Many of you already knew this, but the Le Labo City Exclusive fragrances will be available next month at Luckyscent. In light of Saks and Nordstrom now carrying Le Labo (at least online), I had wondered how this would work. It’ll be interesting to see if in the future either of those retailers gets a crack at the City Exclusives or if the line will continue to be the exclusive domain of LuckyScent.
You can buy manufacturer’s sample sprays of them all through the rest of this month, according to the LS site, and the full bottles will be on sale as of Sept. 1 (no FB prices were listed, however). Although you can get samples of most all of these year-round at Surrender to Chance.
As always, I’m sorely tempted. To have full bottles of Vanille 44 or Tubereuse 40 would make me the happiest camper around, but my FB-commitment phobia (and my mostly empty wallet!) seem to always keep me from doing the deed. That, plus the fact that I can never begin to use up all the fragrance I already own. And I know many of you are in the same boat.
What I would spring for in a heartbeat would be body products in these scents. A thick, rich body cream scented with Vanille 44 (or Gaiac 10) would put me on cloud nine — heavenly to curl up in on a chilly fall or winter night. Likewise a nice body lotion in Tubereuse 40. And shower gels in this line? Whoa, Nelly, sign me up!
The City Exclusives aside, I’d be thrilled if my Saks or Nordstrom were to get the brand in-store, so I could at least sample everything in the regular line to my heart’s content.
Anyhoo, what are your favorite Le Labo fragrances? Have you ever bitten the bullet and bought a City Exclusive? If so, which one?
My only two LL just happen to be city exclusives: Gaiac 10 and Poivre 23, both purchased in different years during the September event. Both are the 50 ml bottles, and I doubt I’ll ever need to refill them, as they are potent enough to be 2-spray max scents. I love them both, but had the oil versions been available at the time, I probably would have purchased that format instead, as I find their oils softer and rounder in composition. I would love to pick up a bottle of the Labdanum 18 oil someday, but haven’t found any others that are FB worthy for me.
Lisa, those are two great ones to have! I love the idea of refillable bottles, but as you say, unless you wore them fairly exclusively, you might never drain the bottle. Those oils you guys are talking about are really intriguing me.
I have only one city exclusive…Tuberose. I bought it in New York about two years ago and only bought the very smallest bottle (10 or 15 ml can’t remember which). It was very expensive for such a small bottle, but I must say a little bit goes a long way with that particular scent and I still have a lot left in the bottle.
Yay — gotta love that Tuberose — it’s sunshine in a bottle, IMHO! I bet those smaller bottles are very cute. Need to get my mitts on one or two of them. Thanks!
has Barneys given up the LeLabo line? If not, that is a perfect place to get the CEs. My LL love is Iris 39. My original full bottle was Ald44, based on a gorgeous tester bottle. Alas, there was a sweaty note in my FB that I couldn’t abide. I had to sell it.
Iris 39 body lotion is DIVINE! I wear it a lot in cooler weather (really icks-out in the heat, though)
xoxoxoA
Hiya, sweetie! Looks like Barney’s still has LL on their site, but didn’t see the City Exclusives mentioned anywhere. Maybe only Luckyscent is getting those?
I have a small (30ml?) bottle of Gaiac 10 that Dear Husband brought back from a business trip to Tokyo. I also have a split of Vanille 44 (that is mostly untouched) that I got when someone on Facebook was hosting. She bought the biggest bottle Le Labo has and extended the cost savings to everyone, so it was only moderately expensive. I also have a small bottle of Iris 39. I recently got a sample of the Baie Rose 26. My daughter has a bottle and every time she comes over for dinner wearing it, I tell her how good she smells. I tried it, but it’s really more my daughter than me. For some reason I rarely reach for the Le Labo’s.
Nice choices there, Tatiana! And a nice reminder about how good the Gaiac is. Since I keep my Le Labos in my little mini perfume fridge, I tend to forget about them sometimes since they’re not close at hand. Which reminds me that I need to rock my decant of Tuberose 40 this summer while it’s still hot.
I haven’t really gotten into the Le Labo line — I’d be very interested in trying the Labdanum, Gaiac, and Cuir ones, but maybe it’s better for my budget if I don’t! And I love Portia’s phrase “omnivorous fragrance glutton”!!!
Hi, Heidi! Do give them a try; STC has samples of pretty much everything. And I love Portia’s great phrasing, too!
Oh, for anyone interested in the oil/balms – I don’t think Luckyscent carries them, but I believe that all the Le Labo boutiques carry and will ship. I live in the Midwest and order from the San Francisco store every year, in loyalty to the excellent customer service I received there three years ago. The boutiques may offer the CEs in the 15ml size Portia referenced too, I’m not sure.
September is my favorite time of year, because it means I can restock my Vanille 44. I have bought a bottle in the past, but for the past two years, I have bought it in the perfume oil. They also have a liquid balm option that I will be trying this year. The oil keeps it close to my skin, which gives it a slightly different scent then the spray – one that I love!
Oooh, lucky you, Abbey! And that balm/oil sounds wonderful; I didn’t realize that they made that.
The Le Labo line just doesn’t work for me. Sigh of relief!! To clarify: I’ve smelled several that I like but they weren’t FBW. My wallet thanks me.
Yes, I can see how that’d be a sweet relief for your wallet. I really can do without the rest of the line if i have to, but those two CEs always seem to pull me in.
Hey there Ann,
I have the 15ml bottles of Santal and Labdanum. Really I only bought them because the store manager at Venice LA store (Hey Jimmy, though you don’t work there now) was so sweet and took us through the whole range one afternoon back in 2013. TBH they are still here in their boxes unopened, I had to go check what I had.
The life of an omnivorous fragrance glutton.
Portia xx
Howdy, Portia! Lucky you to have those (I didn’t even know they made that size but it sounds adorable). If you try them again and decide it isn’t love, they might make nice gifts for someone.
P.S. I did that once with a friend new to fragrance: I gave her several samples of scents that I had small sizes of, and then when her birthday came around, gave her the bottle she liked the most.
Sensational idea Ann.
I quite like seeing the boxes. They remind me of an amazing day with friends.
Portia xx
Vanille 44 here… I can’t justify the cost by any means so I’m trying to get max mileage out of my wee 1 ml sample, but would consider splitting a bottle a few ways. I like Diptyque Eau Duelle well enough for every day, but Vanille 44 is just special.
I hear you — it is something special! But if you don’t end up doing a split, you could always order a decant from STC. I have a once-hefty one from there that I’ll probably finish this winter and will likely go back for another. So glad you mentioned Eau Duelle; it’s lovely, too (and fairly affordable — the 1.7-ounce EDT can be had for under $100).
I wish that I had jumped on a full bottle of Aldehyde 44 when I had the chance. Now I’m regretting that. I wish that they would bring it back. Haven’t tried any of the others though.
Ah, another 44 lover! I have a feeling I’m going to be seeing a theme here today with that. Do give the others a try when you can — you might find another to love. It should get easier as the line becomes more widely available.
I have one FB City Exclusive: Aldehyde 44. Probably would have been happy with my large decant, but once I heard A44 was being discontinued…well, I had to jump on that train before it left the station. Every year, I consider purchasing Vanille 44, but I have a couple of large decants, which seem to be at the same level they were last time.
Hi, TaffyJ! Yes, Ald. 44 was great; so sad that it was discontinued. I (and many of us) have often wished that they would bring it back somehow (especially into the regular line). Luck you to have a FB!
Oops — that was supposed to be “Lucky” !
A44 is also my only LL, exclusive or otherwise. I just commandeered my soul! Started with a huge decant and then stalking EB till I had a FB. Hopefully I can get it refilled when the time comes! I so adore that stuff!!
Hey, Rina! I remember you being a No. 1 fan of the Ald. 44. So glad you got a FB! I’ve often wondered how it would work to get it refilled, so if you find out anything, do let us know.