If I had a dollar for every Le Labo lover we’ve profiled here at THE FILE, I’d not quite be a millionaire, but I’d probably have enough to splash out on a few negronis at some overpriced inner-city bar. Am I trying to make a point here? Yes, I am.

After a quick comb through our website, I sifted through a long list of women with Le Labo-lined shelves, from Founder of Monocrafft Merrel Westhoff to Nepalese beauty and jewelry designer Arpana Rayamajhi, content queen Adeline Ania, and Christie Tyler aka NYC Bambi. You know, the kind cool, intelligent, ambitious women you’d see sitting together in a hot bar before thinking, “Santa, all I want for Christmas is to be cool, intelligent and ambitious with them too.”

There is a slight catch, though. If you want to give yourself – or a loved one – the gift of smelling like an olfactory CEO it’s going to set you back as much as $300 for a 50mL bottle. Not exactly loose change. And certainly not the kind of cash most of us would drop on a festive-driven whim.

Gather ‘round my friends, for there is another way in.

Le Labo’s Hinoki Shampoo and Conditioner places high on my Christmas wishlist for combining two of my favourite past time: hair flipping and smelling good.

It ticks a lot of boxes including, but not limited, to:

The plant-based formula that removes all traces of dirt, oil and product residue without stripping your lengths and ends.
It’s vegan. That’s no animal bi-product and no animal testing vegan (good for your hair and your moral conscience)!
An ultra-nourishing blend of ingredients like rice extract, rosemary leaf, avocado and macadamia oil leaves hair squeaky clean, super soft and shiny.

The best part of all is the Hinoki scent – a warm ambrosia of incense and cypress inspired by hidden Buddhist Temples in Japanese forests – that wafts across the room every time you flip your hair.

A literal head turner, if you will.

Get it here and here.

Words, Rose Howard. Video, Duc Thini Dong.