Sécrétions Magnifiques (2006)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

I love perfumes that push the envelope. ELd'O of course does that, and with SM it does it in spades. Upon putting the scent on, I absolutely hated it. The acrid, metallic smell reminded me of the briny flinty odor of raw oysters. But lo and behold, the musk comes around and softens the blow, and it becomes a lovely, sheer floral. I find it totally sexy! It's not something I would wear everyday, but it would be my go-to on special occasions when I want to feel a little trampy.

11th January, 2012.

First of all: I would give this one thumbs up, because of its construction, it stands apart from anything you've ever smelled, but the overwhelming metallic note pierces your stomach like surgic steel knife, it almost made me sick.

Forget the sex-accords hype, it smells like fish and baby powder.

6th January, 2012.

Hideous to the extreme is all I have to say here. I do not get blood or semen as some get... I just get a hideous milky metal accord that is absolutely repulsive, making my eyes blur, and is the first scent I have worn that physically makes me sick. I am wearing it as I write this and I really have to wash this off me... NOW. The sample I acquired was an experience that I will be sure never to forget, but I should have avoided it as others have wisely advised several times over. This one gets my vote for worst scent ever... What was Turin thinking in giving it 5 stars?... No way does this deserve any more than one from me!

15th September, 2011.

So I finally got to try SM. I may be in the minority unaffected by the hype and able to embrace the scent for what it is, I dunno. I do believe, after trying this, that the bad rep it has gotten is more a result of conformity than anything else. Perhaps due to what it is supposed to represent and a few bad reviews by esteemed reviewers, others are quick to reject it without giving it an unbiased testing. I do not find it vile in the least. There are scents that are FAR more disgusting which are surprisingly praised by many and I am willing to bet they got the thumbs up from some respected reviewers/bloggers too!

My neutral rating is because of me not SM. All you need do is look at my review history LOL. It is very hard for me to really like a fragrance so do not count this against SM. On first whiff, I smell what will soon become the death of the fragrance for me at least, a deep inky metallic note but it is yet to overcome the florals at this stage. As time goes by, this inky metallic note becomes a bully and possesses the scent. SM actually bears some similarities to Comme des Garcons Odeur 53 and 71 because of the metallic note. The difference is that CdG is easier on the nose due to the metallic note being fused with citrus to make for a less cloying and more bearable scent. I think on the right person, this is very wearable. Hey, if you like CdG and some other inky/ metallic scents, you just might like this..... or you just might genuinely hate it but whichever the case, this is a unique experience to be had.

10th August, 2011.

It's disgusting and vile, and its sole purpose is to get people talking about ELdO. As a marketing gimmick, Secretions Magnifiques succeeds nicely. Congrats, ELdO.

Secretions Magnifiques is also a near flawless pretentiousness detector. You should avoid like the plague anyone who refers to this . . . odor . . . as a work of art or a conceptual statement. Which is appropriate because SM is what a dying plague victim probably smelled like.

5th August, 2011.

I understand the commotion this scent has caused: it stands totally apart from any fragrance I've ever smelled, for better and for worse.

I get the semen accord when I sniff this straight from my wrist, on a background of faint unsweetened florals and an excellent salty note that zings my nose (I do love a good salt note). I happen to quite like that. In fact the "accord of jizz" is something I detect (or hallucinate? who knows) in a handful of other scents including FlowerbyKenzo, Le Male, and is related to an aspect of musk which also reminds me of freshly laundered bedsheets.

Rising up from here is a seaweed/bilge note that I find fascinating and nauseating by turn - I suspect it's the combination of this note and a strong milky-metallic accord that gives the "blood" accord that so many detect. Like one of those optical illusions where you see two different pictures alternately, Secretions Magnifiques can smell like saliva and blood or a watery floral impressionistic scene...

At a distance, the fragrance that emanates is much less repellant and actually quite wonderful - an ethereal mist of seawater and faint flowers. And mercifully, this is the effect that dominates the drydown.

Still not a normal scent, still seriously weird, but really quite delightful. Like a pointillist painting, stepping back makes the picture cohesive, whilst examination up close uncovers the strange components that make up the whole.

I agree with others that this is an experimental piece, but I must add that I think it IS wearable. The interest of this scent is worth the brief up-close spells of milk/metal/bilge-induced nausea. The bravery of ELdO makes me smile, as does wearing this strange scent-artwork.

5th July, 2011.