Rien Etat Libre d`Orange

Source: etatlibredorange.com

Ink. Leather. Aldehydes.

This is not feminine. Well not feminine as in girly-girl it's not but I could see women "who wear the pants" carrying off Rien or maybe...Catwoman? I am sure it is suitable for the office or some formal event but I can't quite imagine using Rien for casual wear. For me it is olfactory art, I admire it very much and I would love to be able to pull it off but I cannot wear Rien without feeling like a misfit.

Source: www.reddit.com

It opens with dazzling aldehydes both powdery and green, enjoyable and nothing about it hints at what comes after. Viscous ink and leather. Huge amounts, do not over-spray. It truly does smell like ink, taking me back to the Chinese calligraphy classes of my childhood, where I would be gritting my teeth while painstakingly trying to form characters instead of squiggles with my brush and trying not to splatter the paper with ink in the process. I doubt I'll ever quite forget the smell of ink. Then there is leather. Stark, uncompromising, no frills decorating it, making me think of roads being newly paved and the rising heat and smoke of the tar with its strange pungent sweetness.

The scent mercifully relaxes its grip on my nerves and on skin versus clothes it smells different. On my skin the leather is the predominant note but smoother and more suede bag than leather seat. On paper it's a smoky incense and leather mix, very dark and bitter, with a light dusting of sweet ...plum powder? That's what I smell anyway.

Both potent and tenacious, Rien as it has been said before, is NOT nothing. I remain in awe of Rien.