Four Bottles That Justify the Le Labo Obsession Fragrance - Review · 2025
If you've ever stood in a Le Labo boutique, sprayed six things on your wrists, waited twelve minutes, and walked out having bought nothing because you couldn't decide, the Discovery Set was made for you. Four bottles of 30ml eau de parfum, four wildly different personalities, one kraft box that costs significantly less than committing to a full 100ml of something you've never worn past lunchtime. It is, in the nicest possible way, the smart person's entry point to one of the most quietly fanatical fragrance houses on earth.
Le Labo launched out of New York in 2006 with a philosophy that bordered on stubborn: no celebrity endorsements, no elaborate advertising campaigns, no flankers designed to catch a trend. Just fragrance, made with serious ingredients, packaged in glass and kraft paper, with your name printed on the label. That approach built a cult following that never really faded. It mutated. The scents became shorthand, a way of signaling something about how you thought about yourself. And nowhere is that more visible than in the four fragrances inside this set.
Another 13 — The One That Gets Under Your Skin
Notes: Ambroxan, Jasmine, Musk, Moss, Woody Amber
Another 13 is what happens when a fragrance decides not to announce itself. There are no opening fireworks, no citrus burst, no single note that rushes forward and demands your attention. What you get instead is a slow, creamy musk that seems to emerge from the skin rather than sitting on top of it. The ambroxan at its core gives it this almost physical quality, like warmth radiating from someone standing close to you, not the perfume they're wearing. People will ask what it is. Repeatedly.
This was originally a collaboration with AnOther Magazine in 2010, a limited release that became so sought after it joined the permanent Classic Collection. Makes sense. It smells like nothing else on the market and nothing like you expect when you first try it. Polarizing on cold skin, magnificent within twenty minutes of wear. Give it time.
Thé Noir 29 — The One That Rewards Patience
Notes: Black Tea, Fig, Black Pepper, Amber, Cedar
Thé Noir 29 is a fragrance that dresses exclusively in dark colours. It opens with a dry, slightly medicinal quality that splits opinion right down the middle, not unlike the first sip of a strong Lapsang Souchong when you were expecting Earl Grey. Let it settle and something remarkable happens: the smokiness softens into resin-edged wood, the pepper sharpens into clarity, and a faint fig note provides a dark sweetness that keeps the whole thing from turning austere.
It's the scent in this set that most rewards patience and most punishes rushing to judgment. If you're building a fragrance wardrobe, this is your night version, your cold-evening-out companion. On certain skin chemistries it turns slightly sharp on the dry-down; on others it becomes one of the most sophisticated things you've ever smelled. The only way to know which camp you're in is to wear it properly for a few hours.
Rose 31 — The Anti-Rose Rose
Notes: Centifolia Rose, Cedar, Cumin, Vetiver, Olibanum
Rose 31 is the fragrance for everyone who swore off rose perfumes after one too many encounters with sugary department store florals. This is not those. The centifolia rose here has been practically buried under cedar, cumin, vetiver, and incense-edged olibanum, then pressed into something that smells more like rose petals rubbed on aged wood than a bouquet arranged in a vase. It leans masculine but reads entirely unisex in practice, and on the right person it becomes genuinely arresting.
The cumin note unsettles some people, and that discomfort is intentional. Le Labo has never been interested in easy pleasures. Rose 31 is spicy, warm, slightly animalic in the middle stages, and dries down to a cedar haze that lasts for hours. It is the most wearable fragrance in this set for people who like their florals complicated and their woods soft.
Santal 33 — The Icon
Notes: Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Cardamom, Iris, Leather, Violet
At this point, writing about Santal 33 requires acknowledging that you are writing about something that has become its own cultural shorthand. Perfumer Frank Voelkl created it in 2011 and it became the unofficial scent of a certain kind of person: the gallery opening, the coffee meeting, the linen-shirt, considered-sneaker person with books stacked in the living room. That reputation is both its greatest selling point and its most divisive quality.
But set aside the discourse and smell the thing. Smoky sandalwood anchored with creamy cardamom, a whisper of violet, and leather that never hardens into anything aggressive. It is warm without being sweet, confident without announcing itself loudly, and it has longevity that will outlast most of your evenings. If you've spent years hearing about it and never gotten around to trying it, the Discovery Set gives you a full 30ml to form an honest opinion without spending full-bottle money on a name.
The Discovery Set doesn't ask you to fall in love with all four. It asks you to find out which one you'd wear until the bottle ran empty, and which ones deserve a second chance on a different day, in different weather, on different skin. Spend a week with each one. See what you reach for first on a Tuesday morning without thinking. That answer will tell you everything.