Le Labo Santal 33 Dupes – My Favorite Home and Personal Fragrances

If you’ve recently come across Le Labo’s Santal 33 scent for the first time, whether it was in the lobby of an Ian Schrager hotel (I first got a whiff in the lobby bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel way back in the aughts) or on a passerby you stopped to inquire about their intoxicating scent, you’ve probably also realized that the beautiful fragrance costs a small fortune (about $200-$300).

The good news? Le Labo Santal 33 dupes have cropped up everywhere in the last 10 years, because as much as I would love to support the original brand, I just can’t justify shelling out $200+ for a perfurme or $100+ for a candle.

Personally, I use the scent both in my home, as candles and diffusers, and as a perfume in the winter months, I love it that much. And I’ve found great quality dupes for both. Whichever version you’re looking for (or perhaps you’re a super fan like me, and want both), I’ve rounded up my favorite Le Labo Santal 33 dupes, below.

Want the original? Shop the Le Labo fragrances:

Le Labo Santal 33 Dupes from Amazon, Sephora and More

From essential oil diffusers, to candles and perfume, these Le Labo Santal 33 dupes will infuse your favorite scent anywhere and everywhere. I’ve noted where the scent is availble as personal or home fragrance, or both, below.

Shop my favorite Le Lebo Dupes

1. Quince Bois de Santal (Home & Personal Fragrance)

Quince is quickly becoming one of my go-to brands for everything from ballet flats and furniture to, yes, candles and perfume. They seem to do lots of things right, and their fragrances are no exception. I ordered their Santal-scented candle a few months ago and it’s a ringer for the original Santal 33 fragrance. The best part: The candle is just $25, and the fragrance is $50.

Maison Louis Marie’s No. 4 Bois de Balincourt fragrance is incredibly similar to Le Labo’s version, and I own both the rollerball perfume (only $18 on Amazon and a clean fragrance!) and the candle.

It’s one of the better-known Le Labo dupes, and far more affordable than the original version, especially when it comes to personal fragrance.

3.. AromaTech Santal Diffuser – Home Fragrance

If you’re looking for a home fragrance version of the Le Labo scent, AromaTech’s Santal diffuser oil is a top buy for a few reasons. For one, the Sandalwood-heavy scent is near-identical dupe for Santal 26/33. Plus, the oil works with any cold air or ceramic diffuser, which is great if you already own one and are looking for a new fragrance to try. AromaTech’s diffuser oils are also made from 100 percent essential oils, which means it’s better for your indoor air quality than candles.

4. Method Vetiver & Amber Hand Soap – Home Fragrance

This is one of my favorite Santal 33 dupes because it’s super cheap, you can keep it all around your home, and you’ll use it multiple times a day. It makes handwashing feel like a high-end experience.

5. Target Threshold x Studio McGee Santal & Ginger candle – Home Fragrance

This candle smells so similar to the Maison Louis Marie candle, just a touch sweeter thanks to the ginger scent. The 18 oz jar version, which is massive, only costs $30, compared to Maison Louis Marie’s $38 for 8.5 oz, so this has become by go-to lately.

6. sesneslabs Santal Diffuser Oil

I used this exact diffuser oil from Amazon to make a DIY diffuser. I added a few drops to a base of mineral oil and splash of rubbing alcohol, and it puts out a light, Santal-scented fragrance that smells might higher-end than the $17.99 I spent on the project. I also love to dot this on felt furniture pads and stick them to the inside of trash cans and in the bathrooms for a little hidden fragrance.

Shop my favorite Le Labo Dupes

What does Le Labo Santal 33 smell like?

Le Labo’s Santal 33 and Santal 26 fragrances have notes of amber, cocoa, vanilla, cedar, spices, sandalwood. The smell is sophisticated, masculine, and a bit smoky and leathery. The brand’s description of the scent is more romantic: “Imagine sitting in solitude on the rugged, wide plains of the American West, firelight on your face, indigo-blue night skies above. There is nothing around save for the soft, desert wind. You. Are. Free.”

What’s the best Le Labo scent?

When most people think of Le Labo, they’re thinking of the brand’s Santal 33 Fragrance. It’s the fragrance commonly used in Ian Schrager hotels, like the Gramercy Park hotel and the Public hotel.

So, you can argue that Santal 33 is the best Le Labo scent. Of course, fragrance is incredibly personal, so you may find another Le Labo scent you love even more. Santal 33 is definitely the one that put the brand on the map, though.

Le Labo is also behind the scent of the Edition hotel. While the scent was originally custom-made for the hotel, Le Labo now sells the fragrance, called Noir 29, as part of its permanent collection.

What hotels use Le Labo?

Le Labo is used by Ian Schrager hotels. Schrager is the hotelier behind Gramercy Park hotel (which is the first place I smelled in back in the aughts) as well as the Public and Edition hotels. All use various Le Labo fragrances.

As the scent became more popular, lots of other boutique hotels adopted it as sort of the ‘hotel lobby smell,’ so you’ll find it at other locations, too.