The house of Etat Libre d’Orange offers antidotes to conventional fragrances, to complete the intimate rituals of a femme fatale

Headed up by the charismatic and charming South-African-born Etienne de Swardt, Etat Libre d’Orange is a controversial French fragrance house that is sending shock waves through the breezy meadow of traditional perfumery. Want to smell like a hotel slut, a blonde bombshell or a delicious closet queen? Or how about braving a fragrance based on the animalistic allure of the body’s own primal scents?

If these descriptors surprise you, don’t be put off. Although subversive and controversial, every Etat perfume is intended to seduce and charm. And charm they do, with the likes of debonair George Clooney having a penchant for Etat’s Je suis un Homme, whilst the lovely Miss Scarlett Johansson is said to favour Jasmin et Cigarette as her perfume of choice.

Each  fragrance is created around its own amazing story, concoted by the eccentric de Swardt and his team of romantic insurgents. There’s even a tale woven in Etienne’s crazy poetic language that’s all about – wait for  it – a Fat Electrician!  Which is why reading through Etat’s website is a treat in itself and will pretty much have you dying to try out the outrageous, sensual fragrances for yourself (go to www.etatlibredorange.com and click on the English flag).

So there you have it. Etienne has taken great pleasure in both turning the conventional world of fragrance upside down, and returning perfume to its original intention – that of a tool of erotic exploration and seduction. Forget the same old perfume clichés you’ve seen (and smelt) a million times before. Etat’s range of fragrances is an olfactory revolution that is definitely not for the faint at heart.

Intrigued? Go try them out for yourself at Metropolitan Cosmetics Hyde Park, Melrose Arch or Sandton.

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I’m totally intrigued! If only I could try them out in Cape Town …