Etat Libre D'Orange

You might luck out if you call the shop in Paris (or email maybe).

Les Senteurs in your very own country carry this line, and provide samples by post.

You can order them from the manufacturer - they even have a deal if you buy a sample of all fragrances, but the shipping from France is expensive - 17 Euros I think (or maybe more).

Definitely a great house. Just today I received the last 4 samples I needed to have a sample of the entire line, and there are about 8-9 that are FBW.

Good source, Les Senteurs.
Canadians -- check with your local Holt Renfrew. They may or may not still have this in stock. Some stores had it, some were discontinuing it.

I'm posting this here to avoid duplication of thread titles. As I posted before, I've obtained a sample of the entire ELdO line, and I'm very impressed. Maybe it's because I like leather accords and there are many in the line, or maybe because I like the modernity of the fragrances - I'm not sure. I do know that if you can see past the crass marketing, it's a relatively inexpensive line with lots of good options. The three I received today are particularly impressive.

Rien - HOLY smokes batman! This contains is the dirtiest, most civety, animalistic leather note ever. It's stronger than gasoline to start but settles into a strong but smooth leather. Goes from impossible to put your nose near to very enjoyable in 10 minutes.

Jasmine et Cigarette - very interesting. Jasmine is one of the florals I enjoy the most (i.e. A la Nuit), and this fragrance balances the sweet/sharp nature of jasmine with a tobacco note that very much smells like an unsmoked, open pack of cigarettes. I read a Burr review that said the idea behind this was to evoke the image of a woman, sitting at a bar who is wearing perfume and smoking a cigarette. The man wants to pick her up and confronts the dual smell of her jasmine perfume and her cigarette smoke. What's so cool is that if you choose to focus on the jasmine, you can smell the jasmine, but if you choose to focus on the tobacco, that's what you smell. Very good balance - like one of those 'magic image' pictures you stare at in different places for different effects.

Encens et Bubblegum - I group this with the above because it's another 'discordant combo accord' fragrance. I wouldn't exactly call the sweet note 'bubblegum' but rather a candy sweet note meant to evoke bubblegum. I'm not sure why some reviewers take things so seriously, complaining that the 'bubblegum note isn't realistic enough'. C'mon people, try to be flexible. Anyway, this is the 'sweet and sour' of perfumes, because the sweet notes balance a pretty strong incense note - and as with Jasmine et Cigarette, neither overpowers. This one is more 'weird' than JeC, but enjoyable and well constructed.

Some of my other favorites from the line (and perhaps I will supplement with reviews at a later date) are:

Je Suis Un Homme - masculine patchouli

Vraie Blonde - aldehyde bubbly peach

Charogne - orange/floral/leather

Vierges et Torros - another animalistic leather. Similar to Mazzolari Lui, but not as smooth.

Tom of Finland - powdery floral rubber/leather. Be warned that ELdO released a series of 'collectors boxes' with XXX-rated homoerotic art on them.

That's it for now - I need to revisit the others I liked (i.e. Nombril Immense before writing more). There are a couple I found unpleasant (Putain des Palaces, Secretions Magnifique, which is not vile but not good, either), and some I found boring (Antiheros, Don't Get me Wrong...), but overall it's been a worthwhile and fun project getting to know the house.

I totally forgot, my one and only ELdO bottle at the time of writing.... Noel au Balcon, a France-exclusive gourmand released for the xmas season. Good stuff.

Thanks for all your snotes bbBD. I'm really in love with this line...I know people get put off by the names, but they have some truly remarkable scents.

I thought J&C was going to be the one for me...and it's really brilliant, but just *not me*. The one I least expected were the ones that stole my heart - Rien, Nombril Immense, and Encense & Bubblegum.

A few of them are really too much for me though - Vraie Blond is a brilliant scent, but just too cloying to wear. Vierges & Toreros smells like blood, and Je Suis Un Homme and Traitre are just too reminiscent of 80's fougeres for me to want to actually wear. Still brilliant in their own respective ways, but not for me.

I'm DYING to try the Henri Bendle scent...iris and cherry..mmmm.

I have a month old test strip with Secretions M on it and it's still going strong. I actually like the scent after my initial repulsion, but the fact that it seems to never fade makes me think it must be composed with something very toxic.

My main issue with it was how STRONG it is...it never dies! I could live with the actual scent if it was turned down 75%.

Um...we told you so.