Nombril Immense (2006)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

A very sweet opening that persists for about an hour with a mix of black pepper. The patchouli slowly takes over and dominates throughout the rest of the notes with some opoponax peaking through. I set this one aside for awhile to test as the thought of a nasty naval repelled me, but overall it is not bad and not vile ala some of their other offerings. Nothing truly unique here though.

12nd August, 2011.

A nice clean parchouli, a bit on the sweet side as so many ELdOs. It persists until the next morning when applied in the evening. What remains is some kind of camphorous freshness which, in contrast to the former tad of sweetness is a welcome hello to a stranger. I would not try to analyse the scent further, it is soft, smooth calming down the senses but still aromatic enough to remain in a gently blurred focus of interest.

I personally like this alternative to spicey or leathery vanillas, including Dzing!, Bulgari Black a lot. What on their side always seemed to be a disturbance of the real thing, the vanilla, here in NI, comprsing an unearthy patchouli it is the natural balance between soft and angular. It connects perfectly to the smell of Your own skin. Again a fragrance from ELdO is true to it's name.

6th March, 2011.

It's well-named: it comes out of the bottle navel-gazing, and never develops much from its initial sanitised patchouli. It reminds me of nothing so much as Johnson's Baby Powder, with the militantly innocent, heavily trademarked scent of depersonalised American cleanness. Give me trashy headshop patchouli oil any day - at least it has hippy character rather than the unformed squidginess of freshly washed babies and their cute little belly-buttons. It's unformed, inexperienced, a scent of no discernible qualities. I am parallel-testing Nombril today with a grown-up, lived-in patchouli, Lutens's Cedre, in whose company it gurgles prettily, blows bubles, and plays with its toes. Nombril is the equivalent of no scent at all except the traces of Ivory soap, or a rising intonation on the end of every statement.

26th March, 2010.

Lots of tart citrus and a very conspicuous black pepper note to start with. The scent soon turns extremely soapy, with a heavy dose of lavender. (Not listed in the maker's description.) Patchouli takes its time appearing, but once it does it fills the foreground. The opoponax adds depth to the drydown, but the strong patchouli and conspicuous ambrette seed establish a vibe that's just a bit too head shop/psychadelic for me. This "immense navel" apparently belongs to some old hippie dreaming of 1967, but if this is your thing, why not just get out your bong and start staring at your own belly button?

24th December, 2009.

I must have a different batch then some of the reviewers before me, because my Nombril Immense starts off with a pretty significant patchouli note right from the get-go. There is a mild citrus that balances the earthier aspect of patchouli which a smidge of leather (present in many ELDOs) smoothens out the fragrance as a whole. Overall N-I is fairly linear to my nose, though there are dashes of spice and incense as the fragrance fades to base. I like patchouli but find it hard to wear the super-strong patchouli fragrances. This is a nice compromise because you get a lot patchouli but without smelling like the inside of a 1970 VW Westfalia.

1st May, 2009.

This big belly button is a sweet take on patchouli reminiscent of Parfumerie Generale's Intigrant Patchouli, but with the volume turned down by about 50%. The patchouli is citrus-sweetened and lasts a long time - through the heart - without much development. The base releases some of the sweetness, seemingly because opoponax balances out the sweetness of the citrus and ambrette. I personally enjoy earthier takes on patchouli, and within the ELO line Je Suis un Homme contains a dirtier patchouli/leather accord that I enjoy much more.

Still, this is a fine composition and but for Intigrant Patchouli this would be a very unique patchouli fragrance. Totally unisex and long lasting, Nombril Immense is worthy of sampling by patchouli fans.

17th December, 2008.