An all-natural perfume that takes luxury and sultriness to unimaginable heights. An animalic floral with a leathery twist.
-- Gaia Fishler, The Non-Blonde blog

This gardenia is VERY sweet and comely, mellifluous and naughty, luscious and celebratory. Immediately, for me, knee weakening. Not gardenia, as in gardenia, but plumeria; tiare: a tropical, moist, Neptunian, sultry white witch emerging, hair slicked to shoulders, from the sea. Sweet Italian bubble bath honey. Cuir: but fresh. Tango’s eminently wearable younger sister, unencumbered.
-- The Black Narcissus

If you prefer your florals fresh and clean, this is not a scent to go after. At the same time this gardenia is both demanding, sweet, nurturing, thoughtful and dead sexy – just like any one of us. I get facets of honey, metal, tropical fruits (especially pineapple) and hay. It’s leathery in a dark, dusky and cocoa-like way, not smoky at all. It lasts for a very long time and I can’t do justice in words of how perfect it is to showcase the light of the gardenia. Cuir de Gardenia has touched me deeply and is clearly (in my opinion) one of the best releases of this year!
-- Riktig Parfym

Cuir de Gardenia, the new perfume from Aftelier tells the story of luxury, eccentricity, and sensuality. The first whiff I got of this extraordinary perfume made me think of Marchesa Luisa Casati, the Italian aristocrat who said "I want to be a living work of art" who lived in Capri, wore live snakes as jewelry, had lovers all over Europe, and inspired artists and designers from Man Ray to Alexander McQueen.
-- The Non-Blondei

Honestly, I don’t think I knew gardenia at all before smelling it. This magical–and sexy–summer scent starts out with a burst of fruit for me, almost like strawberry but with some tropical notes. It’s surprisingly earthy for a floral perfume and far from what you might expect. My husband had no idea what it was but was impressed by the dark edginess of the flower. As with every Aftelier scent I’ve encountered, Cuir de Gardenia unfolds beautifully over time, and then tapers off to a softer floral, with less fruit, but still deeply alluring and very much of this earth.
-- Sensibilitea

It's a daydream, a waxy memento of sensuality hidden in a drawer for a rainy day, the feeling of physical happiness. It's a matutine moment stolen, when you can hear the stars laugh.
-- Perfume Shrine

Ms. Aftel did an unusual thing when she created this perfume: she decided to allow the gardenia to burst forth immediately, so didn’t add any of the usual, more sprightly top notes that generally open a perfume. Cuir de Gardenia puts your nose deep into the bloom the second you apply it. Heady doesn’t begin to describe it; it is more opulent, nearly narcotic. Wet and deep, this is a floral perfume for stormy days and sultry nights. The animalic, slightly sweet notes in the base add the leathery aromas, surrounding the flower in decadence.
-- Cafleurebon

This is no ordinary or predictable gardenia, but instead a sensual and rich permutation brought to life by Mandy's visionary approach to perfume-making. This is at once an intensely elegant, uncompromisingly decadent fragrance, and it is unequivocally the most strikingly sexy scent imagined. Cuir de Gardenia is one of those rare scents that I could wear everyday for the rest of my life and never tire of. Cuir de Gardenia is a true artistic masterpiece, and most assuredly the most decadent and sensual gardenia conceived.
-- Lola's Secret Beauty Blog

Cuir de Gardenia is beautifully transformed into Mandy Aftel's ideal of the Tahitian Gardenia. There are certain aspects of this flower that Mandy maintains such as the creamy sweetness of this milky white flower. However, Cuir de Gardenia has a hint of woodsy musk that provides a modern flair to an ancient flower.
-- Fragrance Belles Lettres

Cuir de Gardenia by alchemist Mandy Aftel does not encourage much writing because once you close your eyes and inhale that is it. I cannot call this a perfume; it is a potion.
-- Australian Perfume Junkies

The Leather Gardenia - Olfactory Orgasm
-- The Fragrant Man

Put away any ideas you have about braying drugstore gardenia, and imagine a green, creamy gardenia with silk velvet edges. Similarly, the leather isn’t a harsh, oily leather, but a supple, fine-grained leather with a hint of shadow and spice about it. The result is a perfume that smells both fresh and antique, clean and fusty. The gardenia complements the leather in a perfect yin-yang, without one element tipping the balance over the other.
-- Now Smell This