Osmanthus 19 Kyoto

This kind of reminds me of walking into a shop who sells insence and trinkets, but at the same time it does not hit you in the face and does not overwhelm the senses. It is way more clean, soft and elegant, and the first frankincense scent I would actually be comfortable wearing. It start of a bit incensy, but soon settles into something warm and comforting. I do like woody scents with warmth. While they are not very similar I find this gives me some of the same vibe as Eau Duelle, or By the fireplace, or Le Labo 10, wich I all adore. It is not as short lasting as it sometimes seems. With this I mean that to my nose it comes and goes, and that the ending is very soft. Sometimes the drydown seem warm, nearly sweet, and sometimes ever so slightly sour. It sits close to the skin, something I personally prefer. Peoples noses percieve differently, and I have often felt nauseated if I am stuck beside someone reeking of a perfume I cannot handle. I really like it and battle with my self if I should buy it, it is faaar to expensive. Considering it needs more sprays than the other scents mentioned, I think I will not invest in a full bottle. At least not this year,

My friend in Kyoto ever so kindly sent me a small decant of Osmanthus 19. I hardly get any lavender, it's mostly ultra soft peach/apricot-y osmanthus and resinous incense with a slight woody-aquatic undertone (like juniper) to me. Very, very airy in a pretty way. At first I thought this was the weakest perfume I've ever tried - it just disappeared in a minute! But somehow it comes back to life, out of the blue, and gives me whiffs as if it just remembered what it was supposed to do. It continues to die and resurrect for about 6-8 hours. I usually hate osmanthus (or peach or apricot - I guess I don't like lactone?) in perfumery but I love this. Maybe because it's not so osmanthus anyway. It's unique enough but I'm just not sure whether it worth the City Exclusive price tag. It screams Frank Velkl so much so that I'd be gobsmacked if he wasn't the nose behind this.

Difficult to right a full review even though I have a full size bottle because I think it's more of a vibe than anything. I get the Benjoin 19 comparison especially with the opening but they're ultimately different. Not different enough though but I prefer Osmanthus 19. Ultimately this is a great fragrance... if they didn't have Benjoin 19 in the collection people might like it more. Due to the exclusivity we all know this is their next city exclusive best seller anyway.

In Korea, Le Labo is sometimes jokingly called "Gura-bo" (in English maybe "Le Lie-bo") “Gura-bo” is a nickname that calls out how Le Labo’s perfume names often feel like false advertising — This fragrance is no exception. They say Osmanthus, but good luck finding it.

I guess I came to Kyoto just when it launched, what a coincidence. I rented a bike to travel around the city, it started to rain, so I accidentally hid next door under a marquee. I peeked at the entrance and there was no line to the Kyoto Le Labo cafe, so I parked my bike and went in. Right at the doors I heard the words „osmanthus Kyoto sold out”, so my luck kind of ended here, but I still got a chance to test the fragrance. It’s mostly amber, in a sweet, slightly herbal resinous style, reminiscent of the amber of the l’artisan parfumeur, but sharper. There is a tiny tiny hint of a peachy osmanthus, but in a true Le Labo style, it’s not in the forefront at all (just like their Matcha is actually a fig fronting fragrance). I am certain that super humid weather and 26• degrees C stopped me from fully appreciating the complexity of the fragrance, in this weather it presented itself as an uncomplicated amber scent. I have a feeling it will translate well into a colder climate. EDT: I honestly cannot believe the trolling, like, what is this?!

I wore the Moscow scent benjoin 19 on one wrist, and osmanthus 19 on the other, and I can say both of course have an overpowering base of frankincense— and classic Le Labo ambroxide and cedar. But, to those claiming they are the same, I disagree. This one has that lactonic hay like osmathis sitting on the top. The lavandin also adds this airy and aquatic quality that sets it apart. If you love frankincense but want to avoid its stuffiness, Osmanthus 19 has an ethereal and airy quality to it that sets it apart. Even if it was a reformulation, I think Benjoin is so slept on and looked over, that Osmanthus pulls through and is more modern.

Opens up with smooth frankincense and lavender, and then dries down to woody ambery sweet osmanthus, I don't know why people are saying that there's no osmanthus whatsoever in this, theres a lot of it in the drydown, theres also something so playdoughy about it but I think this is what happens when you mix frankincense/incense with something sweet, same effect can be noticed in Zadig & Voltaire this is him perfume. It lasted on my skin for almost 8 hours, the sillage was not bad but still subtle and intimate. Is it good ? Yes absolutely, is it worth the price ? Absolutely not, I am sorry.

This is such a delicate yet resinous fragrance. It’s very grounding, meditative, and earthy. I was nervous seeing both the frankincense and lavender notes together in one fragrance, but they were so well blended here. The osmanthus is well highlighted here and reminds me a bit of Jo Malone’s Osmanthus Blossom. This is a great offering from Le Labo and smells very much of their type of DNA. It’s truly unisex and can be used at all times of the year. It’s quite expensive for barely any projection and moderate longevity, so I’ll debate on a full bottle.

I have had the chance to try this and it's a perfume that feels like aromatherapy for me. First, the osmanthus here is almost non-existent to my nose, it opens up with a blast of olibanum, spicy peppery, almost animalic like white pepper then you can also smell some aromatics lavender and eucalyptus... as it dries down it starts getting woodier and woodier. It's a quite fragrance and I can see myself wearing this at home during the crisp cool days in autumn.

first off INSANELY misleading name cuz this is wayyyyyyyy tf more of an incense scent than anything else like i hardly if at all smell anything floral. but believe me im not complaining one bit this is an amazing incensey scent that kinda gives off the vibe of a little trinket shop full of buddhas and crystals. only issue is it only rlly lasts an hour and u can barely smell it unless ur rlly close

It started off very incense-y and almost smelled like the Asian medicated oils, but after a while it faded down into a creamy, a little spicy, and sweeter wood. It smelled like a lot of other heavy fragrances out there, so it’s not groundbreaking for me but I think Le Labo captured the vibes of Kyoto perfectly IMO!

Opens up very incensy and earthy. I can't hardly pick up the osmanthus honestly, it then develops into a woody/ambery dry fragrance. It has a pretty "zen" quality to it, so if you are looking for an osmanthus fragrance, as always with Le Labo and their perfumes names, this is no it.

When it comes to Le Labo, I’m noticing all my favorites have Fragrantica ratings below 4. It’s a spicy, woody, sweet incense scent that feels nostalgic.

This is a very spicy amber-y woody fragrance. Not at all what I expected from what I thought would be a fruity osmanthus. The initial smell is very resinous and almost gives this incence like smell that reminds me slightly of ‘Eau Duelle’ from Diptyque. When it really warms up on my skin I might smell some traces of osmanthus, but it is being stopped and blocked by thick, chewy and sticky sap which is the frankincence and resin. It gives of many vibes during the wear. Initially it feels like an old teak dresser at your grandmothers’ house, where the dust has gathered on top of it, and the old lace curtains in the window have gotten a yellow tint. When you open the dresser you’ll find many hidden gems, like an old jacket with a forgotten trinket in the left pocket, and and old cigarette pack in the right pocket from a brand that is not even produced any longer. The storytelling is getting to me and I am forgetting all about the fac that there is supposed to be osmanthus in this somewhere. Because this scent is dusty and woody, and with the perfect amount of amber to hypnotize you away. The scent turns slightly masculine after a short while, and the perfect balance of woodyness and balsamic amber would pair perfectly with that vintage jacket and a groomed beard. And it stays, it has been on my skin for 8 hours and it doesn’t seem to go away any time soon. So I’ll keep living in the exiting daydream of a teak dresser and forbidden incence.

Am I the only one that didn't get any osmanthus from this? Also normally Le Labo's scents last all day on me but this disappeared within an hour. Deeply disappointed was really looking forward to an osmanthus scent from them. That being said I got to try Coriander which was wonderful.

I really wanted to like this but it’s too heavy on the frankincense and resin for me. Smells very “vintage” and I don’t pick up any actual osmanthus scent.

This is a woody-aromatic perfume with no detectable osmanthus anywhere. Would be lovely as a room scent but is less good as a personal perfume.

Wow. Super underwhelming for me. It's like a watered down, more generic version of so many other perfumes that are more interesting and much less expensive. What came to mind 1st was Trudon Olim which has more intensity and more presence (which is not inexpensive but more direct note comparison). It is also very similar to their own Benjoin which I sprayed on the other hand. I'm surprised that they didn't veer from all of their somewhat redundant resinous perfumes (Vanille, Poivre, Benjoin, Labdanum) in favor of an ethereal floral. It feels like maybe they were all on extended vacation and forgot the city exclusive month was coming so just took something existing and tweaked it a bit and quickly released it. It feels lazy to me. Editing to add I just read Cigs review below and LOL! Someone agrees with me 😉

I really dislike this fragrance. The initial spray is very herbal (slightly unpleasant but not that bad) and it dries down and smells like a hospital bathroom

This is definitely the reformulated version of BENJOIN 19. I was shocked when I tried this on my skin. The opening is citrusy, then comes with benzoin, frankincense, vanilla and a little bit of lavender. But there’s no osmanthus here. The longevity and sillage are both quite poor.