Another 13 EDP

Another 13 does exactly what Le Labo claims: it smells like expensive skin. I've worn this to client meetings, dinners, and a wedding over the past six months. It projects maybe 18 inches for the first two hours, then settles into this intimate cloud that lasts a full 9 hours on my skin. The ambroxan gives it that clean, almost synthetic warmth that either clicks with your chemistry or doesn't. On me, it reads as sophisticated and intentional without announcing itself.

Let me be clear: this is not a fragrance for people who want to smell like something. You smell like a better, more expensive version of yourself. I get the jasmine and pear for about 30 minutes, then it's all smooth musk and that signature ambroxan hum. My yia-yia would hate this because she believes perfume should be detectable from across a room, but that's exactly why it works in 2024.

The longevity is genuinely impressive for something this subtle. I can still detect it on my clothes the next day. Is $200 steep for what's essentially a very good skin scent? Absolutely. Does it perform exactly as advertised and make you smell effortlessly put-together? Yes. That consistency is worth something.

Another 13 costs $200 and smells like nothing for the first ten minutes. Then it becomes the most expensive version of your skin imaginable. I've worn this to client dinners where people kept asking what I was wearing, then looked confused when I told them. The ambroxan does all the heavy lifting here, creating this clean, almost synthetic skin effect that projects maybe 18 inches max but lasts a solid 9 hours.

Let me be clear: this is not a fragrance lover's fragrance. My yia-yia would ask why I spent grocery money on something that smells like soap. But I've tested this extensively in professional settings, and it's incredibly efficient at making you seem put-together without announcing it. The jasmine and pear are barely there, just enough to keep the ambroxan from feeling completely sterile.

I wore this to a board meeting last month and got three separate comments about seeming "very polished today." Not about smelling good, about seeming polished. That's the whole point. It's office-appropriate seduction for people who understand that sometimes the most powerful move is making someone lean in to figure out what they're noticing about you.

Look, I wore Another 13 to three client meetings last week and genuinely cannot tell you what it smells like anymore. Not because it's gone — nine hours later, it's still there doing its quiet, skin-like thing — but because it's become part of me in that slightly unsettling way that makes you wonder if you've been brainwashed by very expensive marketing. Which, let's be honest, I probably have.

This is ambroxan central, and I cannot stress this enough... if you hate that clean, slightly salty, vaguely synthetic smell that's in half the designer releases these days, you will absolutely despise this. But if you're like me and think ambroxan is basically cheat code for smelling effortlessly put-together, then welcome to your new addiction. It's the fragrance equivalent of a perfectly tailored suit that nobody notices until they're standing next to you wondering why you seem more attractive than usual.

The brief here is clearly 'expensive minimalism for people who want to smell like they don't try but spent £160 proving it.' And fair play, it lands. I've had more 'you smell really good, what is that?' moments with this than anything else in my collection. The problem? When they find out it's two hundred quid for what essentially smells like very posh soap, the conversation gets awkward quickly. It's boutique hotel bathroom energy, which is either everything you want or makes you question your life choices. Right?

Look, I need to tell you something about Another 13 that nobody else will: it smells like expensive skin. Not your skin, not my skin, but the theoretical perfect skin of someone who drinks green juice and has never experienced Sunday fear. I've been wearing this for three months now (yes, I bought the full bottle, and yes, I immediately regretted checking my bank balance), and I genuinely cannot tell you what it smells like beyond "sophisticated human being."

The brief here was clearly "make something that costs £180 and smells like it costs £180 without actually smelling like anything." Mission accomplished, I suppose? It's all ambroxan and white musk doing this weird skin-mimicking thing that sits about two inches from your body for a solid nine hours. I wore it to a client dinner last week and the account director kept leaning in during the presentation. Coincidence? Absolutely not.

Here's the thing though... and I cannot stress this enough... this is fragrance for people who think they're too cool for fragrance. It's the olfactory equivalent of that mate who says he "doesn't really watch telly" but can quote every line from The Office. You'll either find it brilliantly understated or frustratingly boring, and there's genuinely no middle ground. Right?