Le Labo Los Angeles Edition

[cairomerta]

Hey everyone. Just a reminder. Next month, September, will see the release of the new Le Labo Los Angeles edition. It has been quiet regarding Le Labo lately so it should be interesting to see what they do. Since I live in LA and only 2 miles from the Le Labo store, I will be sure to smell this the day it comes out. Sounds interesting from Le Labo's early explanation of angelic with a dark core of sin.

"LA is a bizarre and wonderful place that pretty much didn't exist 100 years ago; unlike most other cities, it's beauty is kept well hidden from casual observation, hidden in the dark canyons or behind walls of bougainvillea, fragrant, with three inch thorns . It's the over-the-top glitz of the Beverly Hills Hotel a short drive away from the site of the Manson murders- the same tour bus will show you both. It's the Paps stalking Britney outside of Kitson, which sells $98 hoodies emblazoned with the image of the homeless man who dances on rollerskates down the block. It's beauty and madness and the knowledge that we all could be wiped off the map by the "big one" at any second. It is as you said, angelic whiteness with a dark core of sin."

[Jock_With_Scents]

Thanks for the heads up on this!

Can I ask a question and hopefully not hijack the thread? Your taste in frags is exquisite IMO, so I am curious as to what has moved you in the past two months? What have you invested in? Your top 5 recent 'Wow, this is incredible' finds. Hope I am not out of line. Don't feel obligated but I am sure me and others might get a benefit from someone with your taste.

Keep us updated on any more info on the new Le Labo.

[cairomerta]

Thanks a lot Jock. I appreciate the kind words. I recently purchased Gaiac by M. Micallef which i found amazing. Especially for colder weather coming up. Out of all the Micallef line, this one really stood out as a really well crafted elegant composition with the clove in it. Another one that i spoke about before but i still believe is one of my best purchases in the past year or so is the Unspoken by Roja Dove. I really cant get over how elegant this one it. It is such a rare and elegant Chypre scent that i am amazed he doesn't sell it here, even though you can purchase it from Harrods over the phone. Absolutely stunning. Tom ford Moss Breches was another recent purchase from a few months ago and it such a wonderful interplay of mosses and the beeswax note everyone here has been raving about. A really well made scent that shows tom ford doesnt have to be "out there" with all his scents. Some of the new releases have been un-inspiring to say the least but I have a feeling that coming in September, there should be a great wave of scents coming. Creed Floralie, Penhalligon's Elixir, Kilian Prelude to Love ad Le Labo LA are all on my to try or to buy list and I cant wait.

PS: One more scent that I have purchased that I freaking love is the now discontinued but still available Rare Caron Fountain scent: Alpona. This is an amazing scent!!! Everone went crazy when Creed came out with Feuille Verte. But this is its older and much more longer lasting big brother. This is such and amazing and rare scent that I am surprised it doesnt get more play here. It starts off with the candied citrus notes and goes into the beautiful oakmoss wood notes that lasts forever. WAAAAY better than Creed Feuille Verte!! Try this before it is gone fore sure!!

[Jock_With_Scents]

Thanks a lot Jock. I appreciate the kind words. I recently purchased Gaiac by M. Micallef which i found amazing. Especially for colder weather coming up. Out of all the Micallef line, this one really stood out as a really well crafted elegant composition with the clove in it. Another one that i spoke about before but i still believe is one of my best purchases in the past year or so is the Unspoken by Roja Dove. I really cant get over how elegant this one it. It is such a rare and elegant Chypre scent that i am amazed he doesn't sell it here, even though you can purchase it from Harrods over the phone. Absolutely stunning. Tom ford Moss Breches was another recent purchase from a few months ago and it such a wonderful interplay of mosses and the beeswax note everyone here has been raving about. A really well made scent that shows tom ford doesnt have to be "out there" with all his scents. Some of the new releases have been un-inspiring to say the least but I have a feeling that coming in September, there should be a great wave of scents coming. Creed Floralie, Penhalligon's Elixir, Kilian Prelude to Love ad Le Labo LA are all on my to try or to buy list and I cant wait.

PS: One more scent that I have purchased that I freaking love is the now discontinued but still available Rare Caron Fountain scent: Alpona. This is an amazing scent!!! Everone went crazy when Creed came out with Feuille Verte. But this is its older and much more longer lasting big brother. This is such and amazing and rare scent that I am surprised it doesnt get more play here. It starts off with the candied citrus notes and goes into the beautiful oakmoss wood notes that lasts forever. WAAAAY better than Creed Feuille Verte!! Try this before it is gone fore sure!!

As I expected, a post full of goodies!! Thank you so much for responding. I cannot wait to try Gaiac, Moss Breches, and the new Le Labo ASAP.

[mikeperez23]

What is the actual name of the Los Angeles scent?

Smog 38?

Seriously, what's the name cairomerta?

BTW - the Alpona description above sounds great...sounds like I gotta try it.

[cairomerta]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. I love that SMOG 38. I actually dont know what the name is but thats a good question. When I find out I will pass it on for sure.

Alpona is amazing. Actually after writing this thread about it, I called Caron in New York and just ordered a backup bottle of 100ml. Expensive at $360 but sooo worth it. I have a 1 ml sample of Creed Feuille vert and as much as I loved it, this blows it away and now they just announced this is discontinued too. It almost has the same top, mid and base notes as Feuille Verte. Whatever is left in the Caron New York fountain is the last of it so I had to grab a bit more.

Here is a review of Alpona:

http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/b...9/1263781.html

[Asha]

I thought Le Labo didn't have testers or samples in their stores? Isn't the concept that they mix on-site for you to take home?

I live in LA also, but have not made my way to the Le Labo boutique yet. It is actually not all that smoggy where I am (close to the ocean).

[cairomerta]

They dont have samples but they do have testers. They have a sample bottle of each scent in the store so that you can try it but they do not have 1ml samples to take with you. I too live near the beach, in Brentwood, so no smog here!!

[tmp00]

Thanks for quoting my letter to Fabrice!

[cairomerta]

Wow. I didn't know it was written by you. I didn't notice. Great explanation of Los Angeles on your part TMP00. I think you hit this city description on the head!!

[tmp00]

I think you hit this city description on the head!!

Thanks! As a non-native, I appreciate that. I will be very happy if Le Labo can do a great scent for Los Angeles (actually I thought that the Dallas one was pretty close), and having spoken at length to Fabrice about it I am fairly sure that this will be great...

[masuerte]

I lived in L.A. in Westwood and then Koreatown areas. The whole time and hung out alot eating Persian, Ethiopian, Korean, Thai and basically other foods heavy on garlic and aromatic spices... -_- I'm not sure how i feel about wearing those kind of scents.

Also... after reading the letter written to him about how to experience L.A. by Perfume smellin' things: http://perfumesmellinthings.blogspot...nds-in-la.html

I really REALLY hope there's no hotdog smell in that... ::shakes my fist at pinks::

[Astaroth]

I really REALLY hope there's no hotdog smell in that... ::shakes my fist at pinks::

I love Pinks. It's a great place to get some late-night local color.

[masuerte]

::eyeroll::
local? most of the people I see there are tragic visitors marinating in processed-meat oils... and as for local color, that place is such a disneyland-mockup of "l.a. nightlife". Sorry to say waiting in line there for 2 hours was not a fun hot-dog (or olifactory) experience for me.

There are better places to eat good meat / hotdogs in L.A. without waiting in line ... even if it's in the middle of the night. If you want fun experience/color go check out Koreatown BBQ/cafes/dives, run to Little Bangkok's many all-night establishments complete with live entertainment/music or even the numbers of street hot-dog stands or tacqueria trucks at night. Anything but pinks.

[thenmarcher]

100% agree with the above. LA is about as overrated as cities get.

TNMA

[mikeperez23]

OK - so back on topic: WHO HAS SMELLED THIS JUICE at the LL boutique in L.A.? What does it smell like? What category of scents is it?

[cairomerta]

Hey Mike. I just called and they said that i wont be out until the end of October now. So I guess we will have to wait one more month. I will keep you guys updated.

[mikeperez23]

I might be in LA in November, so perhaps I will get to smell it myself. Thanks for the update cairomerta.

[Nathan214]

Another one that i spoke about before but i still believe is one of my best purchases in the past year or so is the Unspoken by Roja Dove. I really cant get over how elegant this one it. It is such a rare and elegant Chypre scent that i am amazed he doesn't sell it here, even though you can purchase it from Harrods over the phone.

Wait! You called Harrods and ordered a fragrance to be sent to the United States?

I just called Harrods last week about ordering a fragrance to be shipped here to the States and they apologetically but quite emphatically refused, stating that because of U.S. customs regulations they can not ship fragrances to the U.S.

I had a friend of mine call, as well, just to see if maybe I caught them on a bad day. Same story.

Has it been a while since you've ordered from Harrods?

[masuerte]

sorry for the thread hijack !!!

I believe some L.A. basenoters will be meeting at the Scent Bar this October 5th. I will definitely try to get others to check with me then because I believe Le Labo's boutique is very near.

[thenmarcher]

Likewise, my apologies.

TNMA

[cairomerta]

Hi Nathan. Yeah I order from the Roja dove perfumery a lot. I am not sure if Harrods policy is different than Roja doves store even though it is inside Harrods but they ship to me with no problem. Talk to Maurice in Roja dove. He is great and should be able to help you. Let me know how it works out!!

[teger]

This will be available next week. No details on the name - but it is a musk fragrance. More details to come in the LA Times. I thought I would share this tidbit of info with my fellow basenotes members

[Domingo]

I HATE Special Editions, because I'm never able to get my hands on them before the are all gone!

[Astaroth]

This will be available next week. No details on the name - but it is a musk fragrance. More details to come in the LA Times. I thought I would share this tidbit of info with my fellow basenotes members

Tomorrow's LA Times article is here. Since I love musk, I'll probably wander over to Le Labo to try this at some point. I don't have high hopes, however. Up until this point, I haven't found anything worth the price in the Le Labo line. This article says the price of a 50ml bottle of Musc 25 will be $260. For $120 less (at the current exchange rate), you can buy 75ml of a nice, dirty musk: Serge Lutens Muscs Koublaï Khän. And a 50ml bottle of Kiehl's Musk EdT Spray costs less than $40. For the same price, you can literally spray yourself 6.5 times as often with this stuff. That's enough that you should consider yourself lucky if a rutting elk doesn't try to mount you while waiting in line at Starbucks.

While I am going to reserve judgment until I actually try Musc 25, I doubt that this $260 price is justified. The made-up-fresh-with-personalized-label-and-expiration-date aspect of the company is really nothing more than a marketing gimmick. I wonder if anyone has considered that here locally they seal the top of the atomizer with Los Angeles air, complete with its fragrance-destroying sulfurous and sulfuric acid content ... or the fact that they put it into a clear bottle which does little or nothing to protect their fragrances from light.

[mikeperez23]

Did anyone notice that Musc 25 has as one of it's listed notes, ahem... 'a synthesized representation of human semen'

((rolling eyes))

[arwen_elf]

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

[Futami]

Did anyone notice that Musc 25 has as one of it's listed notes, ahem... 'a synthesized representation of human semen'

((rolling eyes))

For realz!?!? Just what we needed.Yuk!

[tmp00]

I liked it a lot, and I've been fairly critical of the whole "mixed fresh" bit.

[ajmc]

Did anyone notice that Musc 25 has as one of it's listed notes, ahem... 'a synthesized representation of human semen'

((rolling eyes))

I really wish Grant would add a puke smiley. I could use it right about now. ((gag))

[moon_fish]

And once again - who have smelled it?
Where`s the personal reviews?

[Astaroth]

Did anyone notice that Musc 25 has as one of it's listed notes, ahem... 'a synthesized representation of human semen'

Well, in an odd way, this is a marketing gimmick too.
I would be interested in knowing whether their synthesis has any subliminal impact, however.

[teger]

So has anyone else gotten a chance to sniff this one yet?

[thebeck]

Once again Le Labo manages to launch another watered down no nothing frag.(Musc 25)
Gaiac 10 is suppose to be an extrait. I have a sample coming. We'll see if that has any potency or longevity.
I don't know where Le Labo sources their raw ingredients from, but the quality sucks. No strength or longevity in the entire line.

[Astaroth]

So has anyone else gotten a chance to sniff this one yet?

Asha and I tried Musc 25 last Sunday at Le Labo here in Los Angeles. My description is here, and Asha's is here.
By the way, I didn't detect anything remotely resembling human semen in the notes.

[Asha]

The longevity of Musk 25 was quite good, actually. I could still smell it the next day after spraying it on in the afternoon. I agree with Astaroth--not only is there no "semen" note, the overall composition is incredibly CLEAN. Soapy aldehydes plus a clean and soapy white musk. Although the ingredients seem to be of good quality, it is quite simple, and reminds me of cheap drugstore or health food store oils (eg, Jovan White Musk or The Body Shop White Musk). The closest niche I have tried is Les Nereides Musc de Samarkand.

[manicboy]

Smelled this yesterday. Opens with a offensive hair-spray accord (a mutant aldehyde if there ever was one). Yes, cheap Acquanet. Once the hairspray fades, it's a soapy lily and white musk frag of no importance. Musk here is light and not dark like Kiehls. If you've smelled the Body Shop's White Musk, this one is close. Insanely overpriced and continues Le Labo's tradition of putting out frags filled with cheap ingrediants and no substance.

[bbBD]

I like Le Labo!! Haven't tried Musc 25 yet, but I've tried the rest of the line (except Tuberose 40) and I think they're super-duper!

[Renaissance_Man]

I haven't smelled this yet and I'm a little disappointed by these descriptions. Does a clean white musk suit a Los Angeles exclusive?
Wasn't this promised to be a little dirty, a little mysterious, a little fun, and then a little angelic, etc.?

[Hasupk@gmail.com]

Interesting
Im guessing its going to be a smokey fragrance with some jazz to it
not to mention alot of drugs (maybe some opium in there)
anyhow

[mikeperez23]

Smelled this yesterday. Opens with a offensive hair-spray accord (a mutant aldehyde if there ever was one). Yes, cheap Acquanet. Once the hairspray fades, it's a soapy lily and white musk frag of no importance. Musk here is light and not dark like Kiehls. If you've smelled the Body Shop's White Musk, this one is close. Insanely overpriced and continues Le Labo's tradition of putting out frags filled with cheap ingrediants and no substance.

Have you considered that maybe you're anosmic to some of the musks in M25, and maybe you're not smelling the 'entire' fragrance? I'm anosmic to certain musks myself, that's why I ask.

[Somerville Metro Man]

As someone who has liked all of the other Le Labos I've tried, Musc 25 was the first one I could live without. Here is the review I posted on the SotD thread last month:

Le Labo Musc 25

For their 2008 Los Angeles exclusive, Musc 25, Le Labo wanted to create "angelic whiteness with a core of sin". To achieve this goal they signed up Frank Voelkl who is the nose behind Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet. As with the two other 2008 city exclusives this time the titular note is prominent and central to the scent. From the top you get a sheer white musk mixed with aldehydes. This is a quite lovely mix and is combined deftly to give this a clean beginning. The heart keeps the musk in place and adds a light rose to it. Towards the end of the heart is where the note that was described as " a synthesized representation of human semen" makes its appearance. While it doesn't reach the levels of in your face wretchedness of Etat Libre D'Orange's Secretions Magnifique it does turn this slightly sour on my skin. Thankfully like everything that came before it is only present in an ephemeral way and it doesn't last long, after that the base is almost refreshingly normal. As cedar and vetiver return the scent to its clean beginnings. Musc 25 is an ethereal scent much like many of Olivia Giacobetti's creations. This does create the stated ideal of surrounding an animalic core with angelic white. For me it is that animalic core's slightly sour feel on my skin that throws this one enough off the rails that I won't be lusting after this city exclusive as I have the other two. It is a thouroughly modern scent and I think on some people with those sensibilities this is going to be a flat out winner. Unfortunately I'm not going to be one of them.