Fils de Dieu du riz et des agrumes

Have you ever owned a fragrance, decided to get rid of it, then a few months later regret that decision? That just happened to me with Fils de Dieu du riz et des agrumes. And not only did I fall head over hills this time, I bought the 100ml size which is a rare thing for me with a large collection. I need to review this scent again. What changed? Well I admit to buying the small 30 ml size blind. I had read an article last summer about rice notes and became intrigued by the mention of this perfume. In August warmth, Fils de Dieu du riz disappeared so quickly that I had a hard time picking up on it. Not only that, the scent appeared to be gone in less than 10 minutes. It’s was so light on me that within a few weeks of ownership I figured I must anosmic to it and gave my bottle away. Fast forward to early Seattle spring; our weather is very cool and wet. Unlike other parts of the U.S. our Spring starts in late February and goes until early July. It’s a strange phenomena but it’s the reason the land is green and lush but at the same time we can’t easily grow a tomato. Anyway, I’m digressing, back to the scent. I came upon a splash sample and tried again. It seems cool weather works better with my chemistry. That’s means I need to be heavier than normal on the trigger. Instead of one or two sprays I need four or five. Hence the 100ml size so when I decide to wear this beauty, I can be liberal with my application. Lastly, I can’t get on the gourmand bandwagon with Fils de Dieu du riz. Im not even sure I can pick up the rice note. What I smell is a beautiful spicy citrus with a much more prominent floral note than what is voted here on Fragrantica. There is a creamy quality to the scent even though it burns bright. I absolutely have fallen under its spell. If you had longevity issues with this scent, try the heavy application method in a different season (I’m now getting several hours of performance). You might be pleasantly surprised like I am.

Tropical, oriental... and totally delicious! Etat Libre d'Orange 's gourmand masterpiece is Fils de Dieu de Riz et des Agrumes is a fantastic mix of a deep, animalic vanilla oriental (like Shalimar ), and a savoury gourmand fragrance. It has a crazy list of notes... but I basically get some food-like notes, such as lime, shiso leaf, ginger, coriander, coconut... and white rice, followed by leather, vanilla and castoreum. It's an incredible combination. What I find it comes down to is a (very) well done combination between sweet, rich & creamy... and slightly acid-like savouriness. What I mean is that you have a creamy vanilla flavoured white coconut rice pudding, but also an spicy aromatic herbal mixture of shiso leaf, green cardamom, and the acidity of lime, with dark smoky leather and castoreum. How does it smell? Well, really nice actually! You would think that this combination would not work, but it does... and it's actually very wearable! At least to me anyway. I really like it and I think that if you are someone who likes "exotic" smells (or food) and likes "savoury" fragrances, with a hint of sweetness, then you will like this. Some people say it smells "too much" like food. Well, I personally think the balance is just right. You have leather and castoreum to balance out the gourmand aspect. Having said that, please try it out on your skin first, and give it time. I find it a very well done fragrance (really good perfumer here), and it works well with my skin. I think this is a fragrance for people with "unusual" or "unique" tastes in fragrances (like a lot of the Etat Libre d'Orange line), but I personally like it very much. If you want something very different from anything else, try this one. It may smell like food on you and turn you off... or you may not think like that and really like it anyway! For me it's very special and unique, and I enjoy wearing it every time.

oh i VERY much like this one!! in the bottle and on a sample card, it smells way too tropical for my liking, like sunscreen and piña coladas on a beach. i was scared to spray it on my skin cause usually those scents are instant scrubbers for me. what a pleasant surprise, then, when the second it hit my skin, it immediately mellowed into a warm, spicy bowl of curry. i get the rice note very strongly, and i absolutely LOVE it. one of my favorite ways to cook rice is in a mixture of chicken stock & coconut milk (instead of water), with ginger, sauteed onion, and garlic mixed in. this smells exactly like that, with some fresh steamed greens and mild sauce on top. this scent is so pleasingly warm while still feeling light and refreshing, and the drydown as the green brightness fades into sweet, faintly floral spice is delicious. i'm not a fan of dessert-y gourmand scents, but i'm really enjoying the more savory notes in this one. very easy to love, and none of the pungent artificial fruity & marine notes i feared smelling it straight from the bottle. EDIT 9/30/23: this is becoming a go-to for me. the citrus/spice/rice/green notes are so playful together, but they come together into a very sophisticated, clean, approachable fragrance that i'm not afraid to wear out in public. my QPP says it just smells like warm spice on me, which i am absolutely okay with, because it's a complex, unique warm spice that sits close enough to the skin that the more nuanced notes feel like they're just for me. :)

What a beauty! The opening is the most gorgeous fresh, mouthwatering lime note, combined with steamed rice and coriander; the leaves, not the seeds. It's an unbelievably joyous scent, yummy, but not too foody. Exotic and just the perfect antidote for our grey winter days. Then the car seat leather note that also features in Vierges et Toreros makes a short acte de présence, after which the fragrance transforms into a beautiful fluffy castoreum-amber scent, adorned by rose and coriander. It's a shortlived scent, and I do wish the gorgeous steamed rice and lime had stayed longer, but I enjoy the complete transformation it makes. And anyway, I would buy it for the opening alone. EDIT: not as shortlived as I thought. The beautiful fluffy amber/rose/rice drydown lingers on my skin for a long time. There's a clear tonka note as well, which gives the whole composition the impression of a light rice pudding. Actually, this perfume reminds me a lot of Shalimar. It has the Shalimar structure, but the lemon is replaced by lime, the vanilla by rice steamed in coconut milk and the leather and incense by tonka flavored rice. An exotic, light, summery, quirky, modern (though Shalimar is timeless), Etat Libresque hommage to one of the most beautiful perfumes of all time. I bought a bottle.

I’ve only recently discovered that I enjoy rice notes in fragrance. So when I read about Fils de Dieu du riz et des agrumes I started looking for a good deal. I found a small 30ml and bought it blind. When my bottle arrived I immediately put it on and thought something was wrong. I can really only pick up the notes if I push my nose into the spot I spray. Longevity seemed to be about 10 minutes. Projection is nonexistent, like one inch (if that). Decided to try it again, and a similar problem. What I do smell is lovely, a tropical pudding of rice, coconut and shiso. But it’s gone in a New York minute. Maybe this is the kind of scent that you wear after you’ve purged all other scents for several days? Maybe my nose would work better. But on me Fils de Dieu is an ultra light body spray. I just want a little more oomph from it, and it’s not meant to be. So last night I gave my blind buy to a frag-friend who, upon first spray, loved it. She’s familiar with the scent, having owned Fils de Dieu in the past. So my theory that the juice turned—or was weakened—went out the door. All the listed notes look amazing, just doesn’t work for me. I love reading all the positive reviews, but I’m disappointed.

I sampled this ~ 7 years ago (or thereabout), I found it charming and warm. The rice was very apparent in the first few seconds. Perhaps this was the original formulation? I loved it, but never seemed to jump on a FB. Fast forward several years and I found a very tempting offer online. My new FB seems to be a newer reformulation (which is still very lovely). Immediately I get the lime, coconut and shiso. This somehow strikes me as a skosh more feminine than the sample I tried several years ago. It's a very harmonious composition. After the drydown, the cinnamon, cardamom and jasmine peek out very, very nicely done.... no rose yet though.... honestly if the rose was very pronounced, it may well seem discordant with the other notes. The rice is there, but a tad more muted than I remember in the sample several years ago. Forty minutes on, I'm not getting a strong presence of the basenotes, yet. The musk and vetiver are subtle, yet charming. The rice seems a bit more potent as I approach ~ 45 minutes in. I'll certainly wear this year round. To me, this seems like a crowd pleaser, it is a touch less unisex IMO than the sample I had years back.

One of few citrus fragrances I've really loved. I agree with everyone who says it smells warmhearted and kind. Tropical without smelling like sunscreen. It's not beachy, the coconut does not make it smell like a vacation. A (specifically southeast asian) tropical place as it might be seen by the people who live there. A tropical place where the locals haven't been evicted to make way for resorts with armed guards where rich tourists can stay for a week or two. It feels like a place that is deeply known and loved. On a decidedly non-tropical westerner like me I'll admit this effect translates into a bit of an alter-globalization WTO protestor vibe, someone who might wander into a fair trade import shop when doing their holiday shopping. Ok, guilty as charged. Aside from the lime and ginger, this isn't a fragrance which lends itself to note by note dissection. The general structure is the same as shalimar without the baggage of being a recognizable century-old classic. It's both bright and complex enough to fit in all seasons. Easy to wear. Try it if you want a warm and lighthearted fragrance but have had trouble finding one that clicks.

This perfume is completely not what I was expecting. Expectations aside, it is both soft and creamy while bright and crisp. To me (and others I have shared it with) - the immediately obvious note is the rice & coconut which on first sniff reads powdery. I have NEVER been a fan of powdery smells, in fact they are my arch nemesis. But this....THIS. It is a delicate, creamy, warm powder. It's like a hug with your grandma nowhere in sight. I in no way think of food when I smell this, but the notes absolutely have the same effect on me as smelling a sweet, comforting, light curry.. It's just warm and good. The shiso leaf pops through and you can really pull that out along with the ginger which gives it the brightness. I am in love. This perfume brings me so much joy. Unfortunately it really doesn't stick around as long as I would like, but I would absolutely buy another bottle just for myself to sniff while working to get me through the monotony of the day and transport me to somewhere entirely more interesting.

At first - Summer holiday in a bottle. Such a shame the sillage is so poor. Coconut, lime, tropical. The zest disappears quickly on me, and I’m left with a soft, sweet, lightly cinnamon spiced coconut rice pudding. The cinnamon and cardamom get stronger over time, and I find it becomes sweeter. It’s lovely, and if it projected more I’d buy a bottle. I at least would like to be able to smell my own fragrance without putting my nose to my skin (I used a good heavy spray too). Edit: Ineed to update about the sillage. After 30 mins the sillage is much better, and it’s now projecting at least arms length, and also covering the scent of another(awful) scent I tried on my other arm. Spicy, milky, slightly coconutty and vanilla. Fab. Edit: I’ve now tried all 20 from the ELDO sample box, and this is a close contender for my favourite, I really love it. Edit 2, yes, I bought a bottle.... 100ml. This is just so soft and yummy and I can’t be without it in my life....

When I feel like something kind of light and a bit tropical, I often reach for this. Lime, ginger, coconut, shiso, rice, cardamom etc. All that good stuff and always a delight. Really cleverly composed so as no particular note overshadows another to my nose. Definitely foody in a way, but not really gourmand in the usual sense. It almost feels like a summery cologne. Surprisingly smooth and sophisticated, it's fantastic for when the weather is warming up, when it's the middle of summer, or even in winter when you need something to lift your spirits and remind you of sunshine. Very versatile indeed. It kind of reminds me of breakfast in Thailand for some reason. Those fragrant rice balls or something maybe? Anyway, it’s the only ELdO bottle I’ve ever got close to finishing... Probably a bit overlooked amongst the ELdO catalogue, but if you get a chance, do check it out! ELdO - Fils de Dieu Du Riz Et Des Agrumes (formerly Philippine Houseboy).

This one is beautiful! The name almost made me overlook this one because I have no idea what it means... but after receiving a sample I was kinda blown away by how good it is and it took me by surprise, being that I haven’t heard anybody speak on this one before. This one deserves being talked about, and I think people should get their nose on this. It’s a beautiful scent for summer. It’s a very tropical feeling fragrance, almost Island like... if I’m not mistaken the house created this one inspired by the Philippine islands, and I can see where they were going with that vibe. It starts off kinda similar to a Creed Virgin Island Water smell with lime and coconut, but when it starts to settle in then it leans into a creamy tropical territory that’s fresh and classy somewhat reminiscent of a Maison Francis Kurkdjian type of summer fragrance in a way... it’s very nice!

My new signature scent. Blown away by this. It’s so unique yet it also gently niggles a childhood memory of the smell of my Gran’s house. Foody, clean, aromatic. I don’t think she even cooked rice often, or lime or coconut but it must be the foody undertone. It’s a beautiful cloud of lime, coconut, rice all with a savoury undertone. I haven’t fallen in love with a fragrance like this in a long time. Even from a 1ml sample, longevity and spillage is incredible. Perfect for summer, unique, clean, fresh, aromatic, summery, makes you want more. I’ve started selling bottles of perfumes so I can get a 100ml bottle of this ASAP. LOVE. *** edit *** bought a 100ml bottle. So worth it. I have a cold at the moment so my senses are a bit off, however I got the strongest blast of steamy hot rice when I first sprayed it. Rice, lime, coconut with a savoury bite. Just delicious

This is fantastic. Completely unlike what I usually wear, or indeed what anyone usually wears but so damn good. This was kind of a blind buy for me. I'd been trying for years to get my hands on a sample (Phillipine Houseboy was the early version on my test list), only to have the sample break in the mail. The packaging smelled fabulous and I left it in the kitchen for a week before I just went ahead and bought it. I worried it would be different on my skin than the kitchen counter and it is. It's better! Before checking the notes, I thought Thai basil, coconut, lemongrass and some kind of floral. It keeps bringing me back to this particular moment eating pad see ew on the terrace of a hotel on the beach in Hua Hin. The best thing about it is how un perfume-y it is. This is ELDO as it should be. Nervy, unique and yet beautifully articulated and wearable.

Fils de Dieu is spicy, milky, slightly leathery. At first spray, it is really bright, fresh, tropical, just a little sweet. The first hour is very beautiful, so beautiful I wish it lasted longer. I cannot get enough of that coconut, lime, and ginger. On me, during the drydown, the lime fades away. The coconut and ginger remain but the starchy rice becomes very prominent along with the cardamom and coriander. There is a very light leather note in the background. Fils de Dieu reminds me of that feeling you get when you are in a very humid, tropical climate. You take a shower to cool off, but you start sweating again before you even finish dressing. I'm not implying that this smells like sweat or anything...the opposite really. This smells like clean skin. I'm really starting to love this one. I can't stop smelling myself when I wear it.

I love this fragrance. I shouldn't have bought it and yet...the dry-down forced me to. It opens in a way that I'm sure might be appealing to citrus-fans, but I'm not one of them. Green and citrus in the opening start mingling with dry, sweet cinnamon and that's where I was sold. It goes from strong and fresh to an increasingly warmer fragrance, slowly becoming edible, like a rice-pudding that's flavored with a bit too much lemon rind (for my taste). And then the milky dessert finally dries down and leaves a subtle dusting of vanilla sugar to remember it by, but only a whisper so it doesn't overstay its welcome. It elicits a feeling of growing tenderness, of a softness, kept very private under a cool, almost abrasive façade. I will stick with it to get to the sweetness.

Agree with the reviewers who say it's less a gourmand than it is a sweet, floral, spicy citrus-coconut. Many guys will consider this quite feminine. I haven't gone too far in yet on the gender-bender side of things, so when I say this leans quite feminine take that with a grain of salt - but I still quite enjoy this in the evenings every once in a while. It walks a very fine line between fresh and warming - making it a really hard one to slot into any given season. I like it for summer evenings, but that's more because I needed more sweet-but-fresh stuff for summer evenings in my collection and this came the closest from my ELdO bottles, but this is another that can have one foot in the door and one out in any weather imaginable.

really interesting metallic note in this. reminds me of having a bedtime story read to you by your father while he still has his keys clipped onto his jeans with a carabiner. strangely comforting metal. i don't get a lot of the herbs and spices listed sadly, but there is a rice accord. not the one i expected. i really like this perfume but would be hesitant to get a full bottle because, like much of eldo, it is strange... but intoxicating. every time i wear it i can't stop smelling it. good for layering if you want to smooth out the sharpness with something less complicated. the lime/ginger opening is delightful but fades into dry rice and keys within a few minutes. crazy nostalgic. musky. the leather is prominent.

I'm not easily taken with citrus-focused scents. I find citrus pleasant, but too er.. "diplomatic." I tend to reach for citrus when I don't want to offend anyone in tight quarters, but I still have to spray on something because...because if I don't, who will? Anyway, this is not a clean citrus. This is dirty...even animalic? lime. The rice buffs out the jagged edges of the coriander, but surprisingly, with all these foody notes this fragrance doesn't register kitchenish to me, though I certainly understand how others might be led in that direction. Every time I get a whiff of this, I have to stop and just appreciate the pleasant oddity. It's so wonderfully confusing. It's not often I appreciate being confused.

I was skeptical at first as to how a fragrance could smell like rice, but oh man, I love this. The smell is really hard to describe because I haven't smelled anything like this before. In the opening, you definitely smell rice, lime, coconut, and coriander. It was like a sweet yet spicy earthy smell, that rice and coconut added a nice creaminess to this smell. On the drydown, I got a nice, sweet, soft musk and the smallest hint of leather and tonka. The earthy rice was still noticeable even in the drydown. This is such a good and unique fragrance that just captivates you. Everything about this is so enjoyable, fun, light, yet challenging, unique, and different. This is a 10/10 no doubt about it.

This is beautiful and a bit avant guarde, and I like it much more than I thought I would. I am wary of coconut, it's sometimes fine, but can go wrong on me very easily. On me this is spicy and kinda tropical but not in an obnoxious or cliche way. This reminds me of the smell of the Mexican drink horchata, which is like a rice milk/cinnamon agua fresca drink, that I love; however, it hints at it without being actually foody which is nice since I don't really care for truly foody/gourmand perfumes. This is great stuff! Could be worn in the summer too, despite it's oriental spicy categorization, which is something I'm always keen on finding as I love that fragrance group.