Year: 2009
Notes: aldehydes, saffron, black pepper, frankincense, Bulgarian rose, agarwood, Atlas cedar, vetiver, patchouli, amber, guaiac wood, civet, ambergris, musk
Established in 2006, Le Labo first came to public attention with their anti-globalisation ethos, which has silently been dropped since the launch of their City Exclusives (and what a sore contradiction that would have been). In addition, this house also claims to be the leaders of a "perfume revolution" (whatever that means).
Along with their laboratory-styled set-up, idiotic personalised labelling system and highly-questionable one year expiry dates (even though the fragrances haven't been properly macerated at the time of purchase), it's taken a considerate length of time to conjure up the enthusiasm to investigate any further.
But after sampling them, one has now concluded that such scepticism was indeed justified – not because their compositions are awful (most of them are actually respectable but nothing more) but largely due to their lack of originality. With the odd exception, most of Le Labo's releases are merely rehashes of existing perfumes from other houses. Of course, they are occasionally improvements on the originals (sometimes even employing the same perfumer) but they fail to exhibit a distinctive olfactory identity, let alone any real passion.
Below are telling examples of Le Labo's lack of creativity, with more discerning parallels and déjà vus than any other house one has encountered so far:
Labdanum 18 ≈ Musc Ravageur by Frédéric Malle + Eau de Cologne by Helmet Lang
Poivre 23 ≈ Parfum Sacré by Caron
Vetiver 46 ≈ Comme des Garçons 2 Man by Comme des Garçons
Bergamote 22 ≈ L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake
Santal 33 ≈ Philosykos by Diptyque
Patchouli 24 ≈ Bulgari Black by Bulgari
Musc 25 ≈ White Musk by The Body Shop
AnOther 13 ≈ an adorned version of Escentric Molecules' Molecule 02
As well as:
Aldehyde 44 – Chanel's No.5 and No.22 with suggestive hints of Serge Lutens' La Myrrhe
Rose 31 – an ode to the stylistic propriety of Mark Buxton
Gaiac 10 – highly reminiscent of Jean-Claude Elléna's signature transparency
Baie Rose 26 – starting out very similar to Frédéric Malle's Une Rose before completely falling apart
And while on the subject, what's with the constant obsession surrounding orange blossom and neroli prominent offerings? Fleur d'Oranger 27, Tubereuse 40, Jasmin 17, Bergamote 22, Neroli 36...
But what's one's opinion of Oud 27? Well, it's simply a variation of Montale's Oud Cuir d'Arabie, using the same synthetic oud accord but providing nothing particularly new. Surprised? Based on what one has already pointed out, not really. The fact is, oud is currently the "accord du jour" in the fragrance industry (artificial or otherwise), with the houses falling over themselves to include 'oud' in the name like a herd of gluttonous sheep. Composed by Vincent Schaller, its lasting power is very good but it's also predictable and anti-climactic.
It was only a few years ago that oud creations were a very well-kept secret. But now every Tom, Dick and Harry are peddling a hackneyed oud concoction with prices ever inflating. Due to these overzealous opportunists, one is now extremely weary of the Western proliferation of so-called ouds and Oud 27 is no different.
Setting aside IFRA-imposed reformulations, the oud craze is unequivocally the biggest fragrance industry scam of the last few years. After all, oud is the new cedar but far more lucrative – especially when it's of the synthetic variety and a lot cheaper than the real thing.
Along with their laboratory-styled set-up, idiotic personalised labelling system and highly-questionable one year expiry dates (even though the fragrances haven't been properly macerated at the time of purchase), it's taken a considerate length of time to conjure up the enthusiasm to investigate any further.
But after sampling them, one has now concluded that such scepticism was indeed justified – not because their compositions are awful (most of them are actually respectable but nothing more) but largely due to their lack of originality. With the odd exception, most of Le Labo's releases are merely rehashes of existing perfumes from other houses. Of course, they are occasionally improvements on the originals (sometimes even employing the same perfumer) but they fail to exhibit a distinctive olfactory identity, let alone any real passion.
Below are telling examples of Le Labo's lack of creativity, with more discerning parallels and déjà vus than any other house one has encountered so far:
Labdanum 18 ≈ Musc Ravageur by Frédéric Malle + Eau de Cologne by Helmet Lang
Poivre 23 ≈ Parfum Sacré by Caron
Vetiver 46 ≈ Comme des Garçons 2 Man by Comme des Garçons
Bergamote 22 ≈ L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake
Santal 33 ≈ Philosykos by Diptyque
Patchouli 24 ≈ Bulgari Black by Bulgari
Musc 25 ≈ White Musk by The Body Shop
AnOther 13 ≈ an adorned version of Escentric Molecules' Molecule 02
As well as:
Aldehyde 44 – Chanel's No.5 and No.22 with suggestive hints of Serge Lutens' La Myrrhe
Rose 31 – an ode to the stylistic propriety of Mark Buxton
Gaiac 10 – highly reminiscent of Jean-Claude Elléna's signature transparency
Baie Rose 26 – starting out very similar to Frédéric Malle's Une Rose before completely falling apart
And while on the subject, what's with the constant obsession surrounding orange blossom and neroli prominent offerings? Fleur d'Oranger 27, Tubereuse 40, Jasmin 17, Bergamote 22, Neroli 36...
But what's one's opinion of Oud 27? Well, it's simply a variation of Montale's Oud Cuir d'Arabie, using the same synthetic oud accord but providing nothing particularly new. Surprised? Based on what one has already pointed out, not really. The fact is, oud is currently the "accord du jour" in the fragrance industry (artificial or otherwise), with the houses falling over themselves to include 'oud' in the name like a herd of gluttonous sheep. Composed by Vincent Schaller, its lasting power is very good but it's also predictable and anti-climactic.
It was only a few years ago that oud creations were a very well-kept secret. But now every Tom, Dick and Harry are peddling a hackneyed oud concoction with prices ever inflating. Due to these overzealous opportunists, one is now extremely weary of the Western proliferation of so-called ouds and Oud 27 is no different.
Setting aside IFRA-imposed reformulations, the oud craze is unequivocally the biggest fragrance industry scam of the last few years. After all, oud is the new cedar but far more lucrative – especially when it's of the synthetic variety and a lot cheaper than the real thing.
