Cuir de Russie

I know that for many aficionados, Chanel's Cuir de Russie is the gold standard for the Cuir de Russie leather accord in perfumery. I beg to differ. For me, this is the gold standard. Anna Zworikyna's Cuir de Russie. From Russia with love.
Oh, and yes. I owned an 80's flacon of the first, so I have gone the vintage route before making this statement.
This version is the Parfum Extrait, which I much prefer over the EDP, as with all of Anna's works. The blending here is of an alchemy level, and the depth, the richness of the composition, are bottomless. All natural ingredients, so the olfactory spectrum just gets stretched beyond what synthetic molecules could possibly offer.
The pure parfum reveals the Cuir de Russie accord as soon as you spray it, and it dominates the show, the rest of the elements are just playing their fleeting part in the story. It is so well done, so finely tuned that it makes others look amateurish. The birch wood aroma is warm and slightly sweet, and the smokiness is just perfect, never too powerful, nor too soft. The castoreum usage here is my favorite of any perfume. Sweet, animalic, leathery, oily, and with a perceivable chewiness. These two essential notes for building a Cuir de Russie accord are not just exploited to the maximum, but cleverly embellished with auxiliary notes to create something far beyond a simple leather perfume. There is an aromatic, bracing, and bitter-green opening lifting the composition with the help of absinth and galbanum, maybe artemisia. And from the green aromatic burst, it shifts to delicate floral nuances in the heart, difficult to pinpoint, but easy to appreciate in their sumptuous beauty. And to the base, there is a significant addition of oakmoss, providing a beautiful inky-bitterness and velvety touch. It is a leather perfume of many facets. Aromatic-green, floral, and mossy. It might even be considered a leather-chypre, as the oakmoss is quite prominent. But it is woven so well that one can only taste the various flavors, see the colors, and feel the textures, but never separate them. The blending, quality, and complexity are first-class.
As a lover of leather, I have many favorites. And this genre has so many subcategories, as this accord can be exploited in many ways. But as far as the Cuir de Russie leather accord goes, this is the bar for me.
@memory.of.scents


I’m having a bit of a difficult time wrangling the black dog, and one might think such occasions call for light little zesty numbers to provide some zip and sparkle. But one would be wrong. I think sometimes it’s best not to try cover up your feelings in the manner of throwing a lace tablecloth over a dungheap and hoping for the best. Better to get the shovel out and clear it, I reckon, or at least embrace the cause, and be kind to yourself. In the spirit of self-kindness, I’m wearing the gloriously rambunctious Cuir de Russie by @annazworykinaperfumes. *What* a leather this is. Anna very kindly sent me this little bottle while I was researching a feature on the history of Russian leather fragrances, and I’ve treasured it ever since. In my article, I described this one as ‘Warm horse saddle worn smooth from use, a pitch black velvet cloak flying madly, a majestic beast in the wilderness.’ I stand by that, and having worn this in warmer weather now, would also like to mention the bitter smoke, at first, which quickly clears to reveal a long, shadowy room, a copper bowl of oranges on a long mahogany table buffed with beeswax. Motes of dust swirl in sunbeams - a light dusting of powder and something like the ash from a cigar - a welcoming stillness after the gasping, muscular, slightly sweaty opening. I realise the way I’ve described this won’t appeal to those who want pretty little docile perfumes, but I don’t want pretty today. I want to wander this room and inhabit it, pausing to sniff my wrist and ponder a while. You can keep your pretty.
Miss Nightingale


Cuir de Russie is the most eccentric of that name I remember smelling, very floral and less smoky than the usual fare, with a strange and beautiful sweet-green drydown. In the end, empirical evidence prevails: these are perfumes that even a fan of synthetics like me would love to wear.
Luca Turin