Le Labo Poivre 23

Le Labo’s Poivre 23 is named, like all Le Labo fragrances, for its main ingredient (pepper) and the number of raw ingredients that go into it (in this case 23). This Le Labo fragrance is only available from Liberty in London, which is also the only UK stockist for Le Labo.

On initial spritzing this scent is all pepper, it literally smells as if your nostrils are filled with the entire contents of a pepper mill. What is slightly bizarre about this is your body expects to sneeze when it smells a pepper blast but of course it doesn’t.

Clever as it is that the scent is so realistic I don’t really want to smell of a pepper mill so was pleased that this passed in a minute or two. For the following ten minutes I found Poivre 23 strong and muddled.

After these ten minutes a familiar scent started to develop on my skin but initially I couldn't pinpoint what it was. It was a dirty incense which I soon realised was very similar to Commes De Garcon Avignon on my skin.
Avignon is a perfume I greatly admire but sadly it is not at its best on my skin and I think I am destined to only own the candle.

After about half an hour Poivre 23 is a lighter Avignon on me. For people who Avignon smells fantastic on I can’t really see why you would need Poivre 23 but if like me Avignon loses some of its church refinement and is the wrong side of dirty then this might work for you.

After about 4 hours Poivre 23 was still apparent on my skin. By now it had changed again to a slightly more soapy incense smell, a cousin to Santa Maria Novella's Melograno.
This dried down scent is fantastic but not as complex as the other scents I have mentioned. By this time it is quite light and I’m not sure either the cost or the time it takes the scent to develop will mean it’s going straight to the top of my wish list. The initial fifteen minutes or so are very tricky too. However I can't deny this scent has something.

picture courtesy of www.perfumeposse.com