Les Heures de Cartier: La Treizieme Heure XIII Cartier for women and men

wow wow wow!
This is like lapsang souchong tea))) very smoky and bitter, sugar-free and strong! It has balsamic and animalic notes, but will not offend anyone as it is very well-balanced.
A brilliant and unique fragrance, like L'Heure Defendue VII or even better.

I had no preconceptions abut what to expect, but was still surprised to find that this started out with massive amounts of castoreum, a sandalwood-type base like javanol, and something similar to carnation and/or cloves, or maybe guaiacol. It’s just a little smoky, but in a subtle way.

After reading reviews of this scent, I know that I’m supposed to put the castoreum and smoky birch tar together to come up with leather, but for me that just doesn’t happen automatically. Even if it did, it would be a very raw, animalic leather. No one mentions the quasi-sandalwood base, which, for me, is the single dominant note after the initial castoreum blast is finished.

As it dries down, the cloves subside into the background as does the “leather”, so what remains is a vanilla-flavored sandalwood-y scent. Then the bergamot hits, with a little citrusy riff on top of the woods. I do not smell any patchouli in the mix until a couple of hours in, and then it just forms part of a base that reminds me of Guerlain’s Samsara. Sillage is fairly strong in the beginning, but diminishes to a skin scent after 2-3 hours.

At no point does this remind me of tea, maté or otherwise. Being a big fan of woody notes in the sandalwood family and leather notes, I like Heure No. 13 a lot.

Dangerous and seductive moment aren`t words that come to my mind when i try it. This Treizieme Heure makes me think of classical and refined. Mathilde Laurent captched the aura of classical leather fragrances and give it a more modern interpretation. This is a leather fragrance with the oily birch tar aspects and sharp leather aroma, but it`s not so dry or so dominant like other classical leather fragrances. Makes me think of a new interpretation of the Cuir de Russie theme, this time made more intimate and slightly citrus and green by the use of the mate aroma, which is infused in the leather accord and only appears very briefly on me, when i put my nose close to where i put the scent and pay more attention on the subtle nuances. I get the vanilla and patchouli the same way that i get the mate, they seem to be just a touch in the leather main theme. There`s a subtle sweetness of vanilla that gives a smoothness to the leather theme and the patchouly adds a woody support to the leather.
The only thing that i dislike on it is that it`s very close to skin. I wished it was more intense, since classical leather fragrances are not so easy to find nowadays...

This is my favorite of the line thus far, a definitely unisex transparent leather. I always love citrus and leather, as in Hugo Boss' defunct Boss Spirit or Guerlain's Derby. While this is a far lighter and more modern composition, where the leather has a steely birch quality, and the citrus is fresh and tart, I still love the contrast of fresh and lively to dark and brooding. The vanilla makes XIII unisex, as it's just enough to keep the women in the game, but not to drive the men away. There is also some Earl Grey in there, which surprised me because another in the series is a tea based scent. The patchouli is a minor player, and while it contributes to the base, this is in no way a patchouli scent.

My criticisms are that this is too light, especially for an EdP, and also that it is disproportionately costly for the concentration. Finally, it doesn't make me crazy the way I want my perfume to- it's simply too restrained given the exotic ingredients.

This was my favorite of the bunch, but I happen to be quite the beef jerky fan. I smelled campfires, leather and wet asphalt. Hell, I thought it was pretty sexy, but I don't know that I would pay $250 for it.

het kan goed zijn, het kan slecht zijn maar ik vind het nergen niemand die het kent of er al van gehoord heeft goed ze mooie reclame