Le Labo Gaiac 10 and M. Micallef Gaiac

In Roja Dove’s book, The Essence of Perfume, he describes how Gaiac oil is used in perfumery: “Guaiacwood essential oil is obtained from Bulnesia Sarmienti and is sometimes referred to as Champaca Wood. Like most wood notes, it is used generally to add to a scent’s lasting quality but, as it lacks the finesse of many other wood notes, it is generally used in more commercial products than high grade fragrances.”

Well, so much for that. With the increasing proliferation of fragrances on the market churned out by an even more dizzying multiplication of perfume houses, it was only a matter of time before the ticket buying public got bored with the same old headliners (“Tuberose? Again?!!”), sending the producers grabbing at the D-List for something fresh: “What’s your name — Ms. Gaiac? Can you dance? Can you sing? Congratulations, honey, you’re a star. Next!”

LE LABO GAIAC 10: It’s good to keep in mind that Gaiac 10 is Le Labo’s Tokyo boutique exclusive, and that when it comes to fragrance, Japan is the birthplace of the transparent trend (i.e. so minimal you won’t even notice it’s there).

When I think back on the one time I visited Tokyo (back in 2006), I can’t recall a single instance where I was struck by any perfume hanging in the air, any wafts of scent in an elevator, lingering in the back seat of a taxi or filling the air of a crowded subway car. This cultural aversion to powerhouse fragrances is reflected in Gaiac 10, a fairly one-dimensional piece of perfumery with a surface so smooth there’s very little to actually grab ahold of.

Part of me wants to believe the Le Labo people accidentally released a perfume they’d forgotten to complete and are now running in desperate circles around their Paris offices, screaming, crying, chain smoking (sometimes all three at once) and wondering how in the world they can possibly salvage their reputation once word gets out, but hey, Gaiac 10 is for the land of a hundred thousand ways to serve tea but please don’t wear a complicated fragrance we can actually smell, thank you — so I shouldn’t be all that surprised.

If you like minimalism, you’ll love Gaiac 10, but if you hanker for depth, layers and steep complexity in your fragrances, this particular number isn’t for you. The one thing it does have in its favor is that it’s a warm (rather than stark) version of minimalism — put it on your skin and it smells very much like your own 98.8 degree human flesh, but as if sniffed through a filter of blonde-hued tree resins and soft musk, and now that I put it that way, it sounds kind of attractive, doesn’t it?

I’m a woefully underpaid shill.

Listed notes: gaiac, cedar, musk and olibanum. Since there’s a “10″ in the name, that means there are 10 ingredients to the mix, Le Labo’s just not telling us what the other six are. The b****es.

Note: The Perfumed Court site states that four different types of musk are utilized in Gaiac 10. That still leaves us with 3 unknowns.

M. MICALLEF GAIAC: M. Micallef has their own Gaiac fantasy, but with a revved up, amped up supporting cast for a richer, sweeter take on gaiac than what Le Labo offers.

Treating gaiac oil for what it is — an excellent supporting element — M. Micallef sugars & spices it up for Western consumers unafraid of goosing the noses of everyone within a twenty foot radius. Gaiac is still a prevalent scent note, but as a rounding influence rather than flattening the piece like an anvil falling from 15 storys up.

Vanilla and clove are both prominent within the mix, with vetiver in the base to lend the gaiac wood some depth, much the way Le Labo utilized cedar and olibanum to add some topography to what would otherwise have been the flat earth of Gaiac 10. The vanilla in the M. Micallef Gaiac is a main note that’s present from start to finish, though the sweetness softens as the hours pass until the drydown achieves a vaguely woodsy and pleasantly gourmand quality.

I doubt that gaiac will be a note I chase after in perfumery, but both of the above fragrances are decent pieces of work, though I can think of several other woodsy (or woodsy amber, in the case of M. Micallef) perfumes off the top of my head that I think are worth more attention: Guerlain Bois d’Arménie, Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche, Isotta Fraschini Uomo, Parfumerie Generale Bois Blond, Eau d’Italie Bois d’Ombrie, Le Labo Rose 31, Armani Prive Bois d’Encens, Tauer Perfumes L’Air du Desert Marocain and Chanel Sycamore.

Okay, those weren’t really just off the top of my head, but you get the picture.