French President Emmanuel Macron isn’t just walking into rooms — he’s wafting into them. And according to insiders, you can smell him coming from a mile away.
A bombshell new book claims the French leader douses himself in Dior’s Eau Sauvage — a cologne so strong it’s become an unofficial warning siren inside the Elysée Palace. “It smells like the president,” aides reportedly joke. And they’re not kidding.
“It hits you before he does,” said one former aide quoted in The Tragedy of the Elysée, written by veteran political reporter Olivier Beaumont. “It’s not subtle. It’s a statement — watch out, here I come.”
The Perfume Presidency?
Macron apparently treats fragrance not as a luxury, but as a tool of dominance. He sprays “industrial amounts” of Dior at “all hours of the day,” the book claims — likening his habit to the lavishly scented struts of France’s “Sun King” Louis XIV.
He’s said to keep a bottle within arm’s reach at his desk, always ready to reapply.
The cologne of choice? Eau Sauvage — a best-seller linked to American actor Johnny Depp, who has famously battled Hollywood and cancel culture with the same defiance Macron seems to channel through scent.
A Symbol of Macron’s Style Over Substance
While the average French citizen struggles under inflation, strict labor reforms, and widespread farmer protests, their president is busy curating his personal brand — from his open shirts and moody black-and-white boxing photos to the heavy musk of designer fragrance.
“It’s like marking his territory,” said another staffer. “It’s power politics… in a bottle.”
A Family Affair — And a Fragrance Fetish
Macron’s wife, Brigitte, isn’t immune to the perfume parade. The book says she sometimes spritzes herself with her husband’s cologne while he travels — saying it makes her feel like “her man isn’t far away.” Romantic or ridiculous? Depends who you ask.
She’s also known to favor Louis Vuitton — another brand in the empire of billionaire Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest man and a close ally of Macron. Arnault’s LVMH group owns Dior, making Macron’s cologne habit another nod to his cozy ties with the French luxury elite.
The Sunglasses Stunt That Left Ministers Red-Faced
It doesn’t end with fragrance. Macron also reportedly keeps a box of beat-up sunglasses — “each uglier than the last” — which aides and ministers are forced to wear if they forget their own during meetings in the garden.
“They’re bent, cheap, mismatched. Some are red-rimmed and ridiculous,” said one cabinet member. “It’s a little game to him. It’s about control.”
Humiliation or humor? “Clearly, it’s not meant to make us look good,” the minister added. “I think he actually enjoys seeing us look like fools.”
But the strategy is effective. “Once you’ve borrowed a pair, you never forget yours again.”
The Bottom Line: Macron’s Palace, Macron’s Rules
From overpowering perfume to playground-style power moves, Macron appears less focused on governing and more on stage-managing his presidency. To critics, it’s more performance than leadership — a leader more concerned with image than impact.
As one French columnist put it: “He smells like authority. But the people want substance — not Sauvage.”
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Of course he smells of B.O. because he’s French! What did you expect! They’re use to that in Europe!
If he resorts to the heavy smell of cologne that’s because instead of bathing cologne is use in-lieu of!