Sand & Sable

To be clear... I am basing this review on my bottles of Sand & Sable, both of which are vintage "cologne sprays," one 90% full (0.5 fl oz.) with a metal-coated cap, and one 99% full (0.375 fl oz./ 11 ml) with a white plastic cap. I owned and wore this when I was a little kid in the late 80s/early 90s... when I went to college and moved out years later, my mom kept my bottles in her collection... recently, she gave them back to me because she wasn't wearing them, and I'm back to wearing/appreciating them again... if anyone can I.D. the era/age of either bottle, please let me know, because I'd love to have that info. The newer/reformulated version may be an entirely different beast, so YMMV depending on which one you're able to get your hands on. For what it's worth... the vintage version is *amazing.* I think I may have forgotten how beautiful this was! (For many years, I figured that my appreciation for this fragrance must have been colored by a healthy dollop of nostalgia, and I assumed that the past was best left... well... in the past, as it were. I'll admit that I was wrong about that in this case.) Upon application, I was immediately rewarded by a sweet, fragrant, blooming bouquet of gardenia and tuberose. It's unapologetically floral, and incredibly uplifting and pleasant. Amazingly, my bottles remain untouched by time -- this smells *exactly* as I remember it, and I'm finding that I love it just as much as I did decades ago. The "sand" note in Sand & Sable does appear after a while, and it puts to shame any notion of "sandy beaches" that modern perfumes (such as MMM Beach Walk -- no offense to that perfume at all, but S&S is better, IMHO) attempt to conjure up. There *is* sand here... I don't know how they did it, but the suggestion is apparent without being overwhelming, and Coty did this better (way back then!) than any modern perfumer I can think of. At the same time, it doesn't interfere with the floral aspects of the fragrance. Both elements play well together, and they feel balanced. Towards the drydown, there is a slightly animalic facet that makes itself known if I sniff my wrist up close. It's not a listed note, but I can sense its presence. Thankfully, it doesn't veer into verifiably fecal or urinous territory. It remains present, but manageable -- an element, but not the main aspect of the fragrance. It feels like it is there to anchor everything else. The fact that this was a "cheap" or so-called "drugstore" perfume is astounding to me. That I, as a young kid, managed to get my hands on a few bottles for a ridiculously low price, and that those bottles stood the test of time and the juice did not degrade, is even more amazing. I'll continue to treasure what I have. My verdict? Get your hands on a vintage bottle, if you can. And enjoy.

This was the first scent that kick-started my fragrance obsession in recent years. Reposting the review I left on Fragram two (or closer to three) years ago: I've gone on a fragrance trip down memory lane. I started sniffing all the cheapie vintage drugstore perfumes that the pretty moms, our aunts, and the older high school girls would've been wearing in the '70s -'90s. A lot of them were awful, but there were a couple underrated gems that made me smile. This one from 1981 got me! Sand and Sable by Coty is not one I was expecting to like, but I love it! It's an explosion of flowers that really projects and lasts. It's very feminine and sweet! I found Sand and Sable for $25. I've read a lot of reviews saying it beats and completely out performs many of the expensive high-end white floral fragrances. P.S. I have tried hundreds of perfumes since in all price ranges, spent thousands, and this still stands out as one of the very best! It makes me feel refreshed, and helps to put the pep back in my step. I just bought a really beautiful vintage 100ml round splash bottle of this. It's much nicer than the bottle it comes in now. I was afraid this lovely scent might become harder and harder to find eventually. I'll treasure it! I actually love the modern formulation of this even more than the vintage splash. They are somewhat similar. I know it sounds crazy, but the new bottles are stronger and sweeter, with better projection. The notes for the more modern version are only: Tuberose, Gardenia, Jasmine, and Rose. It seems the peach and coconut notes people are always mentioning in reviews have been gone for a long time. I tried the modern formulation first so it's a LOVE for me. Sweet, bright, happy, and clean. 💌

Beautiful! On me S&S smells like a lighter Fracas and I actually like it more. Layers amazingly with ET Passion and Lady Stetson. It's a balmy scent to me, somehow warm but cool at the same time; humid like a summer evening after a thunderstorm and you can smell the wet flowers warming again in the last of the day's sun. Don't ignore the bottom shelves of the perfume section, the fragrances there don't look flashy like the ones higher up on the shelf but they are more diverse and interesting not to mention cheaper. I've slowly been buying every bottom shelf scent at my local Wal-Mart, one each pay period and my next acquisition will be Wild Musk. I get 3 new and unique perfumes for the price of one fleeting sweet celeb scent. I like some of those too but they can be boring and not worth 25 dollars per ounce if it's gone in 30 minutes. Younger ladies, take a risk and try some of these older ones! Especially if you want sonething new and to stand out. I'm a lifelong lover of classic and old school perfumes but this Sand and Sable in particular is very accessible for a younger crowd imo. It's a clean and sweet white floral with no heavy spices or musk so it's perfect for anyone wanting to dip a toe into retro frags. I jumped in headfirst in the early 00s by bathing in my grandmother's Bal a Versailles before trotting my happy little ass to high school but not everyone is a nut like me and I get that. The heavy and obviously dated ones can be scary for some but S&S is nothing like those. I'll be wearing it a lot this spring and my YOUNG husband loves it. I can spray this on the back of my hair and neck in the evening and it's still there the following morning.

I believe I have a sample decanted from the current formulation. I got it from Surrender to Chance. I'm wearing this on a clear Fall day. At opening, I get almost an evergreen-type note, quite sharp, along with the preview of the gardenia. The floral part of this perfume is very innocent and light, for me not much tuberose. I agree with the other reviewer who said it was more gardenia-projecting, at least during that first phase. It does have fairly decent sillage, and I got a compliment from someone across the room ten minutes after spraying. In my opinion it smells like a nicely balanced floral combo of gardenia, jasmine, and rose. It doesn't smell expensive, addictive, distinctive or swoon-inducing, just something gentle and loveable. Well done. It lasted about three hours before it was a peachy, dry and warm presence on my skin. I would add, please try not to make this perfume do more than it is made for. In other words, reapplying can be a bad idea! ;) The best of the drydown occurs after only one application. After that, it can bring possible hints of enclosed spaces that have been recently cleaned with strong detergents. Sorry. Still, for me it would be a wonderful perfume to have, just allow it to be subtle. (And I like to use a LOT of perfume at times too!)

I LOVEEEE Madonna's Truth or Dare. It's become my favorite perfume, and since it's discontinued and becoming harder to find except on Ebay or other selling aps for sometimes ridiculous prices, I picked up a bottle of this today to try, as an "every day" alternative so I can HORD my T or D. It's not nearly as Tuberose heavy, or as creamy, or as just all around as "perfection" as Madonna's masterpiece, BUT...I do enjoy it quite a bit! and I got a purse size bottle for only $3.00 which you can't beat. I'll be buying more, as well as a full size. I also want to try the Jovan Gardenia as well, and compare the 2, see which one is closer. I wish it had a bit more of the bubble gum tuberose, but it's good enough for me to wear and still enjoy around the house or trips to the store. Being a single mom on a budget I can't keep shelling out close to $100 on bottles of T or D every few months, plus it gets harder to find. Now I can get a couple of bottles, and use them sparingly and use THIS as my everyday "noplace to go" scent. WINNER WINNER! :) Needless to say, I'm happy.

As a kid, I absolutely HATED tuberose/gardenia scents like Carolina Herrera original, Jungle Gardenia, Fracas, etc. So of course I hated Sand & Sable after sniffing the tester at Walgreens. Of course it didn’t occur to me that my beloved Giorgio and Poison were just fruitier version of the same! Or, later, that Marc Jacobs’ & Michael Kors’ millennial signature scents were just more aquatic versions of the ol’ gardenia & tuberose. Now, I really wish I had a bottle of the S & S from the ‘80s, as I’m sure it smelled richer and better than the current version (which I pick up 1x/year when they sell those little Coty sprays for $5). I do like what’s available now, as it’s simple and easy to wear while still getting its point across: a beachy, clean, cheerful jasminey tuberose with a bit of peach and lilac. It’s what little girls think of as a “perfume” smell, which is not a bad thing. It’s accessible & likeable— and yes, it does remind me of green Prell shampoo. Yum!

Being in the mood for a new summer frag, and being crazy about white flowers (especially tuberose), I decided to give the famous Sand $ Sable a try since it comes to mind every time I think of white flowers. I see why it's a favorite. Very similar to my beloved original Michael Kors (THE tuberose scent, IMO) at a fraction of the price, this is a win-win for me. I sprayed S&S on one wrist and MK on the other. At first spray S&S comes off as dirtier than MK. Say MK's slutty sister. MK is definitely classier. But at the dry down they become almost exactly one and the same (on me). S&S is a bit creamier and MK is a bit greener. Considering the difference in price, I am over the moon with my purchase. I still adore MK, but since it's so pricey I will wear that on special occasions and will wear S&S when I'm going through a tuberose withdrawal ( which can happen when I'm just sitting around at home). So yes, chalk me up as another S&S cult follower.

I remember a very kind lady with big Texas hair, a favorite teacher, who used to smell so amazingly different from everyone else, the way I would imagine a person would smell returning from a beautiful exotic beach that wasn't Galveston... already fascinated by fragrance, I was compelled to ask her what it was, and pleasantly surprised to hear that it was Sand & Sable.I never bought any because I didn't want to be a copycat... until recently, 25 or so years later. Being a lover of any perfume that smells beachy, with a suntan lotion vibe, I was sure it would be love all over again, but it did not go that way. I got Giorgio. Giorgio Giorgio Giorgio. All gardenia, all the time... no soft sandy warm beachiness, just Giorgio. Sharp, loud, greeeen Giorgio. Perhaps this is what Sand & Sable has become now, or maybe it still is what it was then & just doesn't work on this skin. Either way, disappointment. Good thing it was only 5 bucks.

Although I don't wear big floral fragrances real often, Sand & Sable is one I do like. Years ago a friend wore this and it smelled so good on her that I had to try it for myself. In the opening notes it reminds me of Tatiana. Tatiana is saltier though and Sand & Sable is soft and sweet even in the dry down stage. One perfume lover I know called Sand & Sable the "poor woman's Fracas." I never related to the "sunscreen or beach vibe" with Sand & Sable like some other people do. It is just a pretty, sort of old fashioned smelling white floral perfume. I also don't find Jovan Island Gardenia to be all that similar. I have both perfumes and I never reach for Island Gardenia. It is more harsh than Sand & Sable to my nose. To me they are different perfumes in the same category. I haven't tried the newer rendition because my infrequent wearings have made my old bottle last a long time. Sand & Sable is a drug store classic worth trying!

Sand & Sable is another one I would repeatedly encounter during visits to drugstores and K-Marts, curious as to its smell, but long hesitant to even acknowledge it, because, you know, I'm a dude, and dudes aren't supposed to be into the lady scents, amirite? I was in the "wanting to experience fragrances marketed to women" closet for a very long time. Years and years go by, ogling it, intrigued by its name. We now know how the rest of the story goes... In short, it's a trustworthy beachy gardenia scent with plenty of solar benzyl salicylate (Coppertone vibes) and Methyl Tuberate (that newly opened Crayola crayon box smell) that really does approximate the smell of gardenia blooms quite nicely for something that can be acquired for mere chump change. I can escape to St. Tropez in my mind as the unforgiving winter fast approaches.

Somehow I was oblivious to this in the ‘80s. I bought a mini spray around 2018 and enjoyed its simple, timeless tropical-white-floral vibe. Then I bought an older bottle online to compare. WOW. Older is better. The first spray reminded me of gardenia-tuberose bombs worn by women in my family: Michelle by Balenciaga; Fracas; Carolina Herrera; Jungle Gardenia. As a kid, I was equally fascinated and repulsed by these scents. They were too much for me— especially the rubbery, bitter gardenia note and the frankly fecal jasmine. Vintage (frosted bottle) Sand & Sable strikes a perfect balance— not a civet or indole in sight, yet the white flowers are still sweet, assertive, and scream “classic perfume.” It’s rich yet clean and enjoyable. There is just enough of each flower. And yes, it does smell like Prell shampoo :) big thumbs up.

Lovely white florals. Strong jasmine is a tinsy bit overwhelming, for it totally smothered creamy gardenia in the opening, and it's gardenia what I'm hoping to get in Sand&Sable. It's a coconut jasmine to boot, which screams "tropical beach' to me, again I was kinda hoping for just a southern beach with gardenias and evergreen magnolias lining the streets. A fleeting whift of peach is rather welcome in by now rather sweet and dense still jasminy cloud. The scent settles quite soon to a creamy soft gardenia I was dreaming to get here - a joy to wear. Stays quite close to the skin - I'm surprised after very loud opening. Sand &Sable strongly reminds me of a Carolina Herrera perfume which I remember from long ago. I liked it then and wanted to buy, but somehow hadn't. So here with Sand&Sable I hit two birds with one stone.

Predominantly gardenia, with a clear undertone of tuberose. All the other notes are quite subtle and pleasing. I fail to see the connection with sand but the white floral theme does remind me of a lush tropical garden in the evening. A little seems to go a long way. It is, vaguely, reminiscent of Michael Kors Michael, but at a much more affordable price. Excellent for layering. I bought this blind having read the reviews here and was most pleasantly surprised. No, it does not smell cheap -- but could smell cheaply overpowering if splashed about too much. Use with care -- excellent sillage and longevity compared to those that cost five times as much. A nice job by Coty -- (is it really Coty or some revamped outfit calling itself by that legendary name?)

I recently decided to take a trip down memory lane and repurchase all the scents of my youth. This was a drugstore cheapie that I had maybe in my early teens. I loved it then and I love it now! Not sure if it’s just the nostalgia, but I feel like I could still wear this today! It was my first introduction to white florals! We wore a lot of dark musky/patchouli scents in the 70s so this was nearly literally a breath of fresh air when it came out!! So soft and feminine, classy and clean! Gorgeous! I adore white florals and this is a bright, fresh, white floral for the ages! A true classic. I’m sad to hear they're no longer going to produce it. It’s a great fragrance for a great price!

This perfume is a big comfy blanket. It reminds me of my childhood. My grade school days in the early 90s to be exact. My 2nd grade teacher wore this, my friends mom wore this....its so nostalgic when i smell this. For this reason, this scent is pure comfort. I know many like this as a warm weather scent, but because of it's comfy, cozy feel it gives me, I personally like to wear this is the fall and winter. On me it becomes a creamy skin scent that smells amazing. I wear this at night as well after a shower and before bed. I wear this and feel cozy and safe. I will always own a bottle of this as long as it's available.

This is sooo beautiful! As far as gardenia fragrances go, this is only beaten by my beloved, discontinued Marc Jacobs perfume. It smells just like a tropical garden. Better than Michael Kors, because this smells like tuberose minus the strong banana smell that MK has. It’s more stunning than KKW Crystal Gardenia, and shouldn’t even be compared to the cheap synthetic smell of Jovan Island Gardenia. I seriously even prefer Sand and Sable over Gardenia Chanel!!! It may be from the 80’s but it doesn’t smell like it. I use this almost more than any of my expensive perfumes. To me, this is Hawaii in a bottle.

The precurser to Bronze Goddess and all of the newer "beachy" scents. Don't underestimate this scent, this one was a trailblazer. In the 80's when this was released, everything was loud and bold, this one was a breath of fresh air. Fresh beachy air that is, coconut, sunscreen, and white florals. I started wearing this in middle school and people would say "Something smells like coconutty sunscreen!" when I walked into the room. I still have a bottle today, don't wear it nearly as often as I should, but now seeing this page has made me want to bust it out for the day!

A joyous profusion of gardenia, tuberose, and jasmine, petals all dripping with seawater. This smells like my grandmother in the BEST of ways—she was an absurdly skilled and passionate florist, and Sand & Sable reminds me of both her shop and her little bungalow—frothy Victorian lace in the pages of a 1984 Victoria’s Secret catalogue, special edition Barbie ensconced still-boxed atop the vintage dresser, embroidery esoterica scattered around the house, quilts and Easter cakes and soap operas and green tiles in the bathroom. Just divine to my nose (and to my heart).

I love the summery nature of this perfume. One of my first favourites and continues to be a favourite of mine almost 10 years later. I don't wear it often now but for the sake of nostalgia I keep some around and wear it from time to time....especially in cold winter months like now. Edit: The more and more perfume I smell, the more I realize how unique and original this is. It doesn't get nearly enough credit for the masterpiece it is. Probably because of the mass amount of snobbery among people in the perfume community. Oh well...our little secret, I suppose.

I love this. I will be buying more soon, it smells like the one I loved as a teen. I especially enjoy it layered with Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar spray perfume, it gives it the perfect boost and seems to amplify what I enjoy about it. I also love to layer it with Kenzo Jungle Elephant, which I highly recommend if you love this one, the Kenzo has good silage and creamy spice. Also Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess is very smooth, try that one, tiare/gardenia, although I am still looking for my tuberose.