Le Labo Myrrhe 55 photo courtesy of the brand

The new City Exclusive from Le Labo has landed!

Designated for Shanghai. Le Labo Myrrhe 55, is described, rather puzzlingly, as a chypre by the brand. But, like many of Le Labo’s other fragrances, it really defies neat categorization. The perfume has been out for only a hot minute since its release, but already I’ve seen this fragrance described as a big jasmine floral, a tea and incense scent, an anisic oud, and a retro-tinged musk. Are we all smelling the same thing? Indeed we are. Myrrhe 55 is a bit of a trickster, smelling not so much of its title ingredient as of its fellows through much of its trajectory. If it’s straightforward incense you’re after, look elsewhere. But if you’re up for a rollercoaster ride through Le Labo land, leave your expectations at home and buckle up!

 There are16 Le Labo City Exclusives as of this post (photo of the boutique in Williamsburg)

Created by Le Labo founders Fabrice Penot and Edouard Roschi along with Global Brand President and Chief Creative Officer, Deborah Royer, Le Labo Myrrhe 55 is one of the most kaleidoscopic scents I’ve come across for a long while and according to a brand spokesperson ” Development for this perfume started a long time ago and took several years. Oddly, my samples from Le Labo smell markedly different than the juice from the full bottle in my local Le Labo store (possibly because they are blended fresh at the store). The Myrrhe 55 samples of start with a fruity top note that smells to me rather like strawberry mixed with coca-cola and a drop of juicyfruit gum. But the bottle douses my wrist with a jasmine the size of a small Mediterranean country, brazened by a healthy dose of what I take to be ambroxan. Sweet, fresh and soubrette-pretty, this jasmine is not messing about, so if jasmine isn’t your jam, I’d move on. There’s a lot of it throughout the first half of Myrrhe 55.

 

Le Labo Myrrhe 55 shifts depending on the heat, time of day, who wears it, hell, probably even the day of the week. In a few minutes, the jasmine will suspend in girlish pirouette while bittersweet chocolate patchouli comes forward. Soon, they are swinging back and forth together like two giddy aerial artists; jasmine dominating, then patchouli and vice-versa. But then the myrrh sidles in and the perfume changes direction and tempo. The entrance of the star note is like a key change: the myrrh seeps into the fragrance gradually rather than loudly proclaiming its arrival. And its brought company. Right after I can fully take in the myrrh, with its anisic resin scent, a rather furry musk peeks through, gradually amplifying from thrum to melody. Its aroma is not animalic exactly, but more the redolence of a fur jacket, and it gives Myrrhe 55 a vintage tinge in the composition’s heart.

As I am considering the myrrh-musk union, there’s a faint waft of black tea and soon, the licorice root quality of the myrrh becomes darker and rather more noticeable. In the middle, the mineral aspect of ambroxan becomes more prominent, adding a fresh, mineral quality that persists through the dry-down. But I’m still waiting for oud – usually such a powerhouse that it is unmistakable. Perplexingly, it doesn’t register. Rather, there’s a whiff of an indefinable dried wood, and it gives Le Labo Myrrhe 55 a bit of crackle.

Over time, the fruity top note I found in the sample sprayers has dissipated in favour of a dominant combination of patchouli-musk-myrrh. There’s also some sweet spice in here, possibly cinnamon. Revisiting the fragrance after an hour, it is still shifting and turning; musk and myrrh morphing into white florals and the smell of those wonderful, old-fashioned corn syrup lollipops and cola, then bouncing into dark chocolate and old wood. The ambroxan calms down, and finally, as I head outside for one last dog walk before bed, the myrrh decides to stop flirting and, with that chocolatey patchouli, really takes over. And then, right before bed – there it is – the oud, unmistakably medicinal and resinous. Le Labo Myrrhe 55 cuts an eccentric but stylish figure – think Nancy Cunard or Isabella Blow – and she’s not for everyone. But if you like unusual, ritzy, no-one-else-smells-like-this perfumes, grab your monocle and vintage sable and spray on Myrrhe 55 with abandon.

Notes: (there are 55) include: myrrh, jasmine, patchouli, oud, ambergris, musk.

Disclaimer: Samples of Le Lab Myrrhe 55 kindly provided by Le Labo. My opinions, as always, are my own.

–Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

All images via the brand

Available in Le Labo boutiques through September 30th only and online from September 1-September 30, after which Myrrhe 55 will be exclusive to Shanghai.

Do you have a favorite Le Labo City Exclusive?

Please read Lauryn’s The Three Le Labo City Exclusives You Should Be Wearing here

Michelyn’s interview with Le Labo co-founder Fabrice Penot

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