Poivre 23 Le Labo for women and men

From a business standpoint, it borders on the absurd to make a fragrance line absolutely EXCLUSIVE to an entire continent with not even a chance to purchase the desired product online! Le Labo is probably the only company in the world outside the ultra-high-tech world of defense-industry products that refuses to sell to interested customers. Go figure! (the losses in revenue)

Poivre 23 is really a masterpiece. I LOVE orientals and spices is fragrances and the pepper in this is amazing. I LOVE hardcore, brash, in your face, black pepper and this definetely satisfies the cravings. I would say Poivre Samarcande (Hermes) remains a consistent straight up pepper (it's drier, almost food-like or steak-like but doesn't project or last as long). Poivre 23 is more versatile and incorporates resins and other diverse notes in it. And is sweeter and more inviting. But the pepper is DEFINETELY high quality. LOVE it.

Wow,This is indeed a unique fragrance, very strong projection, its like a sweet , pepper and incense kind of vibe.. i usually do 4 sprays and people can notice me across the room, this is a great winter fragrance very heavy and long lasting,,one of if not my favorite winter fragrance of all.. two big thumbs up,, add in a high five for good measure!!

Ok, I should probably resign to the fact that Le Labo will never be among my favorite houses. I had great expectations form Poivre 23 but when I finally got to test it, thanks to a great perfumisto, I got somewhat disappointed.

The fragrance smells actually pretty fine, but it's pervaded by a strong deja-vu vibe throughout. It opens with a hint of black pepper immediately joined by incense and a sweet, sort of balsamic quality that I suspect being due to the labdanum and the styrax. In this phase Poivre 23 clearly remarks its presence with a bold but not overpowering sweetish-woody aroma. Well rounded, nice but not incredibly interesting. It then dries down to a woody-patch-vanilla base that's not so far from the latest phases of Patchouli 24 but nowhere close being as grand.

Bottom line: Mild thumbs up!

Rating: 7/10

Heard it's a great and unusual one... I agree but what's with the scent lasting? It smells on the skin but you actually need your nose sticked to your skin... not good.

Overall 9/10

One of my absolute favorite scents. It starts out with a beautifully realistic pepper note and a puff of smokiness. As it dries down, the hidden vanilla heart of this frag reveals itself. It's like warming sunlight peering from behind the dark cloud of the opening notes. A comforting and confidence-boosting frag for me.