Lovely but brief
Maybe the most sophisticated vanilla I've ever smelled. More floral than sweet. Quite delicate, very well balanced. However it does not last long on my skin at all. I'm talking like 20 mins.
Le Labo Vanille 44 is one of the City Exclusives from Le Labo, available in Paris. Le Labo does sell all of the City Exclusives everywhere every year or two, so don't despair if you fall in love! It was created by Alberto Morillas and launched in 2007. The notes from Le Labo say ""It is a complex association of amber and woody incense that will unveil after its first taste of musk, a profound smell of vanilla. This fragrance is just a poem."
We agree! Le Labo is more than a sum of its parts. Yes, there is vanilla in there, but this is really not a vanilla-centric fragrance (not like a cupcake in the least!), so vanilla haters might want to take a second look. It is a lot about the woods and gaiac, and it is subtle and has this amazing waft to it. You walk through a room, then turn around and think... wow, who smells so good? Yeah, it's you.
Notes of bergamot, incense, gaiac wood, mandarin, vanilla, muscenone, pipol and hedione.
From Bois de Jasmin - "Vanille 44 is not really vanilla. It’s a dry vanilla pod that explores the woody angle of the pod, leaving out the sugary cupcake aspects that have mostly defined vanilla in the last decade. In its place is what Le Labo describes as “vanilla disguised,” and that it is, by incense, guaiacwood (smoky rose), hedione (jasmine-like, for luminosity) and pipol (tarry, smoked tea). Primarily it’s a woody frankincense spun around a subterfuge vanilla. It does smell different enough to arouse not just interest, but excitement, among those of us who like vanilla as a woody, but not as a dessert, element."
From Perfume Posse - "Le Labo Vanille 44 is the Paris City Exclusive, and it whispers vanilla softly in your ear, coos a little, you look at the price tag and what you have to go through to get a bottle and say no, no, no! And Le Labo Vanille 44 whispers, oui, oui, oui! Incense and woods have this absolutely magical touch with the vanilla, and you think it will just float off in the air at any moment, but this thing sticks and floats and keeps whispering, oui, oui, oui. Give in, save yourself the useless resistance.
From Makekup Alley - "I am not a lover of out and out vanillas, for example l'artisan is way too vanilla for me, Le Labo have managed to do something really special with their vanilla, it twists and turns as you wear it, sometimes there is a sweet almost creamy floral aspect to it then next there is the woods and smoky aspect, always with a faint underlying creamy vanilla."
Maybe the most sophisticated vanilla I've ever smelled. More floral than sweet. Quite delicate, very well balanced. However it does not last long on my skin at all. I'm talking like 20 mins.
Very soft vanilla. Unlike most other Le Labo, will disappear within the hour.
Maybe the most sophisticated vanilla I've ever smelled. More floral than sweet. Quite delicate, very well balanced. However it does not last long on my skin at all. I'm talking like 20 mins.
Very soft vanilla. Unlike most other Le Labo, will disappear within the hour.
Deep woody vanilla base, perfect sweet vanilla without being too sugary or cloying. Has almost a charcoal hint as it dries down. Very well balanced with a little floral. The most well balanced fragrance I've found yet.
This is my favorite of all time. It's dry, slightly sweet and all about vanilla. Cheering and truly lovely.
I really love this vanilla fragrance. Without my little "Surrender to Chance" decant, there is no way that I would have ever been able to experience a soulful vanilla. Thank you!
I did not care for this fragrance, finding it more redolent of vanilla incense sticks or the air fresheners made for cars than of a perfume. The overpowering muskiness of this scent grew stronger after a couple of hours of wear and did not mellow.
I think my only disappointment with this lovely fragrance is that it doesn't last long enough on me. Otherwise, it is delicious.
So quietly elegant, so enticingly melancolic, caressing you in the softest memory of splendid times and promises of much more to come, sensual, intelligently dry sweetness and softness. The only smell needed on the skin of a woman!! I wish I could drink it and become it.
I admit it - I love vanilla fragrances, all of them that I know. This one, however, is extraordinary. It's beautiful, not too heavy or light, but just right. It gets nice compliments, the usual "what ARE you wearing?". I expect to want to keep this one around for a long time.
This is a lovely dry vanilla, very adult, very sexy. It is subtle but persistent, and shows up in a delicious way when you least expect it, for hours after application. My issue with it is the value-per-dollar matter. Is it really worth twice as much as the exquisite Mona di Orio Vanille, especially when the bottle is so unattractive? Not in my view. But there's no question that this is one of the beautiful vanillas of this world.
A glorious adult fragrance, it is not sweet and has real depth, I really want this fragrance