Reviews of Sandflowers
by Montale

Sandflowers is a very light aquatic / supposedly woody fragrance that opens with quite a pleasant aquatic note and then dissolves into nearly nothing. I was expecting the calone and I was expecting the sandalwood: The aquatic calone came through quite well, and a very nice note it is. I didn’t get any sandalwood, although there was a pleasant oakmoss background to the miscellaneous texture of the fragrance. Like so many of the Montale non-aouds, Sandflowers comes across as vague but pleasant. It is too nebulous, indistinct, and recessive for me. I guess this, as many of the other non-aouds, was not designed for me…

I normally scoff when a reviewer (or multiple reviewers) claims that a certain fragrance smells "exactly like" something else (e.g., GIT and CW). Take my word for it, though - this is virtually indistinguishable from CSP's Aqua Motu. Even though I like Aqua Motu, I would never agree to pay a 400% markup to experience the same scent rebottled by a more "prestigious" house. What's more, I am under the impression that Aqua Motu preceded Sandflowers, thus making Sandflowers not only laughably expensive but also (*gasp*) unoriginal.

Thumbs down.

Much like Fougeres Marine, I perceive Sandflowers as more minty than obviously marine, though it has a dry, mineralic saltiness combined with herbal notes reminding me of Miller Harris' Fleurs de Sel. To my mind, Sandflowers is pretty much an inferior Fleurs de Sel, with an added cool, campherous mint note that I'm not particularly fond of. If you're a fan of mint and prefer fragrances with a sort of transparent "fresh air" feeling to the sunny, earthy warmth of Fleurs de Sel, you might very well appreciate it more than I do.

Montale Sandflowers is wonderful... Sunny, sandy sea air in a bottle, with just the slightest hint of floral sweetness... The sand elements remind me of the sandy/sweet notes in Guerlain's "Rose Barbare" and also of a lighter version of the sand notes in Neil Morris Fragrances "Quest."

I imagine Sandflowers will be wonderful in warm weather, though when I first tried it, it was the height of winter, and I felt like I was taking an olafactory vacation!

Montale Sandflowers notes: Sea notes from the ocean, juniper berries, sandalwood and oakmoss.

Sandflowers is supposedly a marine scent that conjures up memories of idyllic days on the beach and the accompanying fresh salty air. It almost succeeds in achieving this, if it wasn’t for an oily accord lurking in the background. Maybe this is supposed to represent suntan lotion?

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SandFlowers: Nothing to write home about. smells very dry yet has some life..maybe the smell cactus or some flower that im not familiar of. all that associations with Sand is true and it does evoke an image of shrubs in between sand on a very hot sunny day. there is something about the sillage though...it makes you come back to this one, somethign mesmerising in there...although i dont find it spectacular enuff to warrant a full bottle...20ml? yes, definitely.

i would give it a nuetral for now...maybe this one would grow on me in time...

a beach in the desert. the cooked desert sand meets the water at the coast.

Oceanic. Smells as "open" as a fragrance can get. Starts out breezy, airy, and spacious. A nice marine note (in the opinion of a person who is picky about marine notes.) Smart pairing of juniper berries and oakmoss create a dry, woody accord that is the best part of this fragrance. As the sandalwood warms, it provides a pleasant sweetness which never overwhelms the salty underpinnings. Juniper berries are rarely found in a women's fragrance, neither are marine fragrances without florals or fruits. That, in particular, is a good reason to try this. I think it is unisex.

Sandflowers is a marine scent, no doubt about it. It contains marine notes from the ocean combined with the coolness of juniper berries on a base of sandalwood and oakmoss for a fragrance reminiscent of sunshine and travels in the East.

When I put this on, I am instantly transported to the time when I was little and fishing with my grandfather off the Florida Keys. I was leaning over the boat, holding my fishing pole and just watching the seaweed sway in the crystal clear water. When I smell this perfume I can even feel the sunshine on my shoulders. This has to be one of my favorites in the Montale collection.

It opens with a burst of Calone (trademarked by Pfizer), which is the scent chemical that smells like the ocean. In fact, Calone is similar in structure to a pheromone released by brown algae. Yes, this is the smell of kelp in love. Actually, I love it too. Sandflowers has a lot in common with many marine scents like Mare and L’eau d’Issey Pour Homme and New West. The difference here is the simplicity of the scent. For me, Mare is a little too floral and the others can smell extremely heavy. Sandflowers is pure sunlight glistening on the tops of the ocean waves. It opens clear as a bell and the dry down is pretty much the same. This is pretty much a linear scent with almost no development. The sandalwood and oakmoss are handled with a light touch and are very subtle.

This lasts easily eight to ten hours on my skin. Sillage is great at first but after about four hours it stays pretty close to the skin. If it gets on your clothes, it will last literally for days. This is marketed to women but a guy could wear this as well. This could easily be worn year round and especially on cloudy days when you need to feel the sun on your shoulders.

Reminds me of a beach. It's a marine scent, but in a beachier sense. It's not got the usual salty air note, but more of a kelp or seawater quality to it, with some light floral notes. It really does remind me of the beaches in So. California. An interesting take on an oceanic scent. Wears close to the skin and longevity is good, especially for a “marine” scent. Not sure I'd want to wear it, but intellectually, it is an interesting scent...