Leather
like a new leather jacket: dry, smoky, faintly bitter
In 192 of 1747 fragrances here, most often worn in winter
What it is
No hide is involved. The note is built from birch tar, styrax, quinolines and safraleine, and it descends from the smell of tanning rather than of the finished material.
What it smells like
Dry and smoky with a bitter rasp, running from soft suede to something closer to tar. Russian leather, the historical reference, smelled of birch tar because that is what the hides were treated with, so the note is a memory of a process nobody uses now.
Where it sits
Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.
What it turns up with
How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.
When it is worn
Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.
Houses that use it most
Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.
Amouage (12), Byredo (12), Rasasi (12), Guerlain (11), Tom Ford (11), Valentino (10).
The description above is written here. The counts, pairings and seasons are measured across every fragrance on this site that lists it. We have not smelled every bottle behind those numbers.
Fragrances with leather
The best known of them, each with its full note pyramid and its cheaper alternatives.
Valentino
Valentino Uomo Intense 2021 for men
Availability may vary
