Les Prestigieuses Cuir de Russie CandleMusk Leather Vetiver According to legend, Russian leather first appeared at the time of the tsars. Having galloped through the endless steppes of Russia, a Cossack warrior gathered around a campfire at nightfall with his fellow riders. He then came up with the idea of rubbing his leather boots with birch bark to make them waterproof. This diffused an extraordinary smell that immediately enchanted all of the riders. The quality of our scented candles