Jet Setting: Le Labo Dubai, Shanghai and Miami exclusives

Well, it’s that time of year again. For a limited time you can get, if you’re a mind to, the city exclusives at your local Le Labo or at their website. This is a once-a-year thing and I am a bit late telling you about it since the window of opportunity to order draws to a close. But I always thought that the “City Exclusive” portion of the program was as dippy as the artificial expiration dates so I don’t feel I need to drum up support for it. I’ve actually tried several of them in the past, starting with (I think) the first, Dallas’ Aldehyde 44. At the time I had a minor hissy because I thought that that ones combination of sparkling aldehydes and underlying slightly sour musk was far more Hollywood than Dallas: I wrote in PST “There’s something about it that’s a bit ‘Day of the Locusts’ around the edges… It’s laughter heard at a swank party that has an edge of hysteria to it. A star on her way down slightly desperate for a comeback. Cher doing infomercials. Faye Dunaway in a sitcom. A slight edge of fated heartsickness.. That’s why I thought Hollywood, and that’s what I liked about it“

Then back in ’08 Le Labo opened their LA shop on Third street within walking distance of my hovel, where I met Fabrice Penot, one of the owners who told me that they were indeed doing an LA scent, told me the direction he was going and was kind enough to later tell me that my suggestions on what to do in LA to get a feel for it actually somewhat modified the direction the scent went in- the drive along Mulholland at night I suggested apparently was one that did the trick. At the time I wrote him “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.“

I was really pleased with the results, especially when I was gifted a bottle.

Since then there are city exclusives of places I have been (New York, Chicago, San Francisco) or would go (London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo.) I thought I would hit up Surrender to Chance for samples of ones dedicated to places that I likely would never go: Miami (too humid), Shanghai (too far), and Dubai (anti LGBTQ.)

Tabac 28 (Miami) This one reminds me of the pipe tobacco that my dad smoked: it was some sort of concoction that to me as a kid smelled almost edible: rum, cherries and cured tobacco. Le Labo then adds pencil shavings of cedar and something green and spicy that I can’t place and a patchouli base. Immediately a winner; at least I won’t have to leave the continental US if I have a desperate need for it in November.

Myrrhe 55 (Shanghai) Very clean licorice and myrrhe opening that does get a little warmer in the drydown. Not what I would expect from myrrhe- it’s like the bright sunny day to the late evening that is Lutens La Myrrhe. The Lutens is a dark, cool, almost sepulchral take in comparison to the bright bubbliness of this one. It’s like one of those shiny, showy techno SUV the Chinese sell that will crab walk itself into a parking space while doing your taxes and making you a frappuccino. On the one hand I think “wow, this is really cool” but also “do I really want to live with this?”

Cuir 28 (Dubai) starts for me with vanilla. I read another reviewer mention they got hot asphalt and burnt rubber. I do get a bit of that, and a slight leather, as if you had mixed SMN Nostalgia with a healthy dab of good vanilla extract. It frankly seems a little wan for Dubai but that may be me culturally stereotyping. In any case it isn’t one that I am willing to move mountains to get.

Do you have any favorites of the City Exclusives? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Samples of all of the City Exclusives are available at their website for $13 each, a discovery set of 5 (their choice) is $65. Scents are available to ship until the end of September (sorry) $170 for 15ML, $375 for 50ML, $535 for 100ML, and $1780 for 500ML. Which considering it comes with an expiration date I suppose means that you either bathe in it or mop your floors with it, My samples came from Surrender to Chance.

Photos: My iPhone, Pexels, and Wikimedia Commons.