Suede vs chrome: wearing MATIERE PREMIERE Falcon Leather Extrait in 2024

If leather fragrance is a spectrum, Falcon Leather Extrait sits right in the tension point where glove-smooth polish meets nap-of-suede fuzz. It’s the new, denser take from MATIERE PREMIERE, signed by founder perfumer Aurélien Guichard, and it doesn’t waste time apologizing for being leather. On my skin, the opening strides in with a soft, matte suede effect, then flips to a darker, almost lacquered sheen that feels like the interior of a well-kept sports car. No caramelized comfort, no fluffy filler, just leather behaving like leather.

The brand talks about two facets, sueded and sleek. That tracks. The sueded side gives a tactile warmth that clings close, the sleek side throws light off a smooth surface and projects. The twist is Oud Assafi, which doesn’t turn this into an oud showpiece so much as it presses the leather deeper into the grain. I get a sense of compressed density, less smoke than the original Falcon Leather on me and more refined, as if the birch-tar edges have been buffed without losing bite. It feels like Extrait should feel, tighter and more saturated, with less air between the notes.

Worn on a humid morning commute, it didn’t collapse. The suede stayed intact, the polish kept gleaming, and by late afternoon I caught a cool metallic glint that read as sleek leather rather than chrome. Longevity is serious, sillage purposeful but not obnoxious. Think second-skin jacket rather than fog machine. If you loved the tension in Falcon Leather, this is the same argument stated more confidently.

What I appreciate about Aurélien Guichard here is restraint. Oud Assafi can bully a composition. Instead, it behaves like a leather conditioner, amplifying grain and depth without screaming its own name. The result is a leather that feels contemporary, genderless, and unapologetically tactile.

Who is this for? If your leather needs to purr and bite in the same sentence, Falcon Leather Extrait delivers. It is not cozy. It is not sweet. It is a cool glove slipping over warm skin, and it makes even a plain white tee feel like a decision.