French niche line Etat Libre d’Orange will launch The Afternoon of a Faun, a new unisex fragrance, in October…
Etat Libre d’Orange Dangerous Complicity ~ new fragrance
French niche line Etat Libre d’Orange will launch Dangerous Complicity, a new unisex fragrance, in October…
Etat Libre d’Orange Fils de Dieu, du Riz et des Agrumes ~ fragrance review
Risqué ideas and images are nothing new to Etat Libre d’Orange: the company presents us with closet queens, chubby utility workers (with a label showing buttocks cleavage), blond pubic hair (Vraie Blonde), gay beefcake (Tom of Finland), a threesome engaged in oral sex (Archives 69), and a couple of penises (one substituting for a pistol barrel — Je Suis un Homme — the other erect and “spurting” — Sécrétions Magnifiques). Now there’s Philippine Houseboy, whose tagline, fils de dieu, du riz et des agrumes*, has been put into use in North America as the fragrance name (you can apparently still buy this perfume in the Philippine Houseboy bottle in Europe).
No matter the name (I refuse to get worked up about perfume “titles” these days…there are much more important things to protest and worry about!), the fragrance’s “intent” is to capture the sun-drenched, aroma-rich Asian tropics. Fils de Dieu, du Riz et des Agrumes was created by perfumer Ralf Schwieger and lists fragrance notes of bergamot, ginger, lime, coriander leaves, shiso, Jungle Essence coconut and cardamom, rice note, jasmine, cinnamon, French May rose, tonka bean, vetiver, musk, amber, leather and castoreum.
Fils de Dieu opens with gingery lime, and “green” coriander and pungent shiso leaf…
Etat Libre d’Orange Bijou Romantique ~ fragrance review
When I read the initial announcement for Etat Libre d’Orange’s release of Bijou Romantique, I had a feeling that I would enjoy this perfume; now that I’ve tried it a few times, I’m happy to say that it has fulfilled all my expectations. Bijou Romantique was developed by perfumer Mathilde Bijaoui (whose earlier Like This is one of my favorite Etat Libre fragrances), and its composition includes notes of bergamot, Italian lemon, pink berries essence, ylang-ylang, sage, iris of Tuscany, EVEE (apparently a molecule from Mane’s laboratories), coconut JE, Haitian vetiver, benzoin, and vanilla.
According to the Etat Libre d’Orange website and other sources, Bijou Romantique’s inspirations are diverse and colorful. They include cameo jewelry; a phrase from the Old Testament, “Her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10); a line from the French writer Alfred de Musset, “J’ai souffert souvent, je me suis trompé quelquefois, mais j’ai aimé” (“I have suffered often, sometimes I have been mistaken, but I have loved,” from On ne badine pas avec l’amour, 1834); and (via Luckyscent) a reference to the cult comic-book series Corto Maltese. Got all that? (If there’s also a sexual double-entendre in the name or concept, as there often is for Etat Libre, I may be missing it.)
So, what do we have inside the bottle…
Etat Libre d’Orange Malaise of the 1970s ~ new fragrance
French niche line Etat Libre d’Orange has launched Malaise of the 1970s, which appears to be their 2010 Sex Pistols fragrance for Sephora in a new name with the standard house packaging…