Ask the internet for one fragrance that makes you smell expensive without smelling like you're wearing fragrance, and you'll get the same answer over and over: Le Labo Another 13.
It mostly deserves that. But there's a specific risk with this one that almost nobody mentions before you hand over a few hundred dollars — and it's the reason I'd never tell someone to blind-buy it.
The short version
A soft, clean, slightly fruity musk that sits close to the skin and reads quietly expensive. Genuinely great on most people. But it's built on Iso E Super — a molecule a meaningful number of people cannot smell at all. Test before you commit.
What does Le Labo Another 13 smell like?
Less than you'd expect, in the best way.
It opens with a whisper of pear and apple over soft citrus — fruit, but sheer and cool rather than juicy. Underneath, ambrette (musk mallow) and a touch of jasmine give it a faint powdery warmth, with a mossy edge keeping it from turning sweet.
Then it settles into what people actually buy it for: a hazy, clean, ambery musk built on Iso E Super, cetalox and helvetolide. Skin, but slightly better. Warm laundry with money.
- Top: Pear, Apple, Citruses
- Heart: Ambrette, Amyl Salicylate, Moss, Jasmine
- Base: Iso E Super, Cetalox, Helvetolide, Ambrettolide
It rates 4.02 out of 5 from nearly 8,900 Fragrantica votes — strong, though notably more divisive than its reputation suggests. That split is the whole story, and it's worth understanding.
Why do people call it a "skin scent"?
A skin scent sits close to the body rather than projecting into a room. You don't announce yourself with it. People notice when they're near you — hugging distance, sharing a table — and often can't identify what they're smelling.
That's the appeal. It reads as you, on a good day, not as a fragrance you put on. For offices, first dates and anywhere loud perfume is a liability, it's close to ideal.
It's also the drawback, if you want to be noticed across a room. Another 13 will never do that, no matter how much you spray.
The Iso E Super problem: why some people can't smell it
Here's the part worth knowing before you buy.
Another 13 is famously heavy on Iso E Super, a synthetic molecule with a soft, woody, almost-ambery character. It's used across modern perfumery, usually in supporting roles. Here it's front and centre.
Two things happen with it:
- Specific anosmia. A meaningful share of people simply can't detect Iso E Super — their nose has no receptor response to it. If that's you, Another 13 will smell like almost nothing. Not "subtle." Nothing.
- Olfactory fatigue. Even people who can smell it stop noticing it on themselves within an hour, while others still smell it clearly. Which is why so many reviews say "I can't smell it but I get compliments."
Neither is a flaw in the fragrance. But both mean the same thing: your experience of this one is unusually personal. Reviews predict it worse than almost any other fragrance.
Is Le Labo Another 13 worth it?
If it works on you, genuinely yes — it does something few fragrances manage, and it goes with everything you own, all year, in any weather. It's a fragrance you finish rather than one that sits on a shelf.
But a full bottle runs to a few hundred dollars, and this is the single worst fragrance in the luxury category to blind-buy — not because it's bad, but because there's a real chance you smell nothing at all. That's a costly way to learn about your own receptors.
Who should wear Another 13?
- Best for: people who want to smell clean and expensive without smelling "perfumed"
- Seasons: all of them — it's one of the few genuine year-round options
- Occasions: work, daily wear, close-quarters situations, fragrance-sensitive offices
- Skip if: you want compliments from across a room, or you like obvious, projecting fragrance
What are the alternatives if Another 13 doesn't work?
If you test it and smell nothing — or you want the same quiet-expensive effect with more presence — these do related things:
- BDK Gris Charnel — similar quiet sophistication, but with fig, tea and sandalwood you'll definitely smell.
- Le Labo Thé Noir 29 — same house, far more legible. Smoky black tea and cedar.
- Le Labo Matcha 26 — the creamy, green-tea take on the same soft-skin idea.
How do I test Another 13 before buying a bottle?
Get a decant and wear it for a few days — properly, on skin, not on a blotter. A blotter will not tell you whether you're anosmic to Iso E Super. Only your own skin over a full day will.
We pour Le Labo Another 13 from our own bottle: $36 for 5ml or $25 for 3ml. Wear it for a week. Ask one person you trust whether they can smell anything. That test costs $25 and can save you a few hundred.
Find out if you can smell it.
Hand-poured from our own bottle. Authentic, sealed, shipped from Warren, Michigan.
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Scent + Art is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Le Labo. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Our decants are hand-poured from genuine retail bottles we purchased ourselves.
