Fille en Aiguilles

I own a number of Serge Lutens creations by C. Sheldrake—a high price tag, to be sure. *Le sigh* But hey— the potions from this wizard are 100% worth every dusty penny. Out of them all, Fille en Aiguilles is my most treasured. Santal Majuscule and Arabie are close contenders, but neither of those incapsulate the feeling of autumn and winter festivities (my favorite time of year) as completely as my gorgeous Fille en Aiguilles does. It was a VERY happy day when I saw that FeA is now available in the bell jar. I prefer the bell jar flacon to the gratte—ciel (sky scraper) not so much because it’s less expensive (but it doesn’t suck that it is!), but because I love the way the witchy plum colored juice looks in the clear glass stoppered jar. The sky scraper flacons may provide a whopping 100 milliliters of fragrance, but I find them not as pleasing to look at and clumsy in my small hands to use. When you order a bell jar fragrance, the house provides a reusable travel sized atomizer along with a small funnel. You can pour the scent (carefully!) into this and spray the fragrance instead of dab. Because spraying it disperses the scent better, I find applying FeA this way helps the scent to “bloom”. And it’s certainly easier to carry in your bag than the bell jar! Don’t carry the bell jar this way, please ... it’s a heartbreaking and costly accident just waiting to happen! Out of my collection of Uncle Serge compositions, I favor wearing the lovely, translucent, incense smoke scent of L’Orpheline and herbal licorice of Douce Amere from late September though the first week of November. From November thru February, I love wearing Fille en Aiguilles. It’s such a warm and festive scent. Spices, pine incense, dried fruit and coniferous resins make this scent great to wear anytime, but especially during autumn and winter. The conifer scent here isn’t the fresh, sugary and sappy kind that one tends to associate with fresh cut Christmas trees. It’s drier and earthier, like the smell of the air on a walk through an alpine forest. The pine and fir smell warm and sunny, with just a smidge of camphor to cool your nose. Imagine sitting at a wooden table for an afternoon forest picnic in late summer or very early autumn. There’s sweet smoke from a nice hardwood fire burning. You’re eating a traditional holiday English pudding, the spiced fruit kind soaked in rum or brandy for weeks and brought to the table flaming. So you’re smelling the campfire and eating spiced fruit pudding while surrounded by dapples of sunlight filtered through pines, fir trees and turning leaves. THAT’S the scent of Fille en Aiguilles, and the longer you wear it, the deeper, sweeter and warmer it becomes. Around the 1 hour mark is when this scent truly glows on my skin. I know there are other great autumn/winter holiday fragrances out there. But if there’s a BETTER smelling one than this, I have not found it. Fille en Aiguilles is simply the GOAT. My only gripe is one that I see being echoed in reviews of FeA everywhere: Dammit! I WISH it lasted longer! This is one of several Serge Lutens fragrances that I really wish the house would commit to making into body lotions, for the simple fact that it just does not last anywhere near the minimum time frame an eau de parfum should. I only get about 3-4 hours of wear with FeA, which means it performs more like an eau de toilette than the eau de parfum (6-7 hours) it claims to be. For the price of it ($320 for the bell jar, $375 for the gratte-ciel) that’s very sad, because this really is a magically beautiful fragrance. Such a lovely yet frustratingly fleeting tease, she is. I haven’t yet found a similar fragrance with better performance that can eclipse Fille en Aiguilles. From mid autumn through most of winter, she is my one, my only top autumn/winter fragrance, and it’s looking like she probably always will be.

Fille en Aiguilles is a perfume for the dendrophile, the tree-hugger. If you don't care for the smell of pine, or anything similar, stop here and move on. When you first spray Fille en Aiguilles, you immediately get a feeling of opening your eyes to find yourself standing in the middle of a sunlit conifer forest. Needles crackle under your feet, tall green and brown giants extend to the great blue above like the hairs of your arm rising from an ecstatic shiver. Hair raising. The sun streams through the cracks of the canopy in determined golden-yellow rays, illuminating the silvery metallic flake facet in the green conifer needles, and sparkling against the little bronzed gems of sap exuding from the bark. Your jaw drops; "how did I get here?... Where am I?... Did I pass in my sleep, is this heaven - a magically alive forest?" The shimmer and the sparkle add this otherworldly feeling to accords that are otherwise incredibly naturalistic. A caveat however, because there is a lot more going on than that. Dried needles on the ground; brittle and stiff and dusty smelling. Pine sap; sticky, aromatic, resinous, and a touch sweet. Damp black earth and mosses; loamy, sweet, and a bit "turned" like compost, and bright beige woods. As the sun begins to fade, the sparkle disappears to the ether, the magical forest cools and you smell the quieter figures that only come out at dusk. Plums, blueberries, black berries, and other blue and purple fruit let off oils from their skins, zesty and gently sweet, while the trees impart to them a quietly audible blessing of frankincense. Darkness comes, and the smell of the conifer wood is all that remains. Stepping back into reality and out of the fairy tale, a reiteration of the naturalistic qualities of Fille en Aiguilles. This doesn't smell of potpourri, cleaning agents, candles, or anything else of the sort: this smells like an actual conifer forest, just given some simple adornments that help it levitate into the air. You choose Fille en Aiguilles over the many perfumes that are conifer/pine/sap forward, and likely quite a bit cheaper, because of Christopher Sheldrake. Of the perfumes that go this accord-route there are too many that, in a sense, are too naturalistic because their materials are likely more natural than the ones used in Fille, but those other natural materials morph into more acrid and sharp versions of themselves during extraction. Sometimes "natural material" doesn't equate to "better smelling"; nature has a tendency to not like being messed with and to make things hard for us, particularly when it comes to material extractions. In Sheldrake's hands the materials chosen and coaxed lack the sharp, astringent stridency of those in peer perfumes, and come across as more naturalistic even though this likely means that they are less naturalistic strictly speaking. Sheldrake's choice of materials and masterful blending hand leaves no detail overlooked, no corner untouched, and no depth unplumbed. I have yet to find the titular girl, perhaps she's the spirit I feel in this forest, but that's no matter because this is one of the most beautiful pine perfumes ever made, and, honestly, I'm saying that to cover myself because, at this moment, I cannot think of one better.

I really enjoy Fille en Aiguilles, but I must admit that I get very poor longevity indeed from my gratte-ciel bottle, lasting only about 2 hours or so on my skin. It's possible it's just me, or olfactory fatigue (or climate change, who knows) but I can smell the fragrance weakening in just the first few minutes into a very gentle, faint scent. Though longevity isn't everything, this paucity of performance is a fairly big issue for a scent both as expensive as this but also for a scent as obviously resinous and dark. Fille en Aiguilles is a beautiful blend of pine resins, saps and dried fruits, which creates a sweet-ish melange of admittedly wintry magic. The later released (but tried earlier by me) La Couche du Diable owes its blueprint utterly to Fille en Aiguilles, and while they by no means smell sufficiently similar as to be redundant they is nevertheless a STRONG family resemblance between those two scents. Fille en Aiguilles, however, is quite a bit sweeter and less smoky than LCdD and is thereby less challenging, but I find FeA is still sufficiently interesting in its own right. The frequent comparisons to Christmastime, replete as it is with spices, dried fruit and sweet, pine-inflected balsams are of course completely apposite, so much so that it appears Lutens jumped the gun in trying to steer us away from this association by making reference to a stand of pine trees in "summer". Nobody is convinced, though unlike some of its Lutensian brethren FeA is not so sweet as to be rendered unwearable in the heat, quite the opposite. The fly in the pine amber, in this case, really is that weak longevity and low sillage, however. Is this because pine notes are restricted in perfumery, or is there another issue at hand? Whatever the case may be, this is a rare example in which I think the simple lack of strength would be enough to put me off seeking out a new bottle of FeA when my own runs dry (which will be soon given how much and how often I must apply to be able to smell it). In this regard its more gothic, younger sister, La Couche du Diable, has FeA beat (I'm sorry to say), as the former's potency is fantastic and it hits the very same emotional beats. Fille en Aiguilles, for its own part, is of course pulling on the same (or similar) dried fruit compote as the still older Arabie and, even further, Feminite du Bois, both of which remain in good shape to the best of my smelling. As far as dried fruits go I'd defer to these instead, as it is only in that sweeter, more edible element that La Couche du Diable will not fill one's stockings.

It's Christmas season, 1988, in Twin Peaks, WA. Laura Palmer arrives home, long past sunset. Only she knows her whereabouts these past few hours. A chilly gust has followed her into the house, overwhelming even the warmth of the fireplace. Sarah, her mother, sits on the sofa with an embroidery hoop, the needle and thread spelling HOME SWEET HOME. She looks up at her daughter, out of breath, offering a slight nod and a pursed smile, an anxious edge in her eyes. Laura bends down to offer a silent, reassuring hug, nustling a shoulder. Her mother's cardigan is imbued with the scent of stewed fruits prepared earlier in the evening. Leland, père, interrupts this moment of quiet embrace. His voice raised to the point of aggression, he questions Laura about where she's been, why her seat was empty during dinner, this anger only ostensibly related to her absence. Lately, even the smallest provocation seems to unleash a sort of maniacal force within him. Once again, paternal needling prompts Laura to retreat to her bedroom. She closes the door behind her, lowers the needle onto a Smiths record. "Take me out tonight," Morrissey croons, as she collapses onto her bed, arms outstretched. The glimmer of a neighbor's Christmas lights twinkles in the window, and her mind drifts to the season. She imagines a baby Jesus in his hay-lined manger, cared for so lovingly by his parents, adored by others from afar. If only she could remember when her own home once held such care. Jesus's betrayal, his death, feels more relatable than his birth. If only a savior—someone, anyone—would come bearing gold, or frankincense, or mercy for her. These thoughts are too difficult now. Everything's too difficult now. Those nights in the forest—violence among the pines, needles against bare flesh—she yearns to leave all that behind, if only temporarily. Laura leans over the side of her bed, reaches into her backpack, grabs for that lifeline. Besides those holiday decorations, it's pitch-black outside, darker still inside this home. But the depth of Laura's darkness exceeds all. Now, she rides the white horse on a dirty needle. Warmth rushes through her veins. Again, Morrissey: "Take me anywhere, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care." In this haze, past and present, dreams and reality, meld together. And there, in the mind of Laura Palmer, where figments of comfort collide with doom, coalesces the scent of Fille en Aiguilles.

timid and withdrawn, like a gust of wind through the branches of the only green trees of the wintertime, i am drawn to this fragrance the way an adult is drawn to the tawdry ornaments that they once hung onto their artificial christmas tree as a child: with a sad nostalgia. i have not had this fragrance for that long (nor have i even worn through more than 15% of my bottle), and i yet feel as though i have lived a million lives with it! dried and stewed fruits, coniferous woods, scratchy pine cones, and churchyard incense all amalgamate into this fragrance that always manages to make me stop, relax my shoulders, and take a deep breath in. it is long lasting and yet quiet in silage, though i will say that - of all my scents - this one has received the most intimate compliments. i have been told i smell calming, that i smell like a candle, that i smell like i would give good hugs, and the like. it draws one in not by allure or otherwise bold attractiveness, but rather with love and with sagacity not unlike an elder reciting a story from their youth. wistfully sad and yet beautifully, joyfully recalled, fille en aiguilles speaks of happy memories that are remembered, if anything, due to their benefactor's sadness over the memory's distance. i have heard and read reviews where people say it smells of christmas and, while i understand and agree with that comparison, i may endeavor to add a clause to that idea: it smells like the nostalgia for christmas. like wrapping your own presents before bed on december 24th, like finding a scrap of that paper under the couch in that slow period between christmas day and new year's eve, like returning to school or work after the holiday season is over while wearing one of your presents, or like watching the fall of snow on a january morning, no longer associating it with festivities. dry hands in leather gloves, frigid legs in thick corduroy, and fluffy hair beneath fur hats. winter without the colored lights - well-heated living rooms in auburn glow set against bright gray windows and early dusk without the company of distant friends. sadness over the memory's distance. meditative and mitigating, o - how wisdom cries! <3

I have only ever worn it to bed at night (which is exactly where this fragrance fits into my life as I like it) so cannot comment on what it becomes when worn socially. I live up north where, in winter, snow can be deep enough to fully submerge a car. Naturally I am intimately familiar with the smell of pines and fir trees, cool resins, deep snow and freezing air, deep blue sky without a single feather of cloud, and the golden bronze colour of sunlight at 4pm... This is exactly what this fragrance gives me. When I wear it, I close my eyes and see, through a deeply frozen pine forest, snow-covered mountain ranges like silent giants that have stood guard for millions of years. The afternoon winter sun shines at their peaks, casting stark shadows and edges of gold. The air is so cold that it tastes sweet. And the resin is frozen solid, like crystals of maple syrup. Living in the city, I long for the forest and the mountains and the deep deep snow. So I wear this fragrance to bed at night, and visit them in my dreams. (I also cannot imagine wearing this when I actually visit the provincial parks further north because when I am actually there, I would much rather smell the forest itself then a fragrance... And it is not fair to compare a fragrance against the miracle works of nature.) This is a great fragrance. I think a lot of people will find it pleasant and comforting in the colder months. I do not get the Christmas association many people mentioned in their reviews, perhaps because winter lasts for 4-5 months where I am, so instead of Christmas, I just associate this fragrance with winter in the north. (And if anyone is interested, Frederic Malle French Lover is associated with the northern forest in the summer which is definitely not hot nor dry. It's a misty mountain forest that is warm and full of life.)

I got into fragrances about 7 years ago. I remember reading up about "niche" fragrance houses when I was researching whatever I could about high quality fragrances that go beyond the realm of generic designers. I saw people reccomend Serge lutens and I walked into a store that carried it. It was my first stop, the lady at the counter began showing me a couple of things and this must have been about the third one I smelt and just like that, I was hooked. Not just as a solid fragrance, but to me, it became the greatest thing I ever put my nose on and 7 years later, even after having smelt so many different fragrances, it remains at the top spot. To me, this is special, it's perfection, it does what it intends to do and it does not dissapoint. I tried murkwood by pineward and the reason I bring it up is while it clearly takes inspiration from this, it made me learn to appreciate the perfumer behind the fragrance even better as you can tell the difference between amateur work and that of someone on the level of Sheldrake that really blends the notes masterfully. Some people want to talk about compliments, for me this gets a lot of them. In a realistic way of course (not that influencer bs telling you they wore it for a week and got 8 compliments within said week). I think the reason being is that it is such an inviting fragrance. It is meant for the winter and fall because it fits the cold so well. Tempature in of itself is like a note with the way it compliments a fragrance. The notes play together perfectly, the main contributors being the dried fruit in the opening, the incense and pine as the main players and the vetiver as a subtle piece that holds it altogether. 12 out of 10 for me.

Dark mystical pine molasses amber I've been waiting forever to sample FeA and it is definitely different than what I expected. There is a certain metholated quality in the opening that immediately surprised me, it's certainly part of the pine/conifer accord, adding a fresh aromatic component, but what I find interesting is the contrast against a smokey, peaty almost molasses-like quality to the dried fruit ambery backdrop. It reminds me a bit of cooking with something like date syrup, which reduces at the bottom of the pan without burning, exuding a dense and substantial sweet yet savory quality. The spices definitely add a Christmas vibe, so does the pine sap. My mind wanders to thoughts of a nightly walk in a dark and mysterious pine forest. It's very unique, very very different to both Wazamba and Arso to which it is often compared to. Wazamba is dry woody, tart like raw frankincense, Arso is sweeter, brighter, cleaner. FeA is quite gothic smelling for a coniferous scent, as far away from the classic bright and fresh conifer fougere. It's also absolutely NOTHING like Fou d'Absinthe which is a classic bright clove-heavy composition without any of the dark syrupy facets. Were it not for the ridiculous 300$ price I would be tempted to buy it. I have no idea where or when I would wear it, but I have yet to come across a scent that is so darkly and mysteriously alluring. Definitely worth sampling and tbh keeping a few samples for the winter holidays will have most people covered as this isn't what most people would consider a daily driver.

I bought a new bottle of this recently. I had been on the fence for years (and years) but as the end times are apparently drawing near I suddenly felt the need to expand my pine fragrances selection. (I don’t know, I can’t afford a cabin in the woods so second best I guess?) Anyway, I can attest to both: A) I have been familiar with the fragrance for probably not the entire 11 years, but a good many years of its lifespan and B) I still have one of my old bottle samples on hand. I don’t know if people just have rosy memories or their skin just works better with fragrance than mine, but all time periods of Fille that I have ever sampled have ALWAYS had short longevity for me. Four to 6 hours top on skin. The projection was always on the smaller side too~ My new bottle honestly has far better projection than my older sample and my “memory samples”. Also, either its a bonafide formulation change OR all my samples were old enough to have lost some top notes (I’m leaning #2) but the pine note is more prominent in my new bottle than I’ve ever experienced; which really balances out the SL “raisin stew” far better than any of my other samples. Prices for the old smaller bottles on eBay now go for about what you can find the new bottles on the gray market for. IMO the new bottles have better projection than my current old sample and the “samples of my memory”, slightly better longevity AND a more balanced fragrance profile than the “aged” bottles. If you are a fan don’t be scared off by the Reformulation Brigade <3

I was late to the game on this one because I entered this hobby after the original presentation was already a memory. I knew from reading about it, and my experience with other SL perfumes (and those referenced as "reminds me of") - that it would be probably be a slam dunk for an instant love. I almost blind bought the skyscraper at a "steal" of a deal at $230 (retail $375). I caught my senses and passed on it, as that is absurd for a blind buy (for me it's extremely questionable for a holy grail level love). Well, I finally got a sample thanks to a lovely swap. And damned if I don't want the hell out of this now! I currently own 5 of the top 6 "reminds me of" perfumes... and I love them all, but none of them are a substitute for this. I live in a pine forest, and sweet sticky pine sap is one of my favorite things in the entire world. I am still looking for the perfume that truly captures that eyes rolling into the back of the head delight... and warm pine needles under foot mixed with all the other leaf detritus and mother earth smells after a summer rain. This is not that, and I still want that, too! But this- the smokey resinous sap, and incense, and... dried fruits! Sweet, but only in an earthy and natural way, not sugary. I've never been anywhere that smells like this. So the only way to get my fix is to find a way to add this to my collection. One day. When I find the right opportunity this will be mine :)

It has been a while since a perfume has engaged me this deeply. Fille en Aiguilles is thought-provoking, mystical, and utterly unique. A warm, loving memory captured in scent. I imagine a cozy home during winter, at Christmas. In the living room, the family is reunited: children laughing around the tree, adults chatting softly, a sense of belonging filling the space. In the middle of the table sits a plate of warm biscuits, subtly spiced, with dried fruit and hints of tamarind. Sharing these treats brings a gentle sweetness to the air, reminiscent of soft, tender moments between a close family. The Christmas tree stands proudly, its needles releasing fresh, green pine notes whenever it’s brushed by playful hands. It is never overly balsamic, never sticky; the soft warmth of the shared treats keeps it balanced. The room feels alive, yet intimate, a sanctuary of shared affection. Later, stepping into the garden, the cooler night air carries the scent of evergreens: pine, cypress, dry woods. It is crisp, clean, and comforting, the resinous notes perfectly restrained. Here, surrounded by nature and the people dearest to me, conversations deepen, hearts connect, and a profound sense of belonging settles in. The perfume mirrors this duality: the warmth of home and the crisp clarity of the forest, intertwined seamlessly. This is a fragrance unlike any I have encountered, complex, evocative, and wholly memorable.

Pine isn't the first thing that comes to my nose, instead (to quote YourHumbleNarrator) "[a] balsamic like creaminess that blends with the pine, stirring up something that vaguely resembles flat root beer." I also detected something vinegary and singed with carbonation so this felt spot on. It reminds me a lot of Zoologist's Bat with the dry fruit accord, but I hate Bat and love this. If it were any sweeter it would begin to smell like Bat, which imo is more of a rotting/overripe fruit note. The pine, though slightly hidden by incense, fruit, and spices, is very present. It's a well-blended accord and smells, well, like pine, without the sour artificiality that often comes with fragrances like Pino Silvestre. This isn't a Pine-Sol smell. I enjoyed Fille en Aiguilles a lot, and it's now probably my favorite Serge Lutens besides Serge Noire. It encapsulates the warm, welcoming spiciness that the house made its name on and is perfect for the fall/winter. Doesn't project too well, but this is not the kind of fragrance you want to throw around to everyone at the office. In my eyes, it's perfect for a cold night cuddling. Lasts 5-7 hours for me; longevity doesn't tend to be a problem with this house. Please don't buy the overpriced black bottle and encourage the type of gouging going on right now. Get a decant or wait for the normal bottles to be back in stock.

Been wearing this straight for a few days and loving it. It’s dark, heavy, resinous, with a touch of sweetness, but not at all cloying. In fact, there’s a sharp freshness to it as well that lifts the whole composition from falling into the syrupy amber that many of SL’s darker offerings fall prey to. The only sweetness here comes from the dried fruits and the balsam fir...but again, not syrupy or too thick. This is very unique to me. It smells like a forest at Christmas time, but stays clear of becoming a fougere or gourmand. The listed notes here on the site are easy to pick up, although there’s more to it than that obviously. Very unique in my opinion. It’s like a marriage of DS DURGA’s amber Teutonic AND amber kiso, with an added slight touch of resinous liturgical incense. Dark, warm and also a tad fresh. None of the notes I pick up on are odd or unique individually, but together the perfume itself is very unique and distinct. Oh, there’s also a slight smokiness, or rather illusion of smokiness, right off the bat that is incredibly addictive. This perfume is very strong and lasts forever with decent projection. Very impressed with this one and it re awoke an interest in this house again after a few disappointments. If you’re into dark, resinous, and foresty scents, I think this is a fair blind buy. Very impressed.

This is not a Christmas perfume (for those in the northern hemisphere), but a summer forest perfume. In the mountains of the inland northwest US, we have coniferous forests, particularly with Ponderosa Pines. In the mid/late summer, the trees shed some of their needles, which turn orange, and fall onto the ground and road, covering them with a thick, golden-rust colored carpet. The trees ooze their rich sap this time of year, too, and it is so resinous and sweet-smelling. Fille en Aiguilles strongly evokes driving down a sunlit back road through the forest in late afternoon, the rays penetrating the evergreen branches with their warm, slanted arms. I don't particularly smell one note more than another, after the pine. It is soft-spoken and not astringent or harsh. It doesn't have the best longevity, but oh, is it beautiful. Edit 9/6/23: this turns out to have the same woody aromachemical as is in the base of Captured by Candlelight from 4160 Tuesdays. I'd never smelled the commonality before a full-day's wear of Fille en Aiguilles yesterday. That one has more syrup, and this one has pine needles. But that appears to be the main difference to my nose. I think the dried fruits are the actual common denominator, but there are unlisted "woody notes" here, too.

In response to @fasterpussycat, that's absolutely a fake or a refilled bottle. The juice in all formulations is quite dark. Like all Lutens, they add dye to achieve a visual effect, and this is true even for the gratte-ciels (I have about 7 or 8 gratte-ciels, and every one has colored juice). I have the gratte-ciel formulation of FeA and have tried the bell jar version at the boutique; the later versions are slightly different in scent from the oldest version I've tried (which was a sample from the export line era), which had a slightly deeper base, but the gratte-ciel and bell jar versions still very much smell like Fille en Aiguilles. My bottle has a particularly sharp fir balsam note, but it still has all the pine needles, frankincense, fruit, spices, and everything else you'd expect. I hadn't hearda bout fake gratte-ciels, but I know a lot of folks have gotten fake Collection Noire bottles on ebay, so it's definitely possible. Report the seller and get a refund.

This fragrance was an enemies to lovers experience for me. I absolutely adore coniferous scents and was therefore recommended this over and over. I managed to get a decant and at first stiff, all I could smell was holiday yankee candles. I found the stewed fruits aspect to be cloying, synthetic, and distasteful. A year later, I decided to give it another shot and I am so glad I did because I’ve completely fallen in love! Maybe I’ve gotten more accustomed to fruity fragrances or maybe I just needed some time away, but this stuff is absolutely addictive. The pine is rich, balsamic and oozing with sap (I’d say more akin to fir balsam absolute if you’ve smelled that neat). In the background I still get the stewed fruits, but they read more like glögg rather than the real thing. This has become my most worn fragrance in the cold, winter months and layers beautifully with Arso (if you want more longevity)!

This dark coloured marvel is exactly what should be worn, on a day with gales and temperatures below zero. I've virtually bathed in Fille today and I'm rewarded with a balsam scent verging on medicinal, and for walking the dogs in an icy spruce forest, there could be no better scent. Some niche Houses have taken this further, with burnt wood notes, tar notes or resin. I think Fille is just right, and those other Houses have run away with it somewhat. The idea is to feel like you're in the forest, not that you are the forest or the campfire ashes. If you overapply Fille in winter, you get a great effect, and regardless of a strong wind, it will give up scent for many hours. I have 2.5 bottles of a good age, so this has been very rewarding and I'm now cosily drinking hot chocolate, still emanating icy forest sap, with its herbs and dry, airy whiffs of incense. Spectacular :) xx

I've been having a bit of a coniferous woodsy weekend, with Norne yesterday and FeA today... They are both similar, but in no way the same. Or even comparable... FeA is fragrant woods and sweet woods -- Norne is woods and spice. FeA has an alluring sweetness in the background (or the foreground, depending how how you perceive it) and it works perfectly with the freshly cut mixing with sweet fruits note -- overall, it's hard NOT to love this scent, and truth be told, it's not at all as challenging as Norne. And it doesn't have to be -- Norne does what it does, and FeA does what it does. Both operate within their own terrain and there is not much overlap. The pine in this is quite pleasant, and is tamed by the green fir. It's a wonderful combo, everything is in perfect unison with each other. This is a love. This is a BIG love...

It's such a shame this fragrance has been relocated in the gratte-ciel collection as it has the best pine note that I've ever smelled in a perfume. Since letting go of this love, as I find the new price outrageous and not worthy anymore, I've been searching for a new pine and foresty perfume and, thus far, I haven't been lucky (I found some nice foresty fragrances, but never a pine that could rival this one). Anyway, to me it smells like a pine grove under the sun on a Mediterranean cliff full of pine needles on the ground and all the resinous smells of the trees. On me, it turns a bit sour (I think it's the incense) and I don't smell much of the dried fruits and the spices (apart from something peppery). I also find that it comes to life better on masculine skin.

I have been a proud owner for couple of years now, so probably lucky with having an old formulation - it certainly lasts and projects very well. It is ultimate Christmas scent and when I say ultimate I mean it - there is nothing else that conveys the atmosphere of candle-lit Christmas tree as this gem of a perfume. Opens with very piney incense and dries down to sweet dried fruits. I wish the piney phase lasted a bit longer (~an hour or so and thereafter almost no incense is detectable anymore). I only use it during holiday season, it is a scent made for the occasion. If you want to get into the proper festive mood, search no more, this juice will make you feel like Santa (Pere Noel, Christkindl, ded Moroz or any of your traditional Christmas character).

I'm always astounded by the way Fille en Aiguilles offers different facets in summer and winter -- despite the Christmas-adjacent notes, it works in both (for me at least). In summer, I'm transported back to hot, dry, sunny Nice, sitting in the shadow of the parasol pines, breathing their resinous scent and eating sticky sugared fruits from Maison Auer. In winter, I'm outside an abandoned Romanesque chapel in the forest, warming myself by a bonfire. The pine -- especially the first 5 minutes after application -- is SO photorealistic. More "pine" than actual pine essential oils. I do enjoy the spicy "stewed fruit" but am sort of glad when it is overtaken by bay and incense and dried sap for the looooooooong dry down.

I grew up in a rural area with few people, lots of trees, and cold winters with heavy lake-effect snow. There have been times when I went back to visit and I could smell the pine trees and clean air right when I got off the plane. Fille en Aiguilles is very moving, in that it places me back in that environment. To me, the fragrance smells like snowshoeing outside on the trails surrounded by evergreens with the part-smell/part-sensation of breathing cold air through your nose. As it dries down, it warms, like entering a basement afterward that's been heated by a log fire recently put out. All the jackets are hanging there with the smell of outside baked into them. Very affecting to find this feeling in a fragrance.

This is a perfect olfactory signature of a particular childhood memory of mine, walking among oozing pines next to a church in Ukraine after doggedly hot day, with my hands sticky and aromatic with apricot or some other stone fruit juice that we grabbed at the market, while the church bells ring for evening service and frankincense wafts around. Sweet but not cloying, sacred but not overzealous, long-lasting but not overpowering scent. I only experienced the gratte-ciel edition so I have no comparison of what it was while it was during noire days, but I'm happy with what it is now. Steep price tag but was worth it, funny but I get complimented on it with "it's so you" line a lot

As another reviewer mentioned, this is a lovely walk through a pine forrest, leading to a little church. My only issue with this lovely pine incense blend, is that this the very exact sequence this fragrance develops. At first I'm in the forrest and the only thing I can smell is pine. The walk is brief, I open the church door, and for a few seconds there's a heavenly mixture of green and smoke. Then the door shuts behind me, the forrest is gone, and only incense remains, and the church slowly warms up, someone has lit up candles, it all gets warmer and spicier, and rather less original. I wish I could stay suspended in front of the open church door a little longer.

That’s a masterpiece of all masterpieces. I got a sample and WOW, couldn’t rest my little soul until I put my hands in this (expensive) work of art. To me the pine tree/ pine sap / pine needles is just magic in a bottle, fairy magic. I get a lot of the dried fruits too, and this makes the scent even more magical. It is genderless and I believe that it is one great appeal too. Recommend people to at least try to sniff this wonderful perfume if they can. A solid love. P.s.: I only regret that I have the fugly gratte-ciel bottle, which is dissonant with my Serge Lutens collection. Wish I had the regular bottle (a bell bottle would be amazing, they should make it).

I have an old bottle version as pictured above. Based on reviews I was expecting something really woody, similar to Arso. For me it's not as foresty as most of people below me claim. Sure there is some pine notes, but I'm not sure if I would pick them up that easily if I didn't know the notes. What I can smell right of the bat are dried fruits (gives Haribo coca-cola gummies vibe), light incense and some woodiness. It's sweeter then I've expected but still little refreshing. Even though I've hoped it would be more pine dominated, I still absolutely love this scent. It's a highly complemented perfume. Perfect for fall - winter and early spring. 9/10

This is divine. I think this can become my signature scent. I live surrounded by a pine forest, I spend a lot of time there and some of my happiest memories are connected with the scent of pine. I am the pine needle girl. It's summer, at the beginning the air is dense and humid, because there has just been a heavy warm rain. The greyness of the sky slowly dissolves and the sun comes out, evaporating the wetness of the rain from the brown fallen pine needles, that are covering the forest ground. The scent is very much about pine, and to me there is nothing better. This warm, happy scent really taps into my memories of my dearly loved pine forest.

One of my most treasured scent memories is the first time I smelled this--I randomly found myself in the fragrance section of Saks and ran through a couple of forgettable fragrances before being presented with a sample of Fille en Aiguilles. I was in shear awe at how amazing it was--the perfect combination of smoky, piney, and coniferous. Money was tight back then, so I left empty-handed, but I sniffed that sample card for days until I finally caved into buying a decant. Never got around to getting a full bottle and still regret it, especially after the artificial scarcity bullshit from Serge and the apparent reformulation.

Church incense basically sums it up, but the pine, spices and fruit add character. I also really like the SL bay leaf note. It puts me in a room with dark wood floors and walls. It's melancholic and introspective, the rich brown color is very suiting. I'm reminded of TF tobacco vanille, they both have the winter-christmas quality, tobacco-patch-amber profiles, but this is darker, heavier. The profile is very smooth, base heavy, and could be layered with something that has more middle-top note punch, I'd wear it with mugler alien. It really sends me to monastery grounds and makes me feel like a catholic monk. Repent!

I agree, this is a bottled elixir of pure Christmas, but done tastefully, so you don't smell like a candle. FeA is incredibly atmospheric and evocative of the best parts of Christmas scents. I smell mostly a rich, but solemn pine tree needles, as well as dusty pine logs. There is a very edible gummy sweetness and Christmas spices- mostly cinnamon and nutmeg- in the background. Even farther back in the background, I can catch the similarly piney but far more peppery and bright scent of frankincense. I otherwise smell no incense; not even myrrh. This is not exactly what I would want to wear, but I am in love!

One of my absolute favorite fragrances. It smells like all of the good things in a pine forest, with none of the bad. It's BETTER than nature but without seeming artificial. It's what Lothlorien would smell like (Rivendell would smell like Iris Silver Mist.) Just the right amount of mulled fruity sweetness without being cloying. Just the right amount of incense without becoming overbearingly smokey. Totally unisex. 10/10. I hope the rumors of it being discontinued are false. This and Borneo are my two favorite fragrances from Lutens by FAR. Why they would stop making it is a mystery to me.

This used to be my go-to winter scent, until the bottle became crazy expensive. It smells like incense, spices, balsam fur and pine needles. As most Serge Lutens perfumes, the scents are blended together in the most perfect way and makes it a perfect perfume. It's got a tiny bit of sweetness to it which makes all of the woody and herby notes blend together perfectly. It reminds me of a cold Christmas day. Unfortunately I don't wear it anymore as it just became way too overpriced. I found that V&R Spicebomb was quite similar (although way less sophisticated and thus not a dupe whatsoever).

The dark juice color, incense and spice notes, the votes that peg this fragrance as suitable for cold seasons... all of this made me expect a thick, heady fragrance. And it did smell somewhat strong from the decant. However, on my skin it is airy and smooth. It’s July, and I find it very appropriate and easy to wear now. I agree with other reviewers who said that FeA transports you to a place. For me that place is an Orthodox church in late summer, warm wind blows in through open windows and brings the gentle smell of pine forest and dried fruit compote that someone is making next door.

This is a masterpiece. It truly transports you if you close your eyes to a temperate-cold weather forest. But a magical one at that, where hidden resin-harvesting creatures you never get to see live. Incense perfectly done, I don’t get church vibes, more of a bonfire. It is a class of its own. It stands alone, it is very well done. I like to use it in winter, it reminds me of nights at ski trips where it’s cold, cozy, and smoky. I also think of Christmas but it’s not a sugary Christmas, it’s a dark green, grown up one. Soooo good, hypnotizing. I hope the formula never changes.

Great, sweet authentic pine scent with fruity and incense notes. One of my favourite cold weather fragrances. Expensive - currently £273 for 100ml in UK - but that's (i) less than 100ml of a Tom Ford Private Blend fragrance costs and I'd say this is more special and distinctive than the TF scents, and (ii) about the same price as 100ml of a Frederic Malle scent like POAL. Has good projection and longevity. I think it's one to try before you buy, as it certainly took me a while to appreciate this one, and I see in reviews below that others had the same experience.

Oh no. I wondered about this for years, finally got a teeny decant and it’s GORGEOUS and of course no longer sold in the original formulation and wildly expensive in the new. Oh NO. This is so lovely. For a brief moment at application I worried this would go smoky on me, but it resolved into a pine sap that’s only grown sweeter and cozier with time, without being cloying. Interesting and wonderful. I have consistently had problems with Lutens sounding perfect on notes but then not wearing how I wanted it to, but this is everything I wanted it to be and more.

Fille en Aiguilles has been one of my top favourites for years, and it's one of my most complimented perfumes. I believe that's because it stands out as something quite unique. What I don't understand is the seemingly general consensus here that this is an autumn/winter perfume. No! For me it's summer all the way. It's a pine forest on the seaside on a hot summer's day. You have the resin, all fragrant from the warmth. Dried fruit? I wouldn't say so. I don't get any Christmas-y vibes from Fille en Aiguilles, just that heatwave buzz.

I know everyone is saying fall and winter for this is perfect but for me, this is a calm beautiful sunlit moment in a pine forest during summer. Whilst many of my perfumes failed this summer and felt suffocating (new feeling for me, didn't expect it) this perfume just bloomed perfectly. I wore it whilst exploring the Puzzle Woods in Gloucester which inspired parts of JRR Tolkien and it fit beautifully. Sweet resinous pine that feels warm rather than cool or austere. Always intend to have a bottle of this, it makes my soul sing ^_^

Beautiful but it’s reformulated and doesn’t even last half hour. Serge Lutens sold out to Shiseido years ago, and they reformulated everything by making it with cheaper ingredients, aroma chemicals and weakened it. And they raised prices . Don’t bother with Serge Lutens anymore, it’s only Serge Lutens in name only. The quality is gone. What a shame. They all eventually sell out. That’s why I try to buy back up of my faves from new and popular perfumers. Coz eventually they will sell out too. All they care about is the money.

Absolute stunner. Tells a story. It's made for frag heads. It's for you to close your eyes and enjoy. Not for others to smell your sillage and compliment you. The only thing I'll add to those who haven't smelled it is that it's dry. The main pine note smells like a Christmas tree that done for the year and ready to be thrown out. It's a dry pine smell. I was hoping for the smell of like grabbing a pine twig and smelling the resin inside. This is very dry. It's amazing and slightly sweet....as in perfectly sweet. 10/10.

the stones of the thick wall of the small Byzantine church in the mountainous Syrian village couldn't ease the cold inside, the burning incense calms you a bit , the smell of the pine trees around the church , mixed with the smoke of the incense calms you further , yet you long for a fireplace . This is what I feel when I smell the Fille En Aiguies (translation of the name is : moving from a topic to anther in a conversation.). AWESOME. This is a great great gift from an awesome awesome sophisticated comrade.

I got this frag inadvertently when I just casually visited a simple mall. I was bored by the almost similar frag combinations, even from prominent brands. But then I tried this frag. Pine! Pine! Pine! What an enchanting scent of unusual wood, with a fascinating combination of spices. I've tried it now for a couple days. The longevity is disappointingly short, and the sillage is just moderate. But it means that I could safely wear it in my office (with many scent-sensitive people). My new favourite!!

Not just a pine forest but I get strawberries topped with balsamic vinegar and wafts of smooth incense. I owned an original bottle in the late aughts but gave it away because it felt too sharp for my liking at the time. My tastes have changed, and I’d love to own a bottle again now. I’m sampling what I’m guessing is a decent of a newer formulation and it smells just as lovely as I remember. ETA 12/27/23 - I’ve since acquired a partial gratte-ciel bottle and it is divine. Definitely in my top 5 SL.

This is for the older formulation in the rectangular (non gratte-ciel) bottle. Classic SL style but slightly less baroque than Feminite du Bois or the other Bois scents, and so (for me) easier to wear. The spiced fruits are very Christmassy & I do wear this on festive occasions, but the incense & pine lend an introspective/meditative tone & make it suitable for cold weather in general. Longevity isn't great but while it's there, it's strong. Very beautiful.

Does anyone have a bottle, partial, or decant they're looking to sell? This fragrance is so beautiful. I find the sweetness of the sunbaked pine needles to feel delicate and feminine compared to other pine fragrances. I live in a warm climate now, but this makes me nostalgic for the early fall days of my youth in the North, when the afternoons were still warm but the nights were chilly. I wish I could afford to buy a bottle but $375.00 is out of my budget.

i was initially put off with how resinous this was to my senses, but after trying my decant after several months of owning it I'm relieved to have my earlier tastes proven wrong. the pine is incredibly photorealistic and harkens memories of winter; the fruit notes are sweet but subdued, refined and mature. it reminds me of a fresh wreath, or a table full of offerings in the middle of the forest. there's a warmth that emanates off of it that comforts me.

This is one of the greatest fragrances ever created ! I liked it from the start but the more days pass of me smelling this, the better it gets. It's the perfect mix of sweet, balsamic, coniferous and woody. I love resinous pine and conifer fragrances and i fell in love with the genre after smelling pine by stora skuggan and as much as i love pine, Fille en Aiguille takes the nr.1 spot any day of the week. It's addicting.

Fille en Aiguilles is another nice mix that reminds me of church environment, this time it transfers mid-Advent mood. Not in the traditional orange, cinnamon way...but this one is bringing together incense smoke with conifer woody essences. In the background it holds a hint of sweetness that will remind you of raisins or ripe fruits. On my skin this lasts longer then on card, but the performance in not stellar.

Past year I have enjoyed old bottle of this perfume, but as it's harder and harder to get one, I've decided to get new one from Gratte-ciel collection. It's definitely watered down. I asked work college to blindly rate both of them and she couldn't believe, that it's the same scent, just in a new presentation. Still great scent. One of my favorites, but shame it's not as good as old formulation.

Testing this out for the first time....in the dead of summer BUT I'm indoors and it's night and I could not resist. It's dark...there are spices and some sort of orange and herb mulled for days then dried out with smoke. This is a dark cold rainy scent to me. I've posted a number of sunny reviews but Fille En Aiguilles is ghostly...and stunning. Ghostly pine witch huts brew. 🧙🏼♀️