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The perfumed glove trade in France tied tanning to perfumery for centuries; the library's Grasse page records this history. Leather was scented to cover its own smell, and the smell of leather became part of the scent of perfumed gloves.

Cuir de Russie (Russian leather) was leather treated with birch bark oil, which made it water- and mould-resistant and gave it a characteristic smoky smell. According to Nez magazine, Aimé Guerlain had a Cuir de Russie in 1872. In 1919 Ernest Daltroff composed Tabac Blond for Caron, combining leather, tobacco and flowers; Nez regards it as the perfume that truly opened the Leather family.

Chanel's Cuir de Russie by Ernest Beaux is usually dated 1924; Auparfum and some other sources give 1927. Knize Ten, the perfume of the Vienna tailor Knize, dates from 1924. In 1944 Germaine Cellier composed Bandit for Robert Piguet, using isobutyl quinoline at a very high dose. Isobutyl quinoline gives a leathery, earthy, slightly bitter note.

The top of a leather composition is usually citrus and herbs: bergamot, orange, clary sage, sometimes aldehydes. It lightens a structure that is dark by nature.

The heart decides which way the leather leans. Flowers such as orris, jasmine, ylang-ylang, carnation and violet soften it, leading to subfamily G2 Floral Leather. Tobacco, honey, hay and coumarin lead to subfamily G3 Tobacco Leather. Saffron gives a dry, slightly metallic leather facet.

The base is the core: rectified birch tar oil and rectified cade oil give smoke and tar; styrax gives a sweet resin with a rubbery facet; labdanum gives warm leather; isobutyl quinoline gives a bitter leather note; castoreum or a synthetic substitute gives the animalic note. Vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss and musks join them. Molecules such as guaiacol and cresol are the source of the phenolic smoke in tar oils.

Wood tar oils such as birch tar and cade oil (from Juniperus oxycedrus) are made by pyrolysis of wood. Crude grades contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including benzo[a]pyrene. The IFRA Standards allow only rectified grades and limit the combined level of the marker substances benzo[a]pyrene and 1,2-benzanthracene in the finished product to 1 ppb. IFRA recommends that crude cade oil not be used as a fragrance ingredient in any product.

Styrax, labdanum and oakmoss each carry their own rules: oakmoss is subject to the atranol and chloroatranol prohibition under Regulation (EU) 2017/1410 and the IFRA Standard on oakmoss extracts. Castoreum is a beaver secretion; most current formulas use synthetic substitutes for reasons of supply and ethics.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 adds several materials that appear in leather accords to the allergen list, including patchouli oil and cedarwood oils. New products placed on the EU market after 31 July 2026 must be labelled according to the new list.

The SFP divides the Leather family into three subfamilies: G1 Leather (Cuir), G2 Floral Leather (Cuir Fleuri) and G3 Tobacco Leather (Cuir Tabac). Outside family G, leather notes also appear in D4 Leather Chypre and E6 Spicy Leather Woody.

The border between the Leather family and Leather Chypre is not fixed. Bandit is often described as the first leather Chypre, yet it is also frequently cited within the Leather family. Michael Edwards' wheel has no separate leather family. The SFP website does not list perfumes per subfamily; examples here are indicative.

A natural leather accord needs a source of smoke and a source of resin. Rectified birch tar or rectified cade gives smoke; styrax and labdanum give warm resin. Tar oils must be dosed very low, since their odour overwhelms everything else and they are under IFRA PAH limits.

To soften it, orris and jasmine pull the structure towards Floral Leather; deertongue, tonka and hay absolute pull it towards Tobacco Leather. Saffron adds dryness. The bitterness of isobutyl quinoline has no natural equivalent; vetiver and low-atranol oakmoss only suggest part of it.

Natural animalic notes such as castoreum are no longer common; ambrette and labdanum can replace part of the warmth. This page gives no formula percentages.