Best Experimentum Crucis by Etat Libre d'Orange Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

The Orange Extraordinaire collection.

An homage to the role of spices in Western perfumery, history and culture. Naturally it’s a majestic aromatic flow of cinnamon and ginger, with numerous sparks of pepper and a rich incense background.

A rapturous rose, apple and patchouli perfume with a lick of honey. But the joyfully fresh effect of the composition is only part of the story. Experimentum Crucis has the most extraordinary projection and longevity, as well as a novel multidimensional architecture. As you wear it, scented castles of Experimentum Crucis form in the air, creating an invisible sanctuary for you and all who smell you.

This extrait is named for the archipelagic country in the South Pacific Ocean, source of the sandalwood in the base. Vanuatu is a lively, confident blend of spices (black pepper, cardamom, cumin) dappled across characterful woody materials (sandalwood, patchouli, cedar and papyrus). Putting meat on the bones is fig milk, with violet leaves adding sharp sparkle. A fragrance for unexpected adventures.

An ode to the Normandy countryside. Linden blossoms, fresh apple, sweet almond, radiant jasmine. Soft musk and suede. A golden sap of dried hay and ripe wheat evokes the pastures. And outside the farmhouse, sun-dried linens flutter on the line. All is well.

A dream of childhood summer days. You’re in a garden, familiar and unfamiliar, looking into the kitchen of a house where your mother makes jam with fresh-picked berries. There’s a rose bush with a magical cat underneath, its dense fur filled with your favourite toys. A sublime aroma of tart blackcurrant and rhubarb, sweet lychee and magnolia, along with woody amber ferries you off to a dreamlike world, brimming with enchantment at every corner. You don’t want to wake up.

Perfumer: Julia Rodriguez Pastor

Try to resist a rose macaron: that delicately crunchy shell relenting under the force of greedy teeth to reveal a melting heart of foamy sweetness. There’s the interplay of almond, rose and syrupy lychee, triggering an eyes-rolling-back-in-the-head situation. Crush invites you to lose yourself in the sensory pleasure of this fancy French treat, sniff by intoxicating sniff.

A sudsy bubble bath of radiant rose and lychee, sheer yet ebullient. As the veil descends, the effect darkens, with leather and moss toughening up the suds into a floral amber.

California is a land of abundance: sunshine, flowers and fruits. The fragrance is a sunny swirl of magnolia, apples and lemons, all of which flourish in this west coast wonderland. Sandalwood and musk bridges the flora to the skin, turning you into a delivery system for smiles.

Hanamizake refers to drinking Japanese sake underneath the cherry blossom trees while petals slowly flutter into your cup. The aroma of cherry blossoms and ginjo sake dances tipsily into the last musk note, summoning this serene hanami (cherry blossom viewing) experience.

Perfumer: Daniela Andrier (Givaudan)

All listed notes were subjected to an upcycling extraction process. What previously would be discarded was distilled again.

Pulp olfaction: waste not, discover new smells.

According to ELdO this is their Secretion Magnifiques which grew up and use the power of shock and eccentricity to draw attention to really important matters: environment and ethical consumption.

Upcycled or zero-waste notes in I am trash: rose neo-absolute, apple essense, Atlas cedarwood, sandalore, akigalawood, iso-e-super...

The resulting fragrance is a very pleasant perfume abstraction in which fruity vibes meet gently floral hints before going transparent woody. But still beware of Etat Libre d’Orange also mischievously revisiting the salty messy splutter of Secretions Magnifiques now and then in this formula.

The Sniff on I am Trash by Etat Libre d'Orange:

"[it] opens with the most beautiful and realistic apple note and it’s an utter delight. This apple smells really ripe, outdoorsy and fresh. When smelling it we were immediately transported to an allotment, picking up windfalls which are a bit battered and bruised in places but still mostly fine. I Am Trash smells like real apples resplendent with imperfections, rather than the perfect, sterile, waxy cold-storage apples you can buy in supermarkets which barely smell of anything at all."

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