Le Labo: a guide to the house and its perfumes

Le Labo was founded in New York City in 2006 by two friends, Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi, and its first lab opened at 233 Elizabeth Street in Nolita. The house's manifesto puts craftsmanship and hand work first: hand-picked roses, hand-poured candles, hand-formulated perfumes. It also argues for fewer, more soulful fragrances. The ten we list are gathered in the Le Labo collection. If this corner of perfumery is new to you, our piece on what niche perfume is sets the scene.

What the house stands for

A Le Labo bottle carries a plain label with a place, a date of preparation and a name, and the house runs a refill programme for its 50 ml and 100 ml bottles. It also says where its raw materials come from: sandalwood from Kimberley in Australia, roses from Grasse, bergamot from Reggio Calabria. The Classic Collection lists twenty Eau de Parfum fragrances, and the City Exclusive Collection is a separate range that this guide does not cover. The brand's product pages name no perfumer, launch year or gender, so we leave those out as well.

What the perfumes have in common

Most names pair a material with a number: Santal 33, Rose 31, Baie 19. All ten we list are Eau de Parfum, seven in 50 ml and three in 100 ml. Le Labo does not publish a pyramid of top, heart and base. Its texts name a handful of materials and describe an effect, so that is how we present them. Twice the name says less than you would expect: the house admits the patchouli in Patchouli 24 is hard to detect, and for Labdanum 18 it names no single material at all. How a classic pyramid works, for comparison, is explained in how to read a fragrance pyramid.

The perfumes we list

The order follows the number of ratings on Parfumo, highest first, taken from a September 2026 snapshot. Our research holds no Fragrantica counts for this house.

Santal 33

The brand's picture is a night alone on the wide plains of the American West, firelight on your face and a soft desert wind around you. Cardamom, iris and violet are set against a smoky wood accord of Australian sandalwood and cedarwood, which the house says gives spicy, leathery and musky nuances. With more than 1,500 ratings it is the most rated of the ten on Parfumo.

Another 13

It began in 2010 as a commission from AnOther Magazine, set in motion through the Colette boutique and the magazine's editor-in-chief Jefferson Hack. The base is ambroxyde, which the brand calls a synthetic animal musk, and jasmine and moss add spike and shine. After Colette closed in December 2017 the scent moved into the Classic Collection.

Thé Noir 29

An ode to the black tea leaf and the craft around it. The scent swings between the lightness of bergamot, fig and bay leaves and the depth of cedarwood, vetiver and musk. A special extraction of black tea leaves gives the drydown a dry, leafy character that the brand likens to hay and tobacco.

Bergamote 22

A dazzling bergamot, in the house's words, that unites freshness, sweetness and sensuality. Its working title was Fire Cologne. Petit grain brings a floral side, grapefruit a bitter edge, amber and musk a flamboyant sweetness, and vetiver closes the list.

Thé Matcha 26

The brand compares it to matcha in Japanese culture: more than a drink, a quiet moment of introspection. A matcha tea accord meets a creamy fig note, soft vetiver and cedar woods, lifted by bitter orange. Le Labo presents it as a skin scent, meant for the wearer and the few people who stand very close.

Rose 31

The stated aim is to take the Grasse rose out of its usual role and turn it into an assertive scent that anyone can wear. Centifolia rose is paired with cumin, olibanum, cedar and a touch of amber, and gaïac wood and cistus over a musky background add a hint of mystery.

Baie 19

Le Labo says it could just as well have been called Water 19. The idea is petrichor, the crisp, drenched smell of rain on parched earth after a long drought. The materials it names are dry juniper berry, patchouli and green leaves.

Labdanum 18

The house calls it an enigma that ignores the usual laws of perfumery. It names no single material, only a strong concentration of ambery and musky notes that nonetheless stays discreet: a scent that whispers to the wearer and to those allowed to come close.

Patchouli 24

Patchouli is essential to the shock this perfume gives, the brand says, yet hard to spot. The smoky, leathery character of birch takes over in the opening seconds, and a touch of vanilla then softens the darker notes. Le Labo frames it as a scent for people who like to walk a tightrope.

Tonka 25

A warm, addictive darkness, like humid summer undergrowth with its seeds and resins, as the house describes it. The perfumer's notes it quotes are orange flower absolute, atlas cedar, styrax resins, tonka absolute and musks, with drops of vanilla to sweeten them.

Where to start

• Dry woods: Santal 33 for sandalwood and cedarwood, Thé Noir 29 for black tea over cedarwood and vetiver.
• Citrus and green: Bergamote 22, and Baie 19 for juniper berry and the smell of rain.
• Quiet and close to the skin: Another 13, Thé Matcha 26 and Labdanum 18.
• Darker and warmer: Rose 31 with cumin and olibanum, Patchouli 24 with birch and vanilla, Tonka 25 with styrax resins.

You can browse every other house we carry on the brands page.

Frequently asked questions

Does Le Labo publish a fragrance pyramid?

No. Its texts name a few materials per perfume and describe the effect, without a split into top, heart and base. We list the materials exactly as the house gives them.

Which Le Labo perfumes are the quietest?

Le Labo presents Thé Matcha 26 as a skin scent for the wearer and those very close, and says Labdanum 18 stays discreet. Another 13 is built on ambroxyde with jasmine and moss.

Is Patchouli 24 a typical patchouli scent?

Not quite. The brand says patchouli is essential to it but hard to detect, and that smoky, leathery birch takes over at the start, softened by a touch of vanilla.