Longest Lasting Sandalwood? Help!

[Shermdog]

Gents...I know this has been debated before but I'd like to revisit this topic.

I want to pick up some Sandalwood EDT and I need the forums help to select.

I dont want to spend 50 bucks on something that doesnt last.

What are your picks for a nice Sandalwood EDT with lasting power.

Shermdog

PS. I have used Taylors, AOS, and C&E and love them all for shaving creams and soaps. Just need an EDT to go with them.

[Austin]

The longest lasting EDT is probably Art of Shaving. Very concentrated and long lasting. Use sparingly.

My favorite is Floris Sandalwood. The scent last on my person about 8 hours.

[guenron]

Gents...I know this has been debated before but I'd like to revisit this topic.

I want to pick up some Sandalwood EDT and I need the forums help to select.

I dont want to spend 50 bucks on something that doesnt last.

What are your picks for a nice Sandalwood EDT with lasting power.

Shermdog

PS. I have used Taylors, AOS, and C&E and love them all for shaving creams and soaps. Just need an EDT to go with them.
Howdy Shermdog,
Lasting power has a great deal to do with body chemistry and the carriers used to contain the EO or FO. I have a few different sandalwood colognes, but my favorite fragrance is not the longest lasting. What can I say? (Buy C&E (Single Note) and carry the bottle with you! :wink2: :wink2: )

[Shermdog]

Howdy Shermdog,
Lasting power has a great deal to do with body chemistry and the carriers used to contain the EO or FO. I have a few different sandalwood colognes, but my favorite fragrance is not the longest lasting. What can I say? (Buy C&E (Single Note) and carry the bottle with you! :wink2: :wink2: )


C&E is probably my favorite Sandalwood. I have the cream and the soap. Does the EDT last at all?

[guenron]

C&E is probably my favorite Sandalwood. I have the cream and the soap. Does the EDT last at all?
Yes, it does. The way I keep "Happy" with it is that I layer the fragrance, i.e. shower with the C&E Sandlawood Bath and Body Wash, use C&E Sandalwood deodorant stick, shave with C&E or QED sandalwood soap, use C&E sandalwood aftershave balm, all followed by a liberal application (aka bath in) C&E Aromatic Sandalwood EdT. I'll sit at my desk enjoying my own personal sandalwood aroma for about 4 or 5 hours.

[Coche_y_bondhu]

Hello Pardner in Plano,

I have Taylor Sandalwood EDT. Lasts all day on me. Perfect companion to Taylor Sandalwood cream and Taylor Sandalwood talc. Have to pick up the Taylor Sandalwood shower gel sometime in a future order.

I have also heard good reviews on C&E Sandalwood and Floris.

Cheers,

Richard
Legacy & Custer

[DoubleE]

Shermdog:
My Trumper's sandalwood lasts longer on me than any other brand or scent I own. As Ron mentioned, he likes a single note which Trumper's is not. It is my personal favorite however. C&E sure is nice though!

Jerry

[Shermdog]

OK guys...I see a theme developing...

Everyone has their favorite but there is no clear single favorite! :scared:

Maybe it means I can't go wrong. Or maybe I will need to buy them all!

EDT Acquisition Disorder....on the way.

Shermdog

In Plano too
Tollway and Parker

[Cliff]

It just reinforces how subjective individual reaction to scents can be. That's why It's so difficult to recommend a fragrance to anyone.

[roughrider]

I know at the C&E store, they have testers of their EDT that you can try.

[guenron]

Shermdog,
Please note that I have them both (plus another two), and enjoy them both:

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=470

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=321

[joel]

Without question AOS Sandalwood cologne. I have trumpers, taylors, Caswell Massey, etc and AOS is the strongest and the most "single" noted cologne.

[fisherc]

I have tried many and the best IMO is Sandalo by Lorenzo Villoresi (http://www.lafcony.com). Also, DR Harris' Sandalwood A/S is good and VERY long lasting.

Chris

[Rik]

Greetings,
My favorite is C&E's sandalwood.

[HlSheppard]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't really get into Taylor's Sandalwood. I have a bottle that I almost never touch... :frown:

Longest lasting on me is a tie between AOS Sandalwood and Trumper's. They are vastly different scents, but I love them both. AOS is more the single note - but I have to say they both of these are some of my "staples."

I'm waiting patiently for Charles to release the B&B cologne... That has a good dose of Sandalwood EO and lasts quite a while on me (6-8 hours).

[Scotto]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't really get into Taylor's Sandalwood. I haved a bottle that I almost never touch... :frown:

Longest lasting on me is a tie between AOS Sandalwood and Trumper's. They are vastly different scents, but I love them both. AOS is more the single note - but I have to say they both of these are some of my "staples."

I'm waiting patiently for Charles to release the B&B cologne... That has a good dose of Sandalwood EO and lasts quite a while on me (6-8 hours).

I really tried to like the Taylor's Sandalwood, especially after the rave reviews it gets from lots of gents. In the end, it didn't work for me - too dry an aroma if that makes sense. I love the C&E Sandalwood, and have placed some not so subtle hints with SWMBO that I am looking for the EdT, balm, etc. for the holidays

[Shermdog]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't really get into Taylor's Sandalwood. I have a bottle that I almost never touch... :frown:

Longest lasting on me is a tie between AOS Sandalwood and Trumper's. They are vastly different scents, but I love them both. AOS is more the single note - but I have to say they both of these are some of my "staples."

I'm waiting patiently for Charles to release the B&B cologne... That has a good dose of Sandalwood EO and lasts quite a while on me (6-8 hours).


The B&B EDT is unreal! I wish Charles made it in a bigger size. If only he would make an entire line of the B&B....soaps, shampoo, body wash, etc. I have the Shave Stick and it is good enough to eat!

[Shermdog]

Love the pics Guenron!

[HlSheppard]

Shermdog said:


The B&B EDT is unreal! I wish Charles made it in a bigger size.

Believe it or not the B&B scent is actually a COLOGNE (IMHO it seems more like an EDT as well)! And the even better news is a bigger size is forthcoming! :a14:


Charles just needs to settle up some packaging issues along with some gentle "nudging" by us! :biggrin: :a53:

[guenron]

Love the pics Guenron!
:a28: My pleasure Shermdog.. I was wondering, are you a fan of Peabody's Improbable History?

[Shermdog]

:a28: My pleasure Shermdog.. I was wondering, are you a fan of Peabody's Improbable History?


My guess is you are wondering about my name. LOL

My last name is Sherman and all my friends since high school have called me shermdog.

[guenron]

My guess is you are wondering about my name. LOL

My last name is Sherman and all my friends since high school have called me shermdog.
Ah! Well, so much for intuition..:biggrin1:

[bladerunner]

I have tried various sandalwood colognes and edt. My favorite for long-lasting is Caswell-Massey's Sandalwood cologne which lingers on me all day and when I wake up I can still smell it. Also they have a subtle fragrance callled Tricorn that has sandalwood. Trumper's Sandalwood is good but expensive. I find AOS sandalwood EDt to be offensive and expensive. Cyril Salter had a Sandalwood edt that i purchased from the Gentlemen's shop, but was very subtle-weak. C&E is okay. But for a long lasting fragrance I prefer Caswell-Massey, plus it's less expensive than AOS and Trumpers.:001_smile

[Cliff]

I guess then there will be no setting of Mr. Peabody's "Wayback Machine" here ??

[Dave_D]

Hello Guys,
This is my first post. The ultimate Sandalwood has been my quest similar to the epic holy grail. Ive tried most of what has been mentioned here but, the one that has really smitten me is Tam Dao by Diptyque. Truly in a league of its own and worth checking out for anyone who likes sandalwood.

[guenron]

Hello Guys,
This is my first post. The ultimate Sandalwood has been my quest similar to the epic holy grail. Ive tried most of what has been mentioned here but, the one that has really smitten me is Tam Dao by Diptyque. Truly in a league of its own and worth checking out for anyone who likes sandalwood.
Hi Dave,
Is this a single note sandalwood? or an olio fragrance? Where do you normally purchase it?

[Dave_D]

Hi Guenron,

Tam Dao has been referred to as being more of a single note scent although Diptyque lists rosewood, cypress, ambergris and sandalwood as the notes.To my nose, sandalwood doesnt do well on its own and benefits from other notes to accent it, without taking away from it. These are the stores listed online as retailers: aedes, beautyhabit, bigelowchemists, fourseasonsproducts, lusciouscargo, Barneys, and Neiman Marcus.
I bought from Bigelow, although it doesnt seem to be in their stock currently.

[guenron]

Thanks Dave...

[Jimmyfresno]

I have been a fan of sandalwood for probably 30 years now and have tried many of the products reviewed here. There is one overriding truth: it is not that sandalwood essential oil "doesn't do well on its own." It is absolutely beautiful, rich, creamy, deep, resonant, unmistakeable, and irreplaceable on its own. The problem is that it is too expensive and can't be sourced easily on a consistent, mass scale. Currently, mysore sandalwood exports are regulated by the Indian government and E. Indian santalum album essential oil is at about US $150 for 30 mls.

I stand apart from the crowd in saying that this fragrance does not do well in most blends: it is a rich, but shy fragrance that is "noble" in the sense that it doesn't mix with peasants. It simply gives in and succumbs to whatever other scent is added. Citrus overpowers it, any trace of sweet completely ruins it, and other wood scents simply meld it into a murky mess. I chuckle when i see it referred to as a "basenote," simply because it becomes amorphous and loses its beautiful character when blended even with miniscule portions of most other accords.

So the product companies have been accustomed either to "interpreting" what sandalwood "could" smell like, or by extending enough of it with other agents that they can still call it sandalwood, or by stretching it with scents such as cedarwood, wintergreen, sassafrass, cypress, Australian sandalwood (s. spicatum) or the common tropical roadside weed Amyris. The amazing part is that most of us over the past 30 years have a mass-produced perception of what "sandalwood" should smell like, because of all of this. I see that even on this discriminating forum, the imitations are given equal consideration as "sandalwood" without blinking an eye. These are not sandalwood, my friends.

I was particularly shocked by D.R. Harris' claim that their after shave, with the "true scent of mysore sandalwood, for particular clients," has nothing to do with sandalwood at all. I say this after buying US $250 worth of it to be flown to me across the atlantic, "knowing" that I would love it. I don't love it. It is based on sassafrass (sarsparilla), licorice, wintergreen, and is another interpretation. How their chemists base their claim of it being sandalwood, I wont' know. And this from a good English company! How Brits stand for it I won't know.

AOS is very nice and quite tenacious, but it is eucalyptus based and not a true sandalwood scent. Similarly, C&E's eau de toilette is a very transparent dilution of what may have had sandalwood in it at some time, with a slight spice and tobacco accord. It's very nice, very sheer, but very not sandalwood either. Tam Dao is almost spiritual. But it is cypress, not sandalwood that is predominant.

I did like Lorenzo Villoresi Santalo, but it also makes me chuckle to read even professional fragrance reviewers of this scent parroting that it has top notes of rosewood and bergamot. The top note is umistakeably violet, and the first five minutes of this expensive fragrance smells like violet candy from a chemist's counter. I will be unusually candid here and say that i actually added 30 mls. of good sandalwood oil to my bottle after receiving it so that I wouldn't be completely dissapointed. It seems to have done the trick.

Santal Noble took another spin on sandalwood, in an unusual direction: coffee and chocolate. This was the most promising blend I have tried, but unfortunately it dries down to a powdery amber and becomes sickening. I made my own, using a few drops of a coffee scent sold by a company in California, and a drop of chocolate scent made by "Body Time" of Berkeley, CA, and lots of aged sandalwood oil from the Tamil Nadu region of India, which happens to be creamier and less dry than the darling, Mysore. It is very nice and wears even better, with the mocha blending into the rich true wood without masking its character.

I'm also waiting for a bottle of Floris sandalwood that I ordered, hoping for the holy grail of a true sandalwood scent.

In the meantime, find yourself a bottle of true, expensive sandalwood essential oil (santalum album, not s. spicatum or s. austrocaledonicum or amyris) and mix it with some neutral grain spirits and put it in a spray bottle. Ebay sellers offer it from time to time. Once you have experienced the true, unadulterated smell of this essence, you'll know why it has become so rare and sought after.

[Mama Bear]

I am very happy to meet you and welcome to B&B! The knowledge you are sharing with us is very welcome!!!

Could you tell us what percentage do you dilute your sandalwood eo at?

God Bless.

Sue (Mama Bear)

[htownmmm]

Welcome to the club!

very informative post-eventually, you may be known as the "Sandalwood King".



Marty

[water]

Awesome post Jimmy.

I would be interested to know what you think of Trumper's Sandalwood cologne. They go to great lengths to point out that they use only the finest Mysore Sandalwood EO.

[HlSheppard]

Now THAT'S one helluva post!

Great stuff!

[Austin]

Very well done Jimmy. My favorite sandalwood remains Floris. I have tried various others mentioned in this post and always go back to Floris. Good luck.

[TraderJoe]

That was quite an interesting post, an awakening.

My Sandalwood favorites are AOS and Trumper.

I have Not detected Eucalyptus in the AOS Sandalwood...

Is this certain Jimmy? Do you have a list of the EO's they have used in this product?

[Jimmyfresno]

Thanks for the warm welcome. The truth is that I'm not much interested in shaving as much as in sandalwood itself, and lurked on this blog for a few months now to get peoples' opinions on some of the products. I haven't tried Trumper's yet and would like to but I have to curtail my spending on imported products for a while.

Regarding the AOS question, no I have no list of their e.o. ingredients, but can pretty much detect eucalyptus in a small amount. I myself have been tricked by cedar and thought it was sandalwood until I re-visited my own sandalwood oil. I have diluted sandalwood e.o. with about 80% grain spirits for a nice cologne. It's cloudy sometimes, but far better than most of the blends I've tried. Also can't wait to try Floris when it comes...I've heard spectacular things about it.

[bladerunner]

I prefer Caswell-Massey, it's long-lasting & under $30 a bottle. Trumpers is gexcellent. I don't care much for the Art of Shaving sandalwood fragrance and price. Haven't tried Floris yet & haven't seen it on their sale

[jtmo3]

If I can jump in here, I have a sample packet that AOS sent me of their Sandalwood. On the front, it lists the notes in the EDT. They are...

Top Notes:
Eucalyptus

Heart Notes:
Jasmine, Fir Needle

Base Notes:
Sandalwood, Myrrh, Patchouli, Vanilla

100% Pure Essential Oils

John

[TraderJoe]

If I can jump in here, I have a sample packet that AOS sent me of their Sandalwood. On the front, it lists the notes in the EDT. They are...

Top Notes:
Eucalyptus

Heart Notes:
Jasmine, Fir Needle

Base Notes:
Sandalwood, Myrrh, Patchouli, Vanilla

100% Pure Essential Oils

John

Hey there, thanks for the info....I've been looking all over for that, except (apparently) the most obvious place!

[Jimmyfresno]

I was ready to love this one too after all of the rave reviews, and mentions of its dry transparency and true sandalwood scent in the drydown. UPS dropped it off today and I promised myself I would shower before testing it so I had a "clean palate" so to speak. Couldn't wait. Ripped open the box and squirted her right on the back of my hand.

It was love. Beautiful, clear woody sandalwood in the opening...two minutes three minutes, began to unfold until....

Five minutes into this fragrance the culprit arose. PEPPERMINT.

Not enough to mint alarm anyone, and nobody seemed to say anything about it in anything I've read, but they blended a single drop of dinner mint creamy pennyroyal peppermint as a "partner" to get more mileage out of the sandalwood. Yuck. I don't like mint on my skin, and it seemed a rather pedestrian addition to such a noble scent.

I suppose I shall have to wear this from time to time to get my $80 worth out of it. I'm sure women will sniff and say how wonderful it smells.

This is not a fragrance I will like to live in, though.

[stropmegently]

So, if I am to understand then, there is not a "true" sandalwood scent in mass production? If so, who has it? The scent I think, as I was told by the producer, is sandalwood I like. I have the Trumper, AOS, and C&E and like them all. I think the Trumper is my favorite and it is long lasting on my person. The AOS is nice as well but so is the C&E! I also have the Floris Santal, is freaking great too (but as someong pointed out somewhere else on this forum, there is not any sandalwood in that scent).

Bottom line, who has a "REAL" sandalwood?

Darren

[Dave_D]

Been awhile since I checked B&B, this thread seems to have taken on a new life!
The answer as to the ultimate sandalwood (or any scent for that matter) is not likely to be answered definatively anytime soon. To accurately evaluate (for themselves) what cologne has the closest true rendition to a particular scent, a person might be well advised to purchase an EO first and go from there.

A true EO of Mysore sandalwood might be difficult (but not impossible) to attain these days, Mysore products are very strictly regulated now. I was lucky enough to buy one of the last samples of a companys remaining stock and was informed that the company would not be getting more. It is to that sample I have guaged every sandalwood cologne / perfume I have tried. While there are many 'Santals' and 'Sandalwood' scents out there that smell wonderful in their own right, most seem to be artistic interpretations.

To me (and the the closing evaluation should always be yours) there are few Sandalwoods that dry down to a true sandalwood scent (as compared to a true EO) and these would include many top notch perfumers renditions.

Basenotes has a few great threads on the topic.

[javyn]

This is a great thread! I am a Sandalwood fan myself, but am ashamed to admit it, after reading these posts I'm definately out of my Sandal-loving leage!

I haven't tried many Sandalwood colognes...my favorite though was "Essence of Mysore" Sandalwood Cologne....I think it might have been C&E, but the label was different. It had a really pretty red label with a picture of an elephant and an Indian on it, gold highlights. It lasted a long time, and was more of a pure scent to me, rather than like say, Trumpers, which is more "mixed up" smelling....as Jimmy put it more eloquently in his post.

I burn so much Sandalwood incense, I think it seeps into everything I have, so I don't really need a cologne for it, although that cologne I did have smelled so damn nice. If I remember correctly (I bought it several years ago), it cost a pretty penny as well.

I'd like to try the Floris cologne one of these days. I got a sample of their shaving cream, and have to say, hands down it was my favorite take on Sandalwood. Had kind of a peppery scent to it, and the smel lasted very long for a shaving cream. But, since I haven't tried the edt, I have to say the best so far has been the (possibly) C&E.

[Suzuki]

I've been enjoying a bottle of Arden Sandawood (out of production, but still readily obtainable).

Its not a "pure" sandalwood - starts off with lavender/sage top notes and then after about 20 minutes settles down to a slightly sweet sandalwood.

I'm always trying new sandalwood products - so far the QED sandalwood soap is the one with what I consider to be the "purest" as there's a good helping of EO and there's no other scents added to the mix.

[Scotto]

The Floris Sandalwood is very interesting. I'm holding off on a review and comparison until I wear it a few more times, though.

[stropmegently]

Thanks Scotto, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Darren