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Bijou Romantique by Etat Libre d’Orange (2012) is as it sounds; a very romantic scent with rich layers of benzoin, patchouli, vanilla, and sweet floral top notes. One of the rare scents marketed with gender in mind, Bijou Romantique still manages to come across mostly unisex to my nose, as anyone a fan of rich oriental notes smoothed over with classic French floral designs could wear this, and likewise feels as if it could belong in the Chanel Les Exclusifs range due to how it vibes on skin. Those who know this house will also know it is among the most irreverent niche brands in existence, a brand after my own heart really, in spite of me not paying very much attention to it admittedly due to how hard it is to sample. Still, this is a fun scent from a fun house that I don’t regret trying at all, and this experience tells me that I have wrongfully slept on this “infamous” niche outfit for too long before getting to it.

The opening is bergamot and pink pepper with something that feels like lavender to my nose, twisted up with a boozy note that then falls into a lemon creaminess. Musky ylang-ylang tap dances with powdery iris in the heart to create that “old Guerlain” feel which is so important to fans of classic perfumery, and it is here in spades with a claimed coconut note that I don’t immediately sense, but can find implied if I look deep. The honeyed benzoin is the star player beyond this, with a beefy clary sage note acting in the role of tonka to add more unisex mustiness to the formula, although sweet vanilla, amber, patchouli, and vetiver do the rest of the talking further down. In the end, this is one sandalwood note away from being something like Caswell-Massey Tricorn (1941) and that’s pretty neat; Mathilde Bijaoui does good work here. Wear time is 10 hours, and sillage is what you might expect, plus I wouldn’t wear this in high heat because it has a style that could severly cloy in any appreciable humidity.

A warm, rich, seemingly exclusive scent for romance and quiet cool evenings, Bijou Romantique does the job it is assigned by smelling like an early 20th century romance character yearning for their lover to return home, gold locket with photo in hand. Due to the aromatic heft, a man or someone of any gender could really pull this off, just the same as they could the aformentioned Tricorn, or Guerlain Shalimar (1925) for that matter. This is a perfume out of time seemingly on purpose, only slightly hobbled by IFRA and materials availability in what it might otherwise have, but smells extremely high quality. The usual quirky anti-establishment anti-snobbery themes from Etat Libre d’Orange are on the down-low here, and what you are given instead is a fairly-priced long-lasting niche fragrance for fans of floral ambers. Not the most unique thing in the world, but considering the rest of this brand’s crazy output, it probably doesn’t need to be either. Thumbs up