PG03 Cuir Venenum Parfumerie Generale for women and men

I love leather in perfumes so I was extremely excited about this frag, looking forward to getting my sample vial and ready to love Cuir Venenum with love at first sniff.

As they say, the greater expectations, the bigger dissapointment. I was sooo shocked upon smelling my wrist after application! I would never ever expect CV to be that odd. All I could smell was... cigarette smoke! No, it wasn't tobacco; it was pure nicotine! Wearing Cuir Venenum feels like entering cold, empty smoking-room. It feels like standing next to someone who's been smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for twenty years now and tries to kill their smoky smell with some kind of cheap perfume.

Cuir Venenum was a disaster for me. Lucky you, who can smell leather or flowers in it.

Wow this is strong for the first ten minutes! It settles into a floral fruity, boozy and smokey concoction with just the barest hint of leather. I also get a "cosmetic" smell. It's a haughty fragrance, reminiscent of expensive handbags, cigarettes, lipstick, powder and rouge...and beer mixed with purple passion flavored schnappes. I find it a little obnoxious, but utterly irresistable.

An original interpretation of leather. Cuir Venenum opens with a bizarre accord of leather and something else I can't exactly detect for an overall effect that brings to my mind of unripe Concord Grape. Bitter, somehow sour and aromatic. The leather note is emphasized in its acidic aspect and it is laid on a consistent myrrh base. I also get a slight dusty vibe throughout (as often in Guillame's creations).

Despite they don't share many similiariteis Cuir Venenum often brings to my mind of another great scent of the same family: Helmut Lang Cuiron. They move in the same direction, where leather is clean, treated and brand new. Recommended.

Rating: 7.5/10

Reading the reviews, this is a scent that has huge variation depending on skin chemistry. There seems to be very disparate views on this fragrance, ranging from nauseating to soft and feminine. Sadly for me, this did not work. I am a fan of leathers and was intrigued to see what a combination of leather and coconut would achieve. What I got though, was a strong accord of burnt plastic. Over time, the leather did creep though, but the burnt accord remained, somewhat softened by a glimpse of organge. I presented my wrist to my husband (as I do regularly) for an appraisal without prompting or guidance by me. His assessment: This was the smell of the oranges I left on the pan to boil dry the last time I (attempted) to make and organge cake.
Thanks to my friend Scorpiosheep for this sample. Unfortunately, I think we have have reached a similar conclusion.

One of the most bizarre openings I’ve smelled in a long time. The predominant - no, overpowering - note is artificial grape candy, accompanied by what I will tactfully refer to as parmesan cheese. There’s also a little civet skulking in the background. It’s an odd combination if ever there was one. Since orange blossom is listed in the notes, it’s possible that the accord was hugely overdosed with methyl anthranilate or some similar “grape” aromachemical.

I kept waiting for the grape and “parmesan” notes to make a graceful exit, but they refused. Instead, they just turned the intensity down a notch, or I slowly adapted to them. I could have scrubbed, but my morbid curiosity had kicked in, so I waited to see what else, if anything, this perfume had to deliver. Apparently there was nothing. After a few hours, all that was left was a light, sugary grape scent on my skin along with something vaguely musky.

“Venenum” is a Latin word meaning venom or poison. One has to marvel at the odd combination of a Latin noun with a French one, but maybe it was an attempt to be witty, referring to the strong artificial grape note in both Cuir Venenum and Dior Poison. Or maybe I’m just a conspiracy theorist, seeing connections where none were intended. In any case, Cuir Venenum goes into the curio cabinet to serve as an example of a perfume that raises the unanswerable question, “What were they thinking?”

Tested a sample vial: The opening was a semi-sweet orange blossom/leather, but after a few minutes the leather took over and became rather meaty - just stopping short of the brutal raw meat smell of Cuir d'Iris - but still reminiscent of a holding pen of frightened cattle. Sorry to be so harsh, just being honest about how this is for me, and so many reviewers like it so it must have some redeeming features. The name was intriguing! Interestingly, where I dabbed it on my wrists I got this unpleasant smell, but on my neck and chest it is still rather blossomy. Won't be buying it, though.

IMO should be classified as leather, no way is it a woody floral musk.

I actually thought that I was testing a mislabeled sample, so different was my perception from the official notes. Top notes of vinyl and acrid grape cough syrup, followed by a whiff of cow dung (possibly the "leather"?), all leading into a persistent candy-sweet-powder drydown of maligned orange blossom. Very synthetic in character. I dislike this on me and would find it abhorrent on a man.

bn: "review" based on one blind test and one with notes in hand

The Cuir Venenum was a big surprise for me - I found the smell of wild strawberry jam I was looking for for a long long time! Actually it's a leathery strawberry jam, but oh so yummy. Luckily, I didn't get any coconut in it, for I'm not a great fun, and I wish I got orange blossoms, but...I got something unique - my dream jam! It lasted about 1,5 hours on my wrist, but nowdays I find that the issue of longevity has been overrated by me - in reality 2 hours is more than enough to enjoy the scent, follow all the stages and not to get tired of it. So in this new light the Cuir Venemum is going to join all many other scents in my wish-list.

I think what Jeca is smelling as wine is in fact hops, used in beer production. The top notes are loaded with fresh yeasty hops. After about 5 minutes this is joined by a somewhat common leather encounter, kind of like whipping out your wallet in the pub to pay for your beer. Don't get me wrong, I like the smell & taste of beer but I don't want to walk around smelling like one. It is uncouth!

Luckily, my female skin rapidly makes use of the coconut and orange blossom to sweeten & hide the hops. My fiance's skin made it very smokey so he smelt like sweet orange juice, soft incense & a hint of leather. On him it settled so nicely that it became a delightful skin scent.

And then something untoward happened...

This is a unique leather in that it is actually a vinyl accord - plasticky catsuit kind of faux leather. Smelling the fragrance up close on either of us was like smelling burning plastic and made me suitably unwell. Unfortuantely since it sits so close to the skin, the only way to enjoy it is with your nose just as close.

If it were not for this final (long lasting) phase my man would soon have been in possession of his very own bottle.

This is leather! But in very special way, as everything by PG, how he succeed to be so unique in the endless ocean of fragrances!

The leather is feminine, very floral and strongly reminds me on the smell of wine. ;o) That harmony of floral notes, leather and coconut give that impression. Very interesting, fatale... ;o)

This was a Huge suprise to me. I was waiting for something Leather and I don't detect a single note of it. This smells like Skittles Candy on my skin. Yummy. Sweet Candy like, not strong enough. I'm going to guess that this will disappear withing an hour. But this is so sugary on me.. I like it alot...

I got no leather at all from this, just 100% orange blossoms. It's a great scent if you like orange blossom.