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Le Labo

Santal 33

2011WoodyEDPUnited States

Le Labo Santal 33 bottle
Image: Nordstrom

Bottle palette

glass

cap

accent

Where to find it

Search links · no tracking

Outbound links open a search on each site for Le Labo Santal 33. Product pages aren't deep-linked because retailer URLs change and stock varies.

Editorial notes

  1. 01

    A woody niche composition built around papyrus, leather and Australian sandalwood, the smell of every boutique hotel lobby and curated café between 2014 and 2020.

  2. 02

    Le Labo's founders briefed the perfume to evoke 'the campfire smoke and leather of the American West', an olfactive answer to the Marlboro Man.

  3. 03

    Le Labo was founded in New York in 2006 by Eddie Roschi and Fabrice Penot, acquired by The Estée Lauder Companies in 2014. The label is hand-printed at point of sale with the buyer's name.

  4. 04

    Composed by Frank Voelkl in 2011 around violet, cardamom and iris over an ambrox-papyrus-leather heart with a sandalwood-cedarwood base.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Bestseller.

A woody.

Composed by
Frank Voelkl
Founders
Eddie Roschi & Fabrice Penot
Country
United States

The pyramid

Top
violetcardamomiris
Heart
ambroxpapyrusleather
Base
sandalwoodcedarwoodaustralian sandalwood

The brief

Conceived by Le Labo's founders to evoke the campfire smoke and leather of the American West, an olfactive answer to the Marlboro Man.

NameNamed per Le Labo's house convention: 'Santal' is the principal note (sandalwood) and '33' is the total number of ingredients in the composition.

Why it mattered

  • Helped popularize the 'shareable woody' niche genre adopted across boutique hotels, cafes and home-scent retail in the 2010s.

The flacon

Apothecary-style clear glass bottle with a typewriter-style label hand-printed at point of sale with the buyer's name and date.

Footnotes

  • Le Labo was founded in New York in 2006 by Eddie Roschi and Fabrice Penot and was acquired by The Estée Lauder Companies in 2014.
  • Santal 33 is consistently cited as one of the most-mentioned, most-recognizable scents on the internet, sometimes called the 'scent of gentrification'.

The Curator's Note

Called the 'scent of gentrification' and not entirely as an insult.

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