Sandalwood and I have a history.
I used to buy sandalwood essential oil because I wanted to impress a friend (actually it was my best friend at the time, and I had a crush on him...he was interested in girls and not in me). He wore sandalwood oil, two drops on each palm and rubbed into his hair. It lasted forever, it seemed. When we'd be hanging out, sometimes I'd borrow his caps and the smell of sandalwood would fill my nose. I never seemed, atleast to myself, to be able to 'pull it off' in quite the same way as he did.
Another time in my life, I listed to a lot of alternative/industrial music and (this is before I was a DJ) I used to sneak out of my parents house at night to go out dancing. I remember wearing sandalwood one night (I had overapplied it) to a club that was pretty lame...noone was there except the DJ, me and the bartenders...I got kinda lost getting there and the lit, smoky, loud dancefloor was empty except for me. Perhaps it was The Cure, or maybe it was a Nitzer Ebb song. What I do remember distinctly is getting back into my car to leave and playing a Cocteau Twins cd while the smell of sandalwood filled my car.
About a month ago, I came upon the sample of Santalum by Profumum. When I applied it, I was more interested in the cinnamon (it had been recommended to me here on the boards), and I honestly wasn't really focused on the sandalwood when I applied it - but the olfactory memories started flowing...coupled with a strong respect and fascination for a sandalwood scent that's so well done.
Santalum is very linear - so if you're looking for a complex sandalwood based scent, look elsewhere. But the Profumum line delivers such uncompromising and honest interpretations in their fragrances - and Santalum sparse notes (sandalwood, myrrh and cinnamon) combine and balance each other out wonderfully. Santalum is everything that Tam Dao is not. It's dark, shadowy, dusty - I kept getting the visual image of a rusty car in a backyard. No smoke. The myrrh is not too incens-y (hope that makes sense...). The cinnamon isn't of the Cinnamon roll variety. The sandalwood note is deep, reassuring and dirty/spicy while simultaneously being calm/sweet.
The sillage and longevity are above average - and so is the price tag of the juice ($195 for the 100ml bottle at Luckyscent).
I will savor my decant bottle of this (thanks sis' [Comdiva]) and be comfortable in the fact that, for now, sandalwood doesn't get any better than this.
I used to buy sandalwood essential oil because I wanted to impress a friend (actually it was my best friend at the time, and I had a crush on him...he was interested in girls and not in me). He wore sandalwood oil, two drops on each palm and rubbed into his hair. It lasted forever, it seemed. When we'd be hanging out, sometimes I'd borrow his caps and the smell of sandalwood would fill my nose. I never seemed, atleast to myself, to be able to 'pull it off' in quite the same way as he did.
Another time in my life, I listed to a lot of alternative/industrial music and (this is before I was a DJ) I used to sneak out of my parents house at night to go out dancing. I remember wearing sandalwood one night (I had overapplied it) to a club that was pretty lame...noone was there except the DJ, me and the bartenders...I got kinda lost getting there and the lit, smoky, loud dancefloor was empty except for me. Perhaps it was The Cure, or maybe it was a Nitzer Ebb song. What I do remember distinctly is getting back into my car to leave and playing a Cocteau Twins cd while the smell of sandalwood filled my car.
About a month ago, I came upon the sample of Santalum by Profumum. When I applied it, I was more interested in the cinnamon (it had been recommended to me here on the boards), and I honestly wasn't really focused on the sandalwood when I applied it - but the olfactory memories started flowing...coupled with a strong respect and fascination for a sandalwood scent that's so well done.
Santalum is very linear - so if you're looking for a complex sandalwood based scent, look elsewhere. But the Profumum line delivers such uncompromising and honest interpretations in their fragrances - and Santalum sparse notes (sandalwood, myrrh and cinnamon) combine and balance each other out wonderfully. Santalum is everything that Tam Dao is not. It's dark, shadowy, dusty - I kept getting the visual image of a rusty car in a backyard. No smoke. The myrrh is not too incens-y (hope that makes sense...). The cinnamon isn't of the Cinnamon roll variety. The sandalwood note is deep, reassuring and dirty/spicy while simultaneously being calm/sweet.
The sillage and longevity are above average - and so is the price tag of the juice ($195 for the 100ml bottle at Luckyscent).
I will savor my decant bottle of this (thanks sis' [Comdiva]) and be comfortable in the fact that, for now, sandalwood doesn't get any better than this.
