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7.7 / 10 434 Ratings
A popular perfume by Serge Lutens for women and men, released in 2014. The scent is smoky-spicy. It is being marketed by Shiseido Group / Beauté Prestige International.
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Main accords

Smoky
Spicy
Woody
Resinous
Fresh

Fragrance Notes

FrankincenseFrankincense MuskMusk

Perfumers

Videos
Ratings
Scent
7.7434 Ratings
Longevity
7.3332 Ratings
Sillage
6.3335 Ratings
Bottle
7.9316 Ratings
Value for money
7.1148 Ratings
Submitted by Kankuro · last update on 12/24/2025.
Source-backed & verified
Interesting Facts
The fragrance is part of the Collection Noire collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Wild Tobacco by Illuminum
Wild Tobacco
Thundra by Profumum Roma
Thundra
Bois d'Arménie by Guerlain
Bois d'Arménie
Original Musk Blend No. 1 by Kiehl's
Original Musk Blend No. 1
Serge noire by Serge Lutens
Serge noire
French Lover / Bois d'Orage by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle
French Lover

Reviews

61 in-depth fragrance descriptions
8Scent
Ysbrand

84 Reviews
Ysbrand
Ysbrand
Top Review 10  
Aether
One thing i noticed in the last times about Serge Lutens is how they are becoming more and more obscure at the time to list the ingredients of their fragances. And i would say it is a trend other niche fragances are following too (i am thinking of LÁrtisan, for example)

Not much could be found when researching L´Orpheline. Mostly, a mere reference to incense and a lot of lutensian literature (written in that ambiguous Confucius/Chesire Cat way that only rises more questions) about orphans and Orpheus. Which actually prepares one for the mood of the fragance.

So i expected a classical incense. Avignon type. Well, nope. I mean, it is a very incense centered fragance, but dont expect warm spirals of smoke. L´orpheline is ghostly, a steel-cold incense, incredibly clean and fresh, with an inorganic vibrant feeling coming from aldehydes and woody aromachemical, also cool spices, i smell hints of clove and pepper. Indeed, i can sniff in L´orpheline elements from other SL fragances, that interact very well. The buzzing-high pitched etheric note in Miel De Bois, like fictional woods. The cool spiciness of Vitriol d´Oeillet and the sparkling aldehydes of Laine de Verre and De Profundis, and also the clean musk of Laine. Miel without the honey, Oeillet without the flowers.

If you enjoyed those perfumes, you might like L´orpheline. As the fragrance develops in my skin, i feel it less metallic, gets smokier and the texture of dark wood and humid soil is more obvious. It is refined in a low key way, almost austere and ethereal. I personally find it easier in a man, but of course, as all Serge Lutens are conceived for, it is wearable for women.
2 Comments
shengnu

91 Reviews
shengnu
shengnu
Helpful Review 7  
Simple. But there's a lot going on under the surface. Spare and beautiful.
This fragrance is far more complicated than the two listed notes - Frankincense (on the website just plain "incense") - and musk. People are saying they're smelling everything from lavender, to a barbershop fougere, to hospital wound dressings, to a dentist's office. Let's look into why!

First, a little bit of information. Frankincense is a resin extruded from trees in the genus Boswellia, which grow all up the mid to Northeast coast of Africa, from Somalia to the Arabian peninsula. It has a piney, sometimes lemony, and resinous smell, and has been traded in the Eastern Hemisphere for thousands of years. It perfumes churches and temples to this day.

I first looked into if the smell was the adhesive used in bandages, but frankincense resin is not used in medical adhesive. Interestingly, tincture of benzoin (another perfumery ingredient) is. But benzoin comes from a different tree, and has a sweet, vanilla (sometimes also a bit sweaty) smell instead of the piney woody smell of frankincense.

So what else could be giving the impression of hospital wound dressings? If it doesn't smell like the adhesive, could it smell like antiseptic?

Well - the connection could be found in phenols. Frankincense has tons of polyphenols. In high quantities, phenols have a smell: they're sweet, not in the best way - like tar - and smoky/musty. And - the phenol group cresols is used in industrial Lysol, bandaids as a disinfectant, and dentists' offices as antiseptics and disinfectants. They're also present in Sharpies. I think we might have found the connection.

Now, about the other listed note, the musk:
It's a clean, white, synthetic musk. Ancient musk perfume was made from the musk pod of male musk deer from Asia, removed, dried, soaked in ethanol and diluted. When undiluted it was poopy, with the essence of decay - when diluted, had a dirty-skin odor that many people found sexy, then and now. Simultaneously with animal musk, there was plant musk - created from compounds from angelica or ambrette - two plants that exude a milky, musklike odor created by a molecule called lactone. Now, there also exists synthetic musks, close to the plant musk in smell, which dupes either the animal musks (ketone) or the "clean" plant musks (lactone).

We've gone through many iterations of synth musks - from the cancer-causing yet reliably stinky nitro musks to the (also probably) cancer causing and unbiodegradable polycyclic musks like Galaxolide often found in laundry detergent, to the macrocyclic ketones and lactones that are probably better for us and the environment.
I have no idea what the musk in this is, except I know it's not civettone or a natural musk, because it is very clean and not poopy. It's powdery, very tenacious. Sweet. Lightly floral, actually gorgeous. People on Basenotes have said Exaltolide (a natural component extracted from angelica root, transparent and floral), Galaxolide (polycyclic laundry musk, cheap and used in almost everything - clean and functional) - I don't know.

Finally, let's get to patchouli: The secret, ignored accord on the Lutens English website - although the ingredients list betrays it.
Under the "ingredients" tab, of course the main fragrance formula is hidden under "fragrance." But, you can see that patchouli oil is present in larger quantities than the water in the ingredients list. And it's perceptible, too, despite not being present in the notes list. Something scratchy, almost minty, and earthy. Present in the beginning and at drydown. Reminding me of the patchouli in Coromandel Eau de Parfum - which is powdery and not very earthy. It's there, and it anchors and strengthens the whole composition.

Finally, present in smaller quantities, below "aqua," are sunscreen filters, Iso E Super, clove oil, the clove derivative eugenol, limonene, coumarin, menthol and mint.
Most of these are fixatives, and we probably won't perceive the smell in such small quantities. But I do think it's fascinating, and good, that the Lutens company would include sunscreen to counteract any photosensitizing effects of their ingredients. I think that's a good protective step, and I wonder if this is an EU requirement.

So the picture is far more complicated than what we see in the notes list. Modern perfumery is really an orchestra of technology that constantly has to be rebalanced, as new ingredient restrictions show up, as natural ingredients become more expensive and less available, and the company has to keep the perfume smelling the same.

This is a marvel of science that plays on our very complicated memories of sometimes profoundly negative things, like hospitals, church and the dentist - and makes an emotional connection out of them, all while smelling deceptively simple.
6 Comments
Mlleghoul

468 Reviews
Mlleghoul
Mlleghoul
Helpful Review 4  
silence and dust, memories and melancholia
Serge Luten’s L’Orpheline is one of those fragrances that it took a really long time to interpret and appreciate. At first sniff, for the longest time, all I really smelled was a ghostly, soapy mist of fleeting, fading florals. I thought this was meant to be frankincense, so confused and underwhelmed, I always sort of checked out and never really paid any further attention to how it unfolded on the several occasions I tried to revisit it. Today, I think I am starting to understand. It is oddly incensey, in a way; if there were an incense of musty, dried bouquets, spectral resins from unearthly realms, and milky, artificial woods, freeze-dried, crumbled and lit over a cold blue phantom flame. This is a fragrance faintly ominous and disquieting, of silence, and dust, and memories, and melancholia. The scent of a locked room that hasn’t been opened in over a century and witness to secrets best left well alone.
0 Comments
Bara89

3 Reviews
Bara89
Bara89
Helpful Review 4  
Memento mori
Serge in a bottle. This scent is my favourite for november. When it is still fall, but almost winter, cold, rainy and grey. I absolutely adore incense, and this fragrance is a beautiful and simple interpretation. Cold and warm at the same time, soft and also sad a little bit. When you are sad, because something happened in the past, not the "in the present" kind of sadness, when this feeling running through your mind over and over again, but the tame, almost comforting kind of sadness. This is the most beautiful scent for all souls day.
0 Comments
WolfHunter

76 Reviews
WolfHunter
WolfHunter
5  
Introverted and Introspective
L’Orpheline was my first foray into the house of Serge Lutens. As a large fan of gothic and melancholy fragrances, this had to be my starting point. Upon the first spray, I was surprised that L’Orpheline pays quick homage to the classic barbershop fougere. It’s the spicy, musky shaving foam profile but is very much toned down. About a minute later, something cold creeps in. I literally felt a cold sensation on my nose while smelling it, but didn’t get any menthol type smell. It was so odd. I was intrigued. Then L’Orpheline slunk into a musk forward scent with light incense in the background. The incense and musks took turns taking center stage through the duration of the wear.

This fragrance brings to mind a person walking through cold stone streets at night in an old European town in the winter time. Nothing tragic has happened to them recently, but the bitter cold and darkness has them thinking about all they have lost or all that could have been. The only light illuminating the streets is an old Catholic Church in the distance. The front door is open and the faint scent of incense whispers in the frigid breeze.
0 Comments
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Statements

94 short views on the fragrance
8
This makes me want to listen to Molchat Doma and wander around a concrete brutalist city in combat boots.
0 Comments
9 months ago
4
Chowards scented gum, incense ash, and petrichor.
0 Comments
4
Ghostly silence,
serene and beautiful.
0 Comments
2 months ago
3
a dusty metaphysical store. crying in an empty church. going to wear this to haunt my own house
0 Comments
3
A very soft incense that reminds me of the comforting side that a prayer can bring. Soothing and delicate. For incense lovers.
0 Comments
2
1st impression: Smells like a freshly shaven face to me. Pleasant, unremarkable.
0 Comments
2
Clean girl fragrance for the melancholic girlies. Unisex.
0 Comments
2
This is the final boss of incense fragrances. It’s spicy, yet hauntingly cold and grim. I love it.
0 Comments
2
Clean aquatic, barbershop/aftershave scent
0 Comments
2 years ago
2
Musky barbershop incense.
0 Comments
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