ELDO Rien Intense Incense: Can you take a little more?

Two tiny spritz on my wrist and BAM! It immediately turned from *my sotd* to *the scent of the whole city*. The sky turned dark, thunders and lightning followed right away, people struggled at opening their umbrellas blown away by a scary wind. I've heard a couple of car crashes, ambulances, dogs hawling, people screaming. The Duomo's structural integrity weakened and then, the whole building collapsed. It was mayhem.

WOW!

I mean, seriously, wow! This stuff's opening is really quite something. It's basically Rien amped up at the Nth-power (cough cough) and with an extra dose of...*something else*. Yes, it is obviously incensey but it's also very clean. There's a juxtaposition between the dirty vibe of the former Rien and something I would classify as *pure*. It might actually be the synergy between the extra dose of incense and the aldehydes. I'm still trying to figure it out but it's definitely something to experience. It made me smile but then I realized I was actually grinning.

Well, for the first 30 minutes it literally blew me away. Yes, I had to shout to communicate with anyone who was trying to interact with me because Rien Incense Intense was screaming all over the place but it was totally worth it.

Then, suddenly, the inner monster living inside this incarnation of Rien took a Xanax and fell asleep and all I was left with was my dear ol' Rien.

Now, I LOVE Rien to pieces but I'm still not sure RII is full bottle worthy for those who already own the original. With that said, if you don't own any version of Rien, go for this! Absolutely!!! It's everything you get from Rien plus an extra 30 minutes of unseen footage. 

Sillage: Choking

Longevity: Exhausting

Rating: 7/10

Etat Libre D'Orange La Fin Du Monde: Powder To The People.

They said this is an easy one. They said this is a more bombastic version of Dior Homme. They said this will almost pass unnoticed amongst the plethora of deliveries of this late 2013. They said a lot of things but, actually, La Fin Du Monde is a very funny and incredibly solid fragrance.

Yes, the link to Dior Homme is probably there but it's only relegated to the fact they both focus on iris as the core accord (which is honestly not enough to consider them similar). Just like with many other ELDOs, the fragrance is pervaded by an incredible sense of humor and subtle twists. Here, what really fascinates me, it's the almost holographic gunpowder accord which paired to the carrot-seed and the iris give birth to a funny accord entirely based on juxtapositions. It's like bombing a bouquet of flowers with a massive dose of TNT and some spices. 

There's also powder but it doesn't bring the fragrance towards affected territories. Instead, it

enhances its pleasant oddness by emphasizing two polar opposites. Iris and gunpowder. On top of that, a smooth synth sandalwood / woody thing provides some extra body. 

Downline: The fragrance is based around the safest and most conventional iris / carrot seed accord but carefully and masterfully deranged by a lot of funny and dangerous things that will keep your attention up for quite a while. 

Probably not my favorite from the line but still extremely enjoyable and way more honest than most pretentious niche lines with their silly promises of faux luxury and exclusivity.

If the french revolution were done with Uzis instead of pitchforks, this is what Paris would have smelled like!

Rating: 7.0/10