So is Le Labo cheaper in France?
It’s a very good question. Usually I’m not surprised to find that the answer is yes, a French brand — like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Polène — is cheaper in France. (I was more surprised to discover that Cartier is not.)
But unlike these brands, Le Labo isn’t French, at least 100%: It’s an American-French brand, born of both Grasse (in the South) and New York, and it’s now owned by Estée Lauder (which, despite its French name, is a U.S. conglomerate, based in Manhattan.) So — is Le Labo cheaper in France? Let’s do some math!
First, as usual, we’ll fill our basket with goods using French/euro prices. I absolutely love Le Labo, and to get a full sense of the brand’s offerings, we’re going to get a (gorgeous!) fragrance, an (iconic!) candle, and a dumb little treat.
Is Le Labo Cheaper in France? The Paris Shopping Cart
First, 100ml of Thé Noir! My fave! Except for like three others!
As they describe it: “THÉ NOIR 29 combines depth and freshness, softness and strength through permanent oscillation between the light of bergamot, fig, and bay leaves and the depth of cedarwood, vetiver, and musk.” That’ll be €305. Who cares!! What is money, anyway.
To this basket, we’ll add the ultra-classic (some might say overused, I could not possibly) Santal 26 candle, beloved of hoteliers the world around:
That’ll be €75.
Finally, we’ll add the basil face scrub:
It’s €60.
That comes to a tidy: €440.
Now, a few extras:
If you’re buying this in France — at either a Le Labo boutique (here’s a map of them) or at a department store that sells the brand (BHV definitely does), you’re likely paying with a foreign credit card, which means additional fees, at an average of about 3%. That brings us to: €453.20.
Let’s assume, though, that you’ll go through the (small) hassle of getting your VAT back (if that doesn’t immediately ring some duty-free bells, you can acquaint yourself with the process with this VAT primer.) VAT works out to a 12% discount, which brings us to: €398.81.
By today’s exchange rate, that comes to: $459.93.
It’s worth noting that I’m updating this piece from when I first wrote it, just in February 2025, and between small increases in the product costs (for example, the face scrub went up by €5) and a significant devaluation of the US dollar, that total price (for the exact same products) went up by nearly $60(!).
Is Le Labo Cheaper in France? The US Shopping Cart
Now, some new math!
Here in the U.S., we have different prices. The Santal 26 candle? It’s $92. Thé Noir in 100ml? $348. The basil face scrub? $65. That comes to: $505.
I’ll add NYC sales tax of 8.875% — resulting in an American price of: $549.85.
Is Le Labo Cheaper in France? Conclusion
Final totals: France: $459.93. US: $549.85. By buying these three products in France versus the U.S., you’ll save nearly 17% — nearly $90.
Notably, due to the weakened dollar, you’ll save less than you would have even a year ago, when buying them in France would have meant a savings of nearly 24%. This is chiefly due to the strengthened euro versus the dollar — we’re getting fewer euros for our dollars, so we’re spending more.
