Etat Libre D’Orange Nostos (Jordi Fernández) + Memory of Love Giveaway

Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos

J’s image of Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos

Nostos, a former Harrods exclusive released in 2023, now joins Etat Libre D’Orange’s The Orange Extraordinaire Collection. Nostos come from the Greek meaning the return, with its etymology the essence of that haunting feeling nostalgia. A return in real life of never possible, as the past is always there, its ghosts haunt our future, having shaped us and how we see the world; we’re in a cycle we can’t escape.

Etienne de Swardt Etat Libre D 'Orange

Creative Director Etienne de Swardt of Etat Libre D’Orange official photo courtesy of the brand

Perfume is a beautiful form for the bending of time and space. It speaks of the past for us in the present and through each wear forms new memories that fold in on each other. An elegant performance plays out over and over each time we wear it. Like a play each wear can feel comforting and familiar yet, can also reveal new facets as it performs on our skin from opening to dry down.

Jordi Fernandez perfumer

Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos and perfumer Jordi Fernández of Givaudan

Etat Libre D’Orange Nostos draws its inspiration from the legendary Greek hero Achilles, who carries with him the beauty of human duality. A fearsome warrior, loved by many who was destined to never return home to his one true love, forging forward in the fight against his destiny told by the gods. Nostos also feels like a return to leather for Etat Libre d’Orange, a note that appeared in many of their earlier releases.

Nostos by Etat Libre d'Orange inspired by Achilles

Greek image of Achilles courtesy of the brand.

Nostos plays with this human duality in a beautiful homage to this Greek Odyssey hero capturing both Achilles power and love, wrapped into a dark smoky brooding incense oud rose. Nostos opens with a sweet kiss of mandarin, it lingers throughout, like a memory of love to hold onto as a dark oud and smoky incense roll in like a storm in a Greek Tragedy. It drives forward into adventure feeling powerful, as if you’re wrapped in a dark luxurious smoky incense woody musky haze. Saffron gives the leather a sensual softness that rubs up against the darker woods and oud giving Nostos a brooding feeling. That sweet memory of love persists, haunting the darkness that wraps around its heart or rose.

Ingredients used in Etat Libre D'Orange Nostos

Materials used in Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos and Greek imagery that inspired it courtesy of the brand.

As Nostos dries down it softens, revealing its yearning love. A sweet suede rose is wrapped in dark incense smoke, capturing the feeling of a dark cloud over a beautiful memory of a love that can never be returned to. Flashes of jasmine over creamy sandalwood haunt Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos as Achilles remembers his lover lost to time, as his adventures rage on. Ambroxan grabs you, holding this cosy memory close as if it’s carved in wood as to never forget. Those darker smoky incense clouds are never far away looming over with leather and oud hardening your realisation that all you have is this beautiful memory partial obscured by musky incense smoke. Thankfully for us, we have the pleasure of respraying Nostos so we can relive this experience of playing back time, as our own memories fold time again from the present into the past, letting us bathe in the Purple Rain of memories that Prince sang about.

Notes: Essence of Enscens, Essence of Mandarin, Saffron, Essence and Absolu de Rose Turque, Absolu de Jasmin, Accord Oud, Sandalwood, Georgie wood, Ambrofix, Suede, Musk.

J Wearescentient, Senior Editor, artist and olfactive writer.

Discloser: A bottle of Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos was sent to J for review, his nose and thoughts are his own.

Nostos Etat Libre D'Orange

Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos courtesy of the brand.

Thanks to the generosity of Etat Libre d’Orange we have a 100ml bottle of Nostos for one registered reader in the EU and UK Only. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on J’s review and where you live. What is your favorite Etat Libre D’Orange fragrance? Draw closes 2/15/2025

Visit Etat Libre d’Orange at Esxence A03

Please read Etienne de Swardt’s Creative Director in Perfumery (his own words).

Secretions Magnifique was inducted into our ÇaFleureBon Modern Masterpieces Hall of Fame in 2013.

Read Olya’s review of The Story of Your Life Karl’s review of Clean Suede and Nicoleta’s reviews of FrustrationGhost in the Shell, and Rien

Read Olya’s review of The Story of Your Life

Frustration was in Olya’s Top 10 Best Scents of 2023. For Nicoleta, Ghost in The Shell was a 2021 Top 10 Best of Scent.

Follow us on Instagram @cafleurebonofficial @etatlibreorange @etiennedeswardt @jordi_perfumer @wearescentient

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32 comments

  • Nostos in Greek means the return and this scent is inspired by the legend of Achilles. This story is intriguing and the nose Jordi Fernandez is top-notch too. Glad that this release is no longer Harrods exclusive and will be more widely available now. I live in EU and my favourites from this brand are Fat Electrician and Frustration.

  • goknitintheocean says:

    Hi there,

    I adore my memories of my favorite EL d’O, which is LIKE THIS…The perfect buttery carrot and cooking spice notes! Thank you for posting about this new one from them…By harkening back to Achilles, it is ambiguous as to whether this is unisex, or what, but I am intrigued and would love the chance to decide for myself. I am located in NYC/USA. Cheers!

    Deborah

  • Jackie Rosenfeld says:

    I love ETAT and the way they combine the essence of being human into all of their work. Celebrating Nostos is even more exciting as a professor, and I’d love to be able to wear this when I discuss him in class. Or is that too meta?
    Jackie in Texas, USA

  • Mandarin is one of my favorite top note. I liked the description of a “dark smoky brooding incense oud rose.” Nostos sounds like a beautiful fragrance dedicated to the Greek hero Achilles. On my wishlist it goes. MI USA

  • Liking the image of a scent as a bridge spanning time as well as space, and linking memories with the reality surrounding us.

    Rien, Intense or original, is my ELDO love, another gem that smells both vintage and futuristic.

    Greetings from London, UK

  • The incense-rose combination is one of my favourites, so I’d say this sounds interesting. And of course I love ELDO’s “Hermann à mes côtés me paraissait une ombre”, but also Experimentum crucis. I can’t wait to try this one a well! I’m from Italy, EU

  • Ramses Perez says:

    I appreciate when a house takes a risk and goes into a darker direction with a release. It’s a given it will be polarizing and not to the liking of the masses but those who gravitate towards it will find their comfort place. Nostos gives me a brooding and mysterious aura even with the addition of the Jasmin and mandarin. It’s one to try it on your skin before you buy it so you can experience what flavor you’re going to get. My favorite Etsy libre d’orange would have to be You or Someone Like You.

  • J’s review of Etat Libre D’Orange Nostos highlights its mythological inspiration from Achilles, offering a narrative depth. The fragrance features a complex array of notes like Oud, Musk, and Rose, creating an emotional experience centered around nostalgia and homecoming. The brand’s innovative and audacious approach to scent design is evident, providing a sensory journey that evolves on the skin. It also resonates culturally through its connection to Greek concepts of ‘Nostos’ and nostalgia. I live in Trzebnica, Poland, EU. my favourite Etat Libre D’Orange fragrance so far would be Jasmin et Cigarette

  • Svetlanafrance says:

    As a lover of evocative scents, my favorite from the house is Hermann A Mes Côtés Me Paraissait Une Ombre—its dark, poetic nature resonates deeply with me. I live in France and would love the opportunity to experience Nostos.

  • Svetlanafrance says:

    J’s review beautifully captures how fragrance can be a time machine, intertwining past memories with present experiences. The interplay of dark smoky incense, oud, and rose, contrasted with the lingering sweetness of mandarin and saffron-softened leather, sounds like an olfactory masterpiece—both powerful and deeply emotional. I live in France and would love the opportunity to experience Nostos.

  • Etat Libre d’Orange fragrances always manage to surprise with their creativity and the story behind each scent. ‘Nostos’ sounds like a sensory journey full of emotion, while ‘Memory of Love’ seems to bring a touch of sophisticated nostalgia. Congratulations on this new olfactory duo! Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the giveaway! I am from EU

  • Etat Libre d’Orange fragrances always manage to surprise with their creativity and the story behind each scent. ‘Nostos’ sounds like a sensory journey full of emotion, while ‘Memory of Love’ seems to bring a touch of sophisticated nostalgia. Congratulations on this new olfactory duo! Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the giveaway! I am from EU.

  • Nostos opens with a sweet kiss of mandarin, it lingers throughout, like a memory of love to hold onto as a dark oud and smoky incense roll in like a storm in a Greek Tragedy. It drives forward into adventure feeling powerful, as if you’re wrapped in a dark luxurious smoky incense woody musky haze. Saffron gives the leather a sensual softness that rubs up against the darker woods and oud giving Nostos a brooding feeling. That sweet memory of love persists, haunting the darkness that wraps around its heart or rose. As Nostos dries down it softens, revealing its yearning love. A sweet suede rose is wrapped in dark incense smoke, capturing the feeling of a dark cloud over a beautiful memory of a love that can never be returned to. Flashes of jasmine over creamy sandalwood haunt Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos as Achilles remembers his lover lost to time, as his adventures rage on. Ambroxan grabs you, holding this cosy memory close as if it’s carved in wood as to never forget. Those darker smoky incense clouds are never far away looming over with leather and oud hardening your realisation that all you have is this beautiful memory partial obscured by musky incense smoke. Thankfully for us, we have the pleasure of respraying Nostos so we can relive this experience of playing back time, as our own memories fold time again from the present into the past, letting us bathe in the Purple Rain of memories that Prince sang about.

    Notes: Essence of Enscens, Essence of Mandarin, Saffron, Essence and Absolu de Rose Turque, Absolu de Jasmin, Accord Oud, Sandalwood, Georgie wood, Ambrofix, Suede, Musk. A beautiful description by J I love rose and oud as a combination. This sounds like a dark and brooding scent. My favourite from this house is Fat electrician. Thanks a bit from the UK

  • This sound really interesting!
    I loved how J described the dichotomy of the fragrance as a representation of power and love, and I think that incense adds that veil of mystery and spirituality that characterize the Iliad.
    I remember the first time I saw the movie “Troy” and, based on J’s review and on the notes described, this fragrance could be the perfect olfactive transposition of that masterpiece.
    My favourite reference from the brand is “experimentum crucis”.
    Hoping to try Nostos,
    cheers from Italy!

  • Nice review Mr. J. I think it’s great that it’s not just a Harrods exclusive anymore and that we can all enjoy it. If there’s a beautiful word, it’s nostalgia, and knowing that the name of this essence forms its etymological root. As you state, few elements can elicit memory quite like smell: a way of bending time and space. Achilles inspires Nostos and Mr. Fernandez to create a dark luxurious smoky-incensey scent. Powerful opening that softens with time: sweet rose, jasmine and creamy sandalwood. My preferred scent of Etat Libre d’Orange is Antoine Lie´s Secretions Magnifiques. I live in Spain, EU.

  • I’ve not sampled any fragrances from this house, but have them on my list of “try before buy”. This fragrance sounds exquisite, with incense and rose, but the mandarin is what really caught my attention.

    Kentucky USA

  • Ohhhhh! What beautifully imagery you involved with you statement “letting us bathe in the Purple Rain of memories that Prince sang about”! The description of the fragrance make me immediately think of Prince’s velvet purple jacket!

    Love the description of the 2 main notes “sweet suede rose is wrapped in dark incense smoke”. I am most partial to rich rose fragrances.

    I live in the USA.

  • The concept of Nostos as a fragrant journey through memory and longing is incredibly compelling. I’m particularly drawn to the idea of a scent capturing both the deep-rooted nostalgia of homecoming and the bittersweet ache of past love. The interplay of materials like cistus, incense, and orange blossom suggests a beautiful tension between warmth and distance—something both familiar and elusive.

    Etat Libre d’Orange has always pushed boundaries in perfumery, and Nostos seems to embody that spirit in an especially poetic way. I’d love the chance to experience how it translates the complexity of memory into scent.

    I live in UK

  • wonderscent.mari says:

    Loved the concept of the word’s meaning – to return – and how it forms the etymological root of nostalgia. The scent of the most beautiful Greek hero and this fragrances wraps its wearer in notes that call to mind the endless summers of dewy youth, like mandarin, Turkish rose, jasmine, saffron and sandalwood. Great review J. I’m very intrigued to try Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos. I’m from Germany , EU

  • Sorohan Adriana says:

    A sweet suede rose is wrapped in dark incense smoke with flashes of jasmine over creamy sandalwood haunts Etat Libre d’Orange Nostos in pure love! I am from EU

  • All the ELDO fragrances look good on the shelf, including my less-showy favorite (Fat Electrician), but that purple and gold bottle stands out. The juice sounds like a robust take on rose and oud, but the sweet mandarin note is a point of distinction, especially if it lingers long enough to wrestle with the smoky incense. I find that contradiction intriguing.

    I’m in the USA.

  • J’s review has inspired me to reread chapters of “The song of Achilles”, and seek that sweet suede rose scent wrapped in incense. “I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”

    I live in Portugal, and never tried anything from Etat Libre d’Orange. At least not yet.

  • Interesting story and nice to learn something new. I like that this is inspired by Achilles. Nice looking bottle and notes. This seems like a warm scent still be nice for the cooler days.

    Thanks for the giveaway. Ca

  • Big fan of ELDO with Rien and Tom of Finland/clean suede my favourites. Love the sound of Nostos and the ambition of the brand to link scent to memory and emotion. I’m in the UK

  • Sherin Thomas says:

    Nostos gives me a brooding and mysterious aura even with the addition of the Jasmin and mandarin. From PA, USA

  • Great review again by Wearescentient. Nostos. Strength and Achilles the warrior smoke and incense and yearning love rose. My favorite from Wearescentient is his reference to playing back time bathing in our memories in the Purple Rain.
    Frustration and Hermann a mes cotes me paraissait un ombre are my favorite EDLO
    EU
    Thanks for including the link to Etienne de Swardt as a creative director. I hope one day he does bring Lucifer to the niche market.

  • Every release from ELDO is such an exciting journey – the name, the story on the leaflet, the artwork on the bottle and especially the surprise when discovering the actual scent. I’m very curious to find out what a Greek Odyssey leather smells like. My favorites from ELDO are Putain des Palaces, Yes I Do, Hermann à mes Côtés me Paraissait une Ombre (probably THE favorite) and You or Someone like You. Thank you J for the review. I live in The Netherlands, Europe.

  • Now this one sounds really exciting. I adore ELDO and am really keen to see what they do with a rose/suede profile. J talked quite a bit about the incense and the smoky facets really serving to highlight the core of the fragrance, which certainly caught my attention. I think this would work wonders on a spring evening. Best of luck to everyone. I live in NC, USA.

  • Kensolfactoryodyssey says:

    I’d love to win a bottle of Nostos because it feels like more than just a fragrance—it’s a story, a memory wrapped in smoke and suede, a love both lost and eternal. The way it captures longing, the ache of time slipping away yet lingering in scent, is something I’d love to experience. If Achilles had his armor, maybe this could be mine—a way to hold onto beauty, even as it fades into the past.
    I’m in California

  • Melinda Gaddy says:

    I’m from Kansas and a huge fan of ELDO. The mix of incense, saffron, woods, musk, and leather in this fragrance really sounds nice and sophisticated. I’ve increasingly come to enjoy leather notes in fragrances, and i’v always love incense notes.