Vraie Blonde (2006)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

Subtle aldehydes and citrus beginning that morph into a patchouli laced floral accord. I could see it being unisex, though it definitely sits more on the side of feminine. Overall just not that interesting.

2nd September, 2011.

Ah, ELd'O. In the last few days I've been thinking of this brand a lot. I like the idea of a group of anarchich noses free to create what is in their minds. This VB isn't really my ideal creation and I don't feel completely confortable in it (I'm a brunette, is it important?) but I find it very happy and stimulating. None of the reviews quoted the very strong effect of baking soda I perceive.I found the parfume not lasting and this it's a pity.

16th April, 2011.

Pistachio kulfi on the strip - can't wait to try it on skin!

9th May, 2010.

Etat Libre d’Orange is a frustrating outfit. The silly names and labels are no doubt meant to be bold and provocative, but in fact evince the sensibilities of twelve year-old boys huddled over a porn magazine in the back of a school bus. The scents themselves are most often dull (Nombril Immense, Eloge du Traitre), ugly (Encens et Bubblegum), or both (Sécrétions Magnifiques). Vraie Blond is a happy exception. The scent opens on fizzy aldehydes and a bright, juicy citrus note with an unusually appetizing and refreshing quality. (The pyramid says peach, but this is not the lactonic peach of Mitsouko or Chinatown.) The fruit is soon joined by a paradoxically bitter, astringent myrrh, indolic white flowers, and then a sweaty, animalic patchouli. The resulting olfactory structure is rife with internal contradictions: it is at once brisk and dirty, vivid and putrefying, austere and libidinous, giddy and dangerous. In short, it is, alongside Charogne and Vierges & Toreros, one of the few Etat Libre d’Orange products that fills the reckless, iconoclastic promise of the company’s marketing and press materials.

The inspired lunacy of Vraie Blond’s structure can’t sustain itself forever, and it’s the patchouli that takes over for the drydown. The scent projects well for four or more hours of wear, but it’s never overbearing. In fact, for a fragrance so rich in patchouli, Vraie Blond is surprisingly buoyant and transparent. Perhaps that’s the crispy fruit or the sparkling aldehydes at work. The impression I’m left with is of a lighthearted, witty fragrance with a well developed sense of fun – kind of what Paris Hilton or Britney Spears might smell like if either of them had a brain.

11th December, 2009.

With the slightly kinky name and ELO's fearsome reputation, I was pleasantly surprised by this demure little thing. Starts off with bright, sparkly aldehydes and dries down to a nice little butter cookie scent. Peach? Maybe...smells more like a very, very light citrus to me. (Actually, I think this lemony-cookie smell is what I was hoping for from D&G Llight Blue, which sadly ended up smelling like Lemonheads and rubbing alcohol.) Keeps getting creamier and fluffier all the way into the dry-down, kicking in with an almond note at the end. I'm not usually a fan of creamy and fluffy, but this is adorable. Not sure I'd buy a full bottle, but I'd consider a decant. Wish it projected a little more.

2nd July, 2009.

I have had different responses from the opening of Vraie Blonde in the several times I tested it. Twice with the opening I received a blast of something sharply synthetic and a little medicinal, which hung around for about fifteen minutes. But most of the time it opens with the pleasant smell of something akin to a skin lotion or shampoo in a version that I enjoy because it’s not exactly a generic shampoo smell – more like a high quality scented personal grooming product product. The opening is a relief to me because I was expecting to hate this because of my general dislike of leather fragrances. I don’t get any of those disagreeable notes that I get from most leather scents. The leather in this is a suede-like one that actually smells good to me. I usually like aldehydes in a fragrance and this one is not an exception: The aldehydes are quite enjoyable, and add depth and breadth. The "shampoo" note gradually transforms itself into a very nice fruity / rose note that manages to be almost unisex, but then all too soon Vraie Blonde dries down to what smells to me like white musk – light and pleasant but very much like every other white musk dry down I’ve experienced.

Nowhere in the fragrance do I get the alcohol notes that some others do, and I’m missing out on all of those abusive smells that several other reviewers talk about. This is a pleasant but rather ordinary and uninspired scent to me, and although I think it is unisex, I would rather smell it on a woman than on myself.

25th April, 2009.