£150.00
Made by Etat Libre d’Orange (Paris, France)
Perfumer: Quentin Bisch
Your shadow could be your perfume. This is your companion. A unique lightness and freshness top notes followed by a gothic woody earthy trail. This is your alternative self.
Notes—
Top: Black Pepper, Galbanum, Blackcurrant
Heart: Incense, Geosmine, Rose Absolute
Base: Vetiver, Patchouli, Ambroxan
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Who goes beside you into the forest on the darkest night? In Victor Hugo’s poem, “What Two Horsemen Were Thinking in the Forest”, the narrator says “by my side, Hermann seemed to me like a shadow. ”
We all have shadows, even at night in the dark forest. You may call yours by another name: your invisible friend. Your conscience, your soul, maybe even your complementary ego. Your shadow could have a name, like Hermann. Or your shadow could be your perfume. This is your companion. You can argue with your companion, you can challenge your companion, you can test the boundaries of your own attitudes. You can debate the finer points of existence. But you cannot lose this companion, not ever. This is your alternative self. As you move through life and contemplate its meaning, you ask unanswerable questions. When you’re overwhelmed with uncertainties, look to your shadow. Maybe you’ll get a response. Maybe not. But at least you’ll have an interesting conversation.
The night was so black and the forest very dark. By my side, Hermann seemed to me like a shadow. Our horses were galloping. Guardians of god! The clouds in the sky looked like marble. The stars flew through the branches of the trees Like a swarm of firebirds.
I am full of regrets. Broken by suffering, Hermann’s deep spirit is empty of hope. I am full of regrets. Oh my loves, sleep! Yet, while traveling through the green solitude, Hermann says to me: “I am thinking about half-opened graves. ”And I say to him:“ I think of closed tombs.”
He looks ahead: I Iook back, Our horses gallop across the clearing; The wind brings to us from far away the sound of the angelus bell; he says: “I think of those who are afflicted by existence, Of those who are, those who live”. “Me,” I say to him, “I think of those who are no longer!”
The fountains are singing. What do the fountains say? The oaks are murmuring. What do the oaks murmur? The bushes are whispering like old friends. Hermann says to me, “The living never doze. At this moment, some eyes cry, other eyes are awake.” And I say to him,“ Alas! Other eyes are asleep!”
Hermann then continue. “Misfortune, that’s life. The dead no longer suffer. They are happy! I envy Their graves where grass grows, where trees shed their leaves. Because the night caresses them with soft flames; Because the sky beams peace upon all their souls In all the tombs at the same time!
And I say to him, “Be quiet! Respect the black mystery! The dead are lying in the ground under our feet. The dead, these are the hearts that once loved you This is your expired angel! This is your father and your mother! Do not dismay them through bitter irony. As in a dream, they hear our voices.”
Alcohol Denat., Parfum (Fragrance), Aqua (Water), Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Tetramethyl Acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, Pogostemon Cablin Oil, Pinene, Limonene, Beta-caryophyllene, Eugenol, Rose Ketones, Rose Flower Oil/Extract, Terpinolene, Alpha-terpinene, Isoeugenol, Linalool, Terpineol, Isoeugenyl Acetate.
The ingredients in Etat Libre d’Orange products are updated regularly. Before using an Etat Libre d’Orange product, please read the list of ingredients on its packaging to ensure that the ingredients are suitable for your personal use.
Etat Libre d’Orange
Etat Libre d’Orange is a provocative niche fragrance house founded in Paris in 2006 by Etienne de Swardt. From its inception, the brand positioned itself as a radical departure from traditional perfumery, embracing irreverence, irony, and artistic freedom as its core values. The name itself—“Free State of Orange”—signals its intent: a symbolic territory where perfume is liberated from convention, commercial restraint, and polite expectations.
The brand’s creative philosophy is built on disruption and storytelling. Rather than adhering to safe or predictable olfactory themes, Etat Libre d’Orange often explores taboo subjects, contradictions, and emotional extremes. Love, death, sexuality, religion, humour, and identity frequently appear as conceptual anchors for its fragrances. Each perfume is treated as a narrative gesture—sometimes poetic, sometimes confrontational, and often intentionally ambiguous. The goal is not merely to please, but to provoke reaction, reflection, or even discomfort.
A defining feature of the house is its collaborative approach. Instead of maintaining a single in-house perfumer identity, Etat Libre d’Orange works with a wide range of independent perfumers, giving them unusual creative freedom within the brief. This results in a highly diverse catalogue where no single ‘house style’ dominates. Some creations are smooth and wearable, others are deliberately subversive, avant-garde, or conceptually eccentric. This openness allows the brand to function almost like a curatorial platform for perfumery ideas rather than a traditional fragrance line.
The creative process often begins with a conceptual provocation rather than a scent profile. A title, story, or philosophical question might serve as the starting point, with perfumers invited to interpret it freely. This leads to fragrances that feel more like essays or short films translated into scent. Works such as Fat Electrician, You or Someone Like You, and Remarkable People illustrate the brand’s range—from playful irony to cultural commentary to unexpected elegance beneath conceptual boldness.
Despite its rebellious identity, Etat Libre d’Orange maintains a high level of technical perfumery craftsmanship. The compositions often balance strong conceptual ideas with carefully constructed accords, ensuring that even the most unconventional fragrances remain wearable in their own way. The brand also embraces contrast: beauty and discomfort, refinement and excess, familiarity and strangeness often coexist within the same composition.
Packaging and presentation further reinforce the brand’s ethos. The bottles are uniform and minimalist, placing emphasis on the juice rather than ornamental design, while the naming of fragrances is deliberately striking, poetic, or provocative. This consistency in form contrasts with the diversity of the scents themselves, creating a clear visual identity for a brand built on creative unpredictability.
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