Citron 28 Seoul

When I saw the "smells like" section of this page, I had to go to my nearest store to smell Light Blue again because my memory of that perfume is nothing like what Citron 28 smells like. I think the strong lemon note in both is what makes people get that connection because their dry downs are so different. Light Blue has a sharper citrus opening that's really fruity and like apples, but Citron 28 has no fruit at all and its lemon is much more natural. Where Light Blue eventually shows it's flowers as it dries down, the strong white florals of Citron 28 are there from the very beginning. Citron 28 also dries down to a musky jasmine that's reminiscent of a lot of Le Labo dry downs and has no sweetness to it. This doesn't smell like Atelier's Lemon Island either, again other than the lemon note, because Lemon Island has more of a creamy sunscreen feel to it similar to Replica's Beach Walk. There is no creaminess in Citron 28, it's actually quite bitter in a way. If you're familiar with Le Labo's main collection, Citron 28 is more like the baby of Bergamote 22 and Lys 41. I love both of those perfumes and so really love Citron 28 as well. My bottle was a lovely gift from my parents, but this honestly wouldn't be worth the full City Exclusive price unless you travel to Seoul or have a special connection to the city. Especially when you can get both the main collection ones I mentioned for the price of just this one.

i didn’t think i would like this as much as i do!!! i usually shy away from lemon since it usually smells like cleaning agents on me, but this was warm and musky. the jasmine definitely does its job in sweetening this up. i lived in seoul when i was younger and i would say this does give me memories of warm summer days and taking walks in the park and learning to ride a bike. i don’t know if it encompasses what seoul is now though, or even what an adult would think of when they looked back on their time there. it sits close to the skin and is fresh and warm and sweet, but would be perfect for summer since the ginger keeps it balanced. i’m torn about getting a full bottle in september however given the sillage and longevity are lacking. i might get a travel size or two just as a treat since i’ve enjoyed this so much, but its very expensive for the effect it gives. i dont agree that it smells like light blue given light blue is fresher. if i find something close for cheaper and more readily available, i’ll pounce on it. for the time being, i would give this a 4/5 for just how pleasantly surprised i was.

I've gone in to Le Labo a few times this September just to try on this one and I absolutely adore it. If it wasn't so expensive I would have bought a bottle in a heartbeat. I'm not a big citrus person so at first I was apprehensive since this is called citron 28, and I hadn't looked it up prior. However, I was so pleasantly surprised at the dry down. The citrus opening wasn't so articial (sometimes citrus perfumes smells like citrus cleaner/dishsoap) and I found myself enjoying it a lot. It dries down into a jasmine that isn't sickly, it still smells quite fresh and beautiful. And it settles into a beautiful musk that I love. I think if you overspray, the jasmine could be a lot. BUT this is top of my wishlist, I wan't a full sized bottle for sure, maybe next year. Love!

This is gorgeous! First impressions: It is a beautiful combination of lemon or citron, and lovely white florals. So fresh, pretty, comforting, and ethereal. It’s sweet but not cloying. On me it starts with a strong citrus that could go cleaning supplies, but doesn’t and instead melds beautifully with sweet, creamy, fresh white florals. It smells very natural, like I’m standing in a citrus grove that’s both in bloom and fruiting. This is my first impression, so I’ll give it a couple more tries, but I hope it continues to smell like this!

I didn’t expect to like this one as much I do, especially not now, in a New England winter, but it’s become a kind of daily driver for me. Like Le Labo’s Another 13 soaked in jasmine water with a squeeze of lemon. It’s a quiet fragrance that lifts my spirits, but one that projects enough to elicit compliments from people close by. Price for this Seoul exclusive is admittedly exorbitant, but I’m happy to have my full bottle. Has a kind of understated and modern Lyn Harris/Perfumer H vibe. Really really like this - maybe even love.

This year I bought a sample of Citron 28 and another of Cedrat 37 knowing they have the same notes with slight variations. Citron 28 is as classy and refined as Tubereuse 40. The lemon and ginger blend fantastically well with Jasmin. Definitely will get a bottle :) Here the ginger is soft and the jasmin is quite spectacular. The lemon is natural and refreshing. But it does tend more to a white floral , so I loooove it ! As for cedrat well , read my review 😵

this one is soooo crisp spring morning sleeping on your mom's pillowcase staying home "sick" from school i'm sure there's similar smelling perfumes out there at a more reasonable price point, but the jasmine note makes this so addictive. definitely gets better throughout the day. so comforting and spirit lifting. agree with the reviews that this is more jasmine than citrus, wish the ginger and lemon lingered a little longer. i love this scent though!!

By far the best of the city exclusives. I visited Seoul but didn’t have time to shop Le Labo so I bought the sample during the city event. It may have been for the best for my budget since I need 2-3 bottles stat and I was over my shipping budget. Light, feminine, and just unique enough from the lemon and ginger. The jasmine is perfect - I don’t usually like it because it is too indolic - but this feels airy and pretty.

A lovely watery jasmine scent with hints of citrus. The citrus blast is short-lived and blooming jasmine appears quite rapidly. There is a tranquil quality to the scent... The dry down is a clean laundry musk that lingers in a transparent dewy way. The overall experience is ethereal and clear. I'll be buying a bottle soon

Jasmine shrubs growing next to a waterfall surrounded by big beds of green grass under a spring sun. One of the best offerings from Le Labo. Such a crisp and clear floral. Maybe not very edgy, but it is so fresh and pretty in a genderless way. Jasmin 17 who?

The opening of this scent is a photorealistic Jasmine. I didn't get citrus until the drydown. But the interplay between the jasmine, ginger and citrus is gorgeous. It's lovely, fresh, delicate. I wish I could get this perfume as an herbal iced tea.

It smells joyful in a mellow and elegant manner. Despite the name, i smell fresh slightly indolic jasmine that’s brightened by the citrus notes. The overall feeling is a translucent veil, that hovers gently for a decent time.

Lemon and jasmine. Lots of jasmine, fresh jasmine like the flower. If you like the smell of jasmine fresh from the tree, i think you will like this. I like it, but the price is to high for me to buy it.

Very well-blended citrus/white floral perfume. but I don't understand why this is the scent of Seoul. 🤔

I like it . Unique, and staying power is great! Be careful not to overspray, as it may get nauseous.

Wow, what a beautiful delicate scent 💕 lovely fresh clean jasmine

I'm making my way through the City Exclusives before the end of September, when they are due to leave my local Le Labo counter. I'll admit that Citron 28 wasn't a priority for me. Lemon is not a favourite note of mine in perfume - it is a notoriously difficult citrus note to use, as it is obviously sharp and reminiscent of cleaning products. However, C28 managed to surprise me. Instead of being obviously lemon-led, it is a nicely-balanced musky-lemon scent with a generous helping of jasmine. C28 features clean white musk from initial spray, forming a soft base for the bright lemon note that follows. It is very musky throughout - not a bad thing in my book! The ginger reminds me of lemon and ginger tisane - it is very subtle and disappears quickly. As it develops, the jasmine emerges, bold and heady, even slightly indolic initially. Alongside the musk, it is surprisingly slightly dirty, but the radiant, clean lemon balances it nicely. The musky-jasmine reminds me somewhat of Mugler Alien, a scent I dislike, but here the lemon makes it pleasant for my liking. (It also isn't as plastic-y synthetic as Alien). The jasmine fades from view and it becomes a musky-lemon scent as it dries down with a predictable hint of woodiness in the base. Sillage is intimate and longevity is moderate. It is a feminine-leaning spring/summer daytime scent. C28 is an interesting composition featuring a perfect (and inspired) placement of that difficult note, lemon - it cuts through the musky-jasmine cloud like a radiantly clean sunbeam. Expensive, reasonably simple but undeniably good, like so many Le Labos. Not particularly my thing, but a clever and likeable composition that is eminently wearable. 4/5.

In the month before the City Exclusives month, I’m finally sampling last year’s Le Labo City Exclusive release, Citron 28 (Seoul). Right from the start, it’s an easy winner and quite pleasant, a fresh, semi-bitter/spicy citrus-dominant blend with very realistic green qualities to it. The listed notes are lemon, ginger, jasmine, musk, and cedar. I’m not sure why there’s a slight bitter sharpness to it, but my best guess is that that’s the citrus ingredients pivoting toward the citron fruit itself, a more bitter, less edible citrus fruit that’s one of the original non-hybrid citruses. The woody/musky side is there, too, but mainly in the background, with the lemon/citron/ginger/jasmine aspect being most prominent. It’s a classic case of “what’s not to like?”—an easy-to-wear citrus that certainly fits the current summer weather in the northern hemisphere. The pricing for the Le Labo City Exclusives has always been pretty high, and has increased steadily but not horribly in recent years, now $485/319/134 for 100/50/15ml, so while it’s a nice fragrance overall, it hardly merits the cost, especially when contrasted with some of the richer and more complex offerings from the City Exclusives subline (i.e. Poivre 23 London and Benjoin 19 Moscow, priced at $290 for 50ml in 2016). In fairness, Le Labo’s creations are generally good or great, but I’d certainly recommend sampling Citron 28 because it’s a good fragrance. It’s a great time to order a sample pack of City Exclusives from Luckyscent (in the US) or the Le Labo site as bottles are only sold in the month of September. I look forward to trying latest City Exclusive release, this year’s Cedrat 37 (Berlin). 7 out of 10

Tried this at a Le Labo boutique a few days ago. I just have one question: Where's the citron? Where's that slightly bitter and tangy citrus note? Let me preface by saying that Citron 28 smells great. It's a pleasant fragrance that definitely deserves it's spot in the Le Labo lineup. But, in a similar manner to some of their other fragrances, it fails to make the eponymous note the most prominent one. There's no citron in Citron 28, in fact it's barely a citrus-forward fragrance. The main notes that I smell are jasmine, and a deconstructed musk akin to Another 13. The Iso E super note provides a nice crisp woody backbone to counterbalance the dryness of the musk, sweetness of the jasmine, and the zest of the lemon. I inevitably have to compare it to Le Labo's other citrusy powerhouse, Bergamote 22. And I think of that fragrance to be a much more authentic celebration of bergamot than Citron 28 is for citron. They're both great smelling fragrances but ultimately, the citrus note in Citron 28 isn't the star of the show, but just complementary to the musk and jasmine note. It's almost like a more citrusy and floral take on Another 13. Among the city exclusives, Citron 28 is my 5th favorite behind Benjoin, Gaiac, Tubereuse, and Poivree. Solid release overall.

The review below saying Citron 28 feels like a baby of Lys 41 and Cedrat 37 is a complete spot on, perhaps a little bit of Bergamote 22 too! Lemon ginger spritzed over a bunch of white flowers. There are definitely a lot more than just jasmine - perhaps tuberose, lily, and a tiny bit of neroli? I like that it’s not as oppressive as Lys 41 and not as sweet as Cedrat 37 - it’s pretty smooth, balanced and inoffensive. The best part, of course, is the signature Le Labo musky bubble which I love! Though the perfumer isn’t mentioned, the whole bottle just screams Daphne Bugey name to me - super comfortable, super addictive! However I don’t think this is worth being put in the City Exclusives, and more certainly, it doesn’t give me any Seoul’s vibes at all. I’m excited for the 2022 edition 🤞🏼