Courtesy of Perfumer Pierre Guillaume May 2014 Facebook

I have always been fascinated by the alchemical aspects of fragrance, notes moving past themselves into something more instinctual and spiritual. Great fragrance should have the ability to move us, haunt our spaces, drawing people to us like light-struck moths. This is the reason I return time and time again to the fragranced work of Pierre Guillaume. His Parfumerie Générale fragrances smell like the work of a man obsessed by the very atomic being of scent. By considering the emotional response of the wearer and how the trousseau of notes dazzles, the fragrances bind the senses like contemporary spells. I consider myself lucky my skin loves his fragrances.

In the wearing of his fragrances we notice a facet of ourselves that was not there before. Pierre’s background in chemistry and his devotion to provocative perfumery has made him one of most intriguing people working in the industry today. He has an ability to add something particular and tremendous into each of his fragrances; to explore new olfactory landscapes and play with sensory story telling. This has made him a quietly devastating force within the fickle world of niche fragrance.

Helmut Newton, Grace Jones & Dolph Lundgren, 1985

Cuir Venenum is one of Pierre’s best fragrances, but also I think one of his least understood. I have read a lot of mixed reviews, perfumeheads bemoaning the lack of f**k-off leather, the contradiction in the translated name, Leather Poison. They miss the point. It is slow acting poison, gradually infecting you and consuming you to the point of madness. Leather in scent makes me feel porny. Simple really. The truth of the matter is that leather notes suit my skin and my limbic systems process the smells as something intensely erotic and comforting. The echo of skin on skin, buried DNA memories of tooth and claw, the savagery tamed by whipcracks, but only just.

Grace Jones painted by Keith Haring, 1984

Cuir Venenum. There is a kiss of danger to it, a dripping of tattoo studio and spilt beer. I spend a lot of time being tattooed; the place has a very particular scent, whiffs of ink, oil from the tattoo machines, antiseptic spray, Vaseline and latex gloves. My tattooist also has ancient leather trousers that add a certain je ne sais quoi to the general ambience.

Our Editor in Chief, Michelyn Camen, reminded me of Pierre’s original inspiration for Cuir Venenum which was his experience of watching the runway models during a Jitrois show, their skin wrapped and adorned in sensuous leather sheaths, like hot, malleable skin. The smell of the model’s skin after the leather came off was the tipping point for Pierre’s fertile and animalic imagination to run wild.

Grace Jones photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe, 2003

The head notes have a bubbling citrus accord, orange flowers absolutes mixed with hawthorn; a very odd note that always reminds of my summer garden as a sullen unpredictable teen. An unruly hawthorn tree hung its head over a wall at the top of the garden and the thick, bitter scent was intoxicating, awash with foraging bees. The heart is where the leather sits, soft and a little tear-stained, cocooned in seductive note of coconut polyalcohol, a chemical that suggest subtle, sexy skin. The most unusual note in the perfume is Tamanol. This is actually a rosin-modified phenolic resin and goes a long way to explaining the hops and fruit beer effect I love so much.

Edinburgh from Carlton Hill: Photo Mike Pickwell

This is an odour of Edinburgh skies; the city’s breweries leak a hoppy damp, mulchy aroma into the air and it carries through the air across the rooftops and trees, permeating swathes of the capital. I have always known this smell. Ever since I was a student here many moons ago, this smell links me shockingly to this, my city. The base of Cuir Venenum has an unexpected honeyed note, soft and cleverly executed, it drips over the musks and potentially harrowing myrrh note to delicious and breakfasty effect. It is the overall harmony and polished eccentricity of Parfumerie Générale fragrances that I love so much. I never tire of their inventiveness and élan. Each scent of Pierre’s that I own thrills my skin with difference.

Grace Jones by Keith Haring

I find a tantalising darkness in Cuir Venenum, almost just beyond my reach. It starts out all fizzy and sharp with its lick of orange blossom and citrus top notes really buzzing the senses. Then it begins to unsettle me for reason I find hard to really explain. The fruity beer heart spills over leather and perhaps burns a little round the edges; a whiff of phenolic sulphur mingling with the coconut and musks.

Grace Jones performs live on stage, dressed in a Cat Suit at The Roseland Ballroom in New York, 1978 (Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/Getty Images) 

There is a turning, a fermentation on the skin. Then a falling, a descent into resinous exhaustion. The sweetness lingers, but it is dirty now and worn to the nub. It is a scent of residues and traces, skin and bruise.

–  The Silver Fox , Senior Contributor and Editor of The Silver Fox

Disclosure – From my own collection

Grace Jones, 1976 and promo shot for Slave to Rhythm 1985

Art Direction: The imagery of Grace Jones seemed right.  Her sexy, stylish androngyny, the 1980 song Warm Leatherette, the fact that she is Jamaican and Cuir Venenum reminds me of a memorable night during a vacation in Jamaica,   In 1976. Grace Jones introduced a  totally new brand of shock pop/disco/new wave to mainstream music and I feel that  Pierre Guillaume has done this in perfumery in 2000 -new concepts that shocked  at first but now are iconic. -Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief.

 

Thanks to the generosity of OSSWALDNYC Parfumerie + Luxury Skincare in New York City, we have a draw for a sample of PG 03 Cuir Venenum for a USA reader. To be eligible please leave a comment with what struck you about Alex’s review and your favorite Parfumerie Generale Perfume, or any fragrance composed by Pierre Guillame. Pierre Guillaume, himself may be your favorite (anyone who has met him will be tempted to enter that in the comments; you can it is ok). Draw closes August 13, 2014

We announce the winners on our site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.