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05-03-24 / #002
Well, after mentioning it in my first entry, I suppose I should talk about my signature fragrance, my greatest favorite - the masterpiece that is “The Ghost In The Shell” from ELDO.
I don’t really remember how I came across this perfume in the first place. It might have been on social media, most likely, or a youtube video. It was at the beginning of my fragrance journey, almost two years ago. The idea of a lactonic scent sparked a curiosity in me, as I’d never come across a fragrance like that before. I swiftly ordered a sample as soon as I was able to. I tested it with my dad - who himself is a perfume fanatic and pulled me into the world of fragrance with him - and it was somehow exactly what I had pictured based on the notes, and the complete opposite.
The site lists the notes as follows - top notes: aqual, yuzu, hexyl acetate, middle notes: jasmin absolute, mugane, milky skin accord, base notes: moss accord, vinyl gaiacol, orcanox.
Now, I had never even heard of half of these ingredients before acquiring the sample and reading up on it. What the hell even is hexyl acetate or mugane? Well, they were manufactured in a lab! Not natural, that is. Forth comes the base concept of the fragrance and inspiration behind it - Masamune Shirow’s manga called “Ghost in the Shell”, first published in 1989… I am ashamed to say I still have not read it or watched any of the adaptations. I will get around to it, someday, considering what a classic it is. I may not be able to fully grasp the concept of the fragrance, but after all, I suppose it is not a requirement for enjoying a scent. So, instead of the manga, I will be talking about my perception of the perfume and what it means to me.
“[...] By mixing biotech and natural materials, this perfume silently celebrates the wake of the future and also whispers of a day to come, by providence or chance, when humanity is reunited and organized. A day when all consciousness is summoned by the infosphere to constitute a superior being and pass from the inert to the living. As the molecules assemble to make the living, we will then make a qualitative leap that becomes the starting point and arrival of transhumanism. [...]” - says the founder of ELDO, Etienne de Swardt.
To me this perfume is meditative, comforting, safe, and above all - beautiful. It is like nothing I’ve ever smelled before. It is perfection. It opens up with a blast of soft, milky yuzu, water, a warm skin-like musk, a vinyl-like accord. The opening is my favorite of all of the stages this fragrance travels through. It is futuristic, otherworldly, distant, yet so close, so familiar. Your robot lover, the smell of your human skin mixing with the smell of the soft plastic of theirs. This fragrance is timid, gentle, soothing. It is a whisper of warm breath upon your skin.
As I’m writing this, I am listening to Grouper in the background, her “A I A: Alien Observer” album specifically. I think it fits the aesthetic of this fragrance. Cold, interstellar in nature, turned human by Liz’s fuzzy synths and dreamy vocals. Eartheater’s “Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin” is also fitting.
Attached below is a collage I made of the vibes “The Ghost In The Shell” gives off, but as I am staring at it now, I realize how hard it is to capture the essence of this fragrance in just six images. 
04-03-24 / #001
For my first entry, today I am wearing "Exit The King" from Etat Libre d'Orange by Cecile Matton and Ralf Schwieger.
A little while ago, my mom and I went to the mall to shop for clothes along with other things, ultimately just to spend time together. Of course, I dragged her to the local Sephora to smell the few niche houses they displayed - Serge Lutens, Tom Ford, Maison Margiela and so on, as well as ELDO, of which I am a huge fan of. My signature fragrance - The Ghost In The Shell, a futuristic, lactonic, citrusy and floral concoction that smells like if a plastic doll and a human melted and melded together - is from that very house.
My mom had complimented The Ghost In The Shell on me multiple times before, so it's no wonder she gravitated towards the house instantly. She smelled the few scents they had on display there, along with the "Exit The King", which this whole entry is about.
With the name of the fragrance, you'd expect a grand, masculine, strong fragrance.
"A fragrance inspired by the fall of power. Because nothing can rule us. Exit the King tells a story of leaving a world full of old norms for a new world. A world full of freedom and discovery." - ELDO says about the scent on their website.
And yet, when my mom sprayed Exit The King onto her wrist, we were both hit with the smell of... Soap and roses. The cleanest, softest, most sophisticated and poised scent you could imagine.
ELDO states that the top notes are: soap, aldehydes, musk, pink pepper and timur; middle notes being rose, jasmine and lily-of-the-valley, and base notes being moss, patchouli, ambroxan and sandalwood.
To me, the standouts here are of course soap, aldehydes, rose, musk and a bit of the lily-of-the-valley and oakmoss. I cannot imagine where the jasmine or pink pepper could fit in here, I don't detect them at all.
Either way, my mom was taken with the fragrance. She instantly asked the Sephora employee whether they had a sample or 10ml bottle she could buy. Of course, they only had 30ml, 50ml and 100ml bottles. So, she turned to me, and asked me where I get all of my samples from. We ordered 30mls of "Exit The King" the very week.
I, too, was instantly enamoured with it. I was pretty sure I had smelled it before, had a sample of it maybe, just from the name, but I did not remember how it smelled at all. I am not usually someone who goes for rose and soft florals when looking for a perfume, but aldehydes are the love of my life, so it's no wonder I took to it.
I sneakily often sprayed myself with the fragrance after my mom had bought it. After a few months, she told me she got bored of it, so I took the tiny, half-empty bottle under my wings. It now sits on my "fragrance shelf" in my room, along with a few full bottles and about 50 tiny samples (which is only half of my entire sample collection!).
As for the imagery the perfume invokes, by definition it should read very modern, chic, and yet there is something very vintage about it, dare I say almost... medieval. Now, that may just be because I have been listening to Backworld's "Anthems From The Pleasure Park" - a wonderfully soft neofolk album with both male and female vocals lulling the listener to sleep - all morning. I feel like a 14th century princess in spring, spending each day from noon 'till evening in my rose gardens when I wear this perfume.
It's soft yet sharp, warm yet cold, the texture is entirely reminiscent of actual soap, bubbly and creamy.
Attached below is a little collage I made that I think represents the aesthetic of "Exit The King".
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