There are candles and there are candles. These aren’t your typical mass-produced candles we’re talking about. These have modern, hip, and sleek written all over them. And when its founders proclaim that they’re “fighting the rising tide of conformity” with their product, you know you have a winner.
Formed in 2006, Le Labo was born out of Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi’s shared passion for exquisite perfumery and an “equally violent dislike for neckties and submitting to authority.”
After a career that included a stint as (creative) corporate cogs in the well-oiled Armani fragrance-empire machine, the two decided to call it quits and set out to do their own thing.
“Finally, we said to each other, it’s enough, now we have to stop bitching about mass-market perfume and start an indie perfume company based on excellence.”
With that as their mantra, they aligned themselves with the best “noses” in the industry, sourced the finest ingredients from the French town of Grasse (a.k.a. the world’s perfume capital) and they hit the ground running.
Long story short, what started off as a tiny purveyor of personalized perfumes in New York’s NoLita neighborhood is now considered an industry frontrunner in the so-called “olfactory revolution.”
After being on the scent scene for only a year, Wallpaper magazine gave Le Labo the highly coveted design award in 2007. Other publications have also raved about Le Labo and given them top honors ever since.
All that won’t come as a surprise if you’re privy to how simple yet sophisticated their merchandise and boutiques are.
Fashioned after pharmacies-cum-chemistry labs of yore, their sparsely decorated stores (and wares) are a testament to Le Labo’s commitment to impeccable quality and understated style.
The vintage apothecary shop theme is employed across the board — from product labels and packaging to their website.
Their subway-tiled spaces and old-world/old-school feel is reminiscent of Kiehl’s — but not exactly. Think of Le Labo as its swanky, snazzy cousin.
Le Labo’s “scent creators” maintain that their candles are “simply the only decent way to perfume your home.” They admit, however, that Diptyque’s Feu de Bois or Fig does come close to falling under the same category.
Other than that one concession, they believe nothing else compares.
Many tend to agree. Proof can be found in their numerous commissions — hotels being one of them. Le Méridien, Gramercy Park Hotel and Ace Hotel have all enlisted Le Labo to create signature candles as amenities and hotel scents for their properties.
There are hundreds of other candle brands out there, but none of them hold, well, a candle to Le Labo.
Sold only at some of the world’s most fashionable stores such as Barneys New York, Liberty in London and Colette in Paris, Le Labo candles now come to Adora at Greenbelt 5.
One hundred-percent handmade, they’re perfect gifts for your most jaded, hard-to-please friends — or even yourself — with their Margielic, industrial packaging utilizing distressed tin vessels and corrugated board.
Each can is marked with a personalized Adora label.
Candles are made of 100-percent soy wax and cotton wicks and have a burning time of approximately 50 hours.
When you get hold of one you don’t know if you should keep it for yourself or give it as a special present.
It comes in five scents:
Santal 26 is an aristocratic scent that is gentle, smoky and leathery.
Figue 15 is a blend of fig and blackcurrant.
Calone 17 contains marine notes mixed with geranium and amber that bring a light sea breeze into your home.
Pin 12 is sheer subtlety, which will infuse your home with a delicate smell of aromatic pinewoods, cut with musks and a slight touch of amber.
Petit Grain 21 is a stunning, rich and elegant orange-blossom blend with luscious green undertones.
Of course, all these descriptions cannot compare to the experience of smelling, seeing and touching them yourself.
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Discover Le Labo candles on the second level of Adora at Greenbelt 5.
For more information go to http://www.lelabofragrances.com/