Stallion 53

Stallion 53, inspired by Santal 33 is a very strong woody fragrance, there are many notes on its composition but the strongest one, as expected is Sandalwood, the fact of this note being that much dominant makes it indeed a unisex fragrance, although woody fragrances have been more oriented to men throughout the years; the simplicity and of this fragrance also makes it a good all year round wear, just moderating the amount of sprays, lighter for hot weathers so it doesn't get cloying and a little heavier on cold weathers, works nice for day and night. In my personal opinion it is quite a bit simpler than Santal 33, less creamy and less "refined" making it a great choice for layering. As a fan of heavy music, this is my concert fragrance for its primitive nature and amazing performance at a great price. As for performance, I've gotten 10+ hours easy on skin with strong to moderate sillage and even past the 10 day mark of longevity on clothes; by what I've heard, better longevity than Santal 33 itself.

First review ive ever written here on fragrantica after being a member since 2022, from all the polarizing comments ive read my conclusion is that how the fragrance was stored before being bought and temperature fluctuations during transport can affect more than what people think, aroma chemicals in arab fragrances are more delicate than designer or even niche fragrances. My bottle smells really high quality from the get go, no oxidation or maturation before using it. The best way i can describe this fragrance for someone that has never smelt it is imagine you left your clothes inside a cedarwood closet for 3 months and then put it on.

I smell this and Santal 33 side by side at a perfume shop, yea this is VERY close to the og. I picked this up immediately. If you’re looking for a great alternative to santal 33, this right here is what you need.

Es un aroma qué el primer día me genero disgusto y hasta asco, es sumamente desafiante. Lo he estado probando y mi percepción en general ha mejorado, al preguntar a otras personas les resulta agradable de primera, por lo que depende mucho de la asociación qué hagas tú o las demás personas al olerlo. De primera lo asocié como a señora de tienda egipcia, pero conforme fue pasando el tiempo lo asocié muy fuertemente al aroma de lápices recién afilados. No recomiendo comprar a ciegas a menos que estés dispuesto a realmente dejarte sorprender ya sea para bien o para mal.

Delightfully dry and woody with inflections of leather and sharp violet, doesn't feel entirely like perfume, more of a vibe. It's on the lighter side and quite inoffensive but has a pretty decent performance and it sneaks up on you when you think it's gone. Le Labo fragrances can't be found where I live and can't be ordered online either due to health and safety regulations on personal importation so this is probably the next best thing around right now.

I agree it's a twist on santal not 1 to 1 dupe this one to me smells smokier or leather dominant, woodsy notes are secondary. If you want a closer dupe to santal, go with Dossier Woody Sandalwood. I appreciate it anyway I have enough santal dupes, at least this one smells darker maybe a hair more musculine which I actually don't mind.

G_taveras said it perfectly, this smells like a lot of woods in the opening. Let it rest for 30 minutes and the magic will happen. Also let it macerate for at least 3 months so the smoke accord dissipates.

I like to think that this is how Paris smells. Very aristocratic Versalles palace smell, like if you enter a room and Louis XVII is waiting for you. Haven’t smell Santal 33 yet tho.

It smells exactly like if you enter into a sawmill but in a good and interesting way. I like it.

Received this as part of a Emper travel set. IDK, the first sprays on a tester strip I got an immediate plasticky leather note, which at least for me is the WRONG leather note. It eventually gives way to the sandlewood and florals. I'll give it a wear and update since several have noted the differences on skin, but this is kinda not my type of scent.

I bought Stallion 53 after reading reviews in Fragrantica but I am disppointed; This one suppose to be a Sandalwood Fragrance... It doesn't smell like Sandal at all... What I smell is animalic leather. I left it now at the last row of my collections; will try again after few months.

I have blind bought this fragrance and i honestly really dislike it. Makes me feel like I am at a Home Depot cutting some wood, like a bodega smell, I have tried to let it macerate over a year and I just can’t seem to like it

I usually don’t feel the need to comment my opinions but I literally hate this fragrance so much I had to express it for my souls sake. This may be someone else’s jam- and hey I won’t knock you for it-but on my skin it smells like burnt cattle butthole. Like leathery awfulness. My boyfriend asked me what smelled so bad and I’m ashamed to say myself. If you’re into just bare raw leather as a smell- sure- go for it. But I am bamboozled on why this exists personally. I hate it so so much. Maybe more woodsy on someone else but so much no for me

When it dries down, I find it to be too cloying. It gave me a headache and I had to scrub it off my arm. I'll let it sit a while and test it again later. To be fair I've never smelled the og, so maybe I just don't like the scent DNA. I got the emper discovery set, so $5 for a 30ml is a good deal if you do like the scent.

Evil. Instant migraine. Crimes against perfumery.

I'm surprised by the very different reviews. A female friend and I applied it at the same time, on her arm and mine, and from the very first minute the drying was different. By this I mean that the pH can sometimes work against you, hence the very negative opinions. But we both like the aromatic profile and I assume it will intensify with maturation. For me, it is unisex (my friend kept the bottle she just bought). Since I learned about S33, I prefer El Ganso Monsieur. But for $10, this one from Empero is a very good buy. In my experience, the base notes are dominant, and the papyrus note can be polarizing. Personally, I recommend it as an elegant office perfume for day or night, but maybe not for dates.

Agree with the commenter below. I remember when I was younger and we went to the chinese bodega stores for snack and we laughed so hard at the perfume isle. All of them was the clone of a best selling well known designer, but the names were hilarious. Ophylia, Adore, Ur Way etc. And now we have arrived to a point where fragrance youtubers legit test these fakes. Fragrantica should avoid listing these in my opinion.

I have both this and the Santal33 and honestly its not a 1:1. Its more of an original with a twist. The entrance is a bit stronger than Le Labo, and the dry down is slightly more powdery. The difference is that Le Labo took equal parts of each scent used and Stallion53 is broken down. But other than that I love the scent.

This smells a lot like Green Leather by Daniel Josier with a hint of Santal 33.