Archives 69 Etat Libre d'Orange 2011

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7.1 / 10 165 Ratings

Archives 69 is a perfume by Etat Libre d'Orange for women and was released in 2011. The scent is spicy-fruity. It is still available to purchase.

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Main accords

Spicy

Fruity

Sweet

Smoky

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Pink pepper

Pepper leaf

Mandarin orange

Heart Notes

Frankincense

Prune

Vanilla orchid

Base Notes

Camphor

Musk

Patchouli

Perfumer

Christine Nagel

Ratings

Scent

7.1165 Ratings

Longevity

7.0123 Ratings

Sillage

6.4128 Ratings

Bottle

7.1123 Ratings

Value for money

7.025 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 15.05.2023.

Interesting Facts

The name of the fragrance refers to the address of the flagship store of Etat Libre d'Orange:
69 Rue des Archives in Paris.

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5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

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10/10/2013

7.5
Bottle 8
Scent

Sleuth
30 Reviews

Sleuth

Helpful Review 7

First impression: wow

Archives 69 gets a high grade for being daring and original. It opens with paprika/pimento contrasted with some mandarin. In the heart the most important notes appear: a blend of prickly camphor and fresh incense. Its prickly freshness challenges ones nose, like pepper does. Also in the heart there's a medium strong 'pink' orchid and a little sweet plum underneath. This is the magical phase of this fragrance. Heck: 9 out of 10! :) But only for the wonderful heart phase. Later, in the dry down I have to downgrade it to a 7.5, which is still good. After the plum and orchid have faded (much too soon), the airy, prickly camphor-incense mix stays strongly. It's lightened by some musk. There's a tiny dose of benzoin and patchouli in the base.

The heart gets a 9 for me because it accesses strange corners of my brain that I didn't expect. It made me think of a swimming pool (well, the good part of the swimming pool): all-pervading prickly chlorine (taking the place of the camphor) joined by sweet shampoo (orchid) and other clean pleasant body care products (plum). Yes it's a clean but strange fragrance.

Let me compare with another fragrance that has incense and that is a bit smoke-like: Comme des Garçons 2 Man. Well, Archives is stranger and more difficult to like. It is very unisex. Archives is the better fragrance, due to nuances. Try this if you like YSL Nu or Lush Breath of God. A challenge to wear. Cool stuff.

07/03/2021

10
Pricing 8
Bottle 10
Sillage 9
Longevity 10
Scent

LeffetProust

Translated Show original

LeffetProust

7

Sgt. Pepper`s lonely hearts club band..

...we hope you will enjoy the show!

They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile....

These lines from the Beatles classic fit this fragrance beautifully in my opinion. Yes, not only does it raise a smile, but the pepper almost makes you laugh, so provocatively does it play the first few bars of this fragrance. And the pepper is peppery! It doesn't like to give way and that doesn't matter at all. It surrounds you even more intensely with the incense note and the vanilla. The prune doesn't come through for me, but I also imagine it to be too sweet and the vanilla is totally enough of a counterpoint for me personally. Interesting is the camphor, which plays elegantly with the pepper together and accompanies the wearer various hours.

Etat libre d'orange is now one of the better known niche fragrances and certainly not everyone's cup of tea. "Love it or leave it!" It challenges and provokes again and again with its ambivalent creations, not only with its philosophy. Etienne de Swardt is an intelligent and absolutely creative mind and he has found the right perfumers for his brand. Perfumers who understand and can implement what de Swardt imagines.
Yes, my fourth Etat libre d'orange lands in the top spots again and will encourage me to make more purchases as soon as possible. I look forward to it.

04/25/2018

6
Bottle 4
Sillage 9
Longevity 6.5
Scent

StellaDiverF
213 Reviews

StellaDiverF

Helpful Review 2

Fruitchouli With A Few Twists

Upon wearing Archives 69, I initially thought of it as a regular fruitchouli: ripe sweet plum, rosy fruity pink pepper over a slightly medicinal and earthy patchouli base. However, to my surprise, it doesn't become gooey jammy in texture like many gourmand fruity patchouli does, and it's got a few tricks up its sleeves as well.

Christine Nagel's "rotten fruit" note: an overripe, almost sour mandarine lurks underneath the ripe plum during the opening phase of Archives 69. Its ripened sweetness is a natural extension of the succulent plum, while its sour aftertaste helps to balance the potentially over-the-top fruity sweetness.

Another interesting addition is the camphor. Personally, I don't find it manifests as a distinct element. Rather, it feels like a refreshing breeze blown out of patchouli into the otherwise thick fruity fog. The same goes with the orchid and incense accords. Smell-wise, they feel more like an extension of the fruity notes into floral and woody territories, but texture-wise, they help to maintain a powdery, relatively dry one in order to limit the saccharine sensation.

Besides all of the above, the most interesting part for me, is a prominent balsamic and even slightly cumin-animalic muskiness in the dry down. Combined with the camphor tonality, it actually reminds me of the camphor-cumin pairing of Cadavre Exquis. This combination in Archives 69 is of course a far cry and is extremely diluted and tamed compared to that of Cadavre Exquis, but it still adds an unexpected sensuality to the dominant fruitchouli centerpiece.

Archives 69 has a moderate to soft sillage and a 12h+ longevity on me.

Overall, I still regard Archives 69 primarily as a fruitchouli fragrance, because the sugary plum and the earthy patchouli largely overshadows the other elements on my skin. However, even though these supporting elements only tangentially show themselves, they effectively keep the sweetness at bay. Being usually wary about the syrupy nature of many gourmand fruitchouli, I actually find the slightly powdery texture of Archives 69 much improves its wearability to me. I'd definitely recommend it to those who enjoy fruitchouli combo but would like a few subtle twists embedded within.

02/26/2022

7
Sillage 8
Longevity 6
Scent

Kurai
317 Reviews

Kurai

5

Odd fruit

I came here for the camphor note, which I am fascinated by ever since I tried Heeley's Esprit du Tigre. I thought it would be the twist in this fragrance, but it turned out the camphor was the least odd element here. There's an uneasy fruitiness that is dense, dark and creamy. Awkward and fascinating at the same time.

At first the heavy fruity note, the patchouli and the incense are easy to tell apart. The dose of camphor adds a spicy tingling sensation, but nothing medicinal like Vick's Vapo-rub. Over time the scent does not really develop, but the notes seem to kind of disintegrate -some say "blend"- into a more socially acceptable and still rather unique fragrance.

Another conversation starter from ELdO. A fruity patchouli with a next-level oddness.

04/14/2017

9
Bottle 6
Sillage 10
Longevity 8.5
Scent

Mrsg37
32 Reviews

Mrsg37

Helpful Review 2

Camphorous musky delight

Yes it's medicinal, yes it's a sweet, camphorous musk and yes it's moreish!
It's light but lasts, I find this strange, medicinal smell comforting somehow?
It's not a crowd pleaser, it doesnt conform to regular everyday scent standards and for that I love it more.

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