Indult Reve en Cuir

I wasn't certain what to initially think of Reve en Cuir. It's such a dramatic turnaround from the previously heavy and hyper-sweetened Indult releases (Tihota, Isvaraya, Manakara) that it took me by surprise and I had to test it several times before getting a handle on it.

Translated literally as "dream out of leather" -- and probably a bit more smoothly as "a dream of leather" -- Reve en Cuir distinguishes itself mostly through its lack of concessions to popular conceptions of perfumery. Flowery? No. Fruity? Just the teensiest bit of citrus. Sugared? Besides a light vanilla coating over its chemical fume core, the sweet beast that's been Indult's stock in trade so far has been seriously tamed, restrained and retrained for a new audience.

Re: the "chemical fume core" bit, Reve en Cuir exhibits a bit of that old leather tanning process style -- you know, like when leather workers treated animal hides by first soaking them in vats of urine to loosen the hair fibers, and then softened the skins by kneading them in a mixture of dog sh*t and water.

Oh, you didn't know? Well, sorry to be the one to break the news, but doesn't life in the 21st century just sound better by the second? Anyway, cedar oil was sometimes used in the tanning process, as well, but dog sh*t (and human/animal piss) was easier and much cheaper to come by.

The centuries ago tanning process was so foul smelling that tanneries were located outside the city centers, and finished goods, such as ladies gloves, were heavily perfumed to mask the underlying stink of the urine, dog sh*t and harsh tree oils and solvents that were used to treat the hides.

But foul as it may sound to our antiseptic ears, this 16th century method of processing leather for fine finished goods is exactly what our leather dream fragrance appears to reference: the scent of a leather glove from the 1500's, but with the faint undercurrents of animal piss and harsh tanning oils (oakmoss, cedar and vetiver in this instance) adding depth to the fragrances employed to mask these baser smells, much in the same way that utilizing a drop of shockingly raw civet musk in the foundation of a fine perfume can provoke a sensation of earth and decay beneath the fresh crown of a flower in bloom.

Reve en Cuir is very much an exotic fragrance, but more so because it touches upon a distant time rather than a distant place. The mix is exceptionally balanced, there are rather flabbergasting examples of scent subtleties that weave in and out ("there's the vanilla, no, wait, there's the patchouli, oh, hell, that's the vetiver, or the clove, wait!" and so on), and I can think of absolutely nothing of fault to be found in and with it . . . unless, of course, you're not really much a fan of dirt beneath your flowers (or, in this case, the sh*t and piss that was once used to soften the resulting perfumed leather).

I'd think that Reve en Cuir can safely claim the title of Metrosexual King of the Unisex Fragrance Trend at present for its softly beautiful and yet sort of simultaneously studly charms. Official listed notes are: Bergamot, Lemon, Cardamom, Oregano, Clove Bud, Texan Cedarwood, Patchouli, Oak Moss, Haitian Vetyver and Crystallized Vanilla.

A very smooth operator, with a drydown that smells like smoke, pipe tobacco (that's probably the vanilla and clove) and tree bark.

Reve en Cuir was created by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind Indult's other four fragrances, as well. It's sold exclusively at Los Angeles based Lucky Scent.

Note: If I buy a bottle of Reve en Cuir, then between this and Ormonde Jayne Zizan, I'd be, like, the heppest cat in town.

OFF TOPIC:

The view outside my window this afternoon:

And me as the view in my window this afternoon -- it was in the mid-70's just three days ago, and now it's freezing rain and I'm all bundled up in a ski jacket. Dallas weather is weird. The belt buckle should look familiar: