Fragrances can be classified by certain olfactive families, or themes, or accords. I have grouped several notes together in this guide.

Leather/Animal notes are characterized by their warm, heavy and persistent quality. These fragrances are comprised of blending honey, tobacco, synthetics, cassie flower & bark, cade oil, myrtle,  and wood tars such as birch tar to create the scent reminiscent of leather. Musk, ambergris, civet and castoreum are animal notes. Most animal odors used today are made of synthetics. Leather and animal notes have been used as aphrodisiacs for centuries.

Bottle of Cuir de Lancome, a very rare fragrance based on leather, photo courtesy of jimmyfresno, thank you for sharing this rare specimen with us!

Animal sourced odors must be weathered, diluted or aged in order to to be used as a fragrance, as they are mainly fecal and nauseously pungent when fresh.

Ambergris (the synthetic is known as amber in the perfumery world) is a substance excreted by the sperm whale after eating cuttlefish and found in lumps of varying size floating in tropical seas or washed ashore. Ambergris must be weathered for at least three years before use. Although ambergris was used for centuries as a perfume, no one knew the exact source. True ambergris has not been used in perfumery in over thirty years. Amber notes are typically found in Oriental type fragrances. Ambergris has a sweet, woody odor.

Musk grains are collected from a walnut sized pod in the glands of the male musk deer of the Himalayas. The strongest fragrance of all, it is said that a single drop left on a handkerchief can last 40 years.

Civet is a butter like secretion taken from a pouch in the glands under the tail of the civet cat, found in Ethiopia Burma and Thailand. This odor is used to impart a musky fragrance in perfumes.

Castoreum is a creamy reddish brown secretion taken from sacs in the glands on the beaver, it was first used by Arab perfumers since the 9th century AD.It is used to impart a leathery odor in perfumery.

There are subdivisions of classifications in this family and they are: floral leather ,tobacco leather, soft amber fougere, floral amber fougere, leather chypre, woody spicy leather, musky, woody amber, floral spicy amber, citrus amber, and soft amber.

Perfumes which are classified as Leather/Animal notes are:

• Tabac Blond
• Cuir de Russie
• Scandale
• Miss Dior
• Caleche
• Cabochard
• Bandit
• Equipage
• Bel Ami
• Khiel's Original Musk
• Film Noir
• Montale Oud Cuir D'Arabie
• Aramis
• Chypre Noir
• Piroguier
• Cuiron
• L'Artisan Intreccio No. 1
• Boucheron
• Zadig
• Creed Royal English Leather
• Spellbound
• Cuir de Lancome
• Gendarme
• Jovan Musk
• Dzing!
• Jolie Madame
• Givenchy Gentleman
• Derby
• CK Be
• Empriente
• Serge Lutens Daim Blond
• Cuir Beluga
• Persian Leather
• Jules
• Knize Ten
• Marquis de Sade
• Serge Lutens Cuir Mauresque
• Feuilles de Tabac
• Jicky
• Romeo Gigli
• Dunhill
• Sung
• Santa Maria Novella Peau d'Espagne

Please see my other guides for the rest of the Fragrance Families.

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