Fragrance
July 31st, 2025

On my 27th birthday, I asked for french perfumer Etat Libre d'Orange's set of 20x2ml perfume samples. I'd wanted to figure out what scents meant to me for over a year at that point, having grown up female and being gifted several perfumes over the course of my life that, while most of them smelled quite nice, never got worn more than a few times before being re-gifted. In the end, I'd figured perfume just wasn't for me, and walking around and catching whiffs of other people only enforced this idea; I never smelled anyone and thought, "Oh! I want to smell like this too!" It didn't occur to me for a long time that scents, like music or fashion, are a social language. Of course I couldn't smell myself in the average perfume - I wasn't the average person. I didn't need a confidence booster before heading to the club, I had no desire to brag to my friends about getting the latest trendy celebrity scent, and it didn't really matter to me whether anyone was impressed by what I smelled like or not. If there's one thing I know about myself, really, it's that I'm something of a recluse! Popular, easy-to-obtain scents were only ever going to make me feel like I'd dressed for the wrong occasion.

So what was the right scent for me? Admittedly, the way I discovered ELDO's sample collection was through a Tumblr post talking about their most infamous scent, Secretions Manifique. It's supposed to smell like blood, spit, sweat, and cum, and like the non-average person I was, I found myself wanting to find out how that would smell on me. I know what those things smell like, sure, but as a perfume? What kind of person smells like that? Would I want to be that person?

It's 100€ a bottle with no option to buy a sample, so it remains a dream for now, but I thought it interesting how I suddenly had an interest in perfume when it came to a scent that most people would find disgusting by description alone. Some might be drawn in by the thought of offending others via smell, but for me, what made it click was the sheer excitement of the people who actually wanted to smell like blood, spit, sweat, and cum, things that aren't necessarily known for smelling good. Nobody was talking about getting compliments for wearing this at their monthly workplace dinner, but rather how the perfume made them recall the fun, pleasure, intimacy of sex and how it felt like it was promising them more of those good feelings, and they absolutely loved it.

I knew that was my way into the world of scents. Not "Who does this make me in relation to others?" but "Who is this promising that I can be?" It made so much more sense. I still had no idea how to discern notes nor did I know who I wanted to present myself as (which in hindsight is a very silly thing to worry about not knowing) but even if I was disappointed, even if expensive perfumes smelled the same as the more affordable ones, a bad experience is still an experience, right? If nothing else, I'll get to smell 20 things I've never smelled before.

By the time of me writing this, I'm currently in the process of trying all the ELDO samples a second time to see how my understanding of them has changed as I've learned more about myself and about scents. I had the hindsight to write down my first impressions in the little booklet they included, and the difference in how I describe things is delightfully noticeable. It's been a really great experience to seek out and compare scent notes, to learn about skin chemistry (sorry Fat Electrician, you smell like burnt plastic bags on me,) and to develop my own relationship with each and every little 2ml bottle. Who does this one turn me into? How do I feel about it? On the second go, I feel a bit kinder towards some of the scents I didn't like, now armed with more knowledge on how to express myself.

She Was An Anomaly is a somewhat minimalistic perfume whose main note, on my skin, is "vanilla orchid." It's a synthetic vanilla note that retains a certain plastic-yness, which I don't necessarily find unpleasant. In fact, the first few minutes of this perfume are a highlight of my journey through this set: Its top note, the first thing you smell when you spray it, is a green tangerine that in combination with the vanilla orchid gives such a strong impression of exotic greenhouse flowers that I'm overcome by the desire to eat a raw flower bulb. Seriously. I'm not the type to call marbles "The forbidden candy" or anything of the like, so I was absolutely blown away by how strong that desire was. Both times! It smelled so delicious. When the green tangerine fades however... There isn't much to go on. I can't really smell anything but that plastic orchid, and it leaves me feeling like a person that's failing to stay in control. In my first impression, I described the scent as "A newly cleaned trashcan" - It doesn't smell like trash anymore, sure, but you only used that much vanilla in the first place because you're trying to cover up the scent of plastic, too, and it's not working. It's uncomfortable, suffocating to think of myself as someone who would do that. And yet had the scent developed more, it probably would've been a favorite of the set.

I was expecting there to be a certain amount of difference between the fragrances, but I feel genuine surprise at just how different they not only smell, but make me feel. A lot of them are just... fancy perfumes, ELDO is a bit on the pricier side, scents that are recognizable but not really me. In the case of Eau de Protection and Hermann à mes Côtés me Paraissait une Ombre, they even have similar main notes in rose and pepper, and yet the pepper in the former smacks you in the face, an almost overpowering opening note, before settling next to the rose like a loyal dog; whereas in the latter, the pepper and rose are holding hands, equals, throughout the whole scent. As a result, Eau de Protection personified is a stately older woman who wears her hardships proudly, where Hermann is an adult, but younger, career-driven woman that asks you to respect her. I'm neither of these women, nor am I the one who loves the smell of cleanliness in You or Someone Like You, or the chronic hobbyist of Remarkable People. The scents, however, tell me that I could be them, if I wanted to. And I do find something wonderful in that offer.

I was considering making this first blog post of mine a sample-by-sample review, but that felt a bit too thorough when this little experiment of mine was entirely personal. I've been sharing my experiences with anyone who'd be willing to listen, of course, but you're not going to learn more about fragrances by reading about me telling you that Exit the King smells like rose-scented bar soap when it could have completely different layers on your skin, or you might find that despite the mundane description, this is a scent you associate with something that you really do want to smell like going forward. If you've ever thought about finding your own scent, if you've thrown the concept of perfumes in the back of your mind because really, it doesn't make that much sense to care about, go ahead and find a place to get some samples. You can give them to others if they're a total miss, but you might find that you're like me, too, and spraying Sous Le Pont Mirabeau on yourself a second time - despite the fact that you didn't like it on the first - to see if it still smells like a person who really, really wants to be on a boat right now. It's honestly a fine fragrance. I just think the woman it makes me should be a little more patient.

ELDO offers a few other scents as samples that weren't included in my set, and since I'm something of a completionist I figure I'm going to order them alongside a full bottle of Archives 69 sometime this year. It's not lost on me that the name of the scent I fell for is a double entendre - it's the address of their flagship store, 69 Rue des Archives - and considering I hadn't expected to find myself in its particular scent, it couldn't be more perfect. I'm not going to give you some kind of major note breakdown, Archives 69 smells like a luxurious old lady's bathroom. Not that it smells like bathroom, at all, it smells like the open shelving she has next to the sink filled with all her favorite scented products that aren't on display or anything, it's just easier to put them there. You'd think the combined smell would be overwhelming, but it's surprisingly harmonious, and it makes the brief moment you're washing your hands a bit more interesting. It's inviting.

The promise of Archives 69 to make the mundane a bit more special, through heavy curation and appreciation of what you have, is one I can see myself taking it up on. I'm not someone who follows the stream, and I place great importance on other ways to be and talking about them with your whole chest. I'm always happy to have a conversation about the things you observe about me, and while I'm generally a warm person, like an initial blast of pepper I know I'm not everyone's cup of tea. You can have whatever opinion you want about that, of course - But if you've learned these things about me, you're probably in my bathroom.