Etat Libre d’Orange is an ambitious, audacious, passionate and exuberant perfumery brand. It was founded by Etienne de Swardt and named after its birthplace, an ancient autonomous sovereign republic in South Africa, first inhabited by the royal family of the Netherlands.
A land of beauty, culture contrasts and feelings. A savage and unpredictable place, independent and unrestrained. Even though it ended in 1902 its attitude lives on at this brand.
This brand offers elegant, provocative and luxurious perfumes. Creations that break the rules symbolizing freedom of expression, an idea represented also by the brand’s logo. Moreover, in the elaboration process there are no restrictions on creativity, raw materials or expense.
Etat Libre d’Orange, a declaration of independence.
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Description
ETAT LIBRE D'ORANGE
REVIEWS
Olfactory Notes
Ingredients
Los Angeles. In this, the city of fallen angels, fantasy rules.
In On the Road, Jack Kerouac wrote, “LA is the loneliest and most brutal of American cities.” It’s the city described by Woody Allen’s character in Annie Hall as the city where “the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.”
But they come, the dreamers, for the sunshine and the possibilities, to this land of opportunity, where hope springs eternal. Whatever they’re searching for — happiness, love, money, fame — the temptations lure them deeper and deeper into this concrete paradise.
Does Los Angeles have a scent? It’s impossible to say. But Chandler Burr knows Los Angeles. And Chandler Burr knows perfume. So we decided to collaborate on a fragrance that an LA woman might wear. And we gave it the name of Chandler’s novel, set in Los Angeles.
And you dreamers, with your dreams — you might flourish, you might wither, but you don’t give up. You keep coming, or you think about coming, and sometimes you stay.
Because someday, someone just might be looking for you, pointing at you, wanting you. Or someone like you.
“A few years ago I wrote a novel called You Or Someone Like You set in Los Angeles. Its central character is a woman, Anne Rosenbaum, who lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband, Howard, a movie studio executive. Like so many of the homes up the fantastical curves and canyons of the Hills they look down on LA’s Downtown skyscrapers and the concrete ribbon of the 101 freeway, across Mid-Wilshire and Robertson, the glass towers of Century City, and, on clear days, over the 405 to Santa Monica and the placid, blue Pacific. And always the palm trees, imported and planted in LA in the early 20th century, ‘just as I am an import,’ Anne observes, ‘now indigenous.’ Anne is English, born in Hammersmith, London.
“As many have observed, Los Angeles is not a city. It is a state of mind. A strange amalgam of places and languages. Los Angeles is rivers of cement highways and infinite strips of asphalt, traffic, and despite or because of it all one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on earth, a natural beauty made by nature and molded by people, cobalt sky and the greens and tans of the desert parks, ocean fog, the white and delicate pale yellow jasmine and honeysuckle flowers that grow up parking signs reading ‘Permit Parking Only Violators Will Be Towed.’
“This scent is very specific. When Etienne de Swardt approached me about creative directing a fragrance whose name would be the title of my novel, I told my perfumer, Caroline Sabas, that we were creating the fragrance Anne would wear. She is also very specific. Coolly crisply English, covered in but untouched by the silver, materialistic movie industry, literary, somewhat removed.
“You Or Someone Like You is not the ‘scent of LA’ or ‘the smell of the Hollywood Hills captured.’ It is not one of those olfactory synecdoches. It is, on the other hand, stylistically and in its technical construction what a Los Angeles woman would wear in my view. Caroline and I discussed this at each step during the creation process. It is contemporary, 21st century. It is LA, whatever that means, though in part it means the norms a scent would follow in a meeting at one of the agencies near Wilshire, at a studio, at a lunch in Bel Air or dinner off Beverly Drive. (The raw materials are completely irrelevant. The work is the work. If you need to know what it’s made of, don’t wear it; You is not for you.)
“My fictional Anne wears it; so presumably do thousands of other women. It represents her only in the way all such choices represent us. What it will be to you is for you to decide, obviously.”
— Chandler Burr
You or Someone Like You is a welcoming fragrance: neither off-putting nor strange. It is a contemporary creation built around timeless materials.
It embodies the women of LA — someone like Anne Rosenbaum: cool and crisp; once foreign but now indigenous; very exposed to Hollywood’s silver screen dreams yet untouched by its materialistic machinery. Anne finds comfort in literature, and the garden of her home, which nestles in the hills overlooking downtown LA.
The scent represents her only in the way all such choices represent us. It can be concrete, like a beautiful green rose. Yet, it can be abstract, just like an Erik Satie composition for it is a puzzle so mysterious that it is difficult to unravel.
The perfume invigorates the senses with its fresh, inviting appeal. One feels good wearing it.
— The Perfumer
MAIN NOTES
“The raw materials are completely irrelevant. The work is the work. If you need to know what it’s made of, don’t wear it; You is not for you.”
Shop Online Etat Libre D'Orange You Or Someone Like You Eau De Parfum Spray 2ml at best price.
Product features:
- FRAGRANCE: Ladies Fragrance, Man Fragrance, Try&Buy
- MAN: Man Fragrance
- Fragrance Type: Eau de Perfume, Signature Perfumes
- Smell Profile: Aromatic, Citrus
- FORMAT: Spray
Product Reference: #328645
Top Notes: This fragrance opens with a burst of freshness, evoking the clean, crisp air of the Hollywood Hills. While the specific notes are undisclosed, imagine a blend of bright, airy accords, perhaps hinting at green notes and a touch of citrus, creating an immediate sense of invigoration.
Heart Notes: As the initial freshness subsides, the heart of the fragrance reveals a more complex character. The "cool Englishness" mentioned by Chandler Burr might be represented by a subtle floral accord, possibly rose, given the reference to a "beautiful green rose," interwoven with a touch of green tea for a refined, slightly abstract feel. The overall impression is one of understated elegance and quiet confidence.
Base Notes: The lasting impression of You Or Someone Like You is a soft, lingering warmth. While the specific base notes remain a mystery, they likely include musk and perhaps a hint of woods, creating a sense of comforting familiarity without being overtly sensual. This subtle dry down reflects the duality of Los Angeles: a city of dreams built on concrete, yet surrounded by natural beauty.
Alcohol Denat., Parfum (Fragrance), Aqua (Water), Limonene, Linalool, Benzyl Salicylate, Hydroxycitronellal, Citronellol, Geraniol, Coumarin, Citral, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Farnesol, Eugenol, Isoeugenol, Cinnamal, Cinnamyl Alcohol. WARNINGS: For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. If contact occurs, rinse immediately with plenty of water. Discontinue use if irritation or rash appears. Keep out of reach of children. Flammable. Do not spray near open flame or heat. Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. May cause photosensitivity. It is advisable to test on a small area of skin before applying liberally.