Over the holidays spent at home, I found myself wearing LOTS of perfumes — named Chanel No. 5, Jean Patou Joy and Dior Diorissimo (vintage, both), Molinard Habanita and Lalique de Lalique. All of a sudden, I felt I needed to stop shaving, to put on some work boots, and to wear a manly cologne — nothing fancy, but a salt-of-the-earth, dare I say, conservative fragrance. I reached for Etat Libre d’Orange Je suis un homme.*

I tried Je suis un homme years ago; it was like-at-first-sniff. And what’s NOT to like? Though its emblem is a penis-barreled gun, Je suis un homme is a comforting scent to me…not menacing in the least. Je suis un homme is masculine, warm and fuzzy; it’s sexy, but I don’t like to write the word ‘sexy’ in connection with a gun (Etat Libre d’Orange: retire the penis-pistol…if you want another penis besides the spurting one used in the Sécrétions Magnifiques ad copy, make it less aggressive, maybe zero in on the naked crotch of an ancient Greek or Roman sculpture?)

Je suis un homme’s opening is bracing…

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