I Miss Violet is the latest from French niche line The Different Company, working with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour (shown above left). It's a unisex floral / vegetal leather, and the brand's description is reasonably close to reality:
Discover a vegetal leather accord at the heart and the base of the sillage. Bertrand Duchaufour creates the fragrance like a sculptor and brings out green notes with the freshness of basil and tangerine right behind a vibrant and sparkling champagne note and the spice of the nutmeg, whereas mahogany with soft aromatic leather touch and vanilla bring a sensual angle in the light of a extremely luxurious musk.
The start is a lovely boudoir violet, creamy and round, but we stay in that territory only briefly. The 'pretty' is almost immediately cut by the green notes (plenty of violet leaf, a little touch of basil) and then shortly thereafter by the "champagne" (I would not have thought of champagne, although there are watery undertones and a sort of greenish-golden aura).1 The heart is a powdery soft floral, now less violet, more mixed bouquet, still a bit watery and green. The woody dry down is mild, lightly sweet, with the merest suggestion of leather, maybe something closer, in perfume-speak, to suede. Farther on, it does darken a shade or two, but it never gets heavy or weighed down, and the velvety finish keeps things relatively muted and quiet.
Verdict: I did not fall violently in love with I Miss Violet, but I liked it. It's interesting, modern, sophisticated, yet easy to wear, and it plays nicely in a wide variety of weather, from cold to warm to hot and humid. Lovers of violet fragrances and/or soft leathers will want to give it a try, although if you were specifically after a fragrance tightly focused on either note, you may be disappointed. And do be warned: I Miss Violet is in the brand's "Excessive Collection", and it has an immoderate price to match.
(And if you almost love I Miss Violet, but it's not quite right, you might consider another Duchaufour "leather", like Ann Gérard Cuir de Nacre, or even his Skin on Skin for L'Artisan. If you wanted a wallop of powdery animalic leather, of course you need to go way back in time, to something like Robert Piguet Bandit or Molinard Habanita.)
If you have smelled I Miss Violet, or have any other soft leather recommendations, do comment!
The Different Company I Miss Violet is available in 50 ml Eau de Parfum, €175. For buying information, see the listing for The Different Company under Perfume Houses.
1. The notes include violet leaves, Vietnamese basil, mandarin, ambrette seeds, champagne, nutmeg, osmanthus, violet flower, iris, mimosa, cyclamen, ozonic notes, leather, mahogany, vanilla, musk and ambergris.
I tried it a couple of weeks ago and liked it, but the beginning smelled like a fruity violet to me. Must go back and investigate.
Soft leathers: Lutens Daim Blond, Boxeuses, Cuir Mauresque (they seem soft to me!). One of the few Keiko Mecheris I really like is Cuir Cordoba, a lovely suede-y scent. Ramon Monegal Cuirelle is a REALLY soft leather on me. And I used to adore Arquiste Aleksandr, a combination of delicate leather and violet, but I have fallen out of love with it a bit.
Nice list, thanks!
Will definitely have to try this. I love the house, the notes sound great to me, and I like my leather on the suede-y side.
I am in fact trying to find a leather to love, as it tends to go sour in me after a bit. Cuir D’ Anges is probably my last hope, but I keep forgetting to order a sample.
Cuir d’Anges is maybe even less leather than this one. They are both pretty mild.
Oh, good to know, thanks. I may just go straight to this one.
Good luck. The Ann Gerard really is worth a shot too.
Cuirelle is a soft, powdery leather, or more like a suggestion of leather. I’ll send what’s left of my sample to you very soon. I can’t imagine it would go sour on you but it might not be enough leather either.
Leather is one note that I haven’t investigated much because it seems like a note I probably wouldn’t like. This might be a good introductory leather to try. And I like TDC and Duchaufour. Seems like it would be a good late summer/early fall scent.
It is worth a try — it is not a “typical” leather note.
I love this perfume. It’s quite a light leather / suede but for me it’s one of those scents that feels like I could wear it a lot (apart from the price!). I get quite a bit of violet in the beginning but I found that I liked that and it’s the first time I’ve actually appreciated violet in a perfume. The osmanthus is good too. It’s definitely not an overpowering perfume though but it does have a character – it’s not dull. I think I really loved it because it was quite different to other perfumes I own and seemed to fill a gap.
I adore violet, and osmanthus for that matter. And agree it is not dull. I would definitely wear it if I had some. But the price is crazy…there is nothing about the scent itself that seems to justify it, and IMHO it is not even as good as some of the scents in their “regular” line, many of which I wouldn’t pay for either.
But everyone knows I’m cheap 🙂
Oooh, thank you for the review, I’ve been curious about this one. I was having a hard time imagining it from the notes.
Is basil a new trend, or is it a fairly common note I’ve just not been very aware of before? I’m suddenly noticing it all over (Oriental Express, Trayee, which I’m wearing today…)
Not new, and not even sure I’m seeing it more often than usual. It is not so terribly noticeable here (or at least, not for long) as it is when it’s used in lighter, more citrusy fragrances, where tends to “stand out”. Guerlain Mandarin Basilic comes to mind, and of course there’s Jo Malone Lime Basil Mandarin, AG Eau du Sud, and Korres used to make a Lemon Basil Water but don’t think they do anymore. Oh, and Diptyque Virgilio.
Thanks—I don’t have a whole lot of light citrusy things or I might have been more attuned to it.
Well darn, that IS “excessive.” I think I’ll just scratch that right off my sample list as I already love the violet/leather of Atelier’s Sous le toit de Paris.
I really enjoy the soft leather of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima. It truly does remind me of new pink leather ballet shoes and if I’m just a sucker for their ad copy then so be it. 😉
Three other ones come to mind: Dior’s Cuir Cannage might be a good soft leather, but it doesn’t work for me. I get that weird orange baby aspirin/truck stop bathroom gritty soap dispenser note from it. From Chanel: I actually think Cuir de Russie is pretty soft, as well as 28 La Pausa.
I know I’ve forgotten a bunch, so I look forward to reading the rest of the comments.
This is very different than the Atelier, but I sympathize with the sticker shock.
I like soft leathers very much and own several, either as FBs or decants. But the genre mostly resides at the niche end of the market so it is expensive even to sample. I think I might love this latest from TDC, but the price!!
Anyway, I favour Bottega Veneta, Cuir de Lancome, Cuir d’Ange , Cuir Cannage, Kelly Caleche.
Yes, the price. Even the Cuir Cannage is cheaper.
I already have a crush on their Oud for Love, which is similarly priced, so perhaps I ought not to try this!
It’s not a soft scent, but for leather and violet I usually turn to Jolie Madame. What I do consider lovely and soft is Cabochard’s dry down… say about 3 or 4 hours in! I also find Etro’s Gomma to be a very soft rubbery leather – a little more ‘balsamic’ than Cabochard (though I’m not sure it could be considered balsamic in itself).
Ha, yes…then stay far away. One is enough 🙂
Yeah – I can resist a crush, but if this one ignited a raging passion, that could be a problem!
Six thumbs up for Jolie Madame.
Nice review, Robin. I’ll seek this out the next time I’m at Barneys. For soft leathers, Jo Malone Peony and Blush Suede qualifies and I second Penhaligon Iris Prima, Atelier Cologne Sous le toit de Paris and Hermes Kelly Caleche. Even Prada Infusion d’Iris has a leatherish smell..
Didn’t Angela write a post about leather perhaps about two years ago?
BTW, it is the Absolue that has the leatherish note, according to my nose.
Angie wrote a couple — here’s Leather 101
https://nstperfume.com/2013/01/21/leather-fragrances-101/
I love bottega veneta but strangely only in hot weather, in winter it’s to harsh for me, in hot weather it really blooms. But my favorite leather is cuir fetiche, only the sillage is very low…still looking for the perfect leather!
That is strange…you’d think it would be more than in winter it was too mild.
Only have a little sample of this – but its lovely, Heeley: Cuir Pleine Fleur…
I need to try that one again.
I love Cuir Pleine Fleur and have a bottle of it. It truly is lovely.
Atelier’s Rendezvous has become a favorite leather for me.
And that one I tried but failed to get a sample of. It did seem much more bold than their general…
Yes, it is probably as bold as Sous le Toit.
I absolutely love Rendezvous! But I refuse to be strong armed into buying a boxed set (200ml) as that is the only option from Neiman’s. So it will stay on my wish list for now. But I recently bought RP Visa which is a lovely floral leather.
I love a soft floral leather, but am probably too picky in some respects and not discriminating in others. Ehh. Personal taste, you know?
Love Cuir de Lancome and Cuir Cannage and vintage Jolie Madame extrait. Really like Kelly Caleche in the edp. Bottega Veneta is strongly baby aspirin/Tang dust, and I can’t deal with that. Cuir d’Ange had this weird fecal note that lasted 20 minutes, which I just cannot. even. And Cuir de Russie is very harsh dusty iodined rawhide on me (odd because I usually do well with Chanels). I did once have an experience, one out of about a dozen trials with various forms of it, where it was really beautiful. But an iffy 8% success rate is just not worth trying again. Sigh.
I should retry Cuir de Nacre; I can’t remember it. And I have a sample of the rereleased Diorling which is wowsers but not really “soft” according to me. I suppose I just feel that I might as well stock up on that vintage Jolie Madame if I’m going to spend that kind of money.
This has none of the birch tar of some of those (esp. the vintage leathers), but admit I’m stymied by the fecal aspect of Cuir d’Ange, I don’t get that at all.
How does this I Miss Violet compare to Creed’s Love in Black which is also a light violet, soft leather fragrance (even though I don’t think leather is listed as a note for Love in Black, I definitely get a soft leather vibe?)
I’m sorry, really don’t remember Love in Black at all although I’m pretty sure I tried it.
for a soft leather and violet, I love Violet Tendencies by Smell Bent. great price, too! I even like it better than Jolie Madame.