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ExorsistDrat – :
I’ll keep this short and sweet. Fantastic smelling. Animalic opening followed by hours of labdanum and vanilla. One of my favorite Le Labos. Want this for a more affordable price? Check out Shalimar by Guerlain. It’s the sister of Labdanum 18 and significantly cheaper. 🙂
Алечка – :
Musky, vanilla, labdanum. I do get musc ravenger references. But for me it’s not a feminine or youthful vanilla. It smells more like an old man.
urus – :
I received this as a sample.
Forget the reviews by the “I-know-so-much-aabout-each-individual-ingredient” reviewers. These people could clear out a party in 5 minutes.
I really wish I could undo the time spent on these self-absorbed bores.
Anyway, this is a very soft fragrance. Like a baby powder for adults who don’t need to force their fragrance upon you.You will not smell like a baby. Just more of a subtle soothing fragrance that makes you want to keep breathing it in.
It lasted over 8 hours on me. People who were up close loved it. And, by close I mean in a car or hugging.
Due to the price, get a sample.
Incarnate – :
This is my favorite Le Labo fragrance. I get no animalic notes out of it; only soft muskiness, warm vanilla and labdanum. Very long lasting. I can still smell it on my skin the next day. It’s my comfort scent and goes incredibly well with my chemistry.
I also own and love Musc Ravageur and they are nothing alike.
Labdanum 18=Human Catnip
Chichicoff – :
Labdanum 18 will not be the scent you’ll immediately be in love with like other scents of Le Labo, but time passes and this scent becomes so masculine, but very comfortable. The first spray you’ll notice right away the powdery and sweet scent, really sweet, and a bit touch of vanilla and labdanum flower. Well-blended but a bit too much, I was not so comfortable imagining I was wearing it in the office. Then after around 20 mins, it started to write down. The animalic, leather and musky scent came. This time, I felt like I was in the hospital, but in a very comfortable room of a 5-star hospital, with lots of lighting, surrounded with trees and flowers and I was getting better. The middle notes and base notes do not have any big difference, they kind of blend well together. This scent does last long, all day, and brings me comfy. I never feel like wearing any leather, animalic and musky scent until I wear this.
1710.2011 – :
I have a 1.5ml sample and I sprayed two sprays on my skin yesterday at 5pm. First of all, it’s quite powdery, but it has that animalic smell coming through. It’s sweet too. This morning I was doing some work, was moving about and got a bit warm, not really sweaty, just warmed up.. and Labdanum started projecting all over again, and big time! This was 14 hours after I had sprayed it. The smell was less powdery and more masculine and animalic, and very natural. I think this must be an excellent fragrance for clubbing, when you’re dancing and sweating and you’re close to people..I imagine it comes off a bit dirty and very sexy.
It’s now 9pm so it’s 28 hours since I sprayed it, and I can still smell it on my skin very clearly.. but it’s more like a part of my skin scent now, very natural.
I think I’ll try layering it with something else, maybe ISO E super.. or something fresh, to balance out the sweetness..
I think it’s rather masculine, although I know many women like to wear this. But then..when I smell it one day on a sexy sweaty woman at close encounter, I might change my mind about that 🙂
Befnenlyzoosy – :
You’re a baby. Yeah, you’re a baby and helplessly covered in baby powder, and for some reason the family cat keeps wanting to mark you as part of her litter or as part of her territory (or something like that). You find it hard to breathe, almost constantly, and your mom, who smells of vanilla body lotion and hand soap, has no idea. The powder follows you wherever you’re carried. Your existence is suffocating. Labdanum 18 by Le Labo.
kriger – :
I have 5 Lelabo fragrances. I can’t get enough of them. I wash my clothes in Santal detergent. This guy was my original favorite. True story: a year or so ago I was anti musk. Cartier L’envol and Kiehls original musk changed me. This guy is the greatest thing ever to happen to musk. It is so fresh and clean. Truly a calming and relaxing gem. My favorite part was the civet type notes in the warm down. I see a lot of fragrances advertise animalistic or whatever. This thing is like a fur coat.
thellineera – :
This is definitely one of the strangest perfumes I have ever used, based on how it performed on my skin. At first it started off beautifully, it was musky, slightly powdery, and spicy. However, I started noticing a scent that was very animalic, almost fecal (I’m assuming it’s the civet) which thankfully didn’t last long, and it finished off with a super powdery drydown. It was overwhelmingly powdery, like other reviewers mentioned.
It lasted for 3 hours, before I washed it off because I couldn’t stand that powdery, baby product smell. Unfortunately, this perfume downright fought with my skin, but it seems like it performs rather well as far as what’s expected from a fragrance in terms of sillage and longevity.
Мишка – :
OMG! 22 PEOPLE AGREE THIS SMELLS LIKE MUSC RAVAGEUR. that blows me away!!!!
They’re NOTHING LIKE EACH OTHER!
Well not to my nose!
sabahh – :
I disagree with the baby wipes comments. I think this is a gorgeous powdery and cosy fragrance. I do admit, I’m a sucker for vanilla notes!
Very expensive. Perhaps not worth the huge price tag but my fave in the range so far!
Didn’t seem to last too long!
12катруся – :
Oh my god. What is this? This smells like a baby powder scented diaper filled with baby doo-doo. Anyone walking around smelling like this has some sort of psychological coprophilia thing going on. Think about doo-doo much? Absolutely disgusting. This isn’t a fragrance. This is a smell. I’m sorry, but LeLabo is just the worst. IMO all of their “fragrances” are not fragrances, they’re smells. And as the reviewer below asked, where IS the labdanum? This really angers me. I mean, really?
UPDATE! – Two hours later and the dry down is the scent of dried saliva that has dripped out of someone’s open mouth as they slept mingled with the scent of dirty panties that have been worn for two days.
DO NOT come around me smelling like this or you gon get cursed the eff out!
Extrimal – :
Sorry but this is the most disgusting combination (perhaps because it doesn’t bring me good memories); the scent mix reminds me first the smell of cigarette ashes blended with musk and urea;
l remember in my childhood when my aunt wore a perfume based on musk and patchouli notes ; in the 80’s she used to smoke a lot in her office which was kept always with windows and door closed because of the airco.
Well, l would say she and everything in her office smelled just like Labdanum 18.
Ivaemon – :
Animalic urinal fecal “mortal”. Similar to musk ravengeur, and intense incense Rien, or Ambre cuir . For weirdos and people watching black and white movies, or movies like Necromantic . But at the end… – Where is labdanum?
POMA2001 – :
People say the oud one is dirty but this for me is dirtier. On my skin I get a dirty baby powder vibe especially in the drydown. Wish there was more vanilla and labdanum. Decent in the first couple of hours but after that it is far too dirty for me.
Scent: 7/10
Performance: 6.5/10
embobeler – :
Smells like Amber fetish without the incense.
pahha73 – :
Smells almost identical to Johnson’s Baby Powder. Very nice if you like that smell.
Johnson’s Baby Powder
Distilled Water
Ethyl Alcohol
Benzyl Benzoate
1 Vanilla Pod
I’ve saved you a fortune! I accept postal orders.
You’re welcome
🙂
genax4 – :
As I sprayed this one on the adjective that came to mind was “yummy.” Even gourmandy. That’s the vanilla, which is quite prominent. It goes through a phase when it becomes soft and powdery, but every now and then I’d catch something else – the skank element, which, in this, is quite subtle. I couldn’t call this animalic…
Labdanum is described as “deep, powerful, leathery and ambery note.” I don’t detect any leathery note… if I do it’s a soft, powdery leather.
This is an interesting and nuanced scent of obvious quality – I like it!
Longevity is good.
anchous4624 – :
This reminds me so much of Musc Ravageur but with more vanilla and tonka. This is not civety or full of castorum but it is nicely balanced. It goes on a VERY dry, food-grade, nonsweet vanilla then the woods start to make themselves present then it develops into the musk, but a soft, ethereal musk. The patchouli is there as a developer. It does NOT smell like dirty hippie. This is patchouli as a blended supporting element to deepen the experience. After four hours of dry-down it loops back to its top with that dry vanilla that is one I love though I really do not like vanilla fragrances. I would not buy a full bottle of this but can appreciate its nuances. I like bigger, bolder scents that make themselves known. This is one that only people who get intimately in your space or skin will be able to appreciate or you sliding your nose across your own wrist as I have over and over today.
COKPAT – :
A classic fragrance of substantial complexity with the nuances of the old school yet full-fledged oriental modern lines rich in nuances and sweet ways.
The opening spiced with cinnamon prevents accent flavored dessert that comes back, the rich, sweet patchouli mixed with powerful balsamic notes envelops everything is going as detecting somewhat smoky musk and warm animalicas notes that provide character and wealth color, here there is no room for fresh and floral notes, all the aroma is dense and deep.
If that’s not enough, the labdanum warms everything as an oven at full power preventing the fragrance enters the territory gourmand. Finally vanilla recreates the scene endulzandolo all like a wedding cake five floors full of merengue.
In the final drying, rich musks dusty, like clouds of powdered sugar sprinkled floating in the air and falling on top of this cake so succulent and complex.
If you like fragrances animálics tastefully done, this is an excellent. I love it!!!
Rating: 9.2
boom – :
A sexy beast, skanky and sweet.
Civet, castoreum and musk in forefront; vanilla and tonka softening the wild bunch. Other notes (labdanum, patchouli, cinnamon) are present by noticably complementing the composition and balancing it nicely – nothing screams “look at me”, all sitting in place, both roaring and purring.
Not too original, but well designed and smells challenging and cozy at the same time – good enough for a full bottle if you ask me.
dioniscka – :
Scent – a light fresh labdanum, almost like a vanilla musk, with a resinous civet backbone.
Season/Time of Day – I prefer to use this one in the colder months, day or night.
Projection – I didn’t get noticed, I didn’t get a compliment.
Longevity – I get 8hrs consistently.
#10
Messiah-hw – :
Labdanum 18 is best described in a few words
powdery animalic musky & nostalgic
even tho i feel like this scent can be descried in a few words there is nothing simple about it on the contrary its quite complicated
this scent takes you a a ride with all the twists and turns you wouldn’t expect from a scent thats off the bat so powdery and dry
the opening is very musky sweet and powdery with a underlining smell of animalic stank 🙂 but its that stank that sits so right with me and has got me to try this on more then one occasion
after each wearing i unravel one of its many layers only to leave me with more uncertainty if this is well suited for me
unfortunately at the end i determined that this scent is way to nostalgic for me as i cant stop picturing a classy women from the turn of the century wearing this
if i was able to find something to layer this with to give it more of a not so feminine/nostalgic vibe id be more inclined to add this to my collection because at its core i feel like its a beauty from the house of le labo and defiantly worth trying!
on to the next
kss2505 – :
Labdanum with musk and soft vanilla mostly. A little bit classy, but not interesting, not too complex I mean.
eles_Avdeev – :
Le Labo’s Labdanum 18 certainly has a lot going on—labdanum, vanilla, musk, cinnamon, patchouli, etc. It’s an intriguing scent that seems appropriate for both women and men alike in colder weather. Like Dior Homme Intense and Chanel Egoiste, Labdanum 18 has a unisex seductive vibe that is (unfortunately for me) undermined by its likeness to cosmetics and makeup. In other words, I have a difficult time wearing this as a man without feeling like I smell like an old woman. Like DHI and Egoiste, though, I’m willing to chalk that up to fragrances simply smelling differently on different people. The projection and longevity on this are among the strongest in the line (close to Poivre 23 London). I’d certainly recommend this for anyone who likes DHI or Egoiste and wants a different spin. Otherwise, it’s probably a pass as it is for me.
6 out of 10
Lisnoyserg – :
In love with this. It’s deceptively complex, I experienced it differently every time I’ve worn it. I find it more wearable than Musc Ravageur. It’s still equally as dirty and naughty. However this one is quieter, it isn’t silent though. Also, the longevity on this is insane. If you spray on fabric, it literally stays there for weeks until you wash it off. That’s what I love about Le Labo. At first glance you may think the price tag is steep but given how concentrated their perfumes are, they are worth the money. (This would be perfume extrait strength at 30% concentration) Le Labo is quality.
kapa6662 – :
I’m at a bit of a loss to describe this one as it is quite unlike anything I have tried. Sweet, warm, spicy, animalic vanilla with a light dusting of powder. What I can say is that I absolutely love it! Glad I got the big bottle.
aaslant – :
This is quite nice. It opens up very powdery, pretty much baby powder all the way with a bit of animalic underneath, very similar to the opening of Habanita. The heart reminded me of Annick Goutal’s Myrrhe Ardente with a strong root beer scent. The finish is sweet vanilla powder.
This is my favorite Le Labo so far and I think it would be worth trying for those who enjoy Myrrhe Ardente and are looking for a more full out perfume version of the same.
vodka13 – :
Labdanum 18 opens with sweet powdered vanilla labdanum notes, followed by animalic notes and harsh resins. The civet gives it depth amidst all the powder. A bit of birch bark gives it a sweet and sharp edge. Then, cinnamon and patchouli join in. The animalic notes mellow a bit and the sweetness gets stronger. The scent turns softer and more and more sweeter now from the vanilla and tonka. The animalic notes keep it balanced. Drydown is a sweet and slightly spicy powder scent with a rough edge.
Sillage is moderate, longevity moderate.
Yummy labdanum, very powdery (almost too much, and I’m a sucker for powdery labdanum scents). And very sweet. I like it. Definitely try before you buy, the sweetness and the powder may be too much for some. I love it though. Want-list.
Romanoss – :
Labdanum 18 is a nicely rendered soft and powdery musk fragrance that, in prosaic terms, is all about close-quarters comfort and enjoyment. Eschewing the opportunity to dial up the pungency – with the civet or castoreum, for example – informs the low-key nature of the composition.
The vanillic/ambered sweetness seemingly entrenched in these types of fragrance is minimised, which I appreciate, and birch is a smart inclusion to help steer Labdanum 18 away from the probably unavoidable comparison to baby bath products.
What’s missing, however, is a discernible hook, something to help disitnguish this fragrance from its peers. For price Helmut Lang EDP/EDC has it beat and Musc Ravegeur wins out in intensity and quality stakes.
Which isn’t to say I would refuse a bottle; I’d probably wear the heck out of this for being both versatile and undemanding (in the best possible way). It just costs too much for what it is.
tmt699Unlogrere – :
This is NOT a labdanum scent in any capacity, yet I’ve always had a soft spot for this one and quite enjoy wearing a ton of it. It’s along the same lines as Helmut Lang’s EdP with its clean, powdery amber-musk, but there’s not much to look at overall. It starts off with a powdered amber and what strikes me as a distant violet (probably my imagination), and then transitions into a coumeric / vanilla dust kind of accord. And that’s pretty much all it does. Zero labdanum (not that that’s a bad thing as labdanum can be hideously acrid) but as far as simple powdery skin-scents go it’s a keeper, even though you can probably get just as much satisfaction from an analogous scent like L’Erbolario’s Ambra Liquida for far less $$$.
uioiHJGhbgvXFCc – :
There’s something in all the reviews below that I agree with, except one thing that hasn’t been mentioned.
Powdery amber ~ check
Musky skin scent ~ check
Resinous and warm ~ check
Spicy and animalistic ~ check
Rather linear ~ check
Now the kicker, this scent ‘blooms’ in hot weather, on warm skin!
I blindly purchased a decant of this fragrance, from a member here, having glanced at the notes. I received it early in the day, and spritzed it on one wrist immediately. I wasn’t blown away but as the temperature rose it suddenly came to life and made its presence known.
I agree that it’s not the most unique, in the category it’s marketed in but try it on a hot day. I’d bet you’re pleasantly surprised.
semsk28 – :
To me well-balanced, not much evolving, warm, balsamic, slightly sweet, at drydown powdery.
I have never smelt those animalic notes alone in real life so I cannot really say much about that but I think it is what rounds the perfume nicely.
Big plus for me: very natural smelling scent, not synthetic-like.
Wears closer to the skin, decent longevity.
Unisex, I would enjoy smelling it on a man.
Will not wear but overall very nice.
nji282elipseskism – :
Laden’in nasıl koktuğunu bilmediğim için açıkçası koku da onu ayıramadım. Bu parfüm hakkında aslında çok fazla olumlu görüş okuduğum için istemiştim. Bir arkadaşım bulup getirdi. Marka yaklaşımı ve sunumu son derece başarılı. Parfüm şişesinin üstünde adınız yazıyor. Şişe ilk bakışta ucuz görünse de ağırlığı ve kapağı ile etkileyici hale geliyor.
Ten üzerinde yada kağıtta ilk 10 saniye bence koklamayın. Çünkü ilk 10 saniye sonrasında ağırbaşlı bir koku ile karşılaşıyorsunuz. İlk tepkim “eyvah” oldu. Çünkü hiçbir şeye benzemeyen ve açıkçası “kötü” koktuğunu düşündüm. Ancak 10 saniye sonunda koku kendine geldi. Genç kokusu değil, 35 yaş ve üstü erkekler için uygun. Eğlence ortamlarından daha çok iş- sakin akşam yemekleri için uygun. Etrafınızı “dehşet” etkilemez ama kesinlikle dikkat çeker. Parfüm tende bağırmıyor, sakin ama sessiz değil. Kalıcılık ortanın üstü. Farklı bir tarz ve koku arayanlar için çok uygun. Yorumların çoğunda “pudra” koktuğu söyleniyor ama baskın değil, hafif. Bir iki saat sonra biraz eski tarz kokulara yaklaşıyor ama bozulmuyor. Açıkçası ben çok beğendim.
teres1991 – :
Oh gosh, this is beautiful. On first sampling, I feel a full bottle purchase coming on.
Starting from the bottom at the drydown, this does finish as a powdery amber/musk scent, but with nuances of animalic notes that break up the haze with some coquettish accents.
In that I detect subtle tar-like notes from the birch, a little sharp wood-resin, that combines perfectly with the musky animal notes and patchouli, preventing the fragrance from becoming too soft or languid.
The vanilla is prominent, but not gourmand, rather dry and well balanced. Cinnamon is piquant and perfectly minimal.
All the way through, labdanum shines on my skin with it’s radiant floral ambery-musk, delivering a steadfast powder feel to the whole composition without ever being flat. I much prefer my powdery notes to have the natural vibe as presented here, rather than the synthetic counterparts.
The animal notes give Labdanum 18 beautiful depth without ever drowning out the featured note. At the top, they’re clear and clean with civet being slightly more prominent. On drydown, the warmth allows the animalics to weave rhythmically through the labdanum in accented measure.
Labdanum 18 obviously plays very differently and diversely on many of the reviewers below. I just know that I love how it rolls out on my skin and this may well fill that powdery animal hole in my collection.
xas26 – :
I got this perfume at Le Labo store in Paris after sniffing around in the store for a while.. I get a heavy powdery sensation, back also I would say that it feel like a soft yet hard smell. There’s something really nice and interesting about it… I think it gave me Marie Antoinette vibes, soft powdery faces and hard corsettes, sweet but rude, proper but wild. Maybe I got carried away by the parisian mood…
To sum it up, I’m happy I got it and I really liek it but I wouldnt wear it everyday.
embeshyPrashy – :
The ultimate show stopper! !
Spray molecule 01 on first then layer overtop wroth labdanum 18!!!!! Knockout every single time
ALEX4677 – :
Pleasing but not too complex powdery slightly spiced amber, perhaps could have benefited from a little edge. As the drydown sets in I get a bit of vanillic almost almondy side which is for me a bit of a turn off, I’m not really getting much of the promised animalics either. I guess I’d call it good-meh, good quality and certainly nice if you like your ambers to play politely, but I personally prefer mine with a little more bite, ala Ambre Absolute, Opus VI et al.
dbrindalik – :
More than a passing resemblance to musc ravegeur but somehow less intrusive. It’s animalistic musk and labdanum in the top but frankly not what I expected from a fragrance based around that note and has it as a namesake. Slightly resinous and with more than a touch of vanilla, it really feels nice to wear and quite delicate.
Weirdly enough 12 months ago I don’t know if I would’ve liked this scent without first having grown to love Frederick Malle MR. This is tame by comparison, soft, creamy and sweet so maybe I would’ve liked it anyway as the musk is no where near as pungent as musc ravegeur. Nor does it have the sweet, spice of cinnamon although it does have a slight hint of clove but again no where near MR standards.
Long lasting the civet drydown is nice and warm, quality all around but not worth it for me as I have Roucels masterpiece and I’ll stick with that for my hit of outrageously sexy musk!
erikson66 – :
This review is based on a sample that I ordered recently. As a BIG fan of amber (as major note), I just wanted to know how labdanum smells like, which is part of the makeup of amber note (created in lab). It’s the sweet, resinous, cozy and warm qualities I love so much about.
I kinda agree to the reference to Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle except without the prominent clove in MR, which I tried recently and quite like it.
Back to the scent itself. Labdanum 18 opens with prominent animalic notes but they are subtle. I generally can’t take any skanky note but surprisingly this one is acceptable for me. Amber starts to peek out after an hour. However, projection and longevity are below average. Overall, it’s pretty much a skin scent. Short but sweet.
armeu – :
Lovely and classy.
lesslay – :
Labdanum 18 is a very soft powdery skin scent. Sweet powdery and slightly animalistic ,smells ever so slightly of soft leather , I don’t think it can be detected by anyone around you but enjoyed only by yourself. Its a very mild version of Musc Ravangeur and Shalimar , the shadow of it so to speak or the baby sister. If MR is to naughty for you than this is your scent !
If you like natural soft skin scents , no flowers and have a comfort aura of faint ambery vanilla around you , Labdanum might be for you. I find it very enjoyable and save to wear, that is when I catch a whiff of it ,,, it might be wise to go with the oil version or wear it in addition to the perfume.
update, Labdanum is a very light scent. I sprayed myself all day long and could not smell much more than a warm beautiful musky vanilla powder ( baby powder with tonka resin added) type of smell. Very comforting and nice. Like a hug.
Love it!
Guardian007 – :
MASSIVE LOVE!!! Nice soft, powdery MUSK/tonka/vanilla fragrance. Labdanum 18 has that similar animalic musky note in Musc Ravageur and Shalimar, just in a smaller and more dainty dose. This is extremely well blended and doesn’t evolve a whole lot, it is fairly linear. But in a very good way. Very musky and sexy yet also soft and clean. Like grown up baby powder. If you love the dry down of Musc Ravageur but don’t care much for the massive opening, this is a great happy medium. Maurice Roucel created both Labdanum 18 and also MR and his signature on both is clearly apparent. While both are unique, they share a lot of similarities.
This is a fragrance that will draw a lot of compliments. It doesn’t announce itself but can not be missed when someone is close. I hugged 3 people today and all three commented very enthusiastically about how good I smell.
Labdanum 18 is one of my favorites of all time. I can not imagine ever tiring of it.
Cheap NFL jerseys – :
On me, this is much like Shalimar’s drydown, without the citrus. I own and adore Shalimar and Labdanum 18 is also lovely, but I’m not sure they are significantly different enough to warrant a purchase.
TRIAFFOCOREOR – :
What a strange perfume…
It smells like musk and cosmetics, with woodsy undertones. It’s mostly a sweet musky scent, a bit powdery, I get birch tree and pathcouli. But I don’t capture anything animalic.
Slightly old-fashioned scent, but interesting.
Johny88 – :
Labdanum 18 on my wrist, it comes out with a fierce hit of vanilla (a fresh Vanilla that just been scooped out with a knife and not a cupcake vanilla like smell) then a note of smokey leather starts to surround the vanilla that gives it more danger, elegance and mystery. This smell mesmerized me right away but it was somewhat violent in a way and very tricky, it started changing and changing and changing from Vanilla to leather, to a subtle musky animalic notes but as its bipolar olfactory note stormed around my nose like a tornado, it never failed to disappoint me, all I have to say is purely “wow” as Labdanum 18 it settled down on my skin this is where the magic happens, this where the echo of oud 27 comes in, a hint of civet and castoreum do appear within the leathery gourmand notes giving it more sex appeal and such classy addicting aroma from the Vanilla and leather.
More Reviews? Visit the Perfume’s Apothecary page on facebook.
Entaivykaxtix – :
Warm labdanum with resins and musk. This does not evolve much, but stays mostly the same throughout the day. If you’ve ever tried Kiehl’s Musk, this is very similar but a bit more refined. It gives the impression of baby powder but there’s a bit more to it than that. If you’ve never smelled these notes separately, you might not notice that this is NOT just a powdery scent. The longevity is stellar.
Scandalnight – :
Very nice,super powdery in an animalic way. I don’t get much of anything resinous (little labdanum, no patchouli, no incense), but I do smell loads of musk and civet mixed with a vanillic sweetness. I generally like animalic and powdery scents and find this one super comfy and cuddley. Actually pretty safe for a perfume with these notes.
3/11/2018 update: years later, I revisited this and am in love . This is furry, powdery goodness with an bit of a camphorous edge reminiscent of Carmex.
misha221103 – :
I’ll follow my dear Scorpiosheep on this one and say it gets utterly boring after a couple of hours. I’d say it is due to the fact it is pretty plain and subtle. No development. I’m not saying I dislike it…it is well blended and sometimes I’d love to have some perfumes like this when I don’t want to feel worn by my strong and/or strange scents… but then again I don’t think I need to spend this much to get to that unperfumed vibe. It has a certain link to Ambre Precieux but where Labdanum 18 is unrecognizable, AP is what a friend always repeats “that one again… sell it to me!”.
I must confess I don’t really know how labdanum smells like and now I’m even more confused given the fact I got a present from Egypt containing a few resins of labdanum in a bottle and the smell drives me crazy, it makes me want to capitulate and let the bombardments of smell take over. Here that smell is too hidden I guess since I can’t find it anywhere.
Anyway, this is a perfume that you can completely imagine by reading the previous posts here (it doesn’t always happen!) since all of them offer reliable information. I’m smelling my wrist and reading your comments guys and although I wouldn’t call this too animalic or powdery, I can see what you mean and it is great to be a part of this community cause you help a lot to learn and this is a great example of how varied and committed many many of you are. Thanks!
Oh no, I wouldn’t go for this one, TOO many in the same field and much better and sooo much cheaper.
And a last thought: sorry but this is as similar to Musc ravageur as an elefant to a rhino! Only in the first 15 seconds they have perhaps one note in common? but then you get closer and they have nothing in common at all. I beg you please to reconsider those 20 votes!
wolkow16 – :
When i first smelled Labdadum 18 i thought it smelled very unisex and kind of interesting but it wasnt until i put it on that the magic happened.
At first it was surprisingly soft and warm and kind of melted into my skin to where i could almost feel it changing on me/ with me. I could not stop noticing the smell puffing up from under my shirt and so on…
Later in the day it smelled much deeper and amber-y and the feeling of intimacy grew. I kept thinking about the way this smelled and described to a friend as a deep warm hug. Its a strangely emotional comfort i find in this scent. It almost makes me cry there is something sweet and innocent and yet naked and smoldering. emotional. quiet yet not without voice
Im glad that i did not look at reviews before i tried this because i might
not have tried it on.
dardre – :
The reviews for Le Labo CISTE 18/ LABDANUM 18 are really all over the map, and not without reason: this is an unexpectedly complex perfume. The opening salvo of baby powderish-diaper scent is bound to turn a lot of people off. But shortly thereafter a significant animalic facet emerges, apparently due to both castoreum and civet. Now there’s a dirty duo!!!! The labdanum and vanilla together produce a very straightforward amber scent–that is, after all, one of the more common recipes for amber.
My best guess is that people are variably sensitive to these three quite different facets of CISTE 18. That’s why some are complaining that this just smells like a talcum powder facsimile; others maintain that this is a skanky musk scent à la Frédéric Malle MUSC RAVAGEUR; some actually deny the presence of labdanum; and some characterize this as an everyday amber perfume.
It is all of these–and more–in undulating waves! I like this unexpectedly (given the name) complex creation. I love labdanum, so we were already off to a good start. The animalic facet is not overwhelming to me, and I do not believe that this smells like MUSC RAVAGEUR at all–which is a good thing, in my book!
rinat80 – :
On me, Labdanum 18 starts off with a drier version of the Shalimar effect (rich, oriental/amber with a touch of wood/patchouli), but a few hours later what comes through – briefly – is a tangy note of sweat and an oily note resembling sesame oil (?), before the soft baby powder finish. (I can’t distinguish if the oily smell is in the scent or generated in my mind, so take that with a pinch of salt.)
I grew up with women who smelled like this, and this frag casts a nostalgic aura over my afternoon. It