Bertrand Duchaufour created a trio of perfumes for Parisian jewellery designer Ann Gerard. The first I tried was Cuir de Nacre, an iris-leather perfume. It sounded divine from what I have read about it, and fortunately I have not been disappointed.
Read my review of Ann Gerard Perle de Mousse and a statement about the recent events concerning M. Duchaufour here. Moving on…
Cuir de Nacre was created by Bertrand Duchaufour, it was previously released as a limited edition called Pleine Lune. It includes notes of angelica root, ambrette absolute, aldehydic ozonic notes, cassie absolute, iris concrete, leather accord, sandalwood, white musks and styrax resin.
Opening very reserved, almost stern and remote, Cuir de Nacre warms up over time, morphs from cool, powdery leather, to softest, most pliable suede smothered in irisbutter and held up by a warm sandalwood background.
Like a 1950s movie heroine, Cuir de Nacre slowly lets her hair down, and only as far as getting rid of her gloves eventually. But this woman doesn’t need lots of naked skin to entice and bewitch, she does it with wit and elegance and her seductive powers and allure lie in her mysteriousness and reserve.
She draws you in inexorably.
Resistance is futile, because elegance is timeless.
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Sounds very nice. And in fact : it looks nice – obviously, an elegant parfum in an elegant bottle.
Sooner or later I’ll succumb…
As you should! 🙂
Leather is a tricky note for me – it can be true love or it can not work at all. This one sounds like pure class though.
Same here. Leather can be nauseating, that is not a problem here for me though.
Madeleine has grabbed this set and is completely taken. I am tempted but afraid they might be a little soft for me, what do you think?
Portia x
Cuir de Nacre is indeed soft and wears close to the skin, but it has a great presence. As an Ellena fan you may enjoy this a lot though, since it has similarities with his translucent, but distinct style.
I’m sure you’d like the other two though, they are not loud by any means, but not as quiet as Cuir either.
Thanks Birgit. I may have to nick a couple of ml from Madeleine. He He he
Portia xx
Good idea! 🙂
Sigh – I do like an elegant leather and this whole collection sounds lovely, but I am on a ‘no sample buy’ until I work my way through my backlog!
I totally understand. I have pretty much given up on the idea of ever sniffing up my backlog, it just stresses me out… 😉
I’d like to have at least one “suede” in my fragrance collection, and this one is on the TBS list along with Midnight in Paris and Cuir d’Iris. Eventually I’ll throw them in a cage match with Bottega Veneta, Daim Blond and Mythique, and we’ll see who comes out victorious. I’m ruthless that way. 😉
A suede smackdown, that sure sounds interesting. I hope you’ll write about it, Dionne!
I am very keen on trying this scent… is it very feminine or can I pull it off just like Daim Blond?
No, I don’t think it is very feminine, you can certainly pull it off.
I think this would smell fantastic on a man!
I wanted to try this position from Ann Gerard but sample is not available anywhere nearby and I don’t want to order from luckyscent at the moment.
Hopefully it is coming to your niche boutique eventually. A very nice line.
Hard to tell if it will appear here. It would be lovely as it would give an easy way to sample it.
There are many fragrances I’d like to try but have to hold on because unavailability in Poland.
It is not much better here… 😦
I’ve been thinking about swapping with other people from foreign countries (bloggers or non bloggers) so that the could send me something unavailable here and vice versa.
My feelings are somewhat mixed on this one. I wrote a glowing review on the Posse, and it is a lovely perfume…for a short time. But I’ve worn it out several times and even though it is supposed to be an “extrait”, it is no longer detectable after 2 hours. So I have to re-spray halfway through a party or dinner, or wear something else…I’m frustrated with its lack of longevity! I love it, but it makes me crazy, because it vamooses before anyone else can smell it! But while it lasts, it’s gorgeous….
You are right, it does vanish rather quickly, it lasts about three to four hour on me, which is a bit longer, but still not ideal. Alas, beauty is fleeting… 🙂
I agree that it’s short lived, but I loved it immediately, especially that hit of earthy rooty iris in the opening. It lasts a minute or two before it transforms into something altogether different love that!
I also noted that this seem very similar to Kelly Caleche. I really need to wear them side by side. KC definitely has more power and more powder, almost too much, but the heart of KC and CdN seem identical. Ack. Need to wear side by side to be sure…
I immediately wanted a bottle, but already own Kelly Caleche. Sigh…
I compared those two side by side – don’t worry, you can easily justify another bottle, they are very different. 🙂
KC is a lot more floral throughout and I find the iris-suede accord more delicate and refined in Cuir de Nacre.
I am tempted by a discovery set but trying to stop myself and go with samples: I can’t believe that I will love all three of them so the sensible thing to do is to sample and to save the rest of the set’s cost towards a bottle of the one that I love… I don’t know 🙂
That is probably a good thing, I’m not particularly impressed with the third scent, Ciel d’Opale, so the money saved on the set would go a long way towards a bottle of Perle de Mousse or Cuir de Nacre, should you fall in love with those.
Bertrand, Iris and Leather? Count me in!
Lovely review B.
Thank you. 🙂
I fear that you might not be entirely happy with how quiet this is (I’d prefer a bit more volume myself, but I guess elegance lies in restraint).
I can imagine that might be an issue, I do like some oomph.
In other news I tried Ouris the other day, it sure is pretty. I can see why you love it so!
I’m sure I replied to this comment by email, but it seems to have been swallowed somewhere along the way…
Ouris is delicious! Did you try the extrait or the EdP?
I think it was the EDP. It was the white bottle anyway.
It was a pleasant surprise, I’d always overlooked them as just another niche line but Ouris was quite lovely.
Try the black bottle, it is to die for!!!
Will do!
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