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queesee – :
Like nothing I’ve ever smelled – don’t let the first sniff put you off, it blossoms fantastically during a wear. Masterpiece of wildflowers and skank, totally unique.
akonit – :
Leather saddle, hay, a little smoke and a little bit of horse poop in the beginning. Followed by tree sap and floral notes (pine?). Nicely balanced and smooth. As the poop fades away you’re left with this luxurious smoky leather smell. It gets better as it warms up with the body and becomes very wearable overtime. Interesting. Don’t judge perfume by its top notes.
Eleparguell – :
As a determinedly urban woman who’s ridden a horse for maybe 8 hours tops, over the course of my entire life … I am probably one of the last people in the world this should appeal to! And yet it does … ooooh, and how.
Other reviews nail its appeal – the well-balanced mix of very funky, organic, animal-based stuff, leather and hay and musk, with enough airy top notes to add some music and grace to all the grunting and snorting. It’s done with a fine touch and control of the detail – for instance, yes, the leather note is very specifically an equestrian/saddle leather, not like the smell a soft pair of suede gloves, or a raw cheap handbag, or of a live sweating ox, all of which you might find in other perfumes. This particular leather is well-tanned, well-oiled and well looked after.
The opening is breathtakingly green and fresh and delightful – and that’s even before that nuanced, true to life leather kicks in, and then after that there’s a sweet course of gentle synth-musk + really rather lovely amber to savour.
Would be an absolute thoroughbred, even a signature scent, for me if the longevity were better; but sadly this one has no legs – it just doesn’t last and runs out completely after around 3h. Sillage is almost ridiculously discreet, but I rather like that. What I can’t take is such a beautiful, beautiful scent which has so much character but so little stamina. A real shame – I would happily pay more for a stickier, stinkier horse from the same stable.
driv-z – :
My first horse was an Arabian gelding named Brigadeer. Brig was quite a character and gained a following at shows, not because he won blue ribbons, but because watching him get off the trailer was quite a thrill for everyone who happened to be in the vicinity. Brig never did anything small – no, it was grandiose, all the way. He also made it a point to let the judges get to know him very well – by running them over. We were excused from as many classes as we finished.
I am not much of a fool for names, but I’ll admit I wanted to love this juice when I heard the name. When I read the notes, I imagined the many days spent at the barn, cleaning stalls, feeding horses, bathing horses, handwalking horses, and just enjoying the scents that a barn holds for those who care to embrace the joys of the outdoors and the magnificent creatures housed in the beloved wooden structures.
I have searched for the perfect feminine leather for quite sometime. I’ve owned a few, and tried many more. What I have found frustrating over and over is the failure to capture the truest scent of a fine leather, such as the leathers used to make the custom saddles, bridles, and tall boots I wore. The feel and smell of fine leather – quality leather that allows you to feel the horse, yet that has the strength to move thru time and harsh treatment is rather unlike most leathers you see daily. I cannot describe the beauty and suppleness that comes with a fine English, French or Italian leather. The tanning process is much more refined and subtle. The chemicals less harsh, and the scent much more pure. It is an art. It is this scent I compare all leather perfumes to, and it is why so many fail for me.
When I stumbled across a tiny decant of this juice, I knew I had to have a full bottle. That was the worst part – getting a full bottle meant ordering directly from France, which is not cheap. The dollar is still not as strong as it used to be, and shipping is awful. But, I started selling off multiple bottles, and placed my order, and now I have my Precious!
When that box was delivered, I cried a little. I’m not joking at all. You see, I no longer have a horse. I gave up my most recent horse when my husband found out he had a rare form of cancer (all better now! Full remission!). I know I did the right thing, but I miss riding. Getting this bottle, well, I finally had an Arabian horse again. 🙂
I am glad to know that Luckyscent now carries this, as previously one could only order it online and have it shipped from Paris.
rrv1971 – :
The name fits. From the very opening Arabian Horse creates a setting that evokes equestrian affairs. It smells like farms, barns and steeplechases. The topnotes are strong and urgent, but the stables-and-tack mis-en-scène is just exposition and dramatic build-up. The heartnotes are the reveal. The pacing of the perfume reminds me of the actual experience of approaching a horse. At a distance I think what sublime animals horses are. Then, each time, as I get close I’m taken aback. Fuck, they’re huge. Same with Arabian Horse. As the perfume sweeps into the heart, there you are with the horse and, fuck, it’s huge.
The waxy animalic sweetness is offset by a bitter green-tinged floral that gives a raunchy touch. Narcissus flowers are earthy and have a hay-like aroma. Narcissus absolute (I smelled it just once) is even more fecund than the flower. It smells of hay, yes, but it also smells of horseshit, not a bad scent by any means. Think of horseshit as filtered hay. Narcissus is one of those perfectly balanced, good-with-the-bad materials. It also has one of the most animalic facets you’ll find in a botanical, which lends a credulity to the perfume’s image. Still, it’s only one part of the picture. The thickly layered musks have a trippy, arpeggiated circus-calliope feel. Together with the narcissus they creates an aggresive tone, balanced but mobile. More suspended or poised than settled.
The horse angle is brilliant. The scents of leather and wood play with an equestrian-lifestyle fantasy. Polished saddles and stirrups, form fitted johdpurs that sound a crisp crack when struck by a crop. It’s the subdued kink that I imagine Guerlain want you to long for every time you see an Habit Rouge ad. If you’re into an equestrian fantasy scene, this is the scentscape of your kink. Down on all fours with bridle and bit, mucking out the stables. Catherine the Great would have dug this stuff. But the perfume can be taken in another way. For those of us too effete to have such vivid drama, Arabian Horse is also a well-layered woody-floral chypre with a solid dose of leather. It even has a background whiff of the flotsam found at the bottom of a purse. Arabian Horse hits the same spot for me as Jean Kerleo’s brilliant 1000 for Jean Patou–tightly composed yet animalic.
I didn’t follow the release of Guillaume’s remixed perfumes * and when I first smelled Arabian Horse (3.1) I didn’t know it was a reworking of Cuir Venenum, one of my favorite perfumes by Guillaume. Both perfumes create atypical leather notes and use them to build imagistic, suggestive perfumes. They don’t so much smell alike as pursue their compositional goals similarly.
* Cozé Verde 2.1
Le Musc et La Peau 4.1
Vetiver Matale 6.1
Grand Siècle Intense 7.1
Bouquet Massai 10.1
Indian Wood 11.1
(from scenthurdle.com)
Xeroxywzuq – :
there are many similar to this perfume i suggest up there
assonserogyd24547 – :
It opens as Lipstick, Leather and Hay. An undercurrent of soap weaves through. It beds down to a musky, warm skin scent, quite apparent as a PG notion, as it is in the vein of all those I have tried. It has an outline of a CDR and with a less stiff and formal finish. A very comfortable country Leather. Feminine or Masculine? I would say Unisex,as it points to the Earth, the Animal, the Human.
Beautiful, romantic and highly recommended!
pashulya20126 – :
If it came out as a regular from the line I would have bought it right away, but since it is so expensive, I won’t.
Anyway, the fragrance is a lovely leather with a strong hay/stable feeling (probably because of the narcissus absolute) and it has the same leather/musk accord you can find in other similar issues from PG: Cuir Venenum and Cuir d’Iris.
It made me think about some scenes from the movie “Immoral tales” by Walerian Borowczk.
pneumpunors – :
A friend sent a sample of this a while ago, and I dismissed it at first — I couldn’t picture why anyone would want to smell the way this perfume smelled. I’ve since spent more time with it and, while I have much respect for the way it’s made, it’s not quite aligning with my own tastes. Although I can’t speak to its nationality, this scent really does smell like a horse, and I’d peg this as one of the most provocative and visceral scents in the PG catalog — one that all PG fans should get their noses on at least once.
It’s basically a leather that’s mixed with hay and musks for some barnyard raunch, scrubbed clean with the illusion of ivory soap and rounded out with a thoughtful non-cliched amber base. The clean / dirty effect creates a fantastic tension and, for much of the wear, the scent wavers between precarious and meditative. The musk is too intriguing to be off-putting (a tonkin-esque musk, I’d say), but it’s far removed from the safety of a standard white musk (think L’Ombre Fauve, only deeper and more leathery). It’s truly an equestrian musk with a slight sour, milky hue to it, and I’m impressed by the way Guillaume was able to use the effect to capture this overall sense of place so convincingly. Twenty minutes in and the musk back off to reveal a subdued foody amber base (waffles, to my nose) that sits well with the leather and what I assume to be castoreum. The amber-levels continue to rise, but the transitions are seamless and the scent never gets too sweet.
The interplay between musk / leather / amber / hay is what makes this tick, and I’d say it’s on par with the scents Guillaume was producing almost a decade ago. It starts out smelling more like an environment whereas an hour later, it’s closer to a recognizable perfume. While ultimately it’s just a unique take on leather, the name forces such a strong association that’s impossible to get away from the horse vibe, which, I think, limits its flexibility. It reminds me a little of 2nd Cumming’s general feel (the leathery health food store effect), but 2nd Cumming seems more scaled back. This announces “I’M A HORSE” from the get-go and pretty much clings to that image the whole time. Arabian Horse is impressively done but it’ll probably just have a small group of fans who really dig it. Out of the more recent PG releases, this is one of the one’s I’d recommend the most, even though it’s not quite right for me.
Toomigali – :
Truly a fragrance which evokes equestrian scenery; starting from wildflower covered meadow to “de luxe” wooden barn and leather riding accessories, this smells natural and unconstrained and at the same time refined and privileged. Hermes comes to mind, except this would be further upgrade, a higher level of imagination and complexity. Accordingly, stages of development are including various notes – from grassy green, earthy and flowery, woody, leathery, animalic and balmy. Tipically PG – masterfully blended, to my nose this fragrance is most of the time a leather fragrance – smooth as a butter, so to speak.
In short – begins as a muted spanish leather and develops into very fine and smooth animalic/oriental.
Drydown took my breath away and I would buy this expensive fragrance (signature collection) just because of it (totally agree on BaV comparison)!
solomahin1979 – :
Starts slightly, faintly animalic. Doesn’t smell like a horse, thankfully. Ten minutes in, it does begin to smell like saddle leather and spicy soap. Not powerful, but quite pleasant, a bit like a powderless Bal a Versailles.
mulder2007 – :
Does the reviewer below really call that a review? More like a comment on names, could we please keep this for actual reviews by people who actually have smelled a scent!
This is one Gorgeous leather fragrance! One of the best I’ve come across and I have some lovely leathers in my collection. I know it lists some flowers but believe me this is leather from beginning to end. It is of the very highest quality ingredients.
Running right out to buy a fb of it!