Le Labo Fragrances

I received an email from Barney's New York featuring Le Labo fragrances and I'm curious whether any of you have tried it? A majority of the fragrances are feminine but they do have Neroli and Vetiver. You even get your name on the label. Here's a description of the Vetiver 46, "Essences of pepper, labdanum, cedar and olibanum, a mysterious incense, leaves an intriguing spiritual dimension in its wake. Each scent is made to order and labeled for you."

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I have tried it and liked it so much I picked up a small bottle. In particular, the incense note it so well done - crisp and clear, lightly smoky. Don't expect to smell much vetiver, however. If there is any, it is buried in the base.

professorchaos said:

I have tried it and liked it so much I picked up a small bottle. In particular, the incense note it so well done - crisp and clear, lightly smoky. Don't expect to smell much vetiver, however. If there is any, it is buried in the base.

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If there's not much vetiver, then what does it smell like? Is there anything that you can compare it to? I liked the crisp, clear, lightly smokey description.

Check it out on Basenotes. A number of comments there.

The LeLabo Rose is my very favorite Rose scent. I wouldn't think it to be feminine at all, and it is very rich and long lasting.

I have the Patchouli 24, and really love it. It has a smoky, birch tar note in the opening. Haven't tried any of the others.

Rose 31 and Vetiver 46 are their only two "marketed as masculine" only scents. The number after the name is supposedly the number of ingredients/notes used in the scent.

I have both of them, wear them and like them. They are quality stuff. Potent, good longevity. BUT, be clear, they are not the kind of scents that are generally favored by wetshavers. They are very modern scents, but not like "only young guys should wear this" modern and light. Both of them are very masculine.

Rose 31 is quite potent. Starts with some cumin and rose. Likely their best seller overall. It shifts to a woodsy-spicy kind of scent. As sexy scent imo. I do wear to work sometimes, but many might think more of a night time scent. A very nice rose note. Some good noses think the only rose note in a masculine scent that's as good or better is in Windsor. The cumin gives it a hint of "dirty" which is kind of a thing with many Le Labo scents. As manly as a rose scent can be.

Vetiver 46 is sort of oddly named which Le Labo has a tendency to do. I'm sure they think there is some vetiver in it, and there probably is, but it is much heavier on the incense to me. It does not have any of the vetiver note that the other vetiver scents usually mentioned in here have. Like Rose 31, it's more of night time scent. Probably better in cold weather too. If you sampled it, you may like it, but NOT because it's a good vetiver scent. It is not very heavily reviewed at Basenotes, which tells me it's not very popular. The term "smoky" comes up a lot.

Comparing it to something, the closest I know of is a scent from Comme des Garacons called 2 Man. I've also seen it compared to Lalique's Encre Noir which is a sexy vetiver scent with a kind of "ink" note. I've seen you expressing interest of late in a lot of vetivers Cuttingboard, and if that note is important to you, forget Vetiver 46. This is nothing like the vetivers from Guerlain, Creed, L'Occitane or any others I know of. I don't experience any of that earthy, grassy note I associate with vetiver in this one. I get a lot of incense; sort of heavy and almost "church like."

Patchouli 24 is one of their unisex scents that seems to get a lot traction with men at Basenotes. Again, their mis-directed naming comes into play. It's evidently very heavy on vanilla- not patchouli.

A lot of the Basenoters find Le Labo a bit too "gimmicky." They keep the ingredients in a fridge and don't mix up your bottle until you order it. They package it in little lab bottles with customized labels.
"Created for Cuttingboard." Horror of horrors, they also put an expiration date on it one year from date of purchase which is what really incenses frag collectors. If you bring back your original bottle when it's empty, I believe they offer a not insignificant discount on refilling it.

The company was started by a couple of guys who worked for the Armani fragrance line.

StylinLA said:

Horror of horrors, they also put an expiration date on it one year from date of purchase which is what really incenses frag collectors. If you bring back your original bottle when it's empty, I believe they offer a not insignificant discount on refilling it.

The company was started by a couple of guys who worked for the Armani fragrance line.

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Good description of Rose 31. I concur, it's more of a spicy, night time fragrance. I like it, but don't wear it often. I might have to wear it today as an Easter Sunday treat. Yeah, the expiration date is silly...only one year???

Cuttingboard said:

You even get your name on the label.

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Maybe I expect too much, but for $200 I'd like to see my name engraved rather than printed on a label. I can make labels, as I do for decants, at home.

This thread got me to thinking about Le Labo...the two frags I own are excellent. Yet they've always troubled me, I felt like something was missing. After some thought, they strike me as too composed, too calculated. Imagine, if you will, "Fur Elise" executed perfectly but without passion. A wonderful piece, to be sure, but one lacking the human element which is ultimately its defining characteristic. Such is my take on Le Labo - fantastic executions without passion.

professorchaos said:

This thread got me to thinking about Le Labo...the two frags I own are excellent. Yet they've always troubled me, I felt like something was missing. After some thought, they strike me as too composed, too calculated. Imagine, if you will, "Fur Elise" executed perfectly but without passion. A wonderful piece, to be sure, but one lacking the human element which is ultimately its defining characteristic. Such is my take on Le Labo - fantastic executions without passion.

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I can see that. Given their roots as two guys who came from Armani, it's a fairly calculating company without a lot of history or soul for sure. I've been to their boutique out here. It's a very modern, well "packaged" operation. Scents are their whole business and it's a small, cool and hip little store front, just slightly off the beaten path of the main ritzy retail areas. They put on quite a little show mixing up your juice, printing the label, sealing it in the lab bottle. All using a lot of old world-ish looking tools.

Maybe in 100 years, they'll be Creed.

I'm not too passionate about V 46. But Rose 31 I do like a lot.

StylinLA said:

I can see that. Given their roots as two guys who came from Armani, it's a fairly calculating company without a lot of history or soul for sure. I've been to their boutique out here. It's a very modern, well "packaged" operation. Scents are their whole business and it's a small, cool and hip little store front, just slightly off the beaten path of the main ritzy retail areas. They put on quite a little show mixing up your juice, printing the label, sealing it in the lab bottle. All using a lot of old world-ish looking tools.

Maybe in 100 years, they'll be Creed.

I'm not too passionate about V 46. But Rose 31 I do like a lot.

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Sounds like I'll have to try Rose 31 again...

professorchaos said:

Sounds like I'll have to try Rose 31 again...

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To their credit, they do tend to hire/commission many of the big name perfumers/noses to create their scents. Not sure how that works, but I guess some of theses "noses" are like "free agents" or hired guns, creating scents for different houses.

All frags are ymmv, but I think you would like Rose 31 more than V 46. I've seen your scent collection and it would fit in okay. Turin hates it. Hates both of them actually.

professorchaos said:

Sounds like I'll have to try Rose 31 again...

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I don't know if you've given it a shot yet, but you enjoy Rose Poivree by TDC. I remember you had a thread about incense based scents. It opens with incense and burning roses, then after an hour or so some cumin and civet kick in and it reminds me of Eau d'Hermes but with a strong rose base instead of EdH's lavender/vanilla, then after a little while that starts to fade towards and dries down with some dirty roses.

Sorry for the minor thread derail...

billyboy said:

The LeLabo Rose is my very favorite Rose scent. I wouldn't think it to be feminine at all, and it is very rich and long lasting.

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I agree.

Haven't tried any of Le Labo's other fragrances, but Rose 31 is fantastic.

Most men's rose fragrances are moist/sweet and often use dirty or moldy notes to make them more masculine. This scent goes in the opposite direction. It's a dry, peppery, slightly citrusy rose. Top notch projection (not to over the top tough) and longevity.

It's hands down, the best masculine (unisex really) rose fragrance in my opinion.

+!000 on the Rose. It's some pricey juice though.

Rose 31 is awesome. I have the sampler pack that includes the Bergamont and chose Bergamont 22, Tubereuse 40, and Oud 27.

Now there is alot of talk about how great their Oud scent is, but man as soon as I spray that bad boy, im looking to wash it off. I think the Bergamont 22 and Tubereuse 40 are great scents. Its also really need to go to the store and have them make that for you right before your eyes. The Rose 31 is superb too....you mix that with some Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille...and you have a truly awesome experience.

That Oud 27 has one of the most vile opens I've ever run into. I need to stop by there sometime and get a sample to wear to see what, exactly, it develops into after that initial horror show.

StylinLA said:

That Oud 27 has one of the most vile opens I've ever run into. I need to stop by there sometime and get a sample to wear to see what, exactly, it develops into after that initial horror show.

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Is there a shop in LA that has Le Labo?

azmark said:

Is there a shop in LA that has Le Labo?

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Barney's in Beverly Hills and then there's LuckyScent's Scent Bar.