If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a bottle of Le Labo and wondering what the number after the name actually means, you’re not alone.
While the fragrance brand’s minimalist labels have become iconic in their own right, the numbers aren’t random – they’re one of Le Labo’s most deliberate design choices.
Every fragrance name follows a simple formula: the fragrance’s dominant note, followed by the total number of ingredients used to create it.
For example, Thé Matcha 26 spotlights the soft, creamy aroma of matcha tea and is composed of 26 ingredients. Rose 31, meanwhile, reimagines the classic floral with a spicy, woody twist, while ’31’ denotes the number of ingredients in the blend.
The only fragrance that breaks the rule is Another 13.
Despite what its name suggests, ‘Another’ isn’t an olfactive note. The fragrance was created in 2010 as an exclusive collaboration with AnOther Magazine under editor-in-chief Jefferson Hack, borrowing its name directly from the publication.
The ’13’ still stays true to Le Labo’s naming convention, referring to the number of ingredients, but the fragrance itself revolves around the radiant, skin-like molecule Ambroxan rather than a note called ‘another’.
It’s a detail that’s easy to miss, but once you know how to read Le Labo’s labels, every bottle becomes a little less mysterious.