LE LABO
SANTAL 33

2011

PERFUMER
Frank Voelkl

cardamom
iris
violet
papyrus
cedarwood
amber
Sandalwood
Leather

For those that don’t know, Santal 33 was one of the most hyped fragrances for a while, until it basically became uncool, because it over saturated the market and now it seems to be okay to love it again?

Honestly, living in a small city in The Netherlands, I can’t say I ever consciously smelled it before people started saying ‘you smell it everywhere’. Santal 33 is a minimal, but strong fragrance that can be a bit misleading.

For me this is not a typical sandalwood fragrance at all. I get way more of a pencil shavings/paper and a piercing floral leather scent. Even for the woods, I feel like I smell more cedarwood in this, than I do sandalwood.

There’s a hint of spice from the cardamom, but there’s also something fresher in this composition that I can’t derive from the listed notes. To my nose, there’s a clean, cold undertone to it all, that I guess is the elusive ‘cucumber note’ that people often refer to with Santal 33. I don’t get much cucumber, but I can see it (I think I get it more in Guerlain Santal Pao Rosa).

What defines Santal 33 for me is an industrial, modern vibe; when I wear it I picture a wealthy young person in a loft with a concrete floor, black metal window frames and large metal industrial pendant lamps or open light bulbs.

My experiences with sandalwood forward fragrances have been mainly warmer and sweeter scents, which is not how I perceive Santal 33. There are many, many fragrances that have copied the Santal 33 DNA, like KierinNYC Santal Sky, Cra-yon Sand Service, Salle Privee x Skins, but also to some extent Louis Vuitton LV Lovers & Matiere Premiere Parisian Musc. In my experience, pretty much all of them feel more rounded, smoother, creamier and in some ways ‘better’ than the Le Labo, but I tend to prefer the minimal, colder aesthetic of the Le Labo more at the end of the day. It’s part of its charm.