Review: Truefitt & Hill Sandalwood Cologne

[Jerry-built Hustler]

I had high hopes for this one, given the description and my general fondness for Truefitt & Hill products (if not necessarily all of their fragrances), but alas, it’s a disappointment. Truefitt claims this new-ish offering is “a sophisticated fragrance…as modern as it is classic.” I suppose that’s a nice way of saying it doesn’t know what it wants to be. To me, it’s not sophisticated at all. In fact, I find it to be banal department store fare, utterly average, and not at all in keeping with the cachet and heritage of a renowned, “old school” brand.

The closest thing I can compare this Sandalwood to is Ralph Lauren’s Safari for Men, from 1992. Think sharp, synthetic citrus and florals laid over synthetic woods and leather, with a synthetic marine/calone note somewhere in the mix. Did I mention it smells synthetic? Modern, perhaps, if 1992 counts as modern, but certainly not classic, unless 1992 counts as classic. Take your pick, but I don’t think T&H can have it both ways.

Longevity and sillage are either outstanding or obnoxious, depending on your point of view. I didn’t even spray this directly on me. I sprayed a tester strip with a single spritz, let it dry for about ten seconds, then pressed it to the back of my hand. Three-plus hours and a hand-washing or two later, and it’s still going strong. If you like it, consider it good value, since you won’t have to use a lot, but please be considerate of those around you and use restraint when spraying. They'll thank you for it.

Price and packaging are the same as all other T&H fragrances – certainly not cheap, but not the most expensive things out there, either. You would spend about as much, and smell about the same, if you visited your local department store fragrance counter. Perhaps the scent takes on new life when used in the shaving cream, aftershave balm or bath soap, all of which are offered as part of the Sandalwood range. However, given my experience with the cologne, there is no way I would purchase those other products without trying samples first. You'd be well advised to do the same.



Side note: I had intended to post this in the Review section, but could not figure out how to initiate a product review. If anyone has any tips, please share. Thanks.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

I was finally able to sample the T&H Sandalwood shaving cream and aftershave balm. No improvement, unfortunately. If you like the scent, you can rest assured that the fragrance is fairly consistent throughout the range, although the cream and balm seem to have more piercing top notes, and fewer woody base notes, than the cologne, although that's not saying a whole lot. I'm really at a loss to understand why T&H calls this scent "sandalwood," since the one property that seems to be missing from it is the woody mellowness associated with its namesake. The cream is moderately scented, but the balm is quite strongly scented, so much so that you may not feel the need to add in the EdT.

Functionally, the cream and balm worked as well as expected for this brand, which is to say excellently, but with a caveat: the fragrance was so strong, I got a continual burning during and after the shave that only went away when I washed it off with a cleanser and applied something else.

 

[sarimento1]

Interesting review. My nose is not nearly as sophisticated. It liked T&H sandalwood, perhaps finding it to be a bit more citrusy than other straight sandalwoods such as AOS, Floris, Creed, TOBS. But still woodsy. Actually I liked the sandalwood in the T&H shave cream a bit more, it seemed a little deeper. Only tried the balm once, don't recall any specific likes or dislikes.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Interesting review. My nose is not nearly as sophisticated. It liked T&H sandalwood, perhaps finding it to be a bit more citrusy than other straight sandalwoods such as AOS, Floris, Creed, TOBS. But still woodsy.

Thanks for the input. Admittedly, my nose is very sensitive. I've even had people describe it as freakish. It can be both a blessing and a curse, since it definitely puts me in the "most easily offended" category when it comes to fragrances. Others may want to keep that in mind when considering my take on the scent.

 

[dfoulk]

I only have the shave soap and I am quite fond of the scent of it though I have no idea whatsoever why they call it sandlewood. In fact I get little to no sandlewood scent from it at all. It's more of a clean fresh scent for me but certainly not anything like the traditional sandlewood oils I've smelled.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts as I was wondering what the cologne and aftershave smelled like in comparison. I'd consider possibly picking some up in the future if it in fact smells the exact same as the soap. Then again I liked the Ralph Lauren Safari scent back in the 90's.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts as I was wondering what the cologne and aftershave smelled like in comparison. I'd consider possibly picking some up in the future if it in fact smells the exact same as the soap. Then again I liked the Ralph Lauren Safari scent back in the 90's.

Since I've not smelled the shaving soap, I obviously can't say how the rest of the products compare. However, given the consistency of scent in the three I have tried, I'd say odds are good the shaving soap smells similarly.

In addition to Safari, another scent of which I'm reminded is Bernini Men, from the mid-90s, if you remember that one. It's in the "fresh clean" mode, like you describe, similar to a number of '90s scents released in the wake of CK One. The shaving cream and balm reminded me more of Bernini. The Safari similarity seemed more limited to the cologne.

Side note: the other day, I used the shaving brush I'd lathered the Sandalwood cream with for the first time since I'd written this review. Not surprisingly, I could still smell the T&H on it. What is surprising, though, is that after two more shaves with two different creams, I can still smell the T&H on the brush. It's pretty potent.

 

[sarimento1]

I was fortunate to be able to get a bundle of T&H sandalwood shave cream samples from their prior USA distributor.
Take them with me on trips, great shave cream.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

...great shave cream.

My burning face and contaminated brush beg to differ, but I guess that's why we have a phrase like YMMV.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

I was so fixated on your cream comment that I overlooked the most obvious element in your pic: you're featuring a Fusion Flexball, and it appears to be the super-expensive AOS version at that. I'm guessing if you laid out that kind of scratch, you must like it. I tried the standard Gillette version and was none too impressed. I'm no cartridge hater - Sensor Excel is my go-to razor most days - but the Fusion has never sat particularly well with me. The ProGlide and Flexball haven't changed that. How's it working for you?

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Admittedly, my nose is very sensitive. I've even had people describe it as freakish.

I had an experience recently that emphasizes the point. My girlfriend was over the other day, and at more than ten feet away, I could smell the laundry detergent she used on her shirt. She normally uses unscented detergents on things she wears around me, since she knows I'm sensitive to a lot of brands, but this one slipped through the cracks. Once again, she said my sense of smell is "freakish" (exact quote), and probably not a good indicator of what most people find tolerable.

I prefer to think of her nose as stunted in its olfactory refinement, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.