Sand Service

LOVE this fragrance, on me it smells cozy and dry. This particular way of going about making a sandalwood makes it remind me very much of walnuts, not pickle juice, not car leather, just sweet, slightly bitter, fatty walnuts. I am familiar with both Sand Service and Santal 33, and although they are similar, S33 feels much more cold and leather-y and less nutty. I honestly wouldn't even call Sand Service a dupe, but they are close cousins. Lasts much longer on clothes, which is expected.

Santal 33 at 40% of the price. If you love Le Labo Santal 33 but can’t justify the extortionate price just get this it’s 60% cheaper and lasts longer on the skin. Stunning whimsical warming woody scent.

I'm really not sure why this brand, and this scent, get so much hate. I haven't tried their other scents but I received this as a gift and it's a really nice sandalwood with great projection and pretty decent longevity. I get complimented on it whenever I wear it. Originally I didn't think I would like it as much as I do, because I typically lean towards more gourmand/vanilla sweet scents. But this does something really lovely on my skin where most vanilla's seem to just disappear. To the question "why bother" with something that may or may not have been done before; maybe take a step back and realize prices like Le Labo's aren't for everybody and it's still nice to have something with good ingredients for a fraction of the price.

I got it in an 8ml sample and wore it a few times now. It is just ok it on its own, however it layers really beautifully with peach or vanilla fragrances! Try to layer it with a peach body mist, or Nishane HSW, or try it with Vanilla 28 from Kayali! 😉

I know I smell notes other people may not on the odd occasion but this smells like a watermelon sweet if you took off the sugar coating. I'd personally wait to it to ferment as the last commenter said

Sweet, creamy, woody, leather that intensifies more and more as it dries down A classy scent, quite unisex

Interesting option for a summer scent. It`s woody and even a bit bitter, dry (papyrus) and overall something different from mainstream. Great on days when you`ve exhausted yourself with your summer aquatics, citruses and tropical florals and fruits.

I love cardamom so I had high hopes. It’s not that it smells bad but it smells very cheap to me. Much more like an artificial air conditioner.

A very linear fragrance. Reminds me very much of Maison Crivelli's Papyrus Moleculière but with less development over time.

Okay so I’m going to try not to slag this brand off with as much vitriolic, distain as I did on Instagram but the three fragrances from Cra-yon seem fairly pointless to me, in terms of creativity or breaking new ground and beg the question, why bother? Why bother creating a brand that doesn’t excite or innovate or even show a glimmer of anything new? I’m not being nasty it’s just a genuine question and observation. In a crowded marketplace how does this brand stand out? To me it doesn’t. It’s all Marketing and slick logos and packaging with zero substance behind it, the fragrances seem to have been plucked off the shelf at a fragrance laboratory, we’ll have a Sandalwood one (this one) a rose and a vanilla. All simple concepts and good starting points, and even if one of them was good, that would completely change my view of the brand, so it really doesn’t take much for me to give the benefit of the doubt but all three are complete cookie cutter A to B to C. It’s limp. Lifeless. There just Feels like there’s no passion in this product and when you’ve seen lots of brands come and go you kinda get a feel for what is and what isn’t a labour of love. This isn’t bad as such, it smells like a subpar Santal 33 by Le Labo, which is definitely intentional given what I assume is Cra-yon’s woke, urban, hipsterite, target demographic. So not only lack lustre but likely a deliberate clone. See the problem is I don’t like Santal 33 anyway, the watery strangeness of a papyrus opening, the top note on sandalwood is very unsettling to me and smells plain odd. It’s intriguing though, despite not enjoying or wanting to wear, and this doesn’t even have the rewarding, nutty Santal drydown of its inspiration. Sorry Cra-yon I’m not buying it, but clearly someone is and you’re making it work in a crowded marketplace. Contrary to my usual complaint of new brands launching with 12-14 fragrances in a line and then feeling they have to release a new one every three months to stay fresh, relevant, being promoted by influencers, staying visible as a brand and keeping up with other houses output etc... I like brands that don’t play that game and Cra yon’s focus on 3 to start is a good idea. However, had they released more odds are better for getting one that I liked and maybe that would’ve changed the whole complexion of this review slightly...I dunno?

I loved this when I first got it, but now that it's been sitting on my self for almost a year, it's opening has gotten SO much stronger - up to a point where just one spray is actually already too much for me. The cardamom opening note used to be much lighter, now it's a very heavy, liquorice/anise scent that's almost headache inducing for me. I do like it once it's dried down a bit (after 2 hours approximately), but I will retire this one after wearing it for the last time today. Those 2 hours are just not worth it for me!

I have both this and Santal 33 and a side by side wearing shows that they are very different. Santal has its place, but dominant sandalwood/amber gives it a very strong ‘nana’s talcum powder’ vibe, and the sense of a strong solo note scent too. Sand service is more nuanced with a lovely travel through the watery smell of papyrus and orris, and birch/leather, giving a scent with a much greater breadth and complexity. A much, much better scent than Santal in my view. It may have been inspired by Santal, but it has built up and out into a much more interesting and beautiful scent.

Instant hit of sweetness oddly on first spray but develops into a really strong woody and spicy scent. The cardamom comes through very strongly but sophisticatedly and blends very deliciously with the cedar and wood notes. Big fan!

Yes, it’s a lot like Santal 33, but without the notorious pickle juice note some of us dislike in it. Longevity is amazing, too. A better offering, for me.

Straightforward Santal 33 clone