French niche line Etat Libre d'Orange has launched two new fragrances, Fils de Dieu and Bijou Romantique...

Wandering around on a recent rainy Sunday, a friend and I stepped into Una, a tiny shop on the working class side of town. The clothing was tremendously chic, all Italian fabrics and clever design. In a different life, when my womanly figure turns gamine and my penchant for nipped waists and rhinestones fades, I’ll have one of each on the rack. The jewelry was fabulous, too, and I’m saving up for a bronze Monica Castiglioni ring. But what really pleased me, was that in this shop — this little shop that could fit inside my living room —was a row of Etat Libre d’Orange perfumes.

Forget the rain, I was ecstatic. They didn’t have my two favorites, Jasmin et Cigarette (“We could never sell that here, people wouldn’t get it,” the owner told me later) and Like This, but Vraie Blonde sat in front, and several fragrances I wanted to get to know better lined up behind it. One of them was Fat Electrician Eau de Parfum. I took home a sample...

Archives 69 takes its name from the address of the Etat Libre d'Orange flagship boutique, located at 69 Rue des Archives in Paris. Since this is Etat Libre d'Orange, you may be guessing that the name has a double meaning, a specifically sexual one, and you are correct; an entry on the Etat Libre d'Orange blog, complete with alternate label art for Archives 69, makes that point clear. Its text explains, "This is a perfume designed to free the senses, to open the heart to all the possibilities. It is an invitation to pleasure, an ode to seduction. It comes without restrictions, rules or regulations. It is yours to do with as you wish. This is the scent of sensual liberation."

The composition of Archives 69, developed by perfumer Christine Nagel, includes notes of tangerine, pink berries CO2, pepper leaf, orchid & prune JE, incense, camphor, benzoin, patchouli, and musk. Its concept was partially inspired by the short story "Drencula" by French writer Boris Vian, a tale of a young man's encounter with a hermaphroditic vampire, from Vian's collection Écrits Pornographiques. Archives 69 was given the tagline "The Illusion of Sex" in preview materials, and its press release (subtitled "The End of Innocence") includes a lengthy meditation on a nameless female character who embodies many dualities: the sacred and the profane, heaven and hell, pleasure and pain, etc. So, how do this theme and this prose translate into scent?

Archives 69 does pair some opposing notes...

Etat Libre d'Orange, as a brand, doesn't really suit me, which is a shame because it's one of the few niche lines that still sells a bottle for less than $100 (and as many of you will remember, $100 is the new free). I haven't tried quite all of them — they've made a whopping 22 fragrances since they debuted in 2006 — but by now I've tried most of them. The one that impressed me the most (although it isn't really "me") was the brilliant Like This for Tilda Swinton; after that, I'd list Putain des Palaces and Vierges et Toreros as close calls, and I'd probably want a bottle of Fat Electrician if I didn't already own a bazillionty-and-one vetiver fragrances, modern or otherwise.

But so far, I've never been tempted to buy, and only one Etat Libre scent has been sitting in my purgatory basket¹ and that's Jasmin et Cigarette. Since Kevin reviewed Sécrétions Magnifiques yesterday and Jessica is going to review Archives 69 tomorrow, it seemed like a good time to pull it out and decide one way or another...

Sécrétions Magnifiques burst (seeped? dripped? spurted?) onto the perfume scene in 2006. Though I’ve been intrigued by many Etat Libre d’Orange perfume descriptions, I’ve not had any luck with the fragrances. The perfumes are usually rather mild compared to their PR claims, names and artwork. On its packaging, Je suis un Homme features a handgun with the barrel in the shape of a firm penis, but it smells like Hermès Bel Ami — calm, reserved and a tad conservative. The woman Rossy de Palma is bold and quirky; her eponymous Etat Libre d’Orange fragrance is an Eau d’Italie Paestum Rose clone. Tom of Finland? About as raunchy as an éclair. Belatedly, I’ve found that Sécrétions Magnifiques does live up, in part, to its name (keep the sécrétions, nix the magnifiques).

Breast milk, blood and semen are but a few of the ‘inspirations’ for Sécrétions Magnifiques. Nourishment, preservation and orgasm comprise the Sécrétions Magnifiques manifesto; the perfume salutes the human body and its fluids...

UK retailer Nkd Man ("an online grooming store, providing the very best in men's shave, skin, body, hair and fragrance products from the very best brands from around the world") is carrying a new limited edition preview of Etat Libre d'Orange Archives 69:

This 100ml bottle is an official pre-release, and will be followed by the general release of the standard 50ml bottle at the end of May.This is strictly limited edition with only 1000 units available worldwide.

They've got a bottle up for grabs for one lucky Now Smell This reader anywhere in the world. If you don't win, hey, they're offering free worldwide shipping for Archives 69.

Want one? For a chance to win, leave a comment telling us about the last Etat Libre d'Orange fragrance you tried. If you've never tried one, tell us about the last fragrance you tried by any brand...

Next up from French niche line Etat Libre d'Orange: Archives 69, named for the brand's street address in Paris. The tag line: The Illusion of Sex...

When I first heard about Noël au Balcon from Etat Libre d'Orange, it was being offered as a limited edition fragrance for the 2007 holiday season. I was disappointed that I wouldn't have a chance to try it, since it was only available at Sephora in France. Fortunately, Noël au Balcon joined the permanent Etat Libre line-up about a year ago, and now that I've had a chance to wear it, the season seems right for a review. Noël au Balcon's composition includes notes of tangerine, vanilla, honey, orange blossom, apricot, red pepper, patchouli, musk, cistus, cinnamon, nigella, and amber, and it was created by the perfumer Antoine Maisondieu (who has produced a number of fragrances for Etat Libre, including another of my favorites, the aldehydic peachy-floral Vraie Blonde).

Since we're dealing with Etat Libre d'Orange, there is the requisite punning in the fragrance's title and some racy imagery in its logo and its descriptive "story"; allusions to cleavage abound. The proverb "Noël au balcon, Pâques au tison" means that a warm Christmas — warm enough to spend on the balcony — will be followed by an unseasonably cool Easter (requiring "firebrands"). And the expression "avoir du monde au balcon," or "the balcony is crowded," is a reference to a shapely bosom...