In 2019, a powerful desire brought a single bottle of an elusive perfume into the world. It began with the realization that most fruity fragrances were made for women and that many smelled sweet and pretty: there was no perfume to satisfy someone who wanted to wear a fruity fragrance in a cool, chic way.
Fruity fragrances have the drawback of carrying considerable femininity through the sweet, alluring character of fruit. As a result, many are far removed from the words “cool” or “chic.” The creator considered cassis (blackcurrant) (in Japanese) the ingredient that best combined fruitiness, elegance and a chic scent. It has long been used in classic women’s perfumes, including Guerlain’s Chamade, Dior’s Dune, Van Cleef & Arpels’ First and Yves Saint Laurent’s In Love Again. Its green, minty, fruity scent recalls grapefruit and passion fruit, yet it also has foul-smelling facets reminiscent of cat urine or human sweat, giving it an animalic side. Adding just a little of the floral character of linden and orange blossom makes the fragrance more abstract.
Some of the great cassis perfumes created before this were certainly cool and sexy enough for men to wear. Even so, they remained easier for women to use, with femininity still predominating. The idea, then, was to see whether leather might marry well with the bitterness of cassis. The additions were suede, to express smooth elegance, and styrax, to express a smoky, dandyish character. Adding Cashmeran (in Japanese) and musk (in Japanese) improves longevity and helps the scent settle comfortably on the skin.
The result was a fruity-leather fragrance combining the mature, bitter fruitiness of cassis with a soft, smoky leather character that suits leather jackets and accessories. Its name is Cuir de Cassis, or “blackcurrant leather.” Because of circumstances involving the ingredients, only one was ever made. Customers who smelled it are said to have wanted it to become a commercial product, but that apparently has yet to happen.
Miraculously, the formula for Cuir de Cassis was discovered, so I have set it out below.
| Fragrance ingredient | Required proportion (number of drops) |
|---|---|
| Cassis (blackcurrant) | 22 |
| Linden | 5 |
| Musk | 3 |
| Orange blossom | 6 |
| Mate ABS (mate absolute) | 2 |
| Cashmeran | 3 |
| Suederal | 6 |
| Citrus | 4 |
| Prunella | 4 |
| Styrallyl AC | 2 |
Who, then, was the creator? Me. (Really.) If you are curious, do try making it.
