Le Labo Baie 19 was released in 2019, created by Frank Voelkl. This is very different kind of scent from Le Labo, and there is much love and much hate for it - reading reviews was fun! Inspired by the smell of rain hitting parched soil after a long drought. From the brand - "Truth is…Baie 19 should have been called Water 19. Not that it smells like nothing (though nothing smells like it), but it has this crisp, wet, drenched effect that water gives to the earth after the rain... And there’s a word for that, by the way: petrichor. It’s that magical feeling during heavy rain after a long dry spell, and it’s one of the most beautiful olfactive phenomena in nature."
Notes of dry juniper berry, patchouli, green leaves, ambroxan, musk. Le Labo Baie 19 is an eau de parfum, edp.
Colognoisseur - "What works so well by using an accord, instead of the actual material, is it allows things to build like a thunderstorm then after it breaks you’re left with the scented aftermath. Baie 19 opens with the gathering ozone ahead of the storm front. Juniper berry and an assortment of green leafy notes represent the stiff breeze through the bushes crackling with kinetic energy. An aquatic accord captures the downpour itself. As the rain stops that watery effect soaks an earthy patchouli. Where this all comes together is the perfumer’s use of precise amounts of cade oil and Ambrox to complete the petrichor accord."
Basenotes - "this is a clean, dewy-green, velvety-soft, musky-salty-sweet scent with a trace of darkness. Ambrox Addicts take notice! Both EM and B19 have a unique contrasting “light vs. dark” concept going on! Quite versatile, very attractive, and to be worn regularly. This scent has garnered an unusual amount of compliments. Most notably from my lovely wife, the ultimate critic and deciding factor with many of my fragrances."
Fragrantica - "Because is very conceptual, it's more about the question of "sense" than the particulary fragrance. Exctualy it smells like the petrichor, not woods, not mosses, just like naturalistic smell of the soil after the heavy rain somwhere in the urban comunity. Watery, ozonic, fresh spicy and green. One of the best relases from the house of Le Labo."
Fragrantica - "Baie 19 to me is one of the most confusing fragrance i’ve ever smelled! Definitely not in a bad way though. I can only think of two things about this one:
1) it smells like an old garden after the rain. Wet soil, dying trees, rainwater dripping everywhere and the cold air surrounding it.
2) @bergamotted nailed it! it does smell like as if the doctor’s office is flooded with rainwater lmao. It’s very cold and “antiseptic” like in some way. Very interesting fragrance for sure. One of the best le labo creations out there, since it’s so complex and well made."
Fragrantica - "This fragrance smells very cold to me. It’s what I’d imagine a robot would wear to feel human."
Fragrantica - "I’m fascinated with this fragrance. On my skin it smells just like a thunderstorm on a spring night. There’s dark wet earth, rich green vegetation, ozone and the most incredible petrichor."
Fragrantica - "I will try to put it as politely as possible.. ...on my skin, it smelled like an ashtray that was left outside on the balcony fully exposed to the harsh afternoon sun. And then somebody came along and clouded the ashtray with an ozonic-patchouli concoction to help cover up the odour. As a side note - I live in a non-smoking household. I wonder if it is the woodsy notes?"
Fragrantica - "Immediately when I sprayed this onto my skin, I thought: finally something not everyone is going to love. Living in the West Village, actually I live above Le Labo, everyone and their child smells like Santal 33. I can see why people love this or it might be too strong if they’re used to the Another 13’s or Jasmin... ten seconds after I applied it, I was transported back ten years and I couldn’t remember what it smelt like. It wasn’t until hours later (yes it lasts that long, and someone even asked what I was wearing) until it clicked: 2007, living in Hell’s Kitchen, it was Ice*Men by Mugler. Oh, I was so happy. I finally got to smell this again. But my does it last way longer and just an overall better version of it."
Fragrantica - "the sanitary smell of freshly cleaned cleaning with alcohol. damp, moldy. didn't smell like rain. the recycling bin for organic waste or a rancid oil. the worst perfume ever smelled."
Fragrantica - "I couldn’t compare it to other perfumes, only the scent itself of acid rain in a post-apocalyptic city. It smells like concrete and decomposition, peaty minerals, and moisture."
