To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
slaoweem – :
The opening packs a whallop. EDP review. I think it’s good for the times we find ourselves in. The older formulas make me want to grab my fur coat and roll around in my jewels on the Oriental rug.. this.. bring me my tracksuit. There’s better leathers out there now. This is like a copy of a copy of a copy.. but it’s still a good wear.
tozirva – :
Has anyone the EDT version of this and is willing to sell at a reasonable price?
vps720InsuffBooni – :
I just took the plunge and bought this. Whatever the differences in reformulations, I can say that this is a beautiful classic fragrance, female leaning, with a Guerlain (yes, Guerlain) undertone in the clearly present, yet unlisted iris/violet/cosmetic powder note underneath a creamy smooth soft leather. Think Shalimar without the vanilla sweetness and a softer leather. It does have an old fashioned, French-milled soapiness to it in the dry down, but I like that. It’s interesting to read what some are disappointed in about the reformulation. It certainly does not smell like a barnyard (why anyone would want to smell like horse — is a mystery to me). Perhaps it’s more classically feminine of a fragrance now? Less rough perhaps? Whatever the grievance, I’m not sure that I would have liked this fragrance even a little pre-reformulation. If you’ve smelled it before and thought it stank, maybe give it another try now. What some hate about it now may be what I (and maybe you too) like about it.
Edit: The only negative about this edp for me, is that it is CLEARLY NOT edp concentration. I would like to know the exact concentration, because it is very fleeting, more so than edt’s that I own. I suspect Chanel has watered down their concentration while simultaneously hiking their prices, which is a shame.
Edit 2: okay I have to amend that slightly, as the performance is better than it seemed. Hours after I had sprayed, I thought the scent had faded and had taken my dog for a walk in the park. A kid on a skateboard passed by and shouted back at me “wow you smell good!!” I really didn’t think the scent was projecting at all at that point, but clearly I’m becoming anosmic to it after a couple of hours. Good to know, thanks random skateboarding kid!
alv924Diobtetty – :
Just buy Tom Fords Ombre Leather 16. Chanel has reform’d & reform’d til you are buying water. Every single Chanel fragrance is watered down now. Yet, did the price go down? About as bad as “Less chips, more air in the bag” these days, yet prices continue to rise.
teramoto – :
Very disappointed by this reformulation. Its lovely, yes. It’s the true smell of leather, yes. It’s just missing the magic that was the Eau de Toilette. Where the EDT was creamy, powdery and floral… the EDP is brash leather. Straight up, without nuance. Won’t be purchasing based on what it smelt like on my skin and clothes. This sample will last me a LONG time.
vasek217 – :
The new EDP formula, I’ve just had a chance to test, is an entirely new interpretation of what I have known as Cuir de Russie by Chanel. Comparing it with two different incarnations I have, one from late nineties (well preserved/aged) and one I bought in 2012, I must say it’s a different scent altogether, and there is no way around it. The new formula is not bad, but a lot flatter/simpler, and without any doubt I prefer the old one for its depth and untold complexity, which it lacks now. Well…another one bites the dust.
Zim91 – :
An intensely smokey opening, its very reminiscent of Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant in the first 20 minutes or so, but then it settles into a robust leather. This is warm wood, but dry with no sweetness. I didn’t get any floral notes, no rose, no real jasmine either. This is a fragrance with personality, its very strong, very intense, and definitely not for wallflowers. I’m not sure it’s for me-its full on and a bit of a sillage monster.
chang – :
Rose, leather and sweet tobacco- so evocative! I also get iris, a fine, vintage make up bag smell. It’s like a 50’s or 60’s starlet in a technicolor film shot on location in a European capital. It was a bit much when I tried it in summer, but has come alive in the cold seasons- now on my want list!
Orarneunreard – :
Now THIS is a leather! Not a wispy, delicate suede, but a true leather, and a very smoky, expensive smelling one at that, like if you took the current Cabochard EDP, got rid of the bits that smell like vinegar spilled on a dirty garage floor, and then dialed up the quality by about a thousand. It’s not listed, but I swear I smell iris in the opening. Cuir de Russie is black leather elbow gloves, burgundy lipstick, and a cigarette in an old-fashioned, long-stem holder: unapologetic glamour, femme-fatale style. Yet, it teases the promise of some sort of rough-and-tumble adventure. Positively transportive.
vedelink – :
its all in the drydown guys. doesnt project much but my god, the drydown is heavenly!
this is going to be my next purchase
edit: got it for almost a month now. am loving it even more now, perfect for monsoon season (am from malaysia) when its cold and wet outside. the leather is pleasantly animalic, which i adore so much!! one of the best les exclusifs in my opinion
stasdeath – :
For the new EDP: I haven’t tried the old EDT version, but this EDP is beautiful, the leather is very present but also soft and elegant. A very pleasant, elegant, warm and original perfume.
But for an EDP, and for the high price, I feel longevity and sillage are very poor, moderate at best.
This alone will refrain me from buying a full bottle.
sasha2006198951 – :
Cuir de Russie has been a journey for me. This is a fragrance which I had learn to love.
I started with a sample of the edt, which smelt leathery to my nose but lasted for about 2 minutes. I kept telling myself that I should like this fragrance as so many others who’s taste I admire, have great respect for it.
This year, I managed to bluster my way to getting 2 samples of the edp. I have given myself time to break the scent in, like a beautiful new pair of fine leather shoes. It has paid off, my persistence.One day this will be my leather fragrance. I have learned to appreciate her beauty.
I could ramble on about notes – but for me, it’s the leather accord and the Chanel DNA that make this so beautiful.
Menhs032intitytek – :
This being my first experience with Cuir de Russie, I cannot compare to the now discontinued EDT formulation. My sample is from an official carded eau de parfum spray sample, labeled ‘Les Exclusifs de Chanel.’
Independently this is a beautiful, softly animalic fragrance, subtly floral with a moderately dry wooded-amber base. It does have the aloof personality of a classic Chanel aldehyde, however no sharpness but a bitter orange nuance which augments the leather in this perfume.
Modern and stylish, the fusion of animalic and leather notes lend to a clean pelt or a soft rabbit stole, deepened with warm amber and a well-behaved delicate birch tar vapor. The florals are very well blended and are present in equal measure and exist only to deliver a smoky sensuality to the leather and birch.
Quite honestly, this Les Exclusivs EDP did not live up to my expectations for a ‘blingier’ leather with a bit more bite, but it indeed does please me as a sensual, warm musky perfume with very little sweetness and a reserved attitude. I had put Eris’ Ma Bete on my want list as my next purchase but am now considering this beauty instead while I seek out the discontinued EDT to compare. I guess from there my choice will be between rabbits and horses.
I_am_Yto4ka_xD – :
I like it, but it’s more a flower-animal musk with aldheydes and a bit of suede than a proper “cuir”.
Safe enough to be worn at work during the day.
Not what I expected from a “cuir”, but I can guess the sense of making it this way suitable.
Denis7f – :
Cuir de Russie is an alright leather, though it’s nothing spectacular. It mostly gives off a civet-like vibe. It’s a bit like a toned down (way down) version of Roja Parfum’s Diaghilev. The ylang-ylang isn’t really noticeable, which it certainly is in Diaghilev.
dxy789Bessinepome – :
Side by side comparison of CDR EDT vs EDP
Short version: the EDP is flatter, more blended, less bright, less indolic, and quicker to arrive at the dry down. The EDP mostly smells as if you tried the EDT on, but were scared of it or grossed out and tried to scrub it off, but traces still remained. Those who found the EDT offensively skanky will probably like the new version.
Long version: The EDT starts out bright and sparkly, slightly citrusy sharp and rosey jasmine. By contrast, the EDP has just a brief flash of orange flower before making way to a more prominent ylang – here it reminded me of No.5 – but with an added harsh woodsy note that wasn’t in the EDT. This only lasts for a couple of minutes before the EDP briskly moves on from ylang to a resinous jasmine (more resin than jasmine). Meanwhile, the EDT spends a lot more time in the bright stages before getting more indolic and leathery – that delicious skanky phase. I kept waiting for the perfume to at least nod to that next “horse butt” stage (as I lovingly refer to it at home), but the EDP never gets indolic at all. I think this marks the biggest difference between the two; it makes the EDP mostly smells as if you were wearing the EDT but didn’t like the skank and tried to scrub it off, but traces of the base notes still remained.
After about a half an hour the resinous jasmine is gone and the EDP is into the final dry down, which to my nose is fairly similar to the EDT, just woodsy, vanilla-tobacco jasmine leather, but still a bit subdued, that harsh woody note present throughout. The EDT was still in the indolic stage as the EDP got to the final dry down. The final stages of both perfumes are similar, with the EDP having a bit more emphasis on woodsy tobacco and vanilla. While I find the EDT similar to a smooth boot leather, the EDP is more similar to a buttery suede.
When I first tried CdR I vastly preferred the drydown over the initial stages. I thought it would be much improved by just smelling like the final stages! I almost thought of it as enduring the horse butt to be rewarded with the drydown, but eventually I began to love the whole of the EDT’s composition, and without that contrast, the EDP seems hollow, subdued, and much flatter than the EDT. In other words, jumping right to the drydown wasn’t really what I wanted at all.
The phases in the EDP blend seamlessly with one another and each stage is not as markedly different as in the EDT, resulting in a more blended (possibly monotonous) fragrance. While I miss the skank, these changes may make it more palatable to those who didn’t like that aspect of the EDT. I don’t dislike the changes to the structure and notes, but all three times I tested the EDP I wound up with a scratchy throat that convinced me I was getting sick, which has never happened with the EDT. I can only attribute that to the woody aromachemical which was added to the composition.
I did not spray but dabbed both on, so I can’t speak to projection or sillage, but longevity was about the same; I’ve always gotten close to 10 hours out of CDR
mvs60 – :
This is indeed a complete letdown.
The sparkling (aldehydes (?), almost glue-like) opening which I loved seems gone. It’s just leather, woods & flowers. The skanky vibe is definitely gone as well.
Sorry I have to say this, but this is a rip-off compared to the EdT. Such a shame. It was perfect as it was.
Luckily my last EdT bottle is still almost full.
кент110989 – :
I would agree with simonwoody. Some strong woody aspect has been added to Cuir De Russie to make it seem stronger but after 30 min the EDP is not any stronger than the old EDT. The whole EDP label is suspicious if you ask me. In all my experience I have never encountered and EDP this weak.
This new launch is such a let down. I was more than ready to pay over 400 Canadian for a true EDP strength Cuir De Russie, which is a huge feat on the part of Chanel. All they had to do was make an actual EDP. Then they give us another EDT, change the label to EDP and make the perfume louder with a few strong woody notes and want to charge $400 for 200ml…
Lexer55 – :
Asked SA for a sample of this one when I was buying the last bottle of 31 Rue Cambon EdT at local Chanel Store.
Sprayed the new EdP on my right arm and EdT on my left arm. My initial impression is that the new EdP is louder with a strong woody note that doesn’t exist in the EdT. After the scents settled down, I find that the dirty animalic smoky leather note is gone in the EdP, instead, I get some sweet sandalwood in the drydown which reminds me of Samsara Extrait with a hint of leather.
Overall, whilst the new EdP still has the Chanel DNA, it is a cleaned-up version of the EdT with some extra woody notes added. Maybe it’s more wearable during daytime but I still prefer my dirty EdT.