After losing their nerve a few years back and re-naming Philippine Houseboy Fils de Dieu, here's hoping Attaquer le Soleil isn’t a sign ELd’O are now losing their perfume mojo too, for behind the sophomoric branding lies a clutch of genuinely innovative and accomplished fragrances.
Beginning with the name, Attaquer le Soliel derives ultimately from de Sade’s Les Cent Vingt Journées du Sodome (1785), though more recently it was taken for the title of an exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay devoted to the author. That the latter closed in Jan. 2015 makes the only-just-launched perfume seem like something of an afterthought, but perhaps director Etienne de Swardt is of the ‘better late than never’ opinion.
Regarding the fragrance itself, ELd’O are remaining tight-lipped, the only listed note being cistus which Quentin Bisch is said to have mis à nu. According to ÇaFleureBon, it contains a new quality of cistus oil from Givaudan that is derived from not just the plant’s leaves and twigs, but also its roots and flowers.
How does it smell, then? Well, very much like labdanum: warm, spicy-balsamic, and woody with some light smokey accents. I note too a Cashmeran-like wet concrete note that adds some richness in the top-mid, but overall Attaquer le Soleil is a very linear fragrance with little evolution.
For me, this is more of a woody-amber accord than a perfume and those looking for a labdanum fix would do better with Serge Lutens’ Ambre Sultan (Christopher Sheldrake, 2000).
Nose: Quentin Bisch
House: Etat Libre d'Orange
Release date: 2016
Notes (per Fragrantica): labdanum.
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