Reviews of Rien (2006)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

Animalic leather? Not really. 'Mineralic aldehyde and woods' would be a more appropriate summary of Rien WITH a brooding animalic undertone made by my current pal and ex-enemy, Civet. As for sweetness, there is barely a hint of it here.

Rien starts off with a burst of very intense aldehydes and a dry airy mineralic/metallic incense accord. (The one you can detect in L'ombre Fauve in minute amounts) It then 'calms down' to leathery peppery woods and patchouli. (What I smell as "wood" is probably the leather) Altogether, my favorite from ELDO.

Rien is one of the better releases from Etat Libre d'Orange, which starts out with a very strong aldehyde opening but settles down into a woody leather scent. It certainly possesses a mineralic quality (probably due to an almost airy incense accord) with the black pepper being ever present in the background. I also get a slight powderiness throughout and agree with Vibert about the Tam Dao comparison in its later stages.

I’m not a big fan of leather scents but, although it’s a very weird scent, it is quite an original composition. As tigrushka mentioned, Rien certainly wouldn’t be out of place in Comme des Garcons’ Synthetic Series but its almost synthetic and clinical smell is the main problem I have with it. Also, most leather scents that I admire (with the exception of Montale’s Aoud Cuir d’Arabie) possess a certain degree of sweetness that Rien severely lacks, and it’s too dry and grey for me to remain in anyway compelled. I didn’t detect any amber at all but a certain degree of sweetness may have provided it with the sexy aura that is painfully lacks.

It’s much better than Tom of Finland but it’s also nothing that I’d care to smell again.

[Original submission date: 10 December 2008]

The listed notes tell me that I should adore Rien, but the sparks never really fly. Rien starts out with a burst of aldehydes and dry powder, soon followed by a gentle incense note and a very light rose. Because it's utterly devoid of sweetness, the rose/incense accord feels weightless and ethereal, even when leather and oakmoss rise up beneath it. The moss and leather are seasoned with black peppercorn in a medicinal combination that brings to mind a very soft oudh.

Rien persists in this vein for quite some time, becoming drier and more woody with age. Though none is listed, I smell something suggestive of cedar in the base, and that note brings the drydown surprisingly close to the late stages of Diptyque's cedar-lined Tam Dao (!?). On the whole, I'd describe Rien as a very dry, gray "scratchy" fragrance, and believe that earlier reviewers have been spot on calling it stony or mineralic. In the end I think it's interesting, but not necessarily compelling.

Leather, ashtray and cigarretes with a bit of smokey incense feeling. It starts rather strong and harsh but settles down into something very tame and pretty. I´d say it´s a very masculine fragrance during the top and middle phase but the dry down could be worn by a female. It reminded me of Bvlgari Black but without the vanilla and more cigarettes tossed in. A very interesting fragrance that won´t bore someone fast.

I do not totally understand this fragrance. This is an animalic leather that is VERY animalic. More so animalic than Kouros, more bad-ass leather than Black Jeans or Bandit. This stuff is spicy, too. What's weird is that it gets worse as it dries down, getting woodier as it goes on but the civet/animalic note keeps coming back. Smells chalky and rocky from a distance. Disturbing scent. Wear with caution!

Best of the ELdO bunch, this bittersweet animalic leather has an interesting herbal/spicy twist to it. Quite original, smells weird and slightly offputting. The smoky, burnt styrax note is wonderful. The scent lingers on skin forever and ever.

Dark, brooding and provocative, this is not your everyday fragrance for sure.

Rien, aka "Dorian Gray" is the last scent in my Etat Libre d'Orange Smell-A-Thon and I am getting weary of their nonsensical marketing material. Here is an extract from their description of "Rien": "Rien is a second skin perfume, a perfume that clings to the body and perseveres in the mind. Like venial sin on the verge of becoming mortal, irresistable and resolutely pervasive". Whatever.

In case you are wondering what this smells like in plain English, and despite the laundry list of official notes below, Rien smells like loose body powder for ladies, ie. the kind that comes with a powder puff. I sniffed it all the way to the end and the whole time it smelled like uninteresting body powder that Estee Lauder might have produced in the 1950's. I could tell that they added aldehydes to try and give it a sense of luxuriousness but that was overpowered by the strong smell of powder.

Similar to Dorian Gray but far outclassing it in terms of complexity and beauty is Le Labo's Aldehyde 44 and Chanel No. 5.

Here are the notes, courtesy of The Perfumed Court: incense, rose, leather, iris, ciste, foam chene, styrax pyrogene, patchouli, amber, cumin, black pepper and aldehydes.

Rien was a big surprise: the name led to expect something mild, but it turned out to be a mixture of Bandit & Comme des Garcons Synthetic Series (Garage, Skai, Tar). To my nose it has that same leather jacket saturated with decades' worth of thick cigarette smoke vibe as Bandit. VERY long-lasting scent.

It is must-try for all leather fans. It`s not a mainstream leather - very dark, dense, incense-like.
As my friend used to tell: All the brigdes were burned down.

what a fab fragrance!!!!.
Its dark, incisive yet cold: iced smoky woody leather in a wet cold cave with smelly musky stones.
Great!
Incense,iris give the down to eath vibe and the leather + cistus wppears dark smoky dirty, the adhelydes comfort the piece with a fresh icy twist...

Rien isn't "rien" at all. It's a rich, dark, distinctive fragrance that starts with a soft, warm balsamic leather note (slightly resembling of Cuir Ottoman)and a hint of iris. The patchouli accord is sweet and light and never gets into the foreground. After some time, Rien gets harsher with a somehow mineral, graphite-like touch: incense, cumin and pepper notes gain dominance and remain noticeable during the whole drydown.
Rien may be an interesting choice for all leather & spice lovers and is (in opposite to some other fragrances of this house) definitely wearable. Striking sillage and longevity - use it sparingly!

Rien smells like a headshop! That musty, smoky/sweetish melange of incense, scented candles, scented soap and perhaps some exotic spices that clings to any item you might buy. Not hippie chic, just plain hippie.