MASOCHISTS OF EVERYWHERE, THIS IS YOUR PERFUME.
 TO FLASH AGAINST THE SUN, TO REMOVE IT FROM THE UNIVERSE, TO CREATE PERPETUAL DARKNESS - WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY PROPOSAL! BUT DONATIEN ALPHONSE FRANÇOIS, MARCHESE DE SADE, WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN.

 HE TAKEN MANY ROLES: WRITER, REVOLUTIONARY, PHILOSOPHER, LIBERTINE. HE DISRUPTED SOCIAL NORMS AND EXPECTED UNRUPTED FREEDOM. HE MIXED IN DISCUSSION ANY STATEMENT ABOUT LOVE, BEAUTY, EVEN VIOLENCE AND IGNORED THE TABOUS. HE WANTED TO FLASH AGAINST THE SUN AND BURN THE WORLD, FREE US FROM PRECONCEPTS, BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS THAT PREVENT US FROM ACCEPTING OUR DESIRES. WE IDENTIFY WITH HIM BECAUSE WE TRY TO DO THE SAME THING.

 THIS IS THE REASON WHY ETAT LIBRE D'ORANGE CHOSEN TO CELEBRATE A MAN WHO CELEBRATED THE EXTREME. WE INVITED MARCHESE DE SADE TO BE PART OF OUR FAMILY OF EXTRAVAGANT PERFUMES. HE ACCEPTED WITH PLEASURE ... AND MAYBE WITH A HINT OF PAIN.

 ETAT LIBRE D'ORANGE AND THE MARQUIS DE SADE. IT IS A CELEBRATED WEDDING IN PARADISE, OR MAYBE IN HELL. IN BOTH CASES, IT WORKS. TOGETHER, WE FLASH AGAINST THE SUN.
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 Reading De Sade is about taking risks - suddenly finding yourself forced to face yourself. It is a wonderful risk to take if you want to immerse yourself in the heart and body of humanity. Because De Sade free. It pushes us to imagine and desire by going beyond the boundaries that saturate our perspective.

 "How many times, oh God, have I wished to hurl myself against the sun, tear it from the sky to create absolute darkness or use that star to set the world on fire."

 I who create perfumes, how could I broaden my perspective, my imagination beyond my limits? Very personal question. The cistus! One of my paradoxes. One of my gray areas. I have always recoiled from the cistus, avoided it or hid it under thick layers of vanilla and amber to avoid it. That's why I wanted to compare myself with a radical formula: the cistus, not dosed, exaggerated and in all its manifestations.

 My dear Marquis: this is dedicated to your suns, to our volcanoes!

 - Quentin Bisch, perfumer.