What Are The Best Leather Scents NOW? 7 You Need To Try
Leather.
It’s one of the best and worst fragrance notes.
Sometimes, leather is simply not used correctly in a fragrance. What happens? You get a red spot from scrubbing your skin.
However, some leather scents fragrances absolutely knock the ball out of the park. Down below, you’ll find the top seven with a review of their smell, performance, and anything else you need to know.
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Table of Contents
#7 – Gucci Guilty Absolute
The first spray is surprising if you’ve never smelt this before. The leather is potent right off the bat and supported by a dirty and woody backbone.
As the scent develops, the leather calms down, and more wood comes through.
With this, a spice-like nature comes through from the cypress note. This is leather, dirty woods, and aromatic spice, which you’ll smell for a large portion of the wear.
After an hour or two, the dry-down is smoother and fresher. The scent gets warmer and darker, but the dirtiness of the woods fades. You’re left with leather, wood, and a subtle aromatic spice for the rest of the wear.
The only reason this ranks lowest on this list is the dirtiness in the beginning. The scent never comes off as low-quality, but the leather here is harder to wear than the other fragrances on this list.
As for performance, this lasts seven hours with a moderate and consistent scent bubble. This is perfect for the fall and winter and a great scent to stand out.
#6 – Memo Paris African Leather
Upon the first spray is a blast of warm cardamom and saffron. They both smell sweet and spicy to my nose, but the spices take the lead in this case. They are quite attention-grabbing and mass-appealing.
Underneath the top duo is a combination of leather and vetiver. The leather is prominent in the opening but has yet to reach its peak strength. A slightly aromatic nature from the vetiver helps temper the spices and stops the leather from getting too intense.
As the dry-down starts, the vetiver rises, giving the scent more complexity with woody accents. It was bound to happen eventually.
Leather takes over; it is all about smooth and wearable leather for the rest of the wear. There are spicy accents, but they have drastically weakened.
A long laster of eight to ten hours with moderate projection. It pushes out an arm’s length or more in the first few hours. As for wear, you can pull this off in the fall, winter, and early spring.
#5 – Dior Fahrenheit EDT
The rumors are true; Fahrenheit opens with a dominant gasoline-type accord.
It settles down after a while but doesn’t detract from its accuracy. There aren’t actual gasoline notes. The violet leaf, various florals, soft leather, and dry woods make the smell. The violet leaf is the main culprit.
The leather becomes more prominent in the mid. To my nose, it adds a degree of sweetness. The gasoline accord is still present but has settled down and lost its intensity. Yet, it’s still dominant.
The violet leaf breaks away from the other top notes in the dry down.
It is paired with now strong leather and sprinkled with spices, white florals, and dry woods. The spices and florals balance out the leather accord, while the woody note gives the base depth.
Fahrenheit only lasts seven hours on the skin, but at least it has an above-average projection. This is a near-room-filler with too many sprays.
#4 – Parfums de Marly Godolphin
The opening starts with equal parts musk and leather. In the background, I catch wafts of warm saffron spice.
After 15 minutes, the musk fades. This leaves room for fruity nuances and floral rose. The biggest emphasis is the fruity notes. It gives the opening more upbeat energy; they never smell too sweet.
The rose is a great addition as it lightens up the darkness and intensity of the leather. It makes it more wearable without taking away from its masculine nature. The rest of the wear is sweet leather and a fresh/clean floral rose.
On the skin, this routinely lasts 10 hours. The projection is strong in the first two hours.
After this period, it recedes to a more moderate scent bubble for the rest of the wear. This can be worn in the spring, fall, and winter for all occasions.
#3 – Velvet Oud Lattafa Perfumes
When I spray this on, I am welcomed with interesting bright and green citruses. They sit atop a prominent leather accord. It is softer, like suede, paired with the greenness to keep the scent light and inviting.
The background has saffron nuances but nothing too prominent.
Oud comes in with a quality dark and woody accent. It never comes across as stanky or like a barnyard. It’s a great pair with leather and takes the scent in a darker direction as it heads into the dry-down.
There is still a lighter and fresh nature to the fragrance, while a subtle incense note which adds smoky accents.
Leather jumps to the forefront in the base. It’s a quality note with no decisive accents. It brings musky faucets with it. The rest of the wear is smoky leather with darker oud in the background.
Velvet Oud lasts seven hours on the skin with moderate to light projection. The first hour is intense. After this period, it recedes to a one to two-foot ambiance for the rest of the wear.
This is spring, summer, and fall wear for all occasions.
#2 – Rasasi La Yuqawam Homme
The best and most accurate Tom Ford Tuscan Leather clone. Right off the bat, it is heavy on the leather accord. The background is a prominent fruity and sweet raspberry note with saffron spices.
The only part about the opening that may come off as decisive is the petrol nature of the first 10-15 minutes. Normally Violet leaf would create this accent, but it comes from the overwhelming dose of leather.
The sweetness recedes as La Yuqawa Homme dries down. As the base develops, the scent is drier and heads into a dominant smoky leather. This is what you’ll get for the rest of the wear.
The performance is excellent. 10 -12 hours on the skin with excellent projection. In the first four hours, it pushes out an arm’s length or more before receding and maintaining a mild ambiance for the rest of the wear.
This is exclusively fall and winter wear.
#1 – Tom Ford Ombre Leather
It is by far the best leather scent because it is so wearable. The opening starts with an intense degree of leather that smells like a new pair of luxury leather gloves.
Some warm cardamom spice is faint in the background, but it is quickly overtaken by the dominant leather. This is all you’ll smell for the rest of the wear.
In the last few hours of the wear, there is a dry oak moss to break things up, but other than this, Ombre Leather is 90% about the authentic leather accord.
The performance is great, noticeable for eight to ten hours, with above-average projection for the first few hours. It will push out an arm’s length and then recede but never become a skin scent.
Ombre leather is great for spring, fall, and winter.
Conclusion
Is it worth owning a leather fragrance? Yes, especially one of these. A leather scent is a great way to “spice” up your collection as they are masculine and some of the most stand-out scents.
However, their only downfall is their lack of versatility. Leather fragrances and any type of heat don’t fare well as they simply become too intense.
I’ve worn Ombre Leather in 85 degrees once, and it didn’t go well; the same can be said for the rest of the fragrances on this list.
What is your favorite leather scent?
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