Cuirtis by Areej Le Doré

You can really feel the natural depth and that vintage touch from the ingredients. What stands out most are the animalic notes of castoreum and the florals, with a strong presence of birch tar, followed by vanilla and oakmoss in smaller doses. It’s not particularly challenging; on the contrary, it’s very well constructed.

Castoreum. In Curtis, we have a perfume centered around leather, and by adding different castoreum absolutes (from Canada, through the USA, to Russia), it accentuates the authentic animal tone of the leather without being so dark or difficult. Castoreum smells like leather, so if you have a leather base, this is perfect. It leaves a smoky, slightly herbaceous, and dry impression. It’s a perfume with little development, not as dense or challenging (animalic) as the name and color suggest, and it stains white clothes and skin, though don’t expect something pleasant either. If you have experience with the brand and a taste for animalic notes, you’ll like it, even if it won’t be the hardest scent you’ve ever smelled. It’s very wearable. Blind, you’ll know it’s niche/indie. It could remind you, from a distance, of Cuir de Russie and, in a way, War & Peace. Good performance, unisex-masculine. Limited versatility. The quality is there. It uses tar oils over 100 years old and genuine animalic notes, but the result isn’t as dark or challenging as we expected. The ‘Musk’ collection is very wearable with floral loads, designed to be accessible. I’ve heard and used the entire collection. Royal Barn and Curtis are the most challenging and, over time, the best (maybe Paradise Soil takes third place). It’s not the best leather perfume I’ve heard; that title goes to Roi Sans Equipage and Great Britain. Is Curtis worth $300? Yes. It’s a well-made perfume that delivers. I firmly believe Russian Adam is a great resurrector. What they did last year with RO, OE, CO, SM, and Walimah left us speechless; for me, it was the best collection of 2023, but those were relaunches. These are new perfumes and they don’t reach that level. Everything changes; the brand has changed over the years. This was the last time I bought an Areej; if I’m inspired to buy another, it will be a relaunch because I know it will be fantastic. I prefer to save my money on new perfumes as such. Good perfume, solid, worth knowing. Nothing more.