[unpaid/sample] Being brought up in the Scottish countryside, I am no stranger to the earthy, animal smell of working stable yards although I rarely rode a horse (allergies in part, but my sister was keen and we took care of a grey horse called Storm while his owners were on holiday and he was quite literally the devil in a saddle – he hated all of us, and honestly, we were so nice to him).
I love the story around SADDLE, from Perfumer H, which began life when Lyn Harris worked with Cameron Smith of Galerie Half on LA’s Melrose Avenue – famous for its curation and restoration of delectable antiques as much as its slew of celebrity clients. Smith commissioned Harris to make a home fragrance replicating saddle soap and from there, she took the idea further to create SADDLE.
On first spritz, SADDLE is a lot. It’s an explosion of bergamot, petitgrain, jasmine and orange flower followed in quick time by clove, musk, amber and patchouli with deep resins all at once and my nose didn’t quite know what to do with it. Some way into the dry down comes the smokiness which revitalizes the nose – it made me think of a trail of cigar smoke, ancient and worn leather arm chairs that have held the weary over decades and the olfactory history of an antique wardrobe that floods out when you first open the doors. It’s part wood, part clothing, part polish – all its work revealed on the turn of a key.
SADDLE has a sensuality, amplified by aldehydes, that allows your nose to go towards leather on skin and where that may take you next is entirely individual. It’s a wintery kind of a fragrance for dark evenings, candlelight and relishing comfort. SADDLE launches on 5th of September, just in time for the nights to draw in.