became slightly sweeter after an hour and I started to distinct lavender more. It is a beautiful fragrance for winter as it sets the scenery of a snowy forest of conifers, in the same time making you feel warm and cozy."
Fragrantica: "This is one of the best barbershop fragrances. Very smooth and masculine. The leather is not that prominent but gives it depth. Lasted 10 hours on me with good projection."
Fragrantica: "It opens so fougere, so herbal, fresh, almost like a Turkish bath in a hammam: opens your sinuses and makes you feel warm at the same time. It's almost resinous, waxy at times. It might not project as potently as others in the leather line but you can still feel the leather underneath the freshness, mixed with the tonka, a sweet and ever so slightly animalic ending, so creamy in contrast to the beginning, it mixes and mashes and transforms from the pine trees to a breeze at home, in the winter, under a blanket... The most notorious notes for me have to be the pine, lavender, leather and rosemary. A gorgeous barbershop scent. I think with the right attitude anyone can pull this off, I'd recommend to wear it in the winter but it's so good I can see myself craving it in the summer as well."
Fragrantica: "Aromatic dry leather-fern, feels pine and wood in the background (not crazy pine). I would consider it softer than typical Tom Ford leather. I would not say it is the same DNA of tom fordish leather-woody stuff, but it is something not far from it, more delicate, and it doesn't choke you. Something tells me it is more winter-season perfume, it really gives you some frozen fern/wood Siberian vibe."
Fragrantica: "I’ve been hunting for a faithful representation of pine in a perfume, and this is hands down the best I’ve come across. A frozen fougere is the perfect description. In many ways, it treads familiar territory, but that pine is just so impressively persistent and fresh. There is leather here too, but you have to really search for it. At the edges of the scent bubble this creates, it takes on more generic fougere qualities so it’s highly inoffensive."
Fragrantica: "This is a great woody-aromatic fougere fragrance. The pine tree, cypress, and fern together with the cedar wood were used to give the vibe of the pine forest. Lavender is very dominant and along with the clary sage gives a fougere barbershop character to the fragrance. The concept of the fragrance is the northern real: the massive pine forest in a cold virgin, and mysterious land of Russia or Canada. But is the fragrance really committed to the concept? the answer is NO. Tonka, coriander, and nutmeg are warm notes and have no relation to the cold northern forest nature. These notes were added to give a luxurious and mass-pleasing character to the fragrance and for marketing purposes. So, although the scent is very nice, it does not remind me of the wild nature and characteristics of the true northern land. To me, this is a weakness for a niche brand that moves away from the concept and adds notes for mass-pleasing. This is a very high-quality and highly refined UPPER LEVEL DESIGNER type of fragrance. 7.5/10"
