Etat Libre d'Orange Sample Pack. My thoughts and conclusions.

[MarkB]

Wanted to take some time and give a quick review of the frag samples I received from French perfume house Etat Libre d’Orange (translated “Orange Free State”). ELd’O was founded in 2006 and if you’re interested in learning more about the house, you can find it here:

Etat Libre d'Orange - About US

ELd’O offers a choice of three different sample pack options but I opted for the 4 piece sample kit ( $18 ), choosing “Cologne”, “Fat Electrician”, “Attaquer Le Soleil” & “Tom Of Finland”

“Cologne” is an instant winner for me. It’s very fresh with a citrus bomb opening. There are also some lighter floral notes. This was my favorite of the four and definitely warrants a full bottle purchase. Not as much longevity but the scent quality makes up for it.

“Attaquer Le Soleil” reminds me a lot of Comme Des Garçon’s "Incense Avignon". It’s a dry, dark, smoky, resinous, incense scent that has no detectable citrus notes as indicated on the website. This scent is too close to the CDG IMO to warrant a full bottle purchase.

“Tom of Finland” is a nice green, woody, leather frag that has a great longevity but it too is very similar IMO to other frags out there and doesn't separate itself enough to stand out. Because of that, I probably wont spring for a full-size bottle.

“Fat Electrician” was my least favorite of the four. To my nose the individual notes don’t combine well. Vetiver, chestnut cream, olive leaves, myrrh, vanilla and opoponax are all great on their on, but here is just a jumbled mess..

 

[GearNoir]

Great rundown!

 

[August West]

Can’t wait for the release of “Plumber’s Crack”.

 

[HMan]

Great stuff Mark. Cologne is the only one of those I’ve tried so far, but I’ve got a sample of Tom of Finland.

Fat Electrician gets a lot of press, but you summed up my gut feeling on it.

I thought Attaquer might be a more Immortale focused frag, and passed, as I’ve already got a couple of frags that feature it, and it’s a note I tire of in excess.

The cologne is fabulous though, working at home, performance is fine for me, especially if I’m liberal with the sprayer. It’s a best of class scent. Colognes in general ore becoming one of my favorites. I kind of like that they don’t last, I’m sort of into using two scents a day anyway.

Overall, I think this is a great house though, and the one’s I like, I like a lot. It’s pretty easy to get samples so think it’s well worth checking them out, though I was skeptical at first.

It’s a real pity that Eloge du Traitre isn’t available in the US, IMHO, it’s the best of what I’ve tried and a near masterpiece for me.