by Mark
Cuir Beluga is one of Guerlain's exclusive L'Art et la Matière series, along with Rose Barbare, Angélique Noir, Bois d'Arménie, Iris Ganache and Cruel Gardenia. They are packaged in distinctive heavy rectangular bottles with their names embossed on a gold-colored plate on the side, are not sold everywhere, and cost a small fortune.
When I first sprayed this, my immediate thought was that the person making my sample had grabbed the bottle of Bois d'Arménie by mistake. The warm, sweet benzoin incense seemed very familiar. But then a rogue note presented itself; at first I thought it some kind of fruit, then, no, a flower, then powdery suede, and then it hit me - Play-Doh. It smells like Play-Doh. Hardly the ideal note for a luxury fragrance, one would think.
Some research turned up the assertion that Play-Doh is scented with vanilla, cherry and almonds, which are all characteristic scents associated with heliotrope. Heliotrope is indeed sometimes called "the Play-Doh note."
Sometimes, by the sort of mental re-focusing that is used with optical illusion drawings to make an element shift between foreground and background, I am able to convince myself that the Play-Doh/vanilla cocktail smells like suede, but beyond that, there is no leather to be found in this Cuir. Heliotrope and vanilla it is.
I can't say I don't like this; I love the incense opening, I like the Play-Doh in its perverse presence, and I like vanilla. But this is a very soft fragrance, with no edges, and for that amount of money, I want something with more feeling. If soft luxury with a hint of Play-Doh appeals to you, though, you might find a place on your shelf for Cuir Beluga.
Perfumer: Olivier Polge
Year: 2005
Notes: Mandarin orange, Immortelle flower, Leather, Amber, Heliotrope and Vanilla.
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