New York City has a very distinct scent profile: rotting garbage, roasted nuts, subway steam, and the occasional waft of pizza. It’s all well and good, but that’s certainly not the smell I’m trying to bring into my apartment. Instead, I’ve spent the greater part of this year trying to concoct the most delicious home fragrance concoction—it involves diffusers going at all times, room sprays, linen mists, and of course, candles burning the entire time I’m home. My mission is simple: a warm, cozy, and elevated smell that makes my 400 square foot apartment be reminiscent of a five-star lobby.
The latest addition to my collection—and potentially my favorite to date—is the Le Labo Papyrus 20 Candle. The scent itself rang familiar right off the bat—papyrus is one of the main notes in Santal 33. But this candle is more earthy and grounding than the creamier fragrance. It has absolutely none of the notes I normally look for when shopping for a home fragrance (vanilla, sandalwood, and fig are my normal go-tos), and yet fills my space with a cozy, clean feeling warmth the second I light it. Now, every time someone enters my home, the first question out of their mouth is: What smells so good?
What Does Papyrus 20 Smell Like?
While the name of this candle might spark visions of a dusty library, I promise you it is anything but. Instead, it leverages the cozy comfort you’d experience on a worn leather couch in dim lighting with the lightness and freshness of paper. If mystery had a scent, it’s this. The key to bringing it to life is a few carefully curated notes. For starters there’s cypriol, which is a plant extract that has a woody, earthy, almost leathery effect. Musk falls right next to it, bringing a musky comfort and incredibly sillage.
On their own, it seems like a hyper-masculine combination. But once you add in ylang-ylang, which smells sweet and fruity—plus a hint of floral, and labdanum, which brings a resinous sweetness into the fold, you’re left with a candle that feels perfectly unisex.
Is Le Labo’s Papyrus 20 Candle Worth It?
As a candle snob, I can confidently that Le Labo candles are consistently my go-to holiday and housewarming gift. I always get them engraved at the store—a little personal touch goes a long way—and try to pick a scent that reminds me of the person I’m gifting to. Packaging aside, I find that Le Labo’s candles have the strongest scent, both when sitting and burning. The sillage, which is the amount it travels in the air, is something to be studied. I keep Figue 15 on my nightstand—it’s for show, and never burned—and I still smell it every night when I’m going to sleep.
As far as Papyrus 20 is concerned? It’s probably my favorite scent from the brand after Figue 15 (that’s a pretty Big Deal in my book). I’ve gotten into the pattern of lighting it at night when I’m drinking my nighttime tea and watching one episode of tv before bed—the grounding profile helps me turn off my brain and feel as calm as I can before crawling into bed. It burns for 60 hours and because the brand uses such a high concentration of perfume oil in its candle compositions, lighting just this one candle fills up my whole studio. Frankly, when I go to sleep at night, it smells like I’m anywhere but in New York—and that’s exactly how I want it.
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Light this and you'll feel like you're reading your favorite book under a cozy lola blanket in an antique library.
While it's important that my home smells like a hotel, I also like my shower to feel like it belongs in one. I keep these on my shelf at all times.
My go-to gift during the holiday season is a perfume sampler—it's always a hit and when you get to try three Le Labo scents? It's extra special.
I feel like this is probably the most underrated Le Labo fragrance. It's a mixture of woody and green with a hint of citrus.
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