Le Labo - Labdanum 18

I have writed about some perfumes from Le Labo that I like, Oud 27 and Patchouli 24, but non of them as much as I am prepared to pay more than 50 dollar for 15 ml. But maybe I would do that for Labdanum 18. Anyway this is the one I like best among the one´s I´ve tried from Le Labo (everyone except of the city exclusives).

Labdanum 18 is interesting in an elusive way, it´s hard to decide what it smells like, more than that I like the smell of it.

Now and then it is similar to Shalimar, but without the oriental heaviness. But then I think it rather smells like some kind of salve, no idea wich salve, but some... It´s also powdery, warm and sensual, but also cool, clean and with some medical note that both lure and disturb.

I cant really smell andy top-or heartnotes, it´s like a chain of notes keep repeating all over, a little like Shalimar, some salve, some powder, some freshness and a few drops of some medical poition... and over and over again. This elusive development goes on for quite a while, it amuses me, but after some hour the perfumes settle down to my skin with a warm and slightly acrid powdery comfort. Some animalic notes, subdued smokiness and soft vanilla lingering on my skin. Oh yes, this is such a nice perfume.

Except of Shalimar is remind a little fo Parfumerie Generale´s Intrigant Patchouli, because it´s disturbing but in a good way. And it takes a while figuring out that I do like it.

And well, it doesn´t come as a surprise when I discover that it´s Maurice Roucel that is the nose behind Labdanum 18! I don´t have that much grip on what perfumer/nose that is behind each perfume I try, because when I try a perfume I prefer to don´t know too much. And if I like the perfume I search for information about it later on. And well, there we got Maurice again. Hallo Maurice, can you explain how it come that you have the key to my olfactory sense and skinchemistry? And oh, doesn´t Labdanum 18 reminds a little about Iris Silver Mist, but wearable? Sorry, Maurice, but I haven´t yet become friend with that particular one.

Do you have a favourite from Le Labo? Do you really find any of them worthy of the high price, I do like Labdanum 18, but there are a lot of other perfumes I like more and that are a lot cheaper.

Le Labo - Patchouli 24

Valborg´s Mass Eve isn´t far away now. Valborg´s is celebrated all over Sweden and what we celebrate is the return of spring, and we celebrate it with large bonfires, firecrackers and school kids getting drunk (some adults to of course). I manage very well without the firecrackers and the drunk kids, but the bonfire flames reaching up against the darkening sky is really beautiful.

Le Labo´s Patchouli 24 gives me the bonfire, but without firecrackers and drunk kids. Patchouli 24 is a sodt, warm, woody and a little earthy smoke fragrance. This I like... at least for the first four-five hours. A lot of perfumes with notes of smoke are a bit harsch on me, I like them, but not fully. It is like they render the smell of smoke from damp logs burning, and you know it´s a bit scratchy compared to the smoke from perfectly dried logs. But in Patchouli 24 there´s no doubt about it´s being prime firewoods.

Patchouli 24 is a soft, sensual and alluring perfume. If you´re not going to a Valborg´s bonfire it may be a good replacement. While wearing it I feel slightly hedonic, mystic and still it manage to smell good, not only interesting.

But, there is a problem, because this is longlasting wich not all from Le Labo is, so after some hours it tend to be samey. The first hours are really cozy, there is more in it than smoke, but the base is nothing else then smoke, and some more smoke, and it last and last... Oh, if it was something else in there to, or maybe it´s my skinchemistry?

So after about four hours Patchouli 24 manage to ruin what it has accomplished. You end up sitting there with the feeling that you´ve been sitting in front of a bonfire for a whole evening. I promise that if I wear it 1:st of May, everyone will think that no one have celebrate Valborg´s more toroughly than me.

Patchouli 24 is cozy, longlasting (the smell of smoke stay with me the whole day!) and exciting the first hours. But then I get tired of it and start wondering about ease it up a little with some vanilla or fruity or maybe even floral perfume. Is there someone that have some nice layering tips for Patchouli 24?

Le Labo - Oud 27

Before ordering Luckyscent´s Le Labo sample pack I hadn´t tried any Le Labo perfume. Now when going trough most of the samples I think I´ve got a grip on their perfume making style. When I see that a samll 15 ml bottle costs over 50 dollar on their homepage, I cant help thinking that you got very little perfume for that money.

Despite that they have some interesting perfumes, Oud 27 the newest one for example. I starts off with a obvious note of rubber, but in an enjoyable way, but there isn´t only rubber, there is some manour as well. Like standing on the edge of a big, newly manoured field with a bunch of tires burning on a distant. The first minutes Oud 27 is a strange mix between Comme des Garcons Tar and L'Artisan´s Dzing! Pleasant enough, but a little difficult. The top notes wears off quite fast, even tough they remain in the background. A zesty and somewhat cold note of vetiver comes along and something warm and soft, I guess it´s the oud, a wood commonly used in arabic perfumes. Oud can smell in different ways, and the strange top notes may be one variety of oud as well as the warmer and softer may be another. Still, Oud 27 is still a tense kind of perfume, there is a elusive lingering sweetness, but a very soft one. Now, Oud 27 rather remind me of L'Artisan´s Timbuktu and Bvlgari Black.

Yes, Oud 27 is interesting, but it rather makes me think about what perfumes I could blend and layering to reciew the same result, more than make me want to buy my own bottle. Together with the other Le Labo perfumes I´ve tried I notice they have a common clean kind of note, even when their perfumes are muskier or dirtier. In Oud 27 there is a clearness and hight that feels kind of nice considering the perfume is so smoky.

Oud 27 isn´t that longlasting on me, and the sillage is ok, but the basenotes is comfy and soft. Warm, dry wood, some lingering incense and something smelling like perfumed paper is what remains after some hours. Worth trying tough, even if it dosn´t impressed me so much.