Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur isn’t one of those perfumes that jumped out at me when I first tried it. I thought it was pleasant and that’s as far as my thoughts went. And then David started wearing it. He picked it on his own. Aren’t you pleased at the perfumisto that I’ve created? You should be. I’m revisiting this perfume years after its launch and I’m surprised it didn’t “wow me” initially¹.
Cuir Pleine Fleur opens as violets, hay and leather. It has a hint of vetiver motor oil, but only a hint. The mimosa makes an unexpected appearance. It adds a gentleness to this leather scent – powdery but with a cucumber-like freshness. Cuir Pleine Fleur is a cosmetic, powdery violet with a soft, smooth suede. It’s such a fluid fragrance. One minute it’ll remind me of French cosmetics and the next I’m reminded of “oily” vetivers/masculine scents like Dior Fahrenheit. This fluidity is why I enjoy Cuir Pleine Fleur.
Over the years, Heeley fragrances have grown on me. And this one has won over my affections the most.
Notes listed include violet, mimosa, birch, soft leather, and vetiver. Launched 2008.
Give Cuir Pleine Fleur a try if you like violets or “soft leather” scents. Or if you like perfumes like Balenciaga Paris, Dior Fahrenheit Absolute, CREED Love in Black, Armani Privé Cuir Amethyste and/or Bottega Veneta. I realize my “if you like” suggestions are all over the place – delicate violets to classic masculines; however, I think Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur is one of the few perfumes that really can fit in either genre. It’s a rather fluid fragrance like that.
Projection and longevity are average.
The 3.4 oz bottle retails for $180 at Luckyscent. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Violets and suede. One of the few scents that remind me both of classic masculine scents and feminine French cosmetics. And yet, I wouldn’t call it a “dandy leather” nor would I call it a “butch violet”. It’s just Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur and it just works.
¹When this was launched, I was in a big “violet phase”. I don’t know why I didn’t flip out for this one. Like many of the Heeleys, this one has grown on me, just like Sel Marin did.
Want more reviews? Try…
Scent of the Day – OMG, did I marry a leather daddy?
*Bottle purchased by me (well our bank account). Product pic from Fragrantica. Anita Ekberg from theredlist.com.
i’d be fascinated to try this… very new to Heeley, but have really enjoyed so far.
it’s the Fahrenheit reference which would keep me off… but the fluidity you also mention which is curiosity (hopefully won’t kill the cat.)
i’m also frequently surprised by the choices so-called non-perfume people make. of course, by now, there must be some osmosis going on in your home. 😉
Heeley was one of those brands that I had to try again to “get”. These days I’d be happy to have a few of the bottles.
I have this love for Fahrenheit just for nostalgia. I swear everyone in my age range that their first love wore it, well, those that were attracted to a masculine type. I was with a group of friends one evening and we pulled out a vintage bottle. Despite our diversity (gay men, lesbians, bi, straight), we all had the same sort of story when I passed around a scent strip o Fahrenheit…”San Francisco summer 1989…”, “My older brother’s best friend…”, “Berlin coffeehouse circa 2001″…Anyway, should save that for a review of Fahrenheit, but, yeah, I love it.
This one is balancing between butch and a great aunt in too much makeup. I love that.
Oh, so much osmosis. He cracks me up with the things he says. I think I created some n00b-y, snobby monster.
check out Simply Jil Sander for more Fahrenheit nosty!
Will do 🙂
Well – since smelling the Diptyque Violette candle, I’m pretty much obsessed with finding a violet perfume. So, onto the sample list this goes! I’m not sure yet how I do with leather – I haven’t tried much. Or violet either, for that matter. I’ve only tried Blanc Violette and it was a disaster… But we shall see and it shall be grand! BTW – I couldn’t help but notice on your twitter handle profile thingy that you listed linguistics as a current obsession?!? I majored in linguistics and *love* pretty much all things language and linguistics. Anyhow, it was really exciting for me since it’s not common to come across. 🙂
I love violet perfumes. I was on a big violet kick a few years ago. There usually what I like to wear in late winter/early spring.
Blanc Violette was not for me at all. Which was a bummer because the note list read like something I’d like.
How cool! Long story short – I work in natural language processing, so I’m actually getting paid to use my background in linguistics! My background is in communication disorders/speech therapy but I was an undergrad linguistics major for a bit. I *thought* if I were to make money, I’d have to specialize in what was wrong with people! But, I moved and the economy is rather different here so I found work in something I’m very interested in.
Gah are you kidding?!?! You live in Seattle *and* you work in NLP?? That’s basically my dream life, haha. For a few years I did actually work on an NLP project that I really enjoyed (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5291528) which was really fun (even though it was completely unrelated to phonology – my true love), and I wanted to explore jobs in NLP but was discouraged since I didn’t get my PhD. 🙁 I regretted not going to grad school for a long time, but in the end had I gone to school instead of taking the job that I did, I wouldn’t have met the hubby or had my baby… anyhow. That’s a long tangent completely unrelated to perfume. 🙂
It’s a much more boring life than it sounds 🙂
Very cool!!! Yeah, when I looked a decade ago it was all about the PhD which I didn’t want to commit to at the time. I’ve found out that the PhD isn’t needed, especially for *every* member of the team. Or that is what I see.
Yep, no regrets. I feel we can be very happy with different “paths” in our lives and yours sounds wonderful.
[…] scents or even violet scents. Or if you like perfumes like Byredo 1996, Atelier Cologne Oud Saphir, Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur, Serge Lutens Daim Blond, Bottega Veneta and/or Naomi Goodsir Cuir […]