L’Entropiste Paris Discovery set (Dorian’s Spleen, Altamura, Jodhpur 6AM) by Karl.

Bertrand Duchaufour has never been a perfumer of predictability. A disruptor in an industry that thrives on structure, he has long embraced the friction between order and chaos—crafting scents that challenge, evolve, and refuse to settle into the expected. With his own brand, L’Entropiste Paris, Duchaufour fully assumes his alter ego: The Master of Disorder.

In this debut collection, he does not simply create perfumes; he engineers entropy itself, blending raw materials in ways that force the senses to adapt, recalibrate, and find meaning within the unknown. Dorian’s Spleen, Altamura, and Jodhpur 6AM each explore a different facet of this disorder—decay, transformation, and contrast—offering olfactory experiences that are both disruptive and exhilarating.

Image of Bertrand Duchaufour courtesy of the brand.

But why does this dissonance captivate us? Science has an answer. Our brains crave unpredictability. When we encounter disorder—whether in music, art, or scent—our neurons fire in a more engaged, alert state. This is because novelty and unpredictability activate the dopaminergic system, the brain’s reward centre, keeping us hooked on the mystery of what comes next.

With this in mind, L’Entropiste Paris is not simply a brand. It is a biological experiment in chaos.

Image courtesy of the brand 50 ml

L’Entropiste Paris Dorian’s Spleen: The Decay of Beauty

“The past is but a grotesque echo of the present.” – Charles Baudelaire

Inspired by the melancholy and decadence of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian’s Spleen is an intoxicating descent into gourmand decay—where opulence slowly rots into something darker. The fragrance opens with a rich pour of whiskey, warm and intoxicating, its vapours curling upward like a dissipating memory. Almost immediately, dark chocolate and coffee emerge—bittersweet, resinous, and deep—setting the stage for something sensorially overwhelming.

Image of Bertrand Duchaufour as Dorian Gray, courtesy of the artist.

Yet, beneath this luxurious intensity, a quiet disorder unfolds. Smoke slithers through the composition, burning caramel and ashy embers, introducing a ghostly presence that undermines the comfort of its gourmand heart. Spices add sharp, erratic sparks, like flickers of a candle about to die.

The result? A fragrance that seduces, then unsettles. Just like Dorian Gray’s portrait, what seems beautiful at first glance is, upon closer inspection, shadowed by something eerie. The brain, craving resolution, keeps reaching—chasing a beauty that refuses to stay still.

 Altamura courtesy of the brand.

 L’Entropiste Paris Altamura: The Elemental Transformation of Grain and Fire

“The old world shall be devoured by flame, and from its ashes, a new one shall arise.” – Frankenstein

While Dorian’s Spleen is a fragrance of decay, L’Entropiste Paris Altamura is one of transformation—a scent that burns through the past to forge something new. Named after the ancient Italian city famed for its traditional bread, this is not a nostalgic scent of wheat fields—it is fire, fermentation, and earth. The first inhale is startling: the scent of roasted grains, burnt sesame, and blackened crusts. It is both primal and futuristic, as if something familiar has been distorted, its DNA altered by time and heat. The nose expects sweetness, yet is met with something raw, almost charred. As the fragrance settles, notes of licorice, cumin, and myrrh surface, deepening the intrigue. Rum absolute adds a dark, fermented quality, almost as if the wheat itself has been left to sour and brew.

Then comes the final transformation: earthy vetiver, bitter almond, and smoked vanilla—a return to the soil, as if the cycle has reset. The sensation is deeply textural, grounding, but always shifting. Altamura captures entropy as evolution, proving that even destruction births something new.

Jodhpur 6AM Courtesy of the brand

 L’Entropiste Paris Jodhpur 6AM: The Mirage of Light and Shadow

“Dawn is a trickster; it offers clarity yet distorts everything in its golden glow.”

Jodhpur 6AM is a mirage—a scent that plays with perception, shifting between cool and warm, dark and light, morning and night. If the previous two fragrances explore the tension between beauty and decay, structure and fire, this one find chaos in contrast.

It opens with an invigorating black tea accord, bracing yet smoky, cooled by the electric sharpness of ginger. The composition tricks the brain—is it fresh? Is it dark? Is it both?

Then comes a creamy turbulence: cardamom, tuberose, and a hint of milk. The floral element, unexpected in a scent like this, introduces a soft, almost dreamlike texture—yet it never settles into full comfort. Spices keep emerging, their presence shifting with body heat and environment. The dry-down is a slow reveal of saffron, leather, and woods, mirroring the way dawn dissolves the chill of night into the dry heat of the coming day. It is a scent of transition, where nothing stays still for long.

courtesy of the brand.

Why We Crave Disorder

At the heart of L’Entropiste Paris lies a question: Why do we find beauty in unpredictability?

Neuroscience provides the answer. Our brains are hardwired to seek order, yet it is in disruption that we become most engaged. This is why we are drawn to Gothic literature, surrealist art, and avant-garde music—they challenge our expectations, keeping our cognitive processes more alert, more stimulated, more alive.

In perfumery, this manifests in compositions that defy structure, shift on the skin, and introduce contrast where none should exist. The scents in L’Entropiste Paris do not merely unfold—they disintegrate, reform, and evolve, keeping the mind chasing their elusive narratives.

Disorder, when done right, creates something more powerful than beauty—it creates obsession.

L’Entropiste Paris Discovery set

With Dorian’s Spleen, Altamura, and Jodhpur 6AM, Bertrand Duchaufour has distilled entropy into scent. These are fragrances that bend reality, where the familiar becomes strange and the comfortable dissolves into the unknown. Just as literature, art, and music have long sought to push against structure, L’Entropiste Paris reminds us that perfume, too, can be an act of rebellion.

In a world obsessed with balance, true beauty lies in disorder.

Karl Topham, Senior Editor.

Disclosure: This review is based on a trio of L’Entropiste Paris 2ml samples which I purchased from the brand. Opinions are always my own.

Follow Us on Instagram @cafleurebonofficial @lentropiste @bertrand.duchaufour

Please also see Michelyn Camen’s interview with Bertrand Duchourfour here.  Michelyn gave L’Entropiste Paris Best Buzz of 2024

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