Leather notes in perfumery
Coralie Frébourg
Smoky, dark, sensual, a little insolent: leather notes give a perfume character and personality. You either adore them or struggle with them. And their history is closely tied to that of French perfumery.
What is a leather note?
Leather notes evoke a new leather bag, a biker jacket, a club armchair. They are powerful, dark, sometimes smoky, woody, animalic or earthy.
Quite popular, they are not one of the six original olfactory families defined by the French Society of Perfumers (SFP): floral, citrus, woody, oriental, fougère and chypre.
A bit of history: the glove-perfumers
You've probably heard of the master glove-perfumers. Back then, leather was tanned with very smelly processes, then perfumed to cover that powerful odor. Catherine de' Medici made perfumed gloves from Italy famous.
In 1614, Louis XIII recognized the guild of “master glove-perfumers”, and Grasse, a tanning town, gradually became the world capital of perfume. Read the rest of the story in Discover the perfumer's profession.
What do leather notes smell like?
Leather doesn't come in a bottle: it's recreated by combining smoky notes (birch, tar), animalic, woody, powdery (iris, violet) or spicy (saffron) ones. They are generally base notes, giving a perfume great longevity and diffusion.
There are often two styles: classic leather, smoky and animalic, and pyrogenic leather, with grilled, caramelized, coffee notes.
Key raw materials
Natural materials are marked with an asterisk.
Leather
- Suederal: suede, costus, woody
- Tobacco absolute*: tobacco, honey, smoky
- Isobutyl quinoline: leather, hazelnut, smoky
- Birch essence* (strictly regulated): smoky, incense, tar
- Guaiacol: smoky, woody, clove
- Costus essence*: iris-like, balsamic, warm
Pyrogenic leather
- Coffee essence*: coffee, chocolate, tobacco
- Ethyl maltol: caramel, cotton candy, grilled
- Methylcyclopentenolone: licorice, coffee, smoky
Iconic perfumes
- Cuir de Russie, Chanel (1924), Ernest Beaux: leather
- Bandit, Robert Piguet (1944), Germaine Cellier: leather chypre
- Cabochard, Grès (1959), Bernard Chant: leather
- Aramis, Aramis (1966), Bernard Chant: woody chypre
- Bel Ami, Hermès (1986), Jean-Louis Sieuzac: woody chypre
- Cuir Mauresque, Serge Lutens (1996), Christopher Sheldrake: leather
- Cuir Ottoman, Parfum d'Empire (2006): ambery floral
- Cuir d'Ange, Hermès (2014), Jean-Claude Ellena: powdery leather
This list is not exhaustive: there are many beautiful launches, some iconic, others more commercial.
Where to find leather notes at Versatile?
At our place, leather slips in where you least expect it. The smoky, animalic leather of Accrodisiaque. The gourmand leather of Cerise sur le Gâteau, between cherry, chocolate and Baileys. And for the pyrogenic version, the toasted coffee of Croissant Café.
FAQ
Does the leather in perfumes come from animals?
No. The smell of leather is recreated from smoky woods, resins and synthetic molecules. Our perfumes are 100% vegan, by the way.
Why is Grasse the perfume capital?
Because the town was first a tanning center. To mask the smell of leather, glove-makers perfumed it, then started growing the region's flowers.
What is a “pyrogenic” leather?
A leather with grilled, caramelized or roasted notes, like coffee or tobacco. Pyrogenic means “produced by fire”.
