Cuir de Russie

Yesterday, I received a haircut at a local barbershop. The sign in the barber's window said "traditional" and that is what I wanted. I noticed that he had some eau de toilette bottles on display in the window as well, and one caught my eye since it was marked "Cuir de Russie"; so of course I had to make a reservation. The haircut involved the barber mostly cutting my hair with a straight-razor and in the course of our conversation, I brought up the "Cuir de Russie" question, and he told me that this particular eau de toilette was based on an old Russian legend involving the Cossacks having their leather boots scraped up while travelling the woods and then liking the resulting smell. This got me wondering about the use of "Russian leather" on strops, which has a velour-like surface. Could the legend apply to the surface-quality of Russian-leather strops as well?

In any case, the eau de toilette, made by the L.T. Piver company of Paris, smelled wonderful, but at 42 euros a bottle, was a bit much for me--especially as I do not wear colognes or use eau de toilette. The haircut, on the other hand, was a reasonable 13 euros and was very well done.

So, has anyone heard of this "cuir de Russie" legend, and if so, does it apply to the surface quality of Russian leather as well? And, for those who may know such things, what is the history of the development of Russian leather as used for strops?

Russian leather frags were created to emulate the smell of - you guessed it - Russian leather. My understanding is that it is cured with birch tar oil, imparting a distinctive smell.

What I found interesting, is that your barber was cutting with a straight razor. I remember my father, telling me about getting his hair cut only with a straight razor, in which he had to pay slightly more. This was in the early 50's up until the mid 60's....the barber would then go over the head with a lighted taper or such for any remaining wisps of hair. Good to know there are barbers who have mastered their art and profession. Sorry I can't help with your Russian Leather and have gone off-track from your initial posting, but your barber experience brought back some memories...

was it with a coffior razor

I suppose you mean those ones with the replacement blades that have teeth like a comb? My father mentioned a straight razor, so it would have been a straight razor as we know it and not one meant for cutting and thinning hair like the hairstylists use, .... you can still get shaves from a real straight in Toronto, Canada I believe. The barber was German, came over after the war, as did a lot of Europeans. Electric clippers will cut the hair very blunt and harsh, can look like one had a haircut...the razor or scissors cut the hair nice and soft, looks more comfortable and distinguished, higher-end haircut. If your interested in the Russian Leather scent or similar, you might like this site for scent info http://www.basenotes.net

My barber used a straight-edge razor, like one would use for shaving. From a distance, it looked like a 3/8, at most a 4/8, and it had a round tip. He stropped it a couple of quick times on a black-paste lined small Puma-type strop before cutting my hair. I also noticed that a small section of the scales had fallen off--no doubt from dropping it. Once in Chicago I had my hair cut with a razor like this. But the barber there made a big deal of it and charged me extra, whereas here it seemed to be the normal approach, with the scissors being reserved for a few final touch-ups. My hair is kind of longish though, perhaps making it easier to use the razor as one can get a grip on the hair. Had I come in with a grown-out crew-cut, he may have hauled out the scissors or even an electric razor!

But anyway, back to my Russian leather story and Professor Chaos's remarks above: I cannot say that my Russian leather strop smells anything like the fragrance, so I am still wondering if the leather being scraped up in the woods legend might also have been used to explain the velour-like quality of Russian leather as presently used in strops.

Edit: thanks FriedLiverAndOnions for the link, I missed it the first time, and I agree with your comments regarding the resulting quality of the haircut with a razor rather than with electric clippers.