Bois De Santal by Keiko Mecheri, 200

In spite of its name, this is a floral fragrance. Ill have to agree with the reviewers that say there is very little sandalwood in Bios de Santal. On my skin the opening sandalwood accord lasts about four or five minutes, and its a pleasant sandalwood / osmanthus accord while it lasts, but thats pretty much all there is for the sandalwood. The experiment in placing the sandalwood in the opening would have worked better had the sandalwood lasted longer. When the scent carries the osmanthus from the now-sandalwoodless opening into the heart notes, there are again some wonderful things happeningfor just a minute or two. The transition from top to middle glitters but then quickly moves to a rather muted floral accord as the osmanthus very gradually loses its sparkle. The dry down is a subtle one that continues the floral and adds a bit of sweetness with tonka and amber. The dry down is quite smooth and pleasant and stays close to the skin. I think the scent is misnamed because the sandalwood is not the dominant note. Osmanthus is the star of this progression and it is nicely presentedit is a pleasant floral fragrance and has definite moments of excellence.

Reviews elsewhere say that Bois De Santal (BdS) doesnt contain any sandalwood. I say that it does. Atleast it does in the first 15 seconds or so.

BdS opens with a cedary sandalwood note (not unlike Tam Dao), which disintegrates fast. Its interesting to see the sandalwood note (which traditionally lingers at the basenotes) moved to the top of the notes pyramid. The accord smells quite woody - lots of cedar and a bit of sandalwood. Its all good, except for the fact that it evaporates inside 15 seconds. After that, the main accord of BdS appears - its a boozy smelling slightly sweet accord which reminds me of D'Orsays Le Dandy. Maybe its the result of the floral (osmanthus) and whale vomit (ambergris) notes. I like ambergris, but here with the osmanthus note it smells a little too "alcoholy". Longevity is a little over 4 hours, albeit in a discreet way (stays close to skin).

BdS contains a top note of cedary sandalwood which doesnt stay around long. I would have liked it to slowly make its way to the basenotes, lessening in intesity; this would have provided an interesting demonstration of the evolution of a sandalwood note. As it is, the name "Bois De Santal" isnt very fitting for this potion. "Bois De Booze" or "Bois De Osmanthus" is more apt - if you like your main accord heavy on osmanthus or alcohol, this might be worth a try. The problem is, many other fragrances do the sandalwood and the booze-accord thingy much better than BdS.