Ask anyone who knows me and they will confirm that I take my job of defining the best perfumes very seriously. And while there are truly beautiful new perfumes hitting the shelves on a weekly basis, it’s not often I come across a fragrance that deserves cult status. You know the sorts I mean—the Santal 33s, Baccarat Rouge 540s and Molecule 01s of the world. But this week, something amazing happened. A new perfume landed on my desk that I just know is destined for status-symbol fame—introducing, Le Labo Eucalyptus 20.
Like the rest of the beauty world, I have been waiting for Le Labo to deliver a scent that possesses the same level of cool appeal as Santal 33 and AnOther 13 for years. And while the fragrance house has delivered some exceptional perfumes in recent times, none of them have had it—that stripped-back, nonchalant rawness that all cult perfumes of the 21st Century possess. But Eucalyptus 20 does, and it’s this that makes me 100% certain that it will follow suit of its iconic predecessors and be on the necks of London’s and New York’s coolest locals by the time spring is out.
The grounds for my certainty? Well, beyond my decade-long experience in analysing fragrances and working closely with retailers to identify such scents, the Eucalyptus 20 revelation came to me in a single moment. When it first arrived on my desk, I came at it from a place of immediate cynicism. Someone had told me that I’d like it—and I don’t like it when people tell me I’ll like something. (Yes, I’m one of those awful people.) I misted it into the air and turned my nose up instantly. It was resinous and had a sharp spice—not to my usual tastes—so I was off it.
A few days later, another beauty director asked me my thoughts on it. “I don’t get it at all—it’s not for me,” I replied. She joked that she looked forward to reading my glowing review. As I walked away from the conversation, my stomach dropped. I hadn’t tried it on my skin. I had been a terrible journalist—I delivered an opinion to somebody without enough research to back it up. Sure, it was only to a friend, but it still weighed on me.
So, I went back to the office, dug out the bottle and coated my arm in it, wanting to prove my initial thoughts right. But what happened did not rid me of my guilt at all. In fact, it’s festered with me until this very moment. So now I have to admit something I’m not sure I ever have before: I was wrong. Le Labo Eucalyptus 20 is, hands down, the coolest perfume I have smelled in many years—and I’m telling you now it’s going to be one of the most popular perfumes of the decade. Here’s what to know…
Le Labo Eucalyptus 20, Reviewed
Le Labo
Eucalyptus 20 Eau de Parfum 50ml
Key notes: Eucalyptus, leather, cedar, labdanum, musk, frankincense
If it was a song: Gypsy, Fleetwood Mac
If it was a person: Joni Mitchell
If it was a film: Into the Wild
If you thought Eucalyptus 20 would smell sense-clearingly fresh like menthol, you’d be entirely wrong. This is what I wanted it to smell like initially, but I now know that was it is is so much better. Let me start by caveating that Eucalyptus 20 is complex and extremely well-rounded—it’s this quality that makes it so special. On first spray, you’re hit with leather—but not an obvious kind. It’s like a smooth, collared leather overshirt, rather than a distressed biker jacket. But underneath it all is a nose-tickling spice that gives it a palatable freshness you simply won’t find in other scents.
Within a couple of minutes it melts into the skin, delivering a warm, bohemian, desert-like woodiness. It isn’t a damp, mossy forest, and it isn’t a stem of creamy, green leaves—it is the peeling bark of a dried-out eucalyptus tree sitting stubbornly under the scorching, dehydrating rays of the desert sun. It is bronzed, dirty skin after a day of hitchhiking amongst heat haze along the Mojave freeways. It is rugged, it is dishevelled and it is devastatingly cool.
And do not be fooled into thinking the leathery and woody elements make this an overwhelming scent with headache-inducing projection—it’s far from it. The musky, skin-like warmth hugs the skin and becomes one with it, delivering a lived-in smudge of lightly spiced wood.
This is not the perfume to reach for when you want to feel polished and pulled together. Eucalyptus 20 doesn’t spritz or mist onto the skin—it smears itself onto your being and marks its territory in a way that oozes blasé nonchalance. It lingers on the skin all day, but much like any great skin scent should, it doesn’t scream its arrival—you have to get close to enjoy its beauty. It’s not the sort of perfume that will have people chasing you down the street asking after it, but instead it serves as a loud message to the people lucky enough to be within your proximity. Encountering someone wearing Eucalyptus 20 is like being invited into an inner circle you never thought you’d ever even brush shoulders with.
Shop More Le Labo Eucalyptus 20
Le Labo
Le Labo Eucalyptus 20 (15ml)
Le Labo
Eucalyptus 20 Eau de Parfum 100ml
Opening image: @lefevrediary
