Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade Etat Libre d'Orange for women and men

I don't tend to post simply to respond to a review, but I can't disagree more with the reviewer below saying this is like Fate Man, I have both and for me they don't resemble each other at all, like AT AAALLLLLL. Fate Man is an enormous bomb of cumin and immortelle which eventually settles to a creamy, spicy labdanum base with some rose. Attaquer Le Soleil is a labdanum soliflor which, while it has staggering complexity for its purported one note, doesn't have any similar cumin, or anisey notes. It doesn't have rose, it doesn't have immortelle, nor ginger, nor saffron (I could go on), and those are all very apparent in Fate Man.
Where I can agree is that if you like one, you may well like the other, that's as far as I'd go.
I'll end by saying that we all experience perfumes through our own lense, of course, and on our own skin, so of course our opinions will differ, no harm done! :)

Recently, I got a bottle of ELDO Attaquer le Soleil. I tried it for the first time this week, and I like it a lot. Within the first half hour of my first wearing of it, it seemed very similar to another fragrance. I knew it was an Amouage it was similar to, and then I realized it is similar to Fate Man. At least most people who have reviewed Attaquer le Soleil have not acknowledged its similarity with Fate Man. Attaquer le Soleil causes me to realize that Fate Man must be a labdanum-prominent fragrance. If you can't get a bottle of Amouage Fate Man, then Attaquer le Soleil could be at least a pretty close replacement for it. I believe I prefer Attaquer le Soleil over Amouage Fate Man. When I wore Attaquer le Soleil for the first time, it was a very enjoyable experience for me, and I'm glad I added a bottle of it to my collection. I think of it as a high-quality product. For me, it has good overall performance. I sprayed it on in the evening, and it lasted on my skin into the next day.

Also, some people are describing Attaquer le Soleil as a church incense fragrance, but I don't consider it as a church incense fragrance. It is much more similar to Amouage Fate Man than it is to church incense.

I don’t know what to think
Amber, cinnamon, incense, beeswax candles, heavy old wood and carpet, has a really dusty, stale powdery feel in the base
It is a strange take on the idea of old-fashioned and antique, it smells like a physical space more than it does the kind of scent you would expect on a person
Kind of choked me in the way that Funeral Home by Demeter does - also reminds me a tad of Tabu early on, I wish it had more in common

Certainly intriguing just can’t imagine where or why I would wear this

Tbh it just smells like dirty hippie.... My town has a lot of the new age/hippie people. I have smelled this before. Maybe a little woody, a little like unwashed hair, ppl who say it smells like balls are weird. I'm not getting that at all. It's cozy and enjoyable

Damn that opening is SHARP but fades almost instantly into woody antiques. To me it smells like cedar, pine, something spicy - almost cinnamon?

This to me smells like my childhood home at Christmas. It smells like an antique store (a nice one, not a gross one). This is super nostalgic, totally wearable on me and very unique and special. I really really like this.

Got this in an ELDO discovery box

Opening - Stong blast of resinous, almost acidic woods, that initially give of diesel fuel vibes. After the initial blast, the opening slightly changes into a wet timber feel, or a freshly removed tree bark with hints of freshly lacquered wood.
Drydown - as it dries and sets in the skin, the fragrance becomes pretty linear and one dimensional - strong smell of dry wood treated with wood preservatives is all you will get here.

Overall, it is a strong and punchy fragrance, but not at all what i expected giving the name - i was expecting muskly, leathery, animalic scent, but all its there is slight variations of dry wood.

I don't think i will be getting a full bottle of this.

Censer and Citrus. The labdanum is distinctly similar to a censer incense used in mass. But I also get a spicy, citrus, brightness. The top notes almost remind me of pomanders, oranges with cloves poked into the skin, meant for use as an air freshener. As it dries down I get a bit of black pepper poking through. Surprisingly complex for something that advertises itself as simply smelling of labdanum. This is one of my favorites from this house, and will always have a soft spot in my heart as it’s one of the first perfumes that got me into the hobby.

Opens up with a brief herbal note which I don't like, quickly settles as smoke and bonfire which I find pleasant, and then starts drying down into gorgeous austere churchy cistus. Two pictures come to my mind upon smelling Attaquer le Soleil. First, my grandfather burning wood and paper in the backyard of our country house. It's a dry summer evening and the whole place smells like burnt wood and smoke. Pleasant memory, nostalgic. Second, something I've never seen but can only imagine: a small wooden church in the field, in the middle of nowhere. It looks solitary yet inviting. More of an Orthodox than Catholic church, at least architecture wise. Serene and peaceful but a bit moody.
I don't associate this smell with Marquis de Sade. For me it's rather calm and comforting, mature resin. It doesn't go along with de Sade's personality or works. But it's an interesting, unique perfume. I read the reviews and it seems like everyone senses something different here, so it speaks to each person individually, and I find it beautiful.
For me... a little bitter, a little woody, mostly smokey. An interesting niche find.

Peppery incense opening. Will update later on

Morphs into clove after a while, now it's a peppery musk reminiscent of De Los Santos by Byredo. I can already feel the Bisch signature of steely, peppery wood, i.e. akigalawood. I'll give it some more time but it might end up on the same pile of overly tenacious crap that already contains Ganymede and Bois Imperial

Wow, what a great composition.
It’s a must for incense lovers.

Don’t know if truly there’s only one note, yet, it smells complex.
It is exactly how pencil shavings smell like, dry and sharp in the best way possible, with green facets of fir / pine.
It smells of churchy incense, deep woods, white cedar / thuja while the backbone is iso-e-super.

Performance is great, lasted more than 12 hours on skin yet projection is moderate - arms’ length.

Could be perceived as formal, fancy, sophisticated, cold and aloof.

I have tried so many incense fragrances, it’s one of my most favorite categories yet incense fragrances face one of the most rigorous standards for me in order to “pass the test”, while:
“Gucci Pour Homme” / “Parle Moi De Parfum - Papyrus Oud 71”,
being my favorite alongside:
“Le Labo - Vetiver 46” / “Comme Des Garcons - 2 Man”,
this joins the favorites’ shelf.
It’s a love for me.

It’s a signature worthy fragrance, though may be too dry for the hot summer.

Applies uniquely sexy spicy damp musk. Bright cinnamon, faint honey, countered by strong musk that, while dry/chalky, is dense and complicated and reads more smoky leather than stale.

Mostly dense wet pine/oakmoss with dry musk in the background like a sweaty man working in dust. Settles into dry vetiver that leans bright and metallic while classy incense spice slowly takes over.

While damp green + incense should be an easy win, the strong musk makes it challenging/niche. May grow on me, but not excited to revisit even though it is a little uniquely appealing.

This shows on here to not have many notes.. But it’s very hard to describe. I’d say it’s just a musky labdanum, But that wouldn’t be doing this one any justice..When I got sample of this I knew I’d be going for the 100 ml bottle! This to me is for a specific kind of person! An artist perhaps A musician..Rockstar musician maybe or frontman! Or woman!!! Or a flat out celebrity…It’s nothing complicated yet a statement maker of a fragrance for certain.

This one was terrible unfortunately. It smelled extremely resinous, amber heavy, rich deep and almost thick. The smell was suffocatingly warm and herbal, amber ramped up to the max. And there was a very weird sweaty skin undertone here with some smokiness that made it smell literally gross. The dry down was a little more bearable but still pretty bad, just a very smoky and amber heavy muddled scent.

Being raised Catholic, this immediately reminded me of the incense that was always burned on holidays and for Mass. It also vaguely reminds me of the old wooden pews at church, that give off a smell one could only describe as "antique." So overall it's a woody, dusty, leathery, and sweet incense fragrance. If you love musky amber, this is the perfect minimalist scent for you.
Its performance is pretty average, it projects nicely and lasts 6-8 hours on me. And it smells heavenly if you layer it over a nice rose scented body oil.

An almost camphorous opening of evergreens. There’s a certain sharp and sourness to it that I can’t put my finger on. To me it’s giving dank basement or pine floor cleaner fragrance. It’s stays like this and gently fades with a touch of church incense. I was hoping for a barnyard whiff or body odor or animalic note (dzing! is my signature) but I’m not getting the fecal, skanky, sweaty body parts at all. I’m bummed because reading other reviews I was hoping for more nuance and story to this perfume but it’s kind of a one note wonder for my nose and chemistry.

This is something, that’s for sure. It’s unique, it’s emotive, and it’s ever changing. Nothing about this feels solid and real, almost like a spirit that you can see, hear, and smell but you just cannot touch them.

For the actual notes themselves, this opens with a beautiful conifer smell that smells almost a bit like Vicks Vaporub. That’s not a bad thing at all, and I actually really really love the opening.

But once it starts to actually dry down, the beautiful conifer eucalyptus-like smell begins to be replaced with something that i swear smells different every single time I smell it. Sometimes it smells just plain ambery, sometimes it smells like the deep base note of Juliet has a Gun’s Not a Perfume, sometimes it smells like a slight whiff of poop in the air, sometimes it smells like summer night sweat, sometimes it’s just plain musk.

It feels like it’s morphing and changing constantly, and it’s very nauseating in a way I cannot describe. I really wish the opening note lingered a but more because that musky note works really well with it to give a very comforting, refreshing smell into something that smells too much like something that would come out of an animal or human.

They say that the best fragrances have a bit of the smell of poop or something unpleasant to make them more real, and I wholeheartedly believe that the base dry-down note that this is is that component that they add to fragrances, but just by itself.

Paint me puzzled. Etat Libre d'Orange's website lists only cistus, and Fragrantica lists only labdanum. I know they're related but to me those are two quite different scents. I get labdanum and, to my nose, myrrh, vetiver and lily. There's also a note right at the beginning that lasts about 1 second and which reminds me strongly of another perfume I have yet to recall. I just know I wish that note lasted longer. But the scent goes straight into "damp cellar", interesting, before turning sharp and woody. Once it settles down, which takes a time, it's amber, incense and lily. At this stage of reminds me very much of Lalique "Encre Noire". Barnyard? No. Balls? No. Do I like it? Yes, I do.

I bought an open but unused tester bottle, so I'm sure I'm getting a slightly different experience here with a bottle that's had time to macerate a little.

Opens very green, woody and slightly smoky, almost exactly like the scent of damp firewood.

From dry down onwards it's very incense/amber heavy. Very much smells like an old church, slightly dusty and with a waxy kind of sweetness. The closes thing I've smelled to this in my life is the resin they use in the censer at Ukrainian catholic funerals. It's heady and organic, and feels almost ancient. Much what one would expect when thinking about labdanum.

Now, there is definitely sweaty-leathery-animalic thing going on at the very tail end of this fragrance... but the claims of any manure of barnyard smell are pretty inaccurate (I grew up around horses and cattle, and trust me if you think this smells dirty, a single day at the stable would kill you). It's just a faint hit of leather and salty musk.


Is it as debauched as the fragrance name might suggest? No. But it is sexy, and rather evocative of the phrase "sweating like a sinner in church".

So this perfume was too weird and I desperately needed to try it.... So I had to blind buy it..
Now, I read all the comments and I agree with the piney opening like a forest. But I would say very fast, in like some seconds I can smell something that reminds me of a barn, with some manure in the distance, however not overpowering or insulting. Just like walking in the forest and there is a barn at some distance, giving you hints of an animalic smell.
After a while I would say it smells like a church. But like those old kind of orthodox churches where the incense and the smell of burnt beeswax candles and myrrh have seeped into the walls and wooden chairs.. Also, there is a dusty smell to it, but not too dry. It really smells like burnt olibanum (frankincense), and I am very familiar with this smell. It's very common in Greek churches.
No matter how hard I tried I could not smell balls.. I guess it is the barn like smell with the sweet beeswax smell that's been reminding most people of balls.
It is sexy? Yes it is. It's a very personal fragrance and extremely unique. Pine, manure, beeswax and olibanum really give a kinky tone to it, which is also complimented by the dry feeling it leaves to the nose...
A perfect intimate scent, and with the right attitude, I would say it's very animalic and sadistic... Love it so far.

I think the concept behind this fragrance is so interesting. I tried my best to like it for that reason but I just wasn't able to. At first, this smells exactly like honey. It's like I poured straight honey onto my wrists its deep, rich, syrupy, ambery and fleshy. I liked that a lot. The opening is the best part of this for me. Then something horrible happened. Don't get me wrong, I love funky and animalistic and sweaty smells just as much as the next girl, this was unwearable (but interesting to have nonetheless!). I thought at first that the honey was just too cloyingly sweet but then I began to smell something in particular, trying to put this in the most SFW way it smells EXACTLY like a purposeful and realistic recreation of the sweet funky sweat of a certain area of a male, like scratch and sniff fingers kinda stank, like hasn't showered in 2 days, hot summer in his cargo jorts type of stunk. I started to get a bit nauseous because of the association and had to scrub it off but this was certainly an experience!

Smells like the mixture of colognes and perfumes at a casino. This is what jazz club wishes it was.

I'm not completely sure where the 'smell of balls' references are coming from, maybe the smell of sweaty leather trousers to a small degree.

This smells how I wanted Oriza L.legrand Relique d'Amour to smell based on other people's interpretation of stone church/incense etc. All I could smell in Relique d'Amour was overpowering iso e or similar. I couldn't even work my way through the 2ml sample. It's in ALSMDS too, but to a degree it doesn't overtake and ruin the fragrance for me.

Back to ALSMDS... to those people who say it doesn't do justice to it's namesake I would ask one question. Have you ever frequented a stone cellar in a bdsm dungeon? I strongly suspect Bisch may well have visited one to come up with this.

And yes, I *do* know, but the smell is more reminiscent of the clean cellar the morning after, the slight pine of the disinfectant and the ghosts of the wax candles long since snuffed out, the clients with their leather clothes and toys gone home to their daily humdrum, the metal shackles and the old wooden furniture remaining.

Kudos to Bisch!

This fragrance has more going on then just one note.
I agree with the smell of mens balls, if you like the smell of men that shouldn't be an issue.

The performance on this is strong, it sneaks up on you just be generous if necessary.
It has a chilly, some could say 'metallic' undertone that somehow feels warm at times.
I have a memory of being on our farm and the way you could smell greenness, the wetness of soil or maybe clay, and a faint smell of cow manure in the distance. I understand how many people could find that "barnyard-like" but it comes off as clean in this fragrance. It smells like what my cashmere Burberry scarf smelled like when I first bought it.
I wouldn't say it's animalic, but instead sensual to me in a subtle way.

After wearing this I can now pick up the Laudanum base in Ultra Male by JPG.

Smells like balls in a bad way.

Amber resiny. For me, close to the skin. Really enjoy.

smells like balls in a good way

This has a tart, syrupy citrus opening that I find very appealing. It's blatantly sweaty in a way that pairs really well with all its tartness and its amber. I really recommend this if you're looking for something dirtier and sexier but still easily wearable.

Straight up barnyard. Not sure what I expected for a perfume named after Marquis de Sade.

Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade (another left-of-centre name from ELDO that roughly translates as "to attack the sun", i.e. evoking darkness, named for the infamously deviant French nobleman after whom the term "sadism" was coined). It is an amber scent, successfully showcasing the multifaceted nature of its key note, cistus - the flower from which labdanum is obtained.

ALSMDS has a balsamic opening with a pine-like undertone, reminiscent of elemi. The green pine nuance develops into a nice woody accord that complements the labdanum nicely throughout. Some dusty spice follows, tying in nicely with the amber accord. Some frankincense follows as it develops, enhancing the balsamic labdanum beautifully.

It becomes somewhat leathery as it develops, more closely resembling labdanum than at the opening stage. The amber accord becomes dark and resinous in its later stages here, becoming musky as it dries down. I get a hint of earthy patchouli in there too. There is a synthetic undertone to ALSMDS - I get creamy ambroxan and something more grey, but it is beautifully blended throughout. It fades to a musky, leathery amber skin scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate, and it is best worn in cold weather.

A great unisex amber scent, ALSMDS is much more wearable than its name suggests. The various aspects of the cistus flower are explored here, bolstered by other amber notes, and the overall effect is of a deeply satisfying, good-quality, warm amber scent. One of my favourites from ELDO. 4/5.

Olibanum smokey spicy labdanum ambrarom ambroxan overdosed with some iso e super and synthetic animalic musks and patchouly touch very monotonous scent profile

5/10

At first I like it, it's a dusty spicy fragrance. But as time goes on, there's something off-putting about it. Sometimes it reminds me of bad breath. Not sexy. When I saw it was just labdanum, I thought it would be warmer. But it's just so dry and kind of thin smelling. Not my favorite from the house.

Pretty interesting and quite versatile for a soliflore. A bit addictive and keeps one interested. Nuanced and herbal, kind of sexy. I would totally love to check this one out on a self-confident man, he would probably rock this scent.
The only thing that stops me from buying a full bottle is what I get during the drydown phase - as if you put an open jar of Play-Doh into your cabinet full of BDSM gadgets made of leather and rubber. A funny combination this one, confusing and makes you unsure what kind of play you are to expect. Bewildering, yet the scent itself is worth sampling at least.

The initial spray was painful to my nose and made my eyes water - it’s like the embalmed fumes of a freshly mummified body. But something magical happens, the myrhh and frankincense from ancient times warms that Egyptian tomb with beautiful warm resins and rich leather, amidst a waft of artist’s turpentine. From repulsive to stunning, this is fragrance royalty to be revered.

Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade opens with a jarring image of a conifer forest facing an unforgiving bulldozer. Crushed, chopped and grinded pine and conifers. This initial assault gradually mellows into a refined, transparent blend, evoking the delicate essence of incense, amber, and woody accords. Its subdued nature lends an air of sophistication and introspection, appealing to those seeking a more contemplative olfactory experience. It reminds me of a milder, more serene rendition of Montale Full Incense. It echoes the latter's evocative essence, albeit in a subdued and tranquil manner. However, this remains niche due to its singular character and may not appeal to a broader audience.

My first thought when I put this on my wrist was confusion. It smelled unlike any fragrance I'd ever encountered before. With only one ingredient on the list -- cistus -- it's an anomaly from the start. Cistus are flowering plants in the rockrose family, but this isn't a floral smell at all. The scent has to come from the plant itself. There was something about it that initially reminded me of broom straw and an old-fashioned topical medicine for cuts, so it seemed just weird. But then, it turned nostalgic for me with the scent of fresh pine tar oozing down the side of a pine tree. I loved that smell as a kid and accidentally ruined too many clothes with it. There's something infinitely sniffable about it. I don't even understand how this got turned into a fragrance, but I love it far more than I expected from the descriptions and opening sniff. It gets more woody, and I swear there's a faintly sweet undertone to it the longer it lingers on my skin. I'd love to experience cistus mixed with something sweet, but I worry that it would overpower this unique scent. It's definitely a scent for connoisseurs of unique smells. It's never going to become a pop scent of the year, but it's going to keep delighting people who delight in scent discovery. If I could change anything about it, it would be having it named after the person who inspired the word "sadism" because there's nothing sadistic about the scent unless I walked into an unassuming world with 20 sprays of it on me. I don't think the world is ready for that.

Lives up to its inspiration. I bought a 100 ml bottle at a discount bc I was so enchanted by the sample then I oversprayed and got carsick on the bus and had to get off and throw up in the grocery store bathroom. It’s a big no for me in warm/hot weather but it's great in cooler weather. I think the suspected leather/tobacco notes might not work for everyone. I think it might also be too masculine for me / doesn’t work on my skin but I’m glad it exists
Smells great on my bf but doesn't work for me

Super turpentiney and dank basementy (reminds me of pulling all nighters before painting class finals) and slaps you in the face on initial spray then seems to transform into something soft, chic, and understated after a while

Feels very quality

The initial scent is fresh and piney, a bit balsamic, but then it very quickly becomes acrid, fecal (think cow manure), and just overall barnyardy. It's not pleasant.

This was my first exposure to cistus and I loved it! I get olive oil/wood, wood smoke, something like patchouli, leather, and beeswax. I save Attaquer le Soleil for special occasions and gallery openings, especially ones with my art in them.

This fragrance is an ode to cistus (spanish rock rose) and the various forms it takes in perfumery.

There's a green, somewhat piney and herbal topnote that makes you think of the raw cistus stems and leaves. The underbelly of the fragrance has that typical deep red resinous vibe you get from cistus labdanum, the resin that the rock rose produces. Leathery, a touch sweet, a touch smokey, resinous and floral.

I think this fragrance is fairly unisex, maybe just a touch masculine. Really depends on your tastes. As a huge fan of cistus and labdanum i enjoy it.

I really, really like it. I have 20-vial sample pack from ELDO, so I'm basing this from a sample vial. I have to re-apply at the 2 hour mark and that's my only negative. I get a heavy olive note all the way through, which I love. I also get that earthy smell that reminds some people of old buildings or a bag of potting soil. After dousing myself liberally, it's beautiful in the dry down. Lightly sweet, like ambroxan and cedar.

Piney, resinous and skanky. This is my favourite perfume if i wear something just for myself. Its a labdanum bomb which keeps its character from spray to drydown. Starts more stinky (in a nice way) and resinous with a heavy "freshness" to it. In the drydown it becomes warmer and more sensual (sweet). Not only i love it, but also insects (while walking trough the forest i got constantly attacked by all sorts of flying insects, just on the spot where i sprayed on). This attests to its natural smell. If you hate synthetic smelling perfumes this could be for you. It truly is magnetic, i have to constantly sniff it. Wow. I no NOTHING like it! Outstanding and singular. It really does not share a lot with other ELO perfumes except for the last hours of the drydown where the typical sweet, musky-milky notes reveal themselves. Performance is great. A dense and heavy smell sitting closer to the skin than most. Will buy another full bottle for storage. 9.5/10

Edit: Something very interesting to me are the reactions by other people i have asked. I was expecting VERY strong reactions since i react strongly to this repulsive yet magnetic scent but to my astonishment everyone i asked (3 or 4 persons, males and females) found this perfume to be nice but generic smelling. HOW? Whomever doesn't get the idiosyncrasy of this perfume must live in a different smell-universe than i do.

labdanum woody incense

I bought a discovery kit of Etat Libre d’Orange, with 20 samples and this is my favorite one. The first vibe I got from this fragrance was a burning wood in rainy weather with smoke (incense) coming up.

This is not a heavy amber fragrance as defined as a main accord in Fragrantica. Amber just added to the fragrance to balance other accords. This is a woody, incense, green, balsamic fragrance in the best-refined format. Most incense lovers miss it because incense was not mentioned in the notes or accords.

Truly a hidden gem. This is mysterious, rich, dark, and even animalic with depth and personality. But the magic is that it is very versatile you can wear it for the office, or even before sleep. I do not know any other rich and deep fragrance that could be this wearable. PERFECT SIGNATURE SCENT if you have a specific style.

9.5/10

I completely love this perfume. To me, it's a beautiful peppery, woody incense. Unfortunately, it makes my husband recoil in disgust. I'm not mean enough to inflict it on him when he has such a visceral reaction to it. There are other beautiful woody incenses that don't make people pull a muscle as they jump backwards to escape it. : (

I very often go through phases of feeling as if this smells like a dank cellar and then moments when I'm just enthralled by the aged, dusty church smell that it often gives off. I don't really wear it alone often, it feels very odd to, but sometimes I need that weirdness.

I've noticed how amazing this sits with indolic and skanky Jasmines.

"How many times, dear God, have I not wished I could attack the sun, pluck it from the sky, create general darkness, or use that star to light up the world."
A fragrance dedicated to the Marquis de Sade ... well ... what can I say, I see all the shocking personality of this character reflected in it ... a fragrance that opens strongly, almost as to arouse a sense of repulsion, I feel it peppery, spicy, until it leaves room with animalic , pungent , violent scents : in short , the Marquis himself .
You can absolutely feel the hand of Quentin Bisch, this nonconformist nose who has created real masterpieces.
A perfume that is strong, with an immense personality, but that doesn't exempt me from keeping my nose attached to my wrist... it has something magnetic... wonderful.
Henry Ossawa Tanner, “Sodom and Gomorrah”, which painting else.

Another bad experience signed by the man himself Quentin Bisch
This perfumer is definitely a star in this industry made a lot of contributions to this craft
But no matter what he does it doesn’t jive with me
I remember when I tried it in a perfume store I was interested so I bought a bottle wore it a little while wasn’t very happy with it
After a while tried wearing it and I just couldn’t stand it
It’s a little nauseating I should say more simplistic than my own reference
Comes and goes through its life cycle
It ticks every bad box I have so I had to stop annoying myself with it and stop wearing it

i was surprised by the intensity of my enjoyment of this perfume! in an odd way, it is what i hoped "not a perfume" by juliette has a gun would smell like, before i learned anything about it. it soaks so well into my natural scent, adding and melding but not overpowering or covering up. a somewhat revelatory smell, in my opinion! i just feel . . . very myself when wearing it!

Oh boy. I wanted to love this, but I don't. It's just a little too weird for me, and I love weird fragrances. The problem is that on the first spray, I get this harsh note of olive brine. I don't want to leave the house smelling like I spilled a dirty martini on myself. The dry down is nicer - pine needles emerge and the olive-y sharpness subsides. I layered it with Imaginary Authors Whispered Myths, which was a nice combo. Attaquer's pine-note freshened up the sweaty melon-note of Whispered Myths, and the wet wood notes in both of them swelled together nicely into a pretty & wearable fragrance.

The divisive reviews keep me wondering if there are bad batches of this. The scent is described as either just heavenly or awful, an ode to the secrets of the forest or those of a latrine. I wanted the indolic catholic church smell that keeps on being mentioned. Yet, all I get is overripe fruit in a damp basement.

Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade in cold weather: dark church incense and amber.
Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade in warm / hot weather: tobacco leaves, osmanthus, wet soil after rain, a bit of caramel, dried aromatic bushes and shrubs, freshly baked plum cake, myrtle flowers on Mediterranean shore above Bay of Kotor, olive cakes after extracting oil, nutmeg, tarragon and French fines herbes, sour cherry liquor, frankincense tea, you name them. I think this perfume has a mind of its own.
It is a delicious unisex juice for the warm weather, and not for the faint hearted.

This smells so, so comforting to me. I have had my bottle for about 5 years now, and I love to wear it to bed now and again. It smells like an old church somewhere in Europe where incense has been burned forever. I don’t get anything unclean here. Maybe medicinal… It floored me that people detect something unclean or gross with this one. I do understand though, that reactions are individual and noses pick up on all kinds of different elements. For me, this is bliss…

This scent is SO INTERESTING to me. I really really enjoy how smooth this scents smells. I see a lot of compliments saying that this smells like church incense or crushed pine needles, but to me this initially smells like an amber preserved fossil of labdanum flower. It has this earthy, primal, animalic, floral smell to it that is so very unique. As if you are some kind of paleontologist uncovering the worlds best smelling fossil. I have had a lot of my friends smell it and it seems like a VERY DEVISIVE scent. I truthfully love this scent, and so do a majority of my friends (both men, women, and others), but unlike many other fragrances I have tried which receive a meh at worst; prepare for very polarizing reactions. I have had several random people ask me what I was wearing in genuine interest and some have asked me in disgust. This would really smell good on a cold November day with a large sweater on, but the florals can also make this an early spring scent.

After I ran gagging to the sink to wipe off this monstrosity, I read some of the reviews here and I WISH I smelled church incense or pine needles or what have you. Those are all lovely things to smell! Unfortunately on ME this smelled like nothing more than sickly sweet decaying flesh. I had to slap a biohazard label on this one.

I really enjoyed sampling this but now that I have a bottle I’m a bit torn. It has something in common with some DS&Durga’s - evoking campfires, crushed pine needles, and climbing into a sleeping bag that spent the past year rolled up in a crawlspace. I’ll likely layer this more than wear it on its own (it’s adding something good to Habit Rouge right now).

I’m usually onboard with ELdO’s flight-of-fancy marketing but not sure why this one should be named after a rapist and likely murderer who kept children imprisoned in his chateau for his … amusements … and felt fully justified because he was rich and his victims poor. Wasn’t the French Revolution cancel culture enough? One should read The 120 Days of Sodom before committing to his brand, lest we all end up mindlessly wearing things with names like Attaquer le Gouvernement Fédéral - Timothy McVeigh.

I love smelling this in the air. It's sweet, plummy, floral, woody, incense-y, smoky. On skin the incense dominates the scent it's a little sweet and animalic. If i were to picture this, it's like an abandoned old church in the middle of a forest.

I picked this to be one of my samples from ELDO based on the comments here. I love incense and amber scents and am on the hunt for a fragrance that smells like a Catholic church. My first thought on initial spray was "I've made a huge mistake". I got a blast of manure, pure farmyard stink. It does develop a lot on the skin into something more incense like, in fact it is quite amazing how many different stages this goes through, but unfortunately that manure note really sticks to the inside of my nose and is reluctant to leave. It smells like what I imagine a church full of medieval patrons to smell like. Very interesting but not something I want to wear.

I had a strong suspicion I would like this based on liking other fragrances with labdanum and realizing it was the note I couldn't otherwise identify. Found a good deal on it and went for it. And it is instantly one of my favorites. A difficult scent to describe and apparently works very differently depending on skin. On mine it smells kind of like resinous pine sap, deep and odorous but not sharp. Knowing how it's derived probably biased me towards that.

I look forward to layering this with other fragrances to see what it does to them.

I love this one, I know it leans very masculine but I don’t care. If I love a scent, I will wear it, because I wear fragrances for myself, not to please other ppl. That said, I highly doubt that labdanum is the only note in this beautiful unique perfume.

If you have read The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade you know that this one has to be daring and dirty. And yes it is. This smells like a crotch that hasn't been washed for a week or so. It's almost disgusting and intolerable for me. This is maybe a fitting fragrance for the s&m clubs or for dirty decadent hotel pornpartys, but it wouldn't arouse mé at all. It's always appreciated that a fragrance manufacturer (I am a big admirer of Quentin Bisch) tries something different and daring but this is over the top. If this was in Interlude concentration I would pass out immediately. A big yukkk for me!

This is sooo good. Labdanum overload, it’s basically a super dry, musty, woody amber. Like old sawdust on the floor of a woodworking shop that got wet then slowly dried up again. It’s simultaneously cozy and distant.
And it’s great for any fragrance head to at least get a sample of, as it makes you more keenly aware of the labdanum presence in other ambers and really helps one’s nose decipher and deconstruct other Amber scents/accords.

When this mellows, it smells exactly like the incense in Catholic church. It is very nice and cozy

I like it... in fact I love it.

I have been wearing it a lot lately and just when I think I will get bored of it it reveals a new facet. It starts smoky, then becomes more floral, and then more ambery and on and on...

god im properly obsessed with this right now. I was expecting the worst bc of some other reviews on here and generally not being drawn to amber-ish fragrances but wow. More than anything I get beeswax, like fresh delicious, earthy, raw beeswax. Reminds me of making candles as a kid by wrapping those beeswax sheets around a wick. Or my ex shoplifting beeswax candles from whole foods for me to pour on him. hm. Anyways, I find this scent so delightful and comforting. I often find myself drawn to put it on before bed but works equally as well for going out. Not so peculiar that I think a passerby would ever be off put, but also distinctive enough to be noticed and carry a level of intrigue and personality. Smells comfortable. Smells historical. Wears for quite a few hours but isn't cloyingly intense or annoying in how it sticks around. As others have noted, more of a cold weather scent that balances coolness and coziness. Can't get enough.

On my skin, at this particular point of my olfactive journey, I find it to be an absolute masterpiece!

Will not say more - just keep in mind that this is not suitable for a blind buy!

Probably it is not suitable for beginners or a fans of traditional designer fragrances...

The smell of an old medieval byzantine church somewhere in the Med...
It's addicitve somehow. Long lasting too. Truly exceptional.

Here I go again with ELDO. I will probably have some trouble putting my thoughts to words when it comes to this frag.
How can *allegedly* a single note can smell so complex and austere? I can smell several things at once.

It starts harsh with a peppery bite, plus a lot of booze and some amber. Then it quickly transitions into smoky, stinky leather with an alcoholic smell and something animalic in the background. That's it. Nothing changes until the end of its life.

I get huge performance here- around 9 hrs on skin, plus 2 more on textile(although it can stain lighter materials, so be be wary when applying it). Projection is great for the first 2,3 hrs -more than an armslength. Words fall short here as it's just so different and I would say unique, that one should try it himself. Leans masculine, but a woman in her 30s and up can pull it off. Only for cold weather, as this would get unbearably stinky when combined with sweat and heated up from the sun.

Definetely not appropriate for a blind buy, even if one is fan of the brand, as it has zero in common with other frags from ELDO. Looking forward to buying a full bottle around Christmas. I am pretty impressed with the brand, tbh.

In conclusion- an absolutely unique frag, composed of a single note(according to ELDO). Challenging. Weird. An example of niche perfumery. Smoky, stinky, ambery leather with some animalic nuances, but still wearable. Leans masculine. For cold weather only-late fall and winter, I would not use it in temps above 10 degrees Celsius( 50 Fahrenheit). Can be found for a bargain online. Amazing performance.

7/10 for smell

How can a single note perfume smell so complex? It is ambery, sweet, boozy, a little sweaty, a little sour at times, smoky, skanky, burnt. Ever walked in a park full of sycamore trees? This smells just like that to me. I don't think I really understand it yet. I'm excited to wear it more and experiment with it.

A very nice fragrance.
Reminds me of CDG Blue Santal, Brera 6 and the Different Company…….
For sure it’s more than 1 ingredient- no doubt.
Masculine, long lasting and quite “strong” perfume.
Good for colder day.
Very pleasant to my nose.

Freshly dug earth with a hint of decay. One single, strong, lasting flavour but strangely addictive. There's no other fragrance out there like this. Men only, but not in a macho way; this is a gravedigger's scent. I love it.

I actually kind of like this scent myself, but my girlfriend says it smells like a sweaty old man wearing old man cologne. I guess it's going to be one of those just for me scents. The scents are NOT really the same, but if you like the sharp earthiness of Encre Noir, I think you ought to sample this. Do not blind buy.

Uuuummm...is my sample off??? I smell straight up green olives, unwashed gym shorts and sweaty feet slathered in tough-actin' Tinactin. I have never been thus olfactorily assaulted in all my life (at least not by a bottled fragrance that I paid money for). I am no shrinking violet and am typically game for taking on a 'difficult' fragrance, but I am legit afraid I would send people running in disgust with this one. They say the Marquis de Sade was a sadist and if that's true, then this fragrance is true to form. This is the closest I have ever come to tossing my cookies over a perfume. I have no clue about this smoky, balsamic, slightly sweet, slightly animalic, "dry wood attic" scent (which sounds amazing) to which previous reviewers are referring, because I got ozonic crotch rot in a dirty sock. I need an exorcism.

You know what this smells like? Betadine. Straight up betadine. So if you like smelling like a surgeon's office, you'll love this!

Unique scent, like nothing I ever smelled before, not meaning that is out of this world, it just doesn't have the sweetness you expect when you hear amber. It has some sweetness, some leather, some smoke, something slightly animalic, slightly sour, some resin... it just smells special and yes it does smell like say an old mansion in the fall, it has that slightly damp smell, yes a little old, but somehow sophisticated. The name is very well chosen because you can picture a french nobleman smelling like this or surrounded by this smell in his family mansion. You can smell the wood of the old furniture, the old leather on the furniture, the incense in the house, the wet dog on the floor and the wet forest outside.

I am in awe and love of this. If that’s what Labdanum smells like I think I am exclusively into Labdanum. Think of it as Amber without any sweetness or vanilla nonsense (which makes it very different from amber perfumes ironically). It’s dry and captivating! That is going to be very challenging for a lot of people. It smells like dry wood attic. This is an acquired taste!

I don't have a lot to say about this other than it smells labdanum. Big surprise.
When I first bought it I wasn't sure what labdanum smells like but after spraying it on me I suddenly realized:
Mom had this essential oil burner contraption and she used to boil an oil that smelled EXACTLY like this. For some reason the smell of labdanum sets me in a Christmassy mood. No church associations like so many others make, but Christmas at home, glühwein in a cup. IDK.

reading the reviews, many seem confused as to why this would be named for the marquis de sade. I believe that it has to do with the process -- Quentin Bisch is said to have disliked working with labdanum, and I feel like making a perfume with this as the main star, is some sort of "masochistic" process. having to work with the note that he despises is what makes this perfume something that marquis de sade would write about..

A church incense effect + animality. Dazzling, it seems at first a gilded monobloc of cistus essence, rising like sacred smoke, tinsel like an incense burner. But carved into the block, we soon distinguish small facets that darken its brilliance: we are surprised to discover in this illusion of a solonote waxy nuances of bodily folds.
An addictive incense intended for the clinch.
(Really well done technically, it makes me think about a minimalist mix of Avignon CommeDesGarçons and DEV Olympic Orchids)

A blasphemous master stroke in labdanum.

Attacks with a heartless, bitter citrus note that opens into a filthy rich resin. Deep dark tobacco and warm leather, burnt woods, smoldering incense, and spicy, blackened berries, the color of bruises. Sacred and profane, a scent that seems to understand the paper thin line between debauchery and divinity.

As sophisticated and complex as it is base, animalic, and yes, absolutely indolic, the Marquis would be proud of this.

I write my reviews for my own future reference.

This is what I get before looking at the notes and other reviews, a quickly passing bright vegetable opening that dries down through a brief moment of incense on its way to lay down in bushels of sage. I get moments of green pepper, but sparse and briefly. I get sage, and lots of it. After reading other's thoughts I agree it has that old catholic churchy smell, and I also get a bit of fir tree. I'm not familiar with the listed note. Not really a scent I enjoy on myself nor others. The overall effect is the scent of somebody who spent way too much time in a dim and dusty mystical crystal shop.

Straight up labdanum in its many different forms. First spray is the resin then the balsamic part comes forward. It dries to the smell of burning labdanum which I love doing, but it’s not smoky. I can see how you’d think incense because you can burn labdanum or use it in making incense but this is not at all frankincense or myrrh, it’s pure labdanum in all it’s facets. One of my favorite materials to make blends with, this fragrance captures it perfectly.

Wow. I've spent my life growing up in the woods on the west coast of Canada and this is the first time I'm smelling a fragrance that literally smells like a palatable and sophisticated version of the sweet resinous sap of a fir tree. It's just divine. I don't think a fragrance has ever excited me this much. The blend quality is masterful, and the performance is typical for an Etat fragrance but less linear than the others I've tried from this house. This could easily be worn by both men and women and is a year round day or night signature type scent. I will definitely be purchasing a back up bottle of this. 10/10. The Fragrantica rating should be much higher for this.

full catholic church smells

ELDO Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade (2016) - labdanum - #quentinbisch took courage creating a perfume from an ingredient he despised and recoiled. As Sade said, “When the crime of love is no longer to the measure of our intensity, we could perhaps attack the sun.” Often, he would be wrap the ingredient under a thick layer of vanilla and amber, but here he showcases Cistus in all its facets. I smell smoke, dark woods, leather, rose, gothic church and marble floors. It’s an ingredient that has so much depth that you could bury your nose for hours. A modern classic, similarly how Guerlain created Vetiver.

Labdanum is one of the most frequently used resins in perfumery if only because it is so often used with bergamot and oakmoss (or these days, bergamot and patchouli or vetiver) as one of the three key ingredients in the chypre genre. Even so, it's often hard to know just exactky what it is so it is so rarely dominant in any perfume formulation.

This is one of the rare fragrances where labdanum is the main show. It's a sticky but dry resinoid derived from Mediterranean rockrose, and it's hauntingly familiar because its use is so ubiquitous in fragrance manufacture. It's a dry, rich, complex scent that's difficult to compare to much else, although it does seem like something you'd smell in the desert. This also has greens, spices, woods, and maybe even a little incense (or something else smoky) to give it more oomph, but absolutely labdanum is the star player. To me this is a nighttime scent for the cold weather seasons, and would take someone very confident to pull off. This isn't a fragrance that will please everyone, but it's certainly memorable.

This fragrance has led me to put the words "antique church" and "aggressive" in the same sentence for the first time in my life.

This smells like a warm, spicy cup of chai tea, an old bookstore filled with ancient tomes, a little-used basement of a centuries-old church, and a street market in a foreign country selling a variety of spices like cinnamon and black pepper. It's deep, mysterious, beguiling, comforting, and inviting, and although it's not a scent I'd usually think of smelling on one's person, it works wonderfully well!

I don't find myself going nose-blind to this, which is a super pleasant surprise---I just getting whiffs that transport me somewhere far away. Delightfully long-lasting, unisex, and with a sillage that extends beyond arm's reach for quite some time, I could actually see myself buying a full bottle of this sometime in the future once I've emptied my sample. Also, the labdanum/Cretan rockrose/cistus in this is what inspired me to try growing it in my garden this year!

Well, there is certainly a lot more going on here than the note "structure" would have you believe.
A lot of skanky labdanum on first spray.
Then it opens up with some woods and herbs.
The base reminds me a whole lot of Creed Royal Oud, with lots of cedar.
Also some similarities with Le Lion de Chanel here.
However, where those fragrances are reserved and smooth, this one is brash and loud, at least in its early stages.
On the dry-down, we get more of that labdanum, with a lot less funk than the opening.
I like it.

I've become quite familiar with both the resinoid and absolute of labdanum and cistus (both from the same plant), along with a number of fractional distillations and bases that focus on Cistus ladanifer. Here, Quentin Bisch ingeniously brings all the many facets from this fragrant plant and accentuates them as if there is a discrete note pyramid that could very well be built from it, even though we see only labdanum.

I do detect both cistus exudate from the leaves and labdanum from the plant's resin itself: therefore, the sweet and ambery is here, but also the animalic, skanky rawness of the absolute and resinoid is here as well. But let's sniff further: let's build that pyramid. The opening showcases the arid, desert pine prickliness, coniferous, with aspects of pinecones and sap, baked in the sun. That's one note. We also have this incense cone element—after all, labdanum is often present in incenses for its fixative value. There's still more here, with there being camphorous, herbal, sage like qualities.

Then, as it dries, the depth of labdanum is really brought into relief, without any interference from benzoin, vanilla, with only the faintest cinnamic quality, but mostly the salacious skank and leathery funk. The heart of austerity and introspection loosens its grip and gets a little frisky. Labdanum has bared its well-worn unmentionable, threw them into the balsam fir trees to have a roll in the pine straw under the blazing sun. I really lose track of time wearing this sexy outdoorsman of a fragrance.

True rebellion to all the notions of being feminine, Attaquer le soleil, or Attack The Sun, is the fragrance for a woman who is powerful, she’s ready to face the world and show all she can give. Or, for a man who’s always hidden in the background and is finally ready to step out. Truly bewitching and harsh, this perfume packs a punch. Be ready to attack the sun.

How interesting! Such a sharp, peppery opening and then it blooms into something calling back to some forgotten memory. I feel the connection, but I can't place it. I get frankincense, and yes, opium. Like a much used opium pipe. Would be good for layering but I'd hesitate to wear it on its own. Harmonizes beautifully with Encre Noire, but hells bells is that dark! This one is an open question - I love that.

Smells like liquid propolis to my nose (bee's wax with lots of bitterness and a hint of honey).

Not the typical leathery labdanum, but it smells like something kind of herbal that's hot and dry and ambery. It's very peppery on the opening on me, but I don't get the incense/pine resin note some people have mentioned. I love it and it lasts for 12h+.

Reminds me of those resinous incense cones you get in the southwest; the ones that come with a terracotta burner shaped like a tipi or pueblo. Coniferous, thick and STRONG. Apply with a light touch.

Oh good grief! The opening is so piney and sharp, I didn't look forward to going through it again. Brace yourself, because this isn't soft...at all. It's one to consider spraying from a distance lest a single spot becomes too concentrated on your person.

I've needed a few times to really sort this out, single note fragrances can almost be tricker than anything else, and labdanum is so unique in it's multifaceted aroma...no other aromatic note has ever captured me like it has, and naturally I wanted to try this.

I'm glad I did, and it's a solid fragrance to be sure, although I admit that I enjoy the essential oil more. However, this is much cleaner, less funky and animalic (I wouldn't describe this as animalic at all actually), and not as leathery as natural labdanum.  It's a clean rendition of the little bugger of a flower, and I agree with many here that it's somehow more masculine. In fact...I would find this very attractive on a man. I'm not sure it suits me (and that isn't because I follow gender guidelines, it's just an instinctual feeling I have about this, it's just too abrasive) as well as other ambers do, and the essential oil does. The natural funk and resinous qualities of real labdanum help "round out" the profile, this is less smooth.

Natural labdanum has a sort of dirty sweetness, almost like soil with benzoin (I don't know how else to describe that), and that isn't part of this soliflore here at all. This is pungent and sharp, kind of smoky in the throat after a while (again, don't spray right on your shirt/chest and breathe it in for too long).

It doesn't *not* smell like labdanum, but it's just one facet of it, the piney/turpene side. It almost smells like that type of frankincense you get that's bitterly piney or smells of fir, and citrus peel in nuance.. It's quite good for what it is, and it's been very fun experiencing it, but it isn't comprehensive. Because, yes, labdanum can have elements of this type of fragrance, but that's not the whole of it's profile. I might just content myself with the occasional sample of this, but I'll probably never purchase a bottle.

Longevity is medium, although for a few hours it feels like it will be eternal, yet it fades a LOT after 4 or so. Projection seems to be moderate.

*eta - The aroma improves while wearing under a leather jacket 😎 Very interesting.

So now I guess I know what labdanum smells like.
Not sure if I like it it not.
Herby and hot, like they’ve been sun dried. Warm and woody. Maybe a bit mossy. Cinnamon.
Think it’s one for my boyfriend’s pile, too masculine for me. Maybe I’ll steal it if I’m feeling rebellious. But as it is I can’t see me ever choosing to buy this.

Smells exactalty like I thought it wood. Labdanum smoke, its liniar but i think thats the point.
I smell like i walked out of an opium den.
Good to layer with i think

not as intoxicating as Serge Lutens Devils bed but a good similar staple.

So interesting!

On me it's a very strong (and masculine!) opening. I would describe what I smell as with lots of herbs (camphor? bay leaf?) + leather. There's a hefty dose of frankincense, too.

By the drydown, on my skin, it's almost entirely frankincense. Interestingly, especially because it's the only note listed, I really don't smell heavy labdanum from this!

I think it would be really nice layered under a bright citrus scent. (I will likely use my sample in that manner.)

Well... now I know what labdanum smells like! Powdery and woody. Leans masculine.

I have tried a number of ELDO fragrances now and I feel that, sadly, this is the worst from the line I have tried so far. As soon as I sprayed I got a very strong, burning metallic fragrance. It took me a while to put my finger on but it smells exactly like a hot soldering iron (think back to metalwork days at school!). Unfortunately, I would have to pass on this fragrance.

Labdanum and bitt off wood and some amber, this is so Nice, im biase cause i love labdanum and this has this to my hearts content, the opening is so much labdanum that it smells like medecin... So simplistic and so wonderfull!! You get the dry resenis power that almost over power all your sences, Its not very complex but Who cares ❤️, i do feel the HDps take on marquis de sade did a better work painting a picture, Its a bold take using labdanum in this way, you should try it

this smells like cola to me, that's honestly all I get. kinda cinnamon-y. I don't dislike this but I don't think I would ever choose to wear this once my sample runs out

I'm getting a cinnamon-y sensation followed by what I suppose I would associate with amber fragrances (but no powder). Almost cola bottle like opening. Fizzy. Perhaps there's a natural woodiness somewhere far away (so the cinnamon is like bark). The other reviews blow my mind. Don't really get smoke (at least the perfume smoke that I get in Durga's Burning Barbershop or City on Fire (those two smell nothing like this). Perhaps a piece of cinnamon bark that has been caught on the edges but has been left to cool. Burnt, but not hot. Maybe this is labdanum? I will have to scour through my other fragrances and see if I can place it.

Very unique. Lovely. Has nothing to do with Histoires. Both are very interesting in their own right. Thumbs up.

Sadly, to both my mother and I this smelled like a latrine at a state fair. Couldn't even manage to bring myself to spray it on myself after a paper test. Glad that others seem to like it, but it's just not for my nose.

This to my nose has a large dose of cashmeran which is sometimes perceived as mildewy, as other reviewers have commented, and is certainly musky and animalic. In this fragrance it's supported by resinous, citrus/terpenic and woody notes to create a rich, relatively dark composition with a fair amount of projection. I find it relatively wearable personally, and very reminiscent of Escentric Molecules 'Escentric 05'.

Don't get fooled by the name, this is a rather conventional perfume, but well-executed.

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Main Notes:

Labdanum, Straws, Frankincense (incense)
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In Short
Animalic sauce mixed with labdanum, both then move toward a clean, bitter, dry-rooty incense.

In Details
This scent is the embodiment of Purification.

The characteristics "date pits" tone of labdanum is born in a dirty cesspool; after a boozy blast, an animalic odor has stuck to the bone of labdanum for the first half of journey.

But it quickly neutralized to a ...... well, rather neutral old woody tone, the best descriptor I can think of is "straw", half-dry withered yellow straws.

Then the staws have been kissed by an angel: the bitter dry rooty incense took the upper hand of the dirty cesspool. Now the labdanum has been reduced to only an added hue to the incense.

The scent gets cleaner and cleaner, and it's only a matter of time when it flats down to the arm of a synth woody patchouli tone (Clearwood maybe?).

I wouldn't call it linear, but it does have only one direction to go.

On my skin, this smells like a forest fire. Doesn't work for me at all. I love ELDO, so I'm a little sad.

Intoxicating I can’t stop sniffing myself when I wear this also pairs beautifully with leather dominant fragrances too.

Coniferous is the first thing that comes to mind. Like putting your nose up close to a pinecone and then have this scent enhanced. Resinous. Yes, on me this is a pineforest. I like it!

something in this turned to straight mildew on my skin. i'm having a hard time trying to figure out who would wear this

This is like going to the office with mon Sade, Marquis de Sade, though I likely claim this Attack The Sun, Attaquer le Soleil, for people will understand more easily it's my SOTD, anyway. To claim the name of a person is always like he or she reversely wears you.

Close to skin enough like a secret walks with man, like everybody knows the name Sade but no one really knows who he is. And yes, this is ture to labdanum, on the cloth it's more waxy while on skin it's myrrh in frankincense, I would say this is Musc Ravageur without vanilla and is somewhat stronger than MR.

If Hermann A Mes Cotes Me Paraissait Une Ombre is in the shadow then this is under the sun, to say this is a dark theme in Gothic it's better like the bitterness of wilderness, both are wearable, HAMCMPUO is the smell of a fall forest and MDS aka ALS is exposured to its ultimate cleaness and dry stage; and Larmes du Désert is much more complex, though they share some similarities but basically LDD is richer in luxurious amber, the sillage are about the same.

Forget who is Marquis de Sade, this is labdanum, the rocky rose surviving under the cruel sun, we all endure something in our lives and hold the belief we shall be released when we meet our destination, when the universal sun is always that BIG and a good mister's spirit lingers above these things called happiness and miseries, through this fume, it's FREE at last. EDP in 80% VoL.

Wow! Love this one. Oud isn't listed as a note but it's very oudy IMHO - the medicinal, camphoraceous kind. Lots and lots of incense and leather, a bit of spice and the barest hint of citrus.

Dark, cold, medicinal, leathery, metallic... melon?

rapid explosion of sweet citrus fruits followed by hints of apple, whiskey, cinnamon, lots of cinnamon, olives,
leather.
off-putting smell. We really don't play too much with experiments. between the waste bin and the vomit.
0/10
not worth a penny.

I really like the smell of this. It's pungent, woodsy, and smells a bit like spice and citrus hints. Every so often, I can catch a whiff of it even when wearing it. I am a woman, and would say this scent lends itself to more masculine wearers, but I would wear this to an evening event. I do feel like this isn't a fragrance for everyone; it's polarizing. Some will find it off-putting, while others will be enchanted. I wish the full size bottle wasn't sold out because I could see this becoming an addition to my rotation, but probably not my my main choice.

Straightforward incense: churchy, cold, piney and smokey. It doesn’t develop much on my skin, but I can’t get enough of it! Yep! I’m such an incense fiend. Oh, and as a bonus, it reminds me of Sahara Noir, one of my favourite fragrances.

First blast of bright quick citrus immediately followed dark warm woods and sawdust-y leather. I think of weathered cowboy boots in a carpenter's workshop. Wow, is this really just one note labdanum? After a couple minutes, the scent dries to an herbal almost mentholated medicinal Halls cough drop note; puts me vaguely in mind of their Archives 69. Interesting scent but not for me. Sillage is a little more than arm's length. Masculine and best for cold weather.

6+ hours later: A sharp incense note still lingers if I press my nose hard into my skin.

This one left me wanting more. Distinguished and mature fragrance, leathery and dusty almost. But pretty one dimensional. Could work well if layered with something else, but did not pique my interest personally. More masculine.

The artistry of Etat Libre d'Orange is unquestionable. They are just remarkably innovative both in terms of how they use notes and marketing. Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade is an example of this. The note list is simple. Very simple. Laudanum and nothing more. And yet, they created an amber musky woody fragrance that is a smoky, incense heavy perfume, with a vague, almost ethereal note almost reminiscent of leather, and infinitely wearable. It’s not my favourite Etat Libre d'Orange fragrance, but nor do I dislike it. It’s beautiful.

Labdanum is a note that I feel like i really should enjoy, but don't. Just my personal taste **shrug**
Considering that is the only note listed, the fragrance overall does come off as complex, and it is certainly the best iteration of labdanum that I've come across in perfumery. This feels high quality and has some real nuances to it, but I can't help it - I just really dont like it. Sorry.

I tried.. really.

It makes me recoil and curl up my nose. I just kept repeating to myself "what is that?". It's not edgy or cool. It's extremely off-putting. A singular note of labdanum that makes me fear labdanum now.

There is an ick factor hidden by peculiarity. I have had to scrub it off twice now. No more.

this smells more like the description of secretions magnifique than secretions magnifique.

verrrry animalic. only other note I get is charred wood. no thanks.

this is an animalic/woody/resin perfume on me. the animalic aspect is really pungent here. i like animalic notes but sometimes they're a bit too intense and in this case, that's the truth....definitely a barnyard thing happening here for me. however this is pretty evocative of the title.

One of the worst fragrances I have ever tried. All I get is a burning plastic smell, like old christmas decorations have caught on fire. I wanted to scrub it immediately but rode it out to see if it improved towards the dry down but it did not. I am in shock at how anyone could wear this, let alone like the smell.

If, for some reason, you're looking for an explicitly Marquis de Sade-themed fragrance, this beats Histoires de Parfum's take on the same subject by a long shot in my opinion. This is a dark, sophisticated, oddly complex scent that I think depends really heavily on the wearer's skin chemistry- other people have said that this is super incense-y, but on me, it's mostly aromatic woods. I also appreciate that they've done a dominant scent without relying on musks or other animalic scents; there is something powerful and dirty about this, but it's not as obvious as most other fragrances in the same genre. This smells like you're a sexual deviant, but you also have to go to work, and personally I really like that updated take on Sade as a historical subject.

At first spritz it's a strong citrus and burning rubber smell. It would take a strong and confident woman to wear this and I think it leans toward the masculine side. I don't pick up on any cinnamon as others have noted. It is a woody fragrance which I like. I would probably purchase this for my husband.


UPDATE 9-28-2021: So I still had some of the sample left and decided to dip into it again. I still say it's more masculine. It's an interesting scent. I'd recommend it for a male.

This one is definitely one of the most potent ELDO fragrances I've tried. It's definitely woody but on me also smells very spicy, almost like cinnamon. It reminds me a lot of Phlur Moab, but woodier and not quite as spicy (Moab reminds me of Big Red cinnamon gum). At first, I felt it was too strong, but after it dissipated, I actually enjoyed it. It's a scent that reminds me of winter, particularly the holidays. The longevity is quite impressive.

This smells like olives on me! Salty rather than smoky.

Wouldn’t have guessed a scent named after the Marquis de Sade would be so dang churchy, but I love it. I’m a sucker for incense, and this one has a cool, dry, resinous quality I can’t get enough of: it’s not Avignon’s smoky chapel, it’s frankincense and labdanum in an echoing cathedral. I liked the sample OK when I first tried it, but as the weather cooled this scent really started to grow on me and I ended up getting a bottle. There’s some green bite at the beginning but it’s no hike in the woods; it’s the subtle, resinous bite of pine sap, not fir needles, and it doesn’t get in the way of the labdanum.

And omg that labdanum. It’s dry and smoky without a hint of campfire. This isn’t a warm, comforting scent; it’s cool and austere with a quiet authority about it. I actually love wearing it when I’m on my motorcycle; the contrast between leather, engines and adrenaline and the haughty, churchy Attaquer is just irresistible.

Having held an actual block of laudanum in my hand I can't say I know why it's the (only) listed note. This perfume smells most dominantly of smoke and frankincense. I live in the Balkan and we get to be reminded of that scent almost on a daily basis. Now having said that it must sound like such harsh note must be very heavy and disturbing to wear but that's where this perfume shines IMO. It achieved a perfect balance between satisfying an extreme frankincense itch and having a perfume that doesn't smell like church per se and doesn't make every mildly metro sexual man recoil in horror after walking behind you.
It doesn't give bad surprised either. It's fairly linear in its disappearance which happens after ~ 16h, never crossing into boring/girly territory.

(I wish after so many well thought out sample orders I would stop finding new favorites among joke buys, like with this one - Ha ha! Marquis de sade, this will be a conversation starter. Well joke's on me, it's good)

ELDO fragrances are nothing if not polarising. I gave the sample to my friend and he can't get enough of it.

I hated every single minute, every single note and facet of this fragrance. Everything about it in its entirety from start to finish was disgusting to me. It was a reaction I felt deep within me, an absolute repulsion that started somewhere in my bones. He thinks it's wonderful and is thinking of buying a bottle. I kind of get it - this house exists at the outermost fringes of the most extreme fragrance territories. You can't expect to please everyone when notes in your fragrances include sweat, gun powder and popcorn.

I am determined to own a bottle from this house as a badge of honour. I will sample every fragrance until I find the crazy masterpiece that defines me. The hunt continues.

On first blind sniff, I get an earthy animalic lemon with some smoky cedar resin. It’s marvelous, almost like wet oil paints–complex and changing with a hint of sweetness. Even my cat got nosy.

I love labdanum--it's at the heart of two of my favorites by LUSH, Tank Battle and Rentless, where it grounds the clove and the aniseed.
Here, on its own, it becomes airier, balsamic and musky, and decadent.

Projects at arms length for an hour, and on the skin for three more.

Now this is nice!
Ever evolving Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade is resinous, dark and smokey. It shape-shifts thru time. It’s a damp forest with a distant campfire. It’s earthy and animalic. It’s dark and sinister with frankincense, pine tar and dirty leather.
Even though this is a dark scent I think it could be worn anywhere by anyone at anytime.

In the same vein as Bois d'Ascese, but not as austere nor charcoaled smelling. This one is actually easier to wear and a bit safer. However, this paints the exact same picture to me, which is the smell of prohibition soaked wooden barrels followed by soft trails of smoke. Its a lot calmer than Bois d'Ascese, and less in your face. I like this one better.

On first spray, a pungent orange citrus note, but quickly tones down to pure evergreen pine. Very clean smell, maybe a whisper of smokiness. Rather masculine, but I love it for myself anyway. This is so comforting! Reminds me of my favorite place to be, home in the Colorado Rockies.

Absolutely teeth pulling, who-shat-on-my-rug awfulness. Rarely do I smell something and think “dear gods what is that??” It’s not skunky, musky, or animal like. It’s as if one tried to convey what detergent and tire chips on a cold spring day smelled like to someone else and this is what that someone else came up with. Fills the perimeter around it with its awfulness. Irritating to the throat, I would not be afraid to abruptly leave the room if I smelled this.

I found this at a great price and picked it up largely because I tend to like fragrances with labdanum, and so I was eager to experience a scent that is nothing but. I don't know if this is what pure labdanum smells like, but it's very nice - resinous, smokey, leathery, slightly powdery, and a bit earthy. That said, it's on the light and airy side of these accords. It's austere and churchy almost ascetic, and not particularly sexy. So the salacious connotations of the name don't deliver.

I think that part of ELDO's playfulness involves titillating with a provocative name and then subverting those expectations with something kinder and gentler. Maybe it's false advertising, or maybe it's just cheeky. Anyway, I like this. It's a beautiful winter/autumnal scent.

This fragrance is fantastic, it smells just like church on Christmas or Easter morning. Fantastic incensy fragrance

I'm wearing this sample for the 3rd time and finally it dawns on me what it reminds me of. Twilight by LUSH! And that's the one I really love! Unlike Twilight, there is no lavender here. But everything else is there: earthy/sweet/cozy benzoin, scrummy tonka bean, seductively floral ylang ylang. In the drydown I detect softest, damp patchouli.

Overall this is an earthy, sweet fragrance. I love labdanum and my favourite is by L'occitane. Labdanum is rooty and peppery, but I don't detect it in this fragrance. Although it could be mingling with patchouli and benzoin.

This is a beautiful fragrance. "Dirty" only in the sense that it contains some earthy notes. More natural, down-to-earth dirty, and nothing in common with its unfortunate name. Cozy and comforting. If you like the comforting aspect of Twilight, try this. It's not a copy but goes in the same vain, only softer.

DUSTY LOVE DUNGEON

A dark alter, with dry incense, the faint smell of leather in the air. With an undercurrent of something sinister. For naughty times, to worship at the feet of your goddess.

This is gothic pink. Churchy. Reminds me of Bois D’Encens, and a faint reminder of Feve Delicious in there somewhere too. Glad of the experiment to try this. It does lack some complexity and depth, and it can cloying to me, it may have Iso E, and I am sensitive to that.

Bit bizarre for me, it’s a linear meditation on labdanum, with it’s leathery, incense and amber undertones. Great longevity, but actually too much for me. Bois D’Encens is for me, but this was an interesting detour along the way

6/10. Dr Evil’s signature scent.

Perspective from a lady smelling it on a man:
God, I really like this one.

More masculine than unisex: It'll be far more comfortable and sexy on a man and far more niche on a woman.

This is like a dark, sexy, more confident older brother of Hermann. While they have different notes entirely, they're similar in how much they embrace nature's masculine offerings. While Hermann gets a bit undercut/overwhelmed with ambroxan, Attaquer le Soleil dries down to a lush and leathery forest.

Initially, I wouldn't give it too much thought; the top notes are highly synthetic, sharp, and acidic with incense. But give it 10 minutes, and oh wow does this unfold into something beautiful. Deep forest pine gives it a very natural smell, enough smoke for intrigue, and a touch of leather for sex appeal. This is labdanum in all its forms and it is beautiful.

I will definitely consider buying a full bottle.

This is is very similar to Montale Greyland, but despite its namesake, actually feels LESS sexual than Greyland. The Montale achieves this similar feel through the use of rose, leather, pepper, and cedar, while this ELdO does it through supposedly just labdanum, and its many facets. I really loved Montale Greyland, but felt it was so sexual feeling, there was only a specific situation that it would be wearable in, I sold it, only to regret it later. I received this as a deal and like it enough as a flatter replacement, but still decent.

It is very weird that i find a perfume which dislike me... But this is one of those! I really cant wear It! It doesnt smell good at all for me 😂 the opening is like very strong unburnt incense with a herbal feeling, very medicinal, and then i can feel the cistus very strong. When i say strong i mean the smell because the projection is soft as in most of Eldo perfumes, but un this case is something good not to smell like a hippie shop without Windows 5 km around 😂 the longevity is good but as i have said before It is more like an intense Air freshner for me. Too resknous and too medicinal!and totally lineal!

Scent: 5 (i supposed It would have his public)
Longevity; 8
Sillage: 6
Quality/price: 5
Versatility: 4
Originality: 9 (i have never smelt a perfume like this)
Global: 5

This is a sour herbal opening with almost no sweetness that reminds me of smelling unburnt incense. After some drying down, I immediately get the labdanum used in TF Amber Absolute. It’s slightly medicinal, and I get some pine resin feel. It feels like having a dry-down of an amber perfume throughout the life of the fragrance, but it lacks some complexity/depth that I would enjoy. (7/10)

A solid cistus/labdanum centred release opening with a mainly green sour note, appearing both herbal-botanic and deliberately synthetic chemical at once. There must be more going on in this than just a range of cistus extracts, in fact, an aroma-chemically savvy friend speculated about two, potentially often hard-to-handle ingredients, which have been elegantly integrated into this release. Shortly after the blast of sourness, the incense-like, medical features of labdanum appear, the dry down again is outspokenly balsamic and reminds me of Comme des Garçons's SKAI. All in all, really lovely! The claimed compactness/minimalism of the note(s) suits well, even if - or because - it has much more going on. The right choice also that the juice is transparent and not pretending to be some brownish, sticky stuff. Quentin Bisch delivered with this and 'Hermann A Mes Cotes' two excellent additions to this house - hope he'll get to do less mainstream outputs soon again.

a more wearable avignon on my skin.i really liked it .pretty linear but well crafted.

Seeing labdanum listed as the only note, jumped on it so I could learn to identify this note in frags, which seems to be listed in the majority of perfumes I love. I think I must be mistaking this for oak moss these last few years. It smells deep, dark, wet, earthy, a place in the forest so overgrown where sunlight cannot reach, the pulse of microscopic life throbs here. And then you consider it's named from a manifesto of the Marquis and the comparison to deep, dark, wet, well...you see where this is going. A birthplace, a beginning. An excellent choice for those who enjoy the organic or naturalistic.

I love this fragrance, although I have a hard time thinking of it as a perfume / cologne. Part of me feels like it is something else altogether, something natural but not normally sprayed on the skin. It's as if the smell of a lumberyard filled with freshly sawn (pine?) wood was captured in a bottle. To my nose, it's a masculine scent.

Beautiful labdanum scent. Despite the pyramid here (THE note listed), there's more going on to support the cistus: spices (blast of cloves in the top/heart notes, and cinnamon, coriander and cumin as well), probably also citruses and fir balsam, and possibly a hint of musk. Also a very strong frankincense note in the base. That said, these are part of a perfect straight blend.

A very comforting/soothing unisex scent in the top, with a more churchy/masculine base. Performance (both projection and longevity) is average, making it the perfect linear cuddling frag for bad weather days. Shares noticeable similarities with the younger Lutens La Couche du Diable. I like ELdO's better though.

25+, coldish/rainy days, unisex

Edit: my review was based on a sample, but my full bottle has strong projection. A real winner in all facets.

As labdanum is one of my beloved materials and rarely the queen of the ball on modern perfumery I was so intrigued that I blind bought it.

It's a nice, inoffensive scent based on labdanum. But there's much more in it and, unfortunately for me, those notes ruin the composition. It starts with a blast of citrus, probably bergamot or even lemongrass,but the cistus is prominent through. Then I get pine, Mediterranean pine needles, balancing quite nicely with the resinous cistus. After a couple of hours it's all downhill, it evolves into a generic mess, slightly zesty and turpentine dominated. It seems like the materials used are of very poor quality. Longevity and sillage are average.

I'm devastated. Sticky, sweet, ambery and leather cistus nuances are missing here. For me labdanum should be dark rich, indolic and very skanky...

At least I can content myself whiffing like a dog in heat from my natural labdanum absolute tiny vial.

Just to add to my already gushing review below, I tried this again the other day as I'd had a discussion with another Labdanum lover online. I actually played down my love of it, perhaps because the memory of trying it wasn't that fresh, and I'd hoped performance would've been better. However, all these fears have been allayed as this is a fantastic fragrance which lasted very well this time around and was my only minor gripe previously because the smell is my idea of heaven. Shame it's sold out at the retailer who had it for the best price because I'm over the moon with it and need it in my life.

Given the name, and ELDO's merciless olfactory pranking (Secretions Magnifiques, anyone?) I braced myself for a seriously challenging experience - super-dark, probably with a crack of leather and some worryingly spiky spice and tangs of blood, sweat and tears, taking me to a dank basement for a mysterious ordeal. Instead I got a warm, gentle, friendly hug on a fragrant hillside in full sunlight.

It's a plain, simple, dry-resinous, dusty-nutty-spicy labdanum scent which won't push anyone's boundaries and is entirely friendly throughout. Not vanilla (in either the smell or the metaphorical sense) but not some wild, brutal adventure either. Smells rich and organic, rather than raspy or unfinished chemical experimentation - but it is all a bit one-note. I'm loco for labdanum so it's a good thing that note is beautifully done here. Worth trying if you know you're swayed by cistus, or if you are specifically seeking a warm-incensey scent without any strange or exotic spice. Full retail price would seem a bit much for something so gentle. True unisex; performance is solid but doesn't raise any eyebrows. So: unexpectedly un-dramatic, but none the worse for that.

After 3-4 hours it reminds me of ELDO Jasmin et Cigarette. They are really like two brothers.

This is not just a cistus labdanum fragrance, there's also a lot of resinous pine in here. It's a rather nice fragrance I believe, I love labdanum and the other ingredients in here really do highlight it; it smells like taking a walk in the woods.

It is an ok fragrance in my book, clearly a rather pure labdanum. I wouldn't use it though since it is too sharp and I prefer something more complex and rounded.

This is very nice.

I wouldn't get carried away with any Marquis de Sade references though. There is nothing all that provocative or sensual about it.

This perfume reminds me of an artist's studio or a baseball dugout. It might have been called Leonardo Da Vinci or Rollie Fingers (old-school pitcher ). I do get a labdanum vibe but I also get woodchips and chemicals and capers? and maybe ambergris. Overall, it comes off like turpentine and wet clay or like mustache wax and pine tar. Pine tar is the sticky stuff batters use to help them grip wooden bats. Pitchers sometimes use it too, but it's illegal for them to use it.

Whether you picture the bedroom of the Marquis, or the studio of a painter or the greasy mitt of a renegade spitballer, if you like woodchip-y resinous stuff, this will be down your alley. It's definitely down mine. too bad it doesn't last on me.

What the hell are the notes on this? Not listed anywhere other than cistus. Definitely not just labdanum -- resinous, incense, dark and smokey

Not going by notes but what i smell.
Imagine it's snowing outside and you get home and someones just taken a nice hot apple pie out of the oven, that is what i get .
This scent stays linear and last long projects good enough. IT is a well made scent if you like scents like pomegranate noir from jo malone you will like this. it is in the same type of family do not blind buy sample first.

This is one of the most stunning and well realised and unadulterated labdanum fragrances I’ve ever smelled. I wouldn’t of minded it being sharper, harsher and less balanced but Marquis de Sade gives up every facet of incense and resin from bright, frankinscense type freshness to dry benzoin warmth and the spicy density of tolu balm, yet with its own quality too. Labdanum is my favourite ingredient in perfumery with good reason and easily complex enough to star solo in a perfume. The only thing that prevents me from buying this straight away, outright and with no hesitation, is the performance or lack thereof. Labdanum is a notorious catalyst, designed for use within a composition and despite smelling heavenly is like most resins, they go on heavy and luxurious but it’s a bit of an illusion as they fade rapidly. I’m also not sure this is raw or daring enough to bear the name Marquis de Sade. I’m not one to moan about performance but gone after two hours ain’t good enough or worth the money, although I love the smell so much I might reassess that in the future.

My favourite part - drydown after ±4 hours.
It becomes very soft and sweet with a bit of spice.

Longevity is good, sillage is good.
Definately worth trying.

A comparison review as this really reminded me of my all time love embers - I had to get a sample. Same feel resin woods and incense in that fireplace kind of way. But embers is sweeter and more complex. Etat is a bit sour and dry as described before, but only if I'm being judgy; it's still a gorgeous scent that is 80% embers. Embers wins hands down for me.

Pure, beautiful labdanum, which in itself creates a complex, resinous fragrance. Like some other rare, revered raw ingredients like Bulgarian rose and oud, labdanum can serve as a fragrance in its own right. However, I achieved an identical fragrance to Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade by mixing pure labdanum resinoid in perfumer's alcohol.

7/10

Very unusual. There's a Shalimar EDC meets Incense Rose vibe going on here, but that's insufficient to describe how complex this is during its various phases.

Someone posted elsewhere that it reminds them of Charmin bathroom tissue at the end of the fragrance journey. I can see why they said that. Add a little bit of saliva essence ... and that is spot on. Charmin and a little spit. NOT what I expected for a finish, to say the least.

Intriguing and very well done, but a bit too bizarre for me to spring for a whole bottle. Worth a try since I can see this being wildly different from one individual to the next.

Very nice, I can also hear incense notes that remind me of "La Liturgie des Heures" by Jovoy. But it contains strange scent notes that make it terribly fascinating and attractive. Absolutely unisex, absolutely to try.

A unique fragrance! I like it very much, there are strange notes, something unusual and mysterious inside this scent.... I also hear the incense. Labdanum is strong. I would like to have a cold autumn... It's perfectly unisex,sillage is powerful and good longevity! Recommended for autumn or winter, it is a strong and unusual scent! I love it.

Sillage: 9/10
Longevity: 10/10
Scent: 9/10

Overall: 9./10

Makes you wonder if they will make more perfumes in honor of any other nobel aristocrat sexual serial killers? This just seems strange. Maybe the bottle should be diffrent something that evoques sadomasochisim would have been more appropriate.

resinoso di ambra (somiglia a scent intense di costume national) secca e sintetica, legnoso con un iniziale sentore di incenso e labdano. a dispetto di aromi che possono sembrare invernali, non è greve, anzi mi pare proprio adatto all'estate. molto bello, come al solito per eldo!

ELdO only lists one material for this new perfume: cistus (aka labdanum, aka rockrose) resin.
It's a woody leathery composition, with a sharp piquant nuance and every shade you can expect from labdanum: from honeyed malty sweet to coniferous fresh. Beautiful.

This is never a single note of labdanum! Spice dusty woody blend.

Nutmeg, saffron, black peppers, in a hard fresh wood basket, & a slightly burnt incense within the basket smoking out and worming the spices. I can sense some chilies as well mixed with black peppers.

Dry spices with dust effect to be specific. I have smelled this fragrance once in nov 2016 but it was way different than this one, i believe the cover that i've sniffed doesn't belong to "Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade", it belongs to "Je suis un homme".

very similar to donna karan's labdanum. if you own that, you do not need this.

A woody aromatic fragrance with predominantly smoky incense leading to a balsamic background. My nose is not good enough to identify all the notes but believe they include Olibanum, Elemi, Iso-E Super, Ambroxan, Vanilla and Labdanum.

This is straight up dark, tangy labdanum and dry, churchy incense. Nothing more. Puzzlingly clean, safe and boring.

I would have thought ETLDO would have been a bit more adventurous considering the infamous Marquis de Sade is the inspiration for the scent. Something pungently animalic and carnal, voluptuous and booze-soaked maybe...but no, this is just labdanum and a very sanitized, paired down version at that, with little of the rougher, more medicinal, leathery aspects of pure labdanum oil.

It's pleasant and wearable, but uninspiring, simplistic and linear. It's like the base for Tom Ford's "Sahara Noir" but stripped of all its operatic spice and sweetness, just the smoke and resin remain. I can think of several earlier releases from this house that represent the Marquis de Sade's salacious appetite better than this; "Rien" could be one of them, perhaps the "Afternoon of Faun", or "Eloge du Traitre".

I really think this house has lost its mojo to be honest. Nothing they've released in the last 2 years has been remotely inspiring, unique or subversive to me. Perhaps they feel they don't have to bother anymore? Or maybe they just weren't selling enough and had to take a more mainstream, by-the-numbers approach?

Anyway, if it's a wearable incense fragrance you're after, you could definitely do worse, but if what you seek is a daring, dark, seductive ode to the Marquis, I'd recommend Histoires des Parfums version.

I think this is exquisite. Incense, but not the harsh kind. Dry down is lovely and longevity is excellent. I need a full bottle.

Resinous incense on me, quite enjoyable, its airy, not heavy at all.

It's actually heavy olibanum instead of labdanum; almost all (churchy) incense at first with amber slowly creeping up, feels hollow but nice

Tom Ford Sahara noir for the first three hours but then does its own thing and goes medicinal rather than creamy sandalwood. It's an uplifting experience as its pungent to start with and clears your sinuses like smelling salts. I was almost scared at first thinking where the hell does one wear this kind of scent but now I'm convinced it could work anywhere that an incense fragrance could be worn. It will sit nicely with my ELDO collection. Lasts a long time although it doesn't shout its presence but rises and falls nicely throughout the day. Could get a bit weary if it was in your face all day so yes, well done Mr Bisch.

I've just received my samples from Etat Libre d'Orange direct and must say I love this scent.

It actually smells like Cistus Rose, especially in the drydown.

The idea of opening with Labdanum, which is the resinoid extracted from the Cistus Rose, appeals very much to me.

On me "Attaquer le Soleil" develops into a very well wearable scent, which I like better than "Hermann", and it shows distinct opening, middle and drydown phases.

There are many of Etat Libre d'Oranges scents I like, and this definitely is one more of them.

P. S.: I paid for the samples

Nothing special to mention here. It's a nice resinous scent. That could easily be a perfume from l'occitane. It remains like this with no special twist, gentle and harmless. Not what I expect from état libre d'orange. Wearing fat electrician as I write this and I admire how it walks on the line between beautiful and disturbing but always manages to be beautiful. Nothing like this with Marquis de Sade

Ordered direct from the manufacturer today and hopefully I'll be back soon with a review.