Sånd

So delightful that I'm delighted to be first in - to recommend this one unreservedly to those who like slightly pinkish, slightly sweetish, slightly spiced, gently mellow sandalwood. Linear and simple - maybe even minimalist - and with a beautiful, subtle, suede-like texture (it doesn't smell leathery at all) to it. Some might find it a little TOO simple and with a slightly raw, almost worthy, health-food kind of feel at first, but it wears like a champion. Absolutely no tinge of sweat, excessive green-ness or other pitfalls which can make a sandalwood scent slip up. Not massive or opulent - this is no complex, urbanised art piece of perfumery - just a really wonderful smell. Not the full 'tiger in a jewelled collar' effect you can get from really ultra-luxe spiced sandalwood scents, but a sleek and reassuringly muscular beast all the same. Feels natural and kind and honest throughout and lasts a very respectable 6-8h as a skin scent. Nicely mixed so I can't really identify most of the notes named above - it's more just a big, consistent ball of lovely. (side note: and I was HORRIFIED to read of a banana note! because I loathe banana! but wouldn't have dreamt it was in here, so don't worry if you hate the fruit as much as I do.) Sillage isn't huge but it is truly a private pleasure throughout its life. If you'd like a (far, far, FAR) more organic and botanical-feeling version of Perris Santal du Pacifique or a natural and much much more discreet Xerjoff Shunkoin, you'll love it. I love sandalwood, have tried scores of sandalwood scents, and this one truly does the business. If the extensive marketing blurb about ethical harvesting of ingredients etc etc is true, you can also enjoy it with a clear conscience, and not worry about ruining the world's diminishing natural stock of sandalwood either. Just lovely all round!

Crafted by the perfumer Mark Constantine, the nose behind most of Lush’s fragrances, Sand carries a familiar olfactory signature that fans of the British brand will instantly recognize. That unmistakable Lush DNA (and the notorious performance) is woven into the fabric of this scent. Despite its reputation as a banana fragrance, surprise surprise... Sand contains no banana note in its official composition! The name actually refers to sandalwood, and it’s through a clever interplay of ingredients that a creamy, ripe banana-like accord emerges. This illusion is realistic for the first hour at least, and I think it shows the perfumer’s skill in creating Sand. In my opinion, this fragrance is perfectly balanced unisex. It avoids overt sweetness, leaning instead into a creamy, woody warmth. Talking about performance: - Opening (Hour 0–1): a burst of sandalwood and pepper, creates an immediate impression of banana & brown sugar. The projection is moderate to strong. - Mid (Hour 3): the projection remains moderate, and there’s a fleeting whisper of leather that comes and goes. This is unlisted, so it could be just my perception. - Full drydown (Hour 5): cardamom becomes more noticeable, blending with the lingering sandalwood base. From this point onwards, the evolution is quite linear. Even after eight hours, subtle whiffs of sandalwood persist, especially with movement, forming a gentle scent bubble. I can say that 24 hours after application, on clothes Sand is still perceptible.

Ok, so this does smell of banana, which I never thought I’d like in a fragrance. But it’s actually rather lovely. More like a spiced, toasted gooey banana than a fresh green one. Sweet yet spicy (love cardamom). Juicy and a bit sticky, yet not cloying or sickly. Warm, yet somehow also fresh and slightly medicinally aromatic (benzoin). And an absolutely stunning warm, spicy, woody dry down. Gorgeous. This is like nothing I’ve smelled before. Do I want to smell like this? I’m not sure. But I really enjoy smelling it and will revisit my sample another time to see!

Wow, this is a very unconventional Sandalwood, but it is by far the best I have come across - it is just extraordinary! I absolutely love the banana/ vanilla accords in here, they lift a very homely, comforting wood scent up to a different place entirely! Lots of love for this house! Super strong ethics, and OK, I'm not a fan of big bitter woodies or patchoulli, ('bark' and 'patch', respectively), and 'cake' is terrifyingly sweet, but the rest of them are REALLY really good!! Big recommendation!! - the sample set is a brilliant way in too!

After testing all ånd samples I found they are more on the masculine side for me (still very much appreciate their uniqueness), but there are 2 that stood out for me - Far' and 'Sand'. Sand really reminds me of 'Himalaya' by Lush, with the slightest hint of 'Tank Battle' but sweeter, creamy and rich - seriously a beautiful and unique perfume. It's sweet, dry, powdery, slightly spicy/smokey. It's like eating banana bread in a cosy jumper while burning incense on top of a mountain! Feels like an autumn/winter perfume, day or night.

In a way I relate Sånd to L'Air Du desert Marocain since both are quite dusty and spicy. This one though has a lovely sandalwood paired with a Banana accord to give it some sweetness. I can definitely smell the Banana but maybe that's because I knew the note was there, otherwise I would have thought it was something else. Performs exceptionally well, projects nicely, it's a winner!

Gorgeous slightly spicy cardamom, smooth banana and deep rich sandalwood. Ended up buying the EDT after trying their sample pack of EDPs. It’s stunning, exactly the same scent but projects better I think. Lasted all day I was still getting whiffs from my clothes 10 hours later. Love. Will use it up and buy more.

Yummy, fresh and spicy blend of bright spices and slightly overripe banana. It’s somewhere in between banana bread and a tropical forest. Sooooo in love!!! 😻 my ig: scent.guide

This is divine! It smells like Thailand to me! It's very exotic & sensual 👌 Wish it had more sillage!

I think that if you took the marigold out of Adam Levine for Women and added a touch of banana candy, you’d get something similar to Sand. Sand is smoother and more interesting but it has the same sort of creamy but dry sandalwood, spice and level of sweetness so wearing it gives me a very similar feeling and scent bubble. It also has that Santal Blush vibe. Very beautiful for a sandalwood lover but be warned! This perfume may dry down into a sweet banana, vanilla and sandalwood scent, but it starts off smelling like a Curry! I’m not kidding. Very savoury, spicy, almost coconutty curry scent - imagine a Thai red curry with plantain in. Like that! It transitions quite quickly to sandalwood on skin but it’s a very unusual opening!

*I am testing the sample box so I'll be updating the reviews as I use them* First whiff: VERY familiar, woody scent, and some spice. It took me a moment to realise it's sandalwood. Of course! At first, it was almost too heavy on the wood for my liking, but it settled rather quickly. Then I could smell cardamon, and something deliciously caramely hiding underneath; my bet was on vanilla but I can see it's benzoins, so not a massive suprise here. Cardamon done nicely brings to mind Kenzo Jungle Elephant, one of my favourite warm/spicy scents ever. Absolutely ZERO banana to my nose - I wish I could smell it but I really can't! Perhaps it's part of the sweetness I can detect? My husband said Send smells like coconut to him.

I've had my sample of this beauty for ages but had forgotten about it so I wore it again this winter and now a 50ml of the edt is winging it's way to me! It's such a fun sandalwood and the banana really does last! I'm not sure why someone said there isn't actually a banana note in here because the And Fragrance website says the following... "We’ve tracked down a unique Australian sandalwood versatile enough to handle hints of outlandish but ethically and sustainably sourced banana, cardamom, black pepper with weird and wonderful Labdanum and Benzoin resin" And it's the banana that sticks out and makes it so special! The sandalwood is dry here but the banana has a tangy quality that lifts it so beautifully.

Jack POT!!! Yes, ladies and gents, this is the real deal. If you, like me, ever secretly wanted a fragrance featuring a banana accord, but just assumed, due to a glaring absence of such an accord in perfumery, that it must be laughably synthetic and thus reserved for ambient spray at a gorilla enclosure, well, no. Behold! the creative nose behind this scent has given us, not only wearable scent but, a credibly high end daily driver. It's clearly niche, no mistakes about that, but it's not "what is that???!!!" niche. Contrary to other reviews I seen on this, the banana accord is integral to the whole and is not just a fleeing top note. In fact, as it settles more of the banana shines thru, along with benzoin, cardamom and sandalwood. As quirky as it sounds, it's truly not. Keep in mind, your mileage may vary. We all smell what we smell. Anyway, I just got this in and am wearing this as I jab at the letters on my phone. I have to give it a few more wearings, but, yes, this will ALWAYS stay in my collection... and foreseeably worn a whole lot. UPDATE: The late dry down has me thinking (in the moment) that this is the best dry down I've smelled on ANY fragrance. It's like this very smooth coconutty, sandalwoody, cardamom-y, benzoin-y, banana aroma. And to top things off, there's this faint but adequate, amber hint in the background that's playing peekaboo.Yeah, this is gourmand done right. If you can even call it a gourmand, as weird as that may sound being as I just listed off all those food notes. But, yeah, this may be neck in neck with Fougere Emeraude for best 2024 discovery.

This one is the pick of the five, for mine... I bought the discovery set, and about 2 or 3 of them made an impact on me, but this one ESPECIALLY spoke to me. Winchelsea... 9 years. The last one I tried out, from the whole pack, and I left it till last on purpose as it featured Australian sandalwood, which is a scent I'm sorta-kinda patriotic about, even though I'm yet to find a scent that does this unique variety justice. This might be it! I'm glad to seriously consider this scent, mostly because of how effortlessly the banana mixes with the sandalwood. It gives off a mild chocolate accord, super-creamy, spiced chocolate. A little like the camel milk chocolate I first experienced in Dubai on my honeymoon (symmetry!). The benzoin adds the appropriate amount of base to it, and if I'm being 100% honest here, I'm a little bit smitten, I am... Definitely need to sit in it, with it and live through it, I feel. Very interested...

Although this smells very different from my expectations, it is my favourite scent in the sample set of 9. I was expecting a banana bread gourmand similar to BTSO Nanotopia or THOO L'Explicite, but I got a very earthy and calming unisex scent -- black pepper with cardamom and sandalwood. Well blended and nothing sugary, or bakery-like like the Får, Bake, or Cake scents. The aromachemicals in this hit the neuroreceptors of my brain and instantly puts me at ease as if they were essential oils. The banana in this is actually very subtle but serves as a nice backdrop. Edit: I got the 50 ml EDT after someone else said the EDTs have better projection than the EDPs. It has great performance! :) Now I'd describe the scent as banana and licorice or an earthy banana bubblegum.

Really interesting fresh, caramelised banana note in the beginning, which persists for quite a few hours up until the deep drydown. The rest of the scent reminds me of Moonmilk by Stora Skuggan -- the sandalwood has the same earthy, granular, jungly quality (maybe it’s the combination of sandalwood and cardamom). There's even some less concrete commonality with the sadly-discontinued Aroma by Costa Brazil. I'd wear this somewhere warm and tropical. Love, but I already own Moonmilk -- would buy a FB if I didn't.

God dang it. I wanted to try the And fragrances for a while and now I've had the chance and they are really good. Now I'm going to have to buy a full bottle or two and go back on my no more perfumes resolution. Anyway this is really nice just a little fruity but also fresh and spicy. Sigh.

loved the opening, thought i smelled banana! reminds me of orris and sandlewood by jo malone and santal 33, but a more niche version, not sold on the total dry down though gonna have to give more wears.

The banana is fun but the pepper absolutely ruins it. A dusty banana, aka a scrubber.