Le Labo built Citron 28 as its Seoul entry in the City Exclusive series, and it behaves like a fragrance designed for a specific place: bright, structured, and quiet at the same time. Released in 2020, it takes a real lemon perfume as its brief and refuses to make it simple. At $545 for 100ml, it also carries one of the steeper price tags in the lineup, so the practical questions are what you actually get on skin and whether the Perfume Parlour clone covers most of it.
What Does Le Labo Citron 28 Smell Like?
The opening is a crisp lemon with a distinct ginger snap behind it. This is not a sugary or candied citrus. The ginger adds a fresh spice that keeps the lemon from turning into dish soap or cleaning product, and the effect in the first fifteen minutes is closer to chilled citrus zest than juice.
As the top fades, jasmine takes over the middle. It is a clean, slightly powdery white floral rather than an indolic, animalic jasmine, and it rounds off the sharp edges of the citrus without making the fragrance feel feminine or heavy. Powdery and faintly aromatic are fair descriptors here.
The drydown is where Citron 28 earns its Le Labo badge. Cedar and musk form a soft woody base that smells like warm skin after a shirt fresh from the dryer. By hour two the composition reads as a polished citrus-woody musk, calm and close, with the lemon persisting as a quiet accent rather than the main event.
Performance
Longevity lands around 5 to 8 hours on skin for most wearers, which is respectable but not remarkable for an eau de parfum at this price. Fabric performs much better, and the scent can survive a full day on a collar or scarf.
Projection is the known weakness. Citron 28 sits close to the skin, projecting softly for roughly the first hour before settling into an intimate skin scent. People near you will notice it; people across the room generally will not. If you want a citrus that announces itself, this is the wrong purchase. Fans argue the restraint is the point, and it does make the fragrance very office safe.
Best Clone Or Alternative
Perfume Parlour’s Shrubby XXVIII - 1890 is the obvious alternative, starting at $15 in EDP spray format. It copies the exact official pyramid: lemon and ginger up top, jasmine in the middle, cedar and musk underneath. Community feedback describes the scent match as solid, which puts it around 80 percent similar in practice.
The gaps show up in texture and lift. The original uses real lemon peel oil and jasmine extract in its formula and has a rounder, more natural quality. The clone tends to smell flatter, wears quieter still, and several buyers report it improves after several weeks of maceration. For anyone curious about the scent family, Shrubby XXVIII is the rational way in. The original justifies itself only if you love this exact DNA enough to pay for the refinement, and remember it is only sold online each September.
When To Wear It
Spring through fall is the natural window, and hot summer days are where the lemon and ginger feel most rewarding. It works for the office, daily errands, casual outings, and any setting where a discreet fragrance beats a loud one. Cold winter weather flattens it.
Who Should Buy It
Buy it if you want a serious, adult citrus that leans woody and clean instead of sweet, you value subtle scents, or you collect the City Exclusive series and want the Seoul entry in your rotation.
Who Should Skip It
Skip it if projection matters to you, if $545 for a moderate citrus feels indefensible next to cheaper options, or if powdery white florals put you off, because the jasmine heart is unmistakable.
Final Verdict
Citron 28 is a well-built, easy-to-wear citrus with genuine craft in its transition from zesty gingered lemon to cedar and musk. Its soft projection and steep price keep it from being an easy recommendation. Try Shrubby XXVIII first; upgrade to the original only if its smoother materials win you over.