The idea for Paris*LA, one of the recent launches from niche brand A Lab On Fire, is simple enough: "LA, captured through Parisian eyes...", and the description, "a refreshing Coca-cola marries a smooth-shelled macaron", is enticing, perhaps, depending on your predisposition towards soda-inspired gourmands. I love them, the fizzier the better.
Paris*LA starts off energetically, with ginger and tart citrus (the notes: key lime, ginger, cola accord, neroli, coriander, thyme, macaron accord, amber and musk) and slowly rearranges itself into its key elements, the cola and the biscuit. The cola, admittedly, I'm not sure I'd recognize if I wasn't looking for it. Paris*LA is only lightly fizzy on my skin, perhaps because I'm dabbing from a vial, and while all the cola "pieces" are there, it's not the exact cola I'm used to (i.e., Diet Coke, slice of lemon please). Paris*LA's soda is little more herbal, a little less vanillic. So there was no "aha" moment, as there is with say, Demeter Gingerale or Comme des Garçons Soda.1 Still, it smells great — if it were a soda, I'd drink it.
The macaron, likewise — the pieces are there, and it's biscuit-y and a little sweet, but all the same, I don't think I would have said macaron. And so what? It's a delicious dry down, with the biscuit and spices and herbs, and a little touch of lime peel seems to come and go long after you'd expect it to have disappeared. Farther on, there's a lovely creamy-nutty powder finish to tie everything together. In the early stages, it's admirably dry for such a foody perfume, but it does get sweeter (and more vanillic) after the first hour or so.
Verdict: a little quirky but completely wearable, great fun AND a perfect winter comfort scent. Plus, in the relative sense it's cheaper than free, sensible perfumistas having long since decided that $100 is the new free. If you like gourmands, or just need something to chase away the winter blues, do give it a try. If it were available in a smaller size it would go on my buy list, but for the moment I am resolved to never buy more than 30 ml of any fragrance again. We'll see how long I last!
Do comment if you have another great suggestion for a gourmand to chase away the winter blues!
A Lab on Fire Paris*LA was developed by perfumer Laurent Le Guernec. It is $110 for 60 ml Eau de Parfum. For buying information, see the listing for A Lab On Fire under Perfume Houses.
1. And come to think of it, while there are dead ringers for Gingerale and 7-Up, I'm not sure there really is a dead ringer for Coke, although there are lots of cola-ish fragrances. If you know of one, do comment.
This was way too sweet for me, to the point of being annoying. Lots of other things in the world to sniff, so no big deal
Good to know though, so thanks for chiming in!
And for gourmands I’d recommend Cafe Cacao and Indigo Vanilla from EnVoyage, Seattle Chocolate from Olympic Orchids, Samarinda from Providence Perfume and Botrytis
Cola-ish? Definitely the original (men’s) Stetson. Love it!
Great scent
My current favorite anti-winter blues gourmand is Lalique le Parfum. In the last few weeks I’ve worn it to bed almost every night, and sometimes spritzed more on in the morning, too. There’s a green/herbal note in there with the sweetness (maybe bay?) I’ve really been enjoying.
Nice!
I appreciate the gentle comfort of this scent as well and the bottle is pretty too!
This sounds great, though maybe too sweet. I do love my Demeter Gingerale and now want to try that CdG Soda! I have a bottle of L’Aromarine Cola I bought unsniffed (they used to sell this brand in Anthropologies), but it doesn’t smell like cola to me.
I personally think Gingerale is better than Soda, and it’s obviously much cheaper! I was curious about that Aromarine.
I should find it and give a better description – I’ll let you know if I can dig it out tomorrow!
Oh, cool — thanks! It’s so reasonably priced, I think I almost bought it unsniffed once, ages ago.
Question: Is this ‘almond-y’ smelling?
This sounds good, but I have found most of the ALOF scents to be slightly synthetic smelling.
Cola-ish = Youth Dew by Estee Lauder
To me, only slightly, and not until later, when it gets powdery.
And yes, this does not smell natural.
YES to Youth Dew! I wore a dab or two of it today, and I was reminded of how oddly foody it is! (And, I find, plenty winter-comforting.
i’D LOVE TO TRY IT..BUT HERE IN iTALY i NEVER SOW LE LABO..AND FOR SODA BY CDG IT WAS FANTASTIC AS WELL AS TAR AND GARAGE FROM THE SAME LINE..IT’S A SHAME THEY ARE DISCONTINUED
Agree, it’s too bad about the Synthetic series. You can get A Lab On Fire at Colette in Paris, but don’t know where else.
This sounds like fun.
Guerlain Tonka Impériale and Serge Lutens Douce Amere are two of my favorite foody scents. I find almost any anise/licorice scent cheering. I need to dig out some of the foodier Parfumerie Generale scents like Felanilla and Aomassai. And Lostmarch Lann-Ael.
Hey, I need to dig out the foody PGs too! (and love Douce Amere, of course)
I’ve been meaning to try those PGs. The only foody one I’ve tried so far is Un Crime Exotique, which to me smells like eggnog.
The “cola” part smells like what I took for ginger ale in Annick Goutal’s:
Myrrhe Ardente
Les Nuit D’Hadrien
with a dash of lime.
PS- As a pirate, I will be (closely) watching Christopher Walken in Peter Pan tonite!
PPS- I loved “L’Aromarine’s Cola!!
Fun, hope the Peter Pan Live is great!
Did the L’Aromarine smell like cola, or did you love it anyway?
I thought it smelled cola-ish
Thanks!
This one wimped out on me after only a couple of hours. Smells like a much lighter Fusion Sacre Lui (Majda Bekkali)
Gosh, it made it all day on me, and from a sample vial. I will have to try the MB…
I have to admit just reading “a refreshing Coca-cola marries a smooth-shelled macaron” made me cringe a little, thinking that’s just sounds like a mess. But I haven’t tried anything from ALOF yet, so maybe I’ll get around to it one of these days and be proven wrong.
I also really like Demeter Gingerale. It was one of my favorites of the samples I got. I also ended up with a bottle of Madeleine by mistake (was supposed to get a sample of Dirt). It’s sweeter/foodier than I normally go for, but it’s nice on occasion.
Oh, I love Dirt, but now I’m intrigued by Madeleine…did not know they had one.
I am wondering if my sample was mismarked… I smelled orange creamsicle. Need to try it again! Cola and macaroon sounds yummy. I am wearing Traversée du Bosphore right now, one of my favorite gourmands.
Love TdB!
Oh Robin this fragrabce sounds fun!
A gourmand is definitely my thing and this combination is very intriguing!
A good soda lasting longer than the lovely Gingerale is worth looking into.
How does this compare to What We Do In Paris? I know they go in different directions but does the macaroon bare some similarity?
One of the best from this house I think is Lady Rebelle (the original, not the Respawn). It was so satifyingly rich in dark cchocolate and jammy rose. They honesly NEED to bring it back.
Some similarity to be sure, but this one is quirkier, less of a straight-up dessert. It’s certainly less sweet in the early stages, and I’ve have to wear them both to be sure but think it’s less sweet in the dry down too.
Oooo, this sounds nice to me, except for the thyme. Wearing thyme sounds like wearing tea tree oil to me — medicinal and like a disinfectant/cleaning product. Thyme oil is used in disinfecting products sold at the health food store.
Still, I will look for a sample, preferably with a spray top.
Thanks so much for the review!
It does not smell at all like cleaning product to me, but the herbal notes are strong in the early stages. Yes, try first!
I loved this, it was different and a bit fun and a nice change from my obsession with citrus as we move into summer in Australia. It smells like cola bottle lollies and schweppes dry ginger when I am wearing it and it’s quite addictive, I keep sniffing my wrist!
I’m very tempted to add it to my Christmas list.
I had to google ‘cola bottle lollies’ — those are cola gummy bears, yes? Now I want to try them, LOL…
I don’t know this scent but agree that 30mL is the ideal purchase quantity for most scents. Bigger bottles or decants will likely outlive me !
At this point, even 30 ml is likely to outlive me