The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: leather


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House of Matriarch Black No. 1

House of Matriarch Black No. 1

WHAT I SMELL:  Black No. 1 opens with a boot strap leather with hints of green cedar and fir.  The leather feels strong, thick and stiff, like the boot leather that would be worn by a lineman needed for protection from the rugged elements.  After a short time, a petroleum sheen rises above the leather which is rather metallic and sharp.  But soon enough, that metallic edge disappears and once again the perfume becomes full on leather.  After 30 minutes or so, the perfume moves from the strong leather, to a softer and lusher wooded and slightly sugared leather.  At this point, the perfume is very comforting and it feels at ease.  The best of Black No. 1 is reserved for the drydown.  In the end, the leather is soft and rather green, slightly sweetened lightly creamy and it hugs the skin…which means you’ll have to get close up to really feel it’s magic.

From the House of Matriarch website:

Recently named “SEXIEST SCENT” at the International Artisan Fragrance Awards, TOP MEN’S FRAGRANCE by Men’s Journal Magazine and BEST OF THE WEST by Sunset Magazine. This worldly and penetrating perfume contains hundreds of exotic natural essences. An unforgettable, brooding, complex, swirling kaleidoscope of a perfume which, given its notes and general dark aesthetic, is surprisingly warm and encompassing. This fragrance captivates the wearer to a deep and enchanting mystique.

Black No. 1 notes:

Top: Northwest conifers, Puget Sound seaweed, white sage

Middle: oud, cannabis, amber

Base: black leather, ambergris, hyraceum

Witchita Lineman1WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  The Wichita Lineman…very masculine, solitary and graceful in his strength.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE BLACK NO. 1:  secure, confident, understated

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLACK NO. 1: Perfume do Dio, Fragrance Daily

BOTTOM LINE:  Formerly branded as Blackbird, Black No. 1 really is a sexy scent in that it’s masculine without being over the top full on beast.  Instead, it has a quiet strength that would fit any wearing scenario.  I’m not a huge fan of leather perfumes, but I think I finally found one that could break my thinking on that front.

Sample courtesy of House of Matriarch.  Opinion my own.


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NEW RELEASE: UOMO by VALENTINO

Valentino UomoWHAT I SMELL:  Uomo opens with a spicy bergamot and then quickly in comes a sweet cocoa.  It’s lightly warm to the smell, but very zesty and tingly on the skin.  I feel like this could become very shrill, but it reins in the overly gourmand cocoa sweetness and instead leaves this lighter sheen of nutty goodness riding off of your skin.  After around 20 minutes or so, the cedar slowly makes it way in, bringing a fresh woodiness to the fragrance, but at the same time there is a bit of sour that creeps in, but only for a short time.  Uomo doesn’t change much past this point and in the end it’s relatively light and understated which is where it needs to be.  Don’t get me wrong, Uomo offers a long life and pretty good projection as well.

Valentino Uomo notes:

Top: Italian bergamot, myrtle liquor.
Middle: crema de gianduia.
Base: leather, cedarwood.

ItalianBoulevardWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  An Italian boulevard flanked by cedar trees where the smell of coffee, chocolate and other gourmand offerings from the cafes fill the air.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE UOMO: semi-gourmand, semi-sweet, semi-nutty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT UOMO: The Candy Perfume Boy via Escentual.com, The Grooming Guru, I Scent You a Day

BOTTOM LINE:  A very nice, easy to wear offering from Valentino.  As much as I like the fragrance, I can’t say the same for the bottle.  In pictures, the bottle looks like crystal.  In person, it looks like a glass porcupine.  I guess it’s nice that at least it’s different from the typical bottles out there.

  • Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Leather Goumand (but where’s the leather?)
  • Nose:  Olivier Polge
  • Classification: Masculine
  • Expense: $75 for 1.7 oz EdT (exclusively at Nordstrom in the U.S.)


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Hard Leather by LM Parfums

Hard LeatherLet me start off this post by saying that it’s not my intent to offend.  So please forgive me if I do!  OK, given that…

WHAT I SMELL:  Back in the mid-to-late 90s a group of my friends would head down to New Orleans during the Labor Day holiday season.  At that time of year, the heat and humidity are oppressive.  Combine that with small bars that are packed to the rafters mixed with sweat and alcohol, our group line was that “New Orleans smells like ass!”  Hard Leather “smells like ass.”  Yes, the opening is about as fecal as I have ever smelled. It smells like the back of a dirty bar where the mix of leather, urine and all other kinds of debauched happenings are going on.  Does that mean that Hard Leather is horrific?  No, it’s just real.  After around 20 minutes a light honey comes out which helps to break the “hard” from the hard leather.  But don’t get me wrong, this is all leather, it’s just not quite as dirty as it was.  After that, Hard Leather get’s just a tad sweeter with the inclusion of some vanilla.  But just when I thought the progression was over, Hard Leather becomes dryer, rather smoky and it loses any hint of sweet, but it still remains all leather, there is no doubt!

From the LM Parfums website:

This fragrance opens with a masculine soaring of rum associated with leather tonalities. The heart reveals the elegance of iris supported by the intoxicating honey.

The rich and spicy base notes of sandalwood, cedarwood, oud, frankincense, styrax and vanilla exude strength and Styrax,Vanilla depth .

Top Notes: Rum, Leather
Heart Notes: Iris, Honey
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Oud, Frankincense, Styrax,Vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A hot sweaty dance floor.

New Orleans PartyTHREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE HARD LEATHER:  semi-tough, strapping, potent

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT HARD LEATHER: Kafkaesque

BOTTOM LINE:  This is a Saturday night guys night out on the town kind of fragrance.  I’m not sure where else I would wear this unless I added a layer of my favorite feminine floral fragrance on top to make it my own personal “angel with a dirty face” scent!

  • Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Leather
  • Classification: Masculine
  • Expense: 295 Euros or approximately $400 for 100ml Parfum Extrait

Thanks to Kafkaesque and LM Parfums for the 10ml bottle I received via a Kafkaesque sample draw.