"Why does it smell like a boutique hotel in here?” asked my good friend, having arrived for a dinner party. Obviously it was because I had just applied none other than Le Labo’s Santal 33 body lotion, and his discriminating nose was keen enough to identify the scent. After sufficiently gushing over our love of Le Labo (and boutique hotels), I launched into when this famed fragrance line and I first met.

It was a beautiful, relaxing weekend in upstate New York spent with my love while we scoped out venues for our 2015 wedding. For three days and two nights we rested our bodies on the stylish and brightly colored steel-coated beds of Hotel Tivoli, and drank cocktails under my most favorite chandelier of all time at The Corner, the hotel’s accompanying farm-to-table restaurant. Artfully decorated with a mindfulness toward quality, Hotel Tivoli provided their guests with a full array of Le Labo toiletries. I am typically one who ignores anything provided by a hotel, unless it’s Mast Brothers chocolate at the Wythe, or any of the tasty treats left for guests at The Bowery—all else can go right to the trash. So when Hotel Tivoli bestowed upon us the delightful, woody, musky, warm fragrances of Le Labo to clean us and refresh our senses for the weekend, I was reminded that the little hamlet of Tivoli, NY is really an extension of everything we love about having lived in Brooklyn, but with rolling hills and barns on every corner.

I was delighted with the spread of Le Labo products that adorned the subway tiled lined walls of the shower and that sat in the reclaimed wooden box on the white pedestal sink. Everything about the scents of Le Labo translated as luxury, but approachable luxury, much like a stylish hotel sitting amidst a small town in the middle of the country. If I was to define my idea of perfection, it would look much like this.

Le Labo boasts numerous fragrances, each warm and defined in their own unique way. But my favorite to this day is the subtle scent of their Santal 33. For me, it's reminiscent of my idyllic weekend in Tivoli, NY, full of warmth, depth, and fresh air.