RIEN by État Libre d'Orange

Brand: État Libre d'Orange ^{pronounce in French}
Perfume: Rien ^{pronounce in French}
Concentration: edp
Notes:* top - black pepper, Safraleine (saffron & leather accord), incense essence Orpur^®**
             middle - leather, iris absolute, cistus absolute
             base - patchouli essence Orpur^®, vetiver essence Orpur^®, treemoss
♔Ingredients: Alcohol denat. (80% vol.), Fragrance (Parfum), Water (Aqua), Benzyl Salicylate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Limonene, Citronellol, Evernia Furfuracea (Tree Moss) Extract, Geraniol, Eugenol, Linalool, Isoeugenol, Citral, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate
♔Information on the packaging: Éditions des Sens S.A.S., 69, rue des Archives, 75003, Paris
♔Brand owner (now): Éditions des Sens S.A.S., France - www.etatlibredorange.com
♔Made in France.

 Rien is brutal in the opening. It smells biting, citrussy and bitter like a lemon (both the zest and pulp, but not juicy) and maybe like an orange too, also of rubber, industrial but not rough, vaguely medicinal in the background. Dense and penetrating.

I find it kind of queasy at this stage, literally, and I have a hard time breathing it for the first 15 minutes (minimum). The other fragrance that caused me nausea was Do Son by Diptyque, the edt, however, in contrast to that one, Rien becomes wearable after that period of time.

The citrussy aspect, next to a tart facet, gives me the impression of smelling linden tree flowers. These three elements—citrusy, tart and the linden tree flowers—together with the bitterness and the industrial sensation, send me back to the first time that I smelled White Linen by Estée Lauder.

If I spray it directly on skin and I sniff it from up close, the industrial note starts to resemble the one in Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent.

Rien is a difficult fragrance immediately upon application. Difficult for the wearer to be precise, as I have not heard negative comments from those next to me; I even got a compliment from a family member (ok, the scent had reached the drydown by then).

An audacious fragrance, very niche. Not to be bought without proper testing beforehand.

My verdict: 9 out of 10.
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* The notes were taken from www.etatlibredorange.com

** Orpur^® is the label applied by Givaudan to the raw materials considered the best from their own palette.