The cult of Le Labo Santal 33 is a serious one, if not exactly a stealth one. In fact, if you've spent even a minute at LAX, JFK or Heathrow, you've no doubt smelled it yourself, whether you're a beauty scion or firmly feral in your fragrance devotion. Its appeal spans ages, genders, cultures and sexual identities.
— Read more at The Cult of Le Labo Santal 33: Five superfans on why they love the storied fragrance at Fashionista.
That fragrance is every where
But I think not really — it is mostly in big cities, and mostly confined to a certain segment of the population. Comparing it to blockbusters like CK One does not really ring true to me, it doesn’t have anything like that kind of market penetration.
Agreed, and I’m not even sure that Le Labo wants it because along with success, it still surely wants to maintain a certain exclusivity around the brand, a certain ‘hard to get-ness’, so that only those in the know will join the Santal 33 cult. If you can smell Santal 33 at the register of any supermarket in the western world, Le Labo has nowhere else to go.
I can see where LL Santal is all over the place. I’ve smelled it on more than one occasion at the airport!
While it’s gorgeous, it is very persistent, almost too much of a good thing.
I think Rose 31 is probably more of a favorite for me.
I prefer Rose 31 too.
Curiously, all I get is dill pickle from Santal 33. I’m with Robin, I prefer Rose 31 as well. Related, some people have compared S33 to Stash SJP, a new fragrance love, at a fraction of the price. (As in: I scored two 100mL bottles of Stash for $40, TOTAL).
Stash has more grapefruit, more pepper and is not sweet, which makes it a true unisex. And you are right- way more affordable, even at the full price! ( I have the oil, which I love to put in my hair and pulse points.)
I like Stash better.
dill pickle! I need to smell Santal 33 again and sniff for that dill pickle note.
There must be a particular aromachemical that registers as dill pickle for some noses. I get dill pickle from new bottles of Bois Blonds and Infusion d’Iris EdP.
I smell Santal 33 all the time. It’s kind of an in-joke with my friends how often we smell it. I kind of get it but it’s just boring.
As far as I know, I’ve never smelled it.
The three or four of us who don’t live in Los Angeles or NYC are gobsmacked that our betters in those fine cities all wear the same fragrance as each other; them bein’ such sophistcates and all, we thought they’d for shorely want to stand out in the crowd.
/sarc
But you are forgetting that they can get their name on the bottle. Same as everyone else can.
33 is very much a hipster/wannabe rich boho scent. It’s ‘indie’ (owned by Estee Lauder Group now) it’s twee (formulated fresh to order) and pleases a modern design aesthetic (bottled in seeming purpose made vials)
I like the scent a lot; it’s lovely and i can absolutely see that being ‘the ONE’ for a lot of people. It’s easy chic with own signifiers.
This is everywhere in my city, Melbourne. Especially since Melbourne is full of hipsters and creatives and people who like to take minimal instagram ‘shelfies’.
I am not a fan. It screeches. The woods in it are so hard edged and splintery. It reacts badly on my skin.
I work for a beauty company that sells Le Labo, so its in the office a lot. And noticed. Its closely followed by The Noir in terms of popularity. Which I also have and I prefer that one. It has a more unique profile I think (outside of Le Labo that is, I know Rose 31 is similar).