Santal Complet

I finally broke down and pulled the trigger on this gem and I do not regret it! Now I have Oud Noir, Orange, Bleu and Vert as well as Milano and now this! I had been reluctant because I had oud orange and I didn't want 2 coconut fragrances, but they are so different, the orange being a gourmand for winter and Santal being more of a luxurious summer holidays type fragrance. I had also considered Kilian's Scared Wood as my go to sandalwood fragrance, but it is currently discontinued and leans on the vegetal smokey wintery side and is not as uplifting as Santal Complet. For coconut fragrances, I had been considering as well Creed Virgin Island Water, but found it too artificial and I wanted to wash off the metallic citrus note, that seemed to last on my clothes until the next day. After one wearing of VIW I decided it wasn't for me. But I wanted something sandalwood and something coconut for summer, so I revisited it after just trying it once in the sample set alongside the other 9...on second go I was blown away. Not only was it more luxurious and uplifting that Sacred Wood, but it was also cleaner...on top of that it was everything I wanted in Virgin Island Water without the artificial metallic note. I think the lemon and violet brighten it up while the black pepper gives it more focus so it never becomes flabby. It starts strong and fades over many hours but is always present on my skin and clothes even though I don't spray it on my clothes (diffusion). So for me I can still smell it during my 5-6 pm workout when I applied it at 11 am...so a solid 6-7 hours. Does it project? Well enough for me, but keep in mind that I wear fragrances to boost my own mood and confidence and do not look for compliments - it is a vain and weak man who needs to get compliments from a cloud of perfume he wears. I wear PDM Layton and am often worried it projects too far and I get taken for one of these gold chain ostentatious guys looking to act big. But Santal Complet is nothing like that. It enhances my life, makes me feel I am on a beach in the tropics, lifts my mood, makes my life better. Like all fragrances from this line it is classy and uplifting, and few brands can say this of so many of their offerings.

I really enjoy this one from FDB, and have to agree with other reviewers that it is not very longlasting. I have been sitting indoors all day, so I haven't sweated or anything, and it really only lasted about a solid 3 hours on me. It's now 7 hours later, and I am catching slight whiffs here and there, but overall, it has worn off. I do like that it doesn't turn into a straight vanilla fragrance on me, which is a problem I have with vanilla's in the base. This develops into such a lovely and comforting scent, it is soft and slightly powdery, but not too powdery. Some are comparing this to the CK IN2U For Her, and I actually used to have that fragrance back in the day. I would say, I do see a slight resemblance, but they open very differently in my opinion, and the base is different too. I get the similarities, but this one from FDB is much creamier and powdery (in a good way) than the CK one. The CK one is definitely more a spring/summer fragrance, it's more citrusy and fresh, Santal Complet is definitely more of a fall/winter fragrance. They both have amber in the base, but the addition of the Sandalwood in Santal Complet is definitely what differentiates it from CK, and truly makes it what it is. It's a soft, powdery, sandalwood fragrance, with a beautiful ambery/vanilla base that fortunately does not turn straight vanilla on me. This makes for a great everyday fragrance, as the projection is not super intense, so it would be fine for the office. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a special occasion or night-out fragrance. Many reviewers are saying that the price is not justified, which I can understand. I would definitely pick up a sample of this one before you go and purchase a full sized bottle. I would like to see this be a bit more long-lasting, because then the price would be more appealing. It is a lovely fragrance from the line though!

The musk in the base is most likely causing anosmia among those who complain this doesn’t perform well. I would have agreed if I didn’t know much about perfume, because I could not detect it on myself after a couple of hours. However, when I woke up the next morning I smelled it again, clearly. So it performs just fine, but you may not be able to notice the “scent bubble” around yourself. Which is unfortunate because I really like this! It is not gourmand to me at ALL, and at no point do I get anything I could identify as coconut. It opens with a peppery citrus blast, and dries down to a creamy citrus sandalwood. It’s pretty and simple. Edit: it’s nearly a month since I wrote this review. I used up the sample I had, which was a few years old, and bought a new decant. With the new one, I do not by any means smell this the next morning. I don’t even smell it after an hour or so, and neither can my husband, so anosmia is probably at play a little, but not to the extent I first thought. I’m not usually one to scream about reformulation, but this does make me suspicious. Real sandalwood is notoriously difficult to source anymore, so in this case (assuming FdB actually uses real sandalwood) reformulation would not only be typical, but highly likely. I’m grateful I got a decant rather than a full bottle as I had debated on. I really like this but can’t justify the cost at all. Edited again lol: Despite its issues I love this and got rather obsessed with this scent, and ended up finding a partial bottle on ebay, which according to the seller is a few years old. When I spray it in the evening I can still smell it the next morning. This has most certainly been reformulated and the older formula performed fine while the current one does not. Bummer, because it’s not common to find older bottles, but I’m delighted to have one!

This reminds me of vacations spent in Florida, my great Aunt wore something very close to this back in late 70s early 80s I have no idea what it was she wore. She was a stunningly beautiful and classy lady. She smelled exactly like this fragrance. It's a bright creamy sandalwood injected with luscious coconut. The lemon is not distinguishable but it must give the fragrance lift. It's an "airy" thin veil of a scent. An Incredible goldilocks, not too suntanish, not too masculine, very unisex. My only complaint is it really doesn't project much past the first hour of wear. I sampled this first and from a dabber didn't think it had any longevity either. I bought a 8ml travel spray and to my delight discovered it does indeed have longevity on skin but even more so on textiles and in my hair. It'll lasts for days. So I caved finally and bought a full bottle on sale and discounted but it was still a hefty amount and I doubt it'll get replaced. So splurge if you were worried that it wouldn't pass the longevity test. Maybe someone will comment on it if they get a whiff but I'm not going to hold my breath for it to come. I'll breathe deeply and enjoy this all by myself, I smell gorgeous! PS. I've had this scent for nearly aa year now and I love it still. Doesn't project but the sillage is within arms length and the fragrance does have good longevity, 8 hrs easy. Longer on textiles, most of the time..days.

A gentle beast. The notes blended in this composition are not loud, but this fragrance seems to have random good projection and great longevity on my skin. The scent bubble is truly a bubble. Soft with rounded edges, that floats around when you move and behind when you walk, radiating when you stop for others to smell. Nothing punches you in the face (which isn’t a bad thing) even though I still detect the black pepper. The coconut milk, creamy sandalwood and violets are more prominent. With some warm brown sugar syrup! Like in Jo Malone’s Scarlet Poppy but the more melted, moisturized, emollient version but I love it “drier” in SP just as much too lol. Also smells like a smoother, less toasted/burnt Imaginary Authors’ A Whiff of Waffle Cone. Or like Jazz Club but less dark sans wrapped tobacco; they share this kind of sweetness that’s hard to explain but it’s woody, toasty and emollient as described earlier. Santal Complet is full but not dense, it smells complete. Blended very well, like a body butter that warms and melts into the skin. No sharpness. You can smell the quality. Not groundbreaking but I haven’t smelled much like this with this type of quality, a potential classic signature scent for hot and cold, anytime. So maybe it is groundbreaking lol I just love this but it is pricey so it may not be worth it to everyone.