So after an enthusiastic search yesterday for samples and decants of spring lovelies to try from the suggestions I received, one of those I found and wasn’t looking for was Le Labo’s Vetiver 46. (I also found MAC’s linden one and Le Temps d’un Fete by PdN and Reverie au Jardin but that’s another story).
Today, while looking for notes, I realized that the 46 from the name stands for 46 essences in there. Well, there is certainly more in there than they listed as notes: pepper, gaiac wood, labdanum, cedar, olibanum, incense, tahitian vetiver.
While I said there is more in there, in the beginning, you wouldn’t know it, getting hit by some serious pepper. Which I don’t mind, I enjoy that but it did smell, well, I hate to say it – masculine. It’s slightly citrusy, very peppery and lightly smoky.
I also saw that this was a Mark Buxton perfume and I seem to be getting an idea when smelling perfumes that they are bearing his signature as this one hints at some CdGs.
The initial pepper blast doesn’t last too long and soon something slightly sweet starts to appear in the background, while in the front, incense is slowly taking center stage. The perfume keeps smelling better and better and this is the point where it reminded me a bit of Timbuktu. But it’s more lively and refreshing than Timbuktu. Which sounds exactly like the thing one needs in spring. 🙂
And this is where I come to the part of the missing notes. Ok, yes, I smelled vetiver at some point but it was very delicately done. This is not a fragrance dominated by vetiver for me (or after some googling for everyone else), unless there is a facet of vetiver I’m not aware of. In the drydown I started getting this flowery-blackberrish radiance on top of the lightly sweet, woody-vetiver breeze. The drydown smells so great to me that I keep thinking with those 46 essences in there, someone must have accidentally hit on the perfect ratio to produce this effect. I simply love it. 🙂
Oh! Just found better notes on Luckyscent: bergamot, black pepper, clove, cedar, vetiver, labdanum, olibanum, gaiac wood, amber, and vanilla.
Pic and notes by: http://www.luckyscent.com/
Tagged: Le Labo, spring perfume, Vetiver 46, World of Perfume
All I am - a redhead 
It sounds lovely. And that reminds me of a another favorite for spring I forgot to mention…Le Labo's Bergamote 22. Have you tried it? But it's spring! It's Spring! What a wonderful, wonderful thing! 😉
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I love it too and bought it for the Captain – he smells great !And I don't like vetiver , so this definitely is not dominated by Vetiver . It's incense-y labdanum to me .
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Tarleisio, I have Le Labo's samples somewhere and I do believe I tried Bergamote but can't remember what it smells like. I'll find it and smell it again.
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Carol, I only have a 5ml decant so I'm not handing it over to my boyfriend even for trying. 🙂 Until I get some more, this decant is my personal property (and hidden). :)I'm wearing it today, I'm getting incense but still missing labdanum – maybe what I think of as a flowery background is due to labdanum…
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Not sharing with the boyfriend, Ines? Oh, you're bad, girly! Which means this Vetiver 46 must be the absolute bomb! 🙂
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Yes, it does seem I'm bad. 😉 And loving it! Although, I'm pretty sure it would smell great on him but he gets enough and I really like this Vetiver. 🙂 Unfortunately, I do imagine many might consider it more suitable for men.
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This is my favorite vetiver scent. It really sparkles and is so uplifting!
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Carrie, I'm glad to hear other people like this take on vetiver too. Not that it's very vetivery but who cares when it's good. 😉
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Ines, Vetiver 46 was one of those perfumes I tried which initially disappointed me. I first thought it smelled fusty and gentlemanly. Then I tried it again recently and it smelled so much better and interesting. Funny how perfume can do that sometimes.
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Michael, I know exactly what you mean. 🙂 I'm glad though it got more interesting for you, as I really enjoy it.
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Between your review and the 'favourite vetiver' comment, I'm going to order a sample of this. Thanks 🙂
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HI axum, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad if you got interested in this one, just don't expect a lot of vetiver. 🙂
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Oh, I want to try this one. I love vetiver, and I'm a huge fan of Le Labo's Oud.
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Barbara, it seems Le Labo slowly got under everyone's skin. 😉 Just don't expect too much vetiver and you won't be disappointed, I believe.
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you can probably tell I'm catching up on my reading! I'm a big Vetiver girl, love this one and also the Guerlain mens one (also think Le Labo is a great niche house, after what I said about CB maybe it's actually Le Labo i'd like to own!)
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R, yes, I can see you're catching up on the reading. 🙂 I also hope you catch up with writing more – I was wondering what happened that you got quiet for a while.I love Guerlain's vetiver too. 🙂 I think you might like this one then. Btw, if you would own one niche house, why not make it two then? 😉
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