The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The name says it all: Cuir de Russie. Russian leather, the original smoke-and-tar leather tradition, built on birch tar and smoked hides. Areej Le Doré took that tradition as a starting point and asked what it would look like as an attar. The 2025 release is a complementary work to the existing Extrait de Parfum, a different concentration, a different format, but the same olfactory idea. Russian Adam structured the composition around birch tar as the aromatic anchor, layered roses from Azerbaijan and Bulgaria for complexity, and added white, blue, and pink lotus absolutes for an exotic floral counterpoint that neither softens the leather nor fights it. As an attar, the fragrance is presented in its purest form: oil-based, unadulterated by alcohol, nothing but the raw materials doing their work.
Lotus in perfumery is uncommon. White lotus absolute, blue lotus, pink lotus absolute, three distinct varieties, each bringing something different to the composition. The white offers a slightly bitter, aquatic floralcy. The blue adds depth and a hint of the primordial. The pink brings warmth. Together they create a heart that feels both exotic and meditative, a counterweight to the hyper-animalic deer musk and smoky birch tar base. That tension, lotus florals against leather smoke and musk, is what makes Cuir de Russie II Attar more than a leather fragrance with flowers. It's a conversation between traditions: Russian leather craft and Southeast Asian attar tradition, smoky austerity and lush floral opulence.
The evolution
Birch tar announces itself immediately, sharp, austere, almost medicinal. The smoke sits at the front of the throat. Beaver tail oil adds a soft, waxy undertone that keeps the opening from feeling purely industrial. On skin, the smoke doesn't vanish. It lingers as the roses begin to surface. Within twenty minutes, Azerbaijani rose and Bulgarian rose arrive together, powdery, warm, with a honeyed sweetness that tempers the birch tar's bite. The lotus absolutes unfurl slowly, adding an exotic aquatic quality that feels almost meditative. Violet leaf gives the heart an airy, green lift. By the second hour, the florals have settled into a warm, powdery cloud, violet, rose, lotus, all breathing together. The drydown belongs to the base. Deer musk absolute and amber take over as the florals recede, fusing with the lingering smoke to create something warm, animalic, and intimate. The leather and musk become inseparable. Choya Loban (fermented frankincense) adds a final smoky, leathery depth. On fabric, this fragrance can still be detected the next day.
Cultural impact
Areej Le Doré occupies a specific corner of the fragrance world: serious collectors, attar devotees, and oud enthusiasts who track the house's releases the way others track seasonal collections. Cuir de Russie II Attar sits within a lineage of leather-focused attars that take their name from the Russian leather tradition, the same tradition that gave perfumery its original concept of smoked, tarred leather. The attar format sets it apart from conventional extrait concentrations, appealing to those who want to experience the composition in its most direct, unadorned form. Reactions to the deer musk and birch tar tend to be polarising, that hyper-animalic signature is not subtle, and not everyone who appreciates the Extrait de Parfum will find the attar an easy next step.
