Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine

Gorgeous! My first reaction was, "what *is* that pretty flower?!" Sandrine gives me the feeling of a soliflore. I love grapefruit. One of my favourite scents in the natural world, and Vanille Pamplemousse by Laurence Dumont is one of my best-loved perfumes. It was my signature for a while. In Sandrine, the grapefruit sometimes shows itself alone, rising above the creamy wood, but really this perfume is very blended. On the lighter end of the floral fruity spectrum, where the more discreet "eau fraiche" lives, Sandrine is the creamiest and richest citrus scent I've tried. It is not too sweet or foody, though, and it is not bitter like most masculine or unisex citrus. I really get nothing herbal, don't smell lemon "zest", either. It is not a deep scent, but very bright and floralgreen, and it makes me smile. There is an aquatic accord, but, unlike many mainstream aquatic frags, it feels like it occurs naturally. Sandrine is a grapefruit tree: floral grapefruit blossom, creamy grapefruit tree bark, green grapefruit leaves. It is also a fresh clean rain, with more creamy woods and a musk that keeps the texture rich but light. A note about white pepper. It is a fruit, sweeter and less spicy than black pepper. I want to buy a full bottle of this, and that means a lot, because I have so few citrus scents.

I adore this scent. I don't think I have ever loved a scent this much before. I has wanted to try this for a while. I admire the floral work done at Grandiflora and when this was released I kept meaning to drop in and sample the two frags they had released. Three weeks ago my mother passers away suddenly. My sister and I were beyong shattered. For the first time I couldn't bear the thought of any perfume. Grandiflora was my mother's favorite florist so we went there to arrange the flowers for her service. You can imagine that this was one of the worst days of my life. The lovely girl helping us, Grace, gave us samples of the two scents, Michel and and Sandrine. Michel was very, very pretty but I could leave it. Sandrine, well it lifted my heart and soul. My sister and I both bought one. My mother's signiture scent was the beautiful Diorella. This has the same green and fresh hertiage. This however overlays it with the smell if the most glorious garden you could only imagine in utopia. Remarkable

Grapefruit in overdrive: Grandiflora made the most intense grapefruit dominant scent I have ever worn. You gotta love citrus to wear this scent. Remarkable in its uniqueness, Sandrine is the full orchard in warm weather with fruit past it’s prime, falling off the trees. I also pick up a herbal, aromatic, almost medicinal quality. On my skin this stays fairly linear, with only marginal change from start to finish, getting softer over the course of the life of this scent; about 4 hours in cold weather. I can’t imagine the mainstream ever embracing this oddball. And I love it for being the definition of original. EDIT have worn this scent a few times this past spring 2019, and the performance is longer than I initially thought. Just when I thought it had disappeared, I catch another whiff. I’m getting a full 8 hours.

First dab is LEMON and within a 5 min dry-down i am getting a much sweeter scent - woody? comes thru. I am smelling sandalwood/cedar very lightly. Bet this will be great in hot weather. Of which I am not seeing yet in the Chicago area. Gentle. Will add more when I have full day to test it.

Citrusy and refreshing. Dominated by a very realistic grapefruit note - tart, bright and juicy. There is a marine vibe that comes through, driven by the moss as driftwood. Predominantly though, this is a warm-weather citrus scent. Moderate performance.

an interesting, odd citrus that is not typical and almost has a tea vibe to it; the green, woods, salt and pepper offset the tartness of the grapefruit to subdue the zest and make the fragrance almost overripe and brings out the floral aspects of the citrus. I can't decide if I like it or hate it but I have a full bottle.

Soapy, astringent, sweaty. Febreze on driftwood.

I'm not going to lie, when I first received my sample in the mail, I thought it smelled godawful. I can't even remember what I thought it smelled like now, but nothing pleasant to wear as a perfume. It's had some months to settle now, and I decided that the unseasonably warm weather where I am today would be a good time to test this fragrance. When I opened my sample vial today, it didn't smell terrible like I remembered it, so I thought that now that it had time to settle it might be pleasant. I have no idea what is going on either with my sample or my nose, but all I get is marijuana. I think it might be the mix of the oakmoss and pepper, but that's what it smells like on me. I barely get any citrus, and the marine note is a little too dryer sheet for my taste. Shocked to see Florabellio in the "reminds me of" section for this fragrance. I honestly am not smelling magnolia at all, and it does not read as floral to me. It's giving spraying the room with off-brand Febreze to try to make sure your mom doesn't know that you smoked pot last night. There's a bit of a soapy grapefruit as an afterthought from a distance. It's a very weak, watery scent on top of that, which might be a blessing as I don't want to smell like I lit up before work today. I'm disappointed. This really seems like something I would love from the notes here. I love Saskia from this brand, so I bought samples of all their other fragrances, and so far they have all been misses. 2.5/10.

This fragrance release is tinged with sadness. Perfumer Sandrine Videault passed away not long after its completion in 2013, hence the reason why this fragrance was named 'Sandrine' in honour of her. Both the sales assistant and I were quite moved by this fragrance's background story and as we move into the warmer months it was the perfect time of year to test Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine. The opening top notes are mostly citrus, providing a crisp, zesty and sparkly aroma. Admittedly magnolia is not the 'star of the show' in this fragrance, which may come as a surprise seeing that Magnolia forms part of this fragrance's name. Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine smells of lemon orchards in Spring to my nose. In addition to the citrus fruit notes, I can smell an array of green accords and a saltwater note that persists through to the drydown. I wear very few citrus fragrances, so it's of no surprise that I didn't fall in love with Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine. I was hoping to smell more magnolia, in its naturally sweet, luscious form, however, this fragrance is more citrus focused. Despite my disappointment this is a very pleasant citrus fragrance, suitable for the warmer weather and easily unisex.

I am happy to be able to try the Grandiflora fragrances, thanks to the generous giveaway on Fragrantica. This perfume is green, green, green on my skin. It's citrusy, but also two specific kinds of green to me: the first is pine, but not a strong pine, like Estee Lauder Sensuous Noir, but a slight hint of green pine, like pine cones when they FIRST bud on the trees. The other kind of green is more unusual, one I love but haven't smelled in perfumery before -- green walnut, as though you picked a green walnut off the tree and scraped the skin with your fingernail. I've always loved that scent. Last time I was at my mom's house, I picked the large walnuts and gave them to my son, then a toddler, to practice his throwing (and hopefully spread the walnut seeds to grow new trees!). Sandrine captures the smell of my hands after handling those walnuts. It's only one part of the composition, never screechy. Sandrine is, according to this page, for women. That's a shame! It should be marketed as unisex, not because it's "masculine," but because I can imagine it smelling wonderful on a man as well as a woman.

Finding solace in a zesty situation...Not the lemonade stand as one would expect. In fact, this is a hand dishwashing lemon; not a drinkable lemon. This scent is very aquatic and lightly peppered throughout. The musk gives it that perfumed edge. An interesting scent indeed. I had to physically restrain my nose from my arm on several occasions. The Value: A $180 fragrance for 2 months wear and poor sillage. 10 months out of the year, you can't wear this. Why??? Because you won't be able to detect it and neither will anyone else. Sandrine is only good for March and April; that's it and that's all. Hot weather will smother it and cold weather will compromise what makes this great which is its freshness. Words that come to mind: Irish Spring Soap, Springtime and Clean

Pickles and lilies and lemon, oh my! The first whiff of this was very lemony, and then it quickly moved into what I can only describe as dill pickles. The way pickle juice will smell if you spill it, or get some on your skin—kind of sharp. This was not vinegary, but more dill-centric. Very odd for a perfume. Then I got rained on as I walked into work, and either that or the extra time helped transition this into more of a lily fragrance; rather fresh and clean. The dill note is still there, but it is fading with time All in all, this is a strange one. I reiterate—pickles and lilies and lemon. Clean and herbal, I suppose. Not really my style of fragrance, but not all bad.

Sandrine Videault's personal declination, a nose that if I'm not mistaken has been missing, more than the magnolia in bloom, it is a complete interpretation of the flower, the whole shrub, including the leaf, a very citrus scent, especially grapefruit which I love, then it turns into a light fresh floral always accompanied by a citric hint. For a more realistic magnolia there is certainly La Magnolia Michel Grandiflora, this is a more cheeky and somewhat imaginary version if you like, I personally don't mind it at all

too sharp lemon & grapefruit mashed up together harshly in a blender, not a tiny green lemon, but a very ZESTY lemon. even when it dries down it keeps the same smell, SHARP grapefruit chunks... not my type but it's good for a change, sometimes i feel thirsty & fresh when i smell it.

A stunning photorealistic animalic magnolia...