H&M Santalum

Blindly bought the oil version of this, based on the reviews here and elsewhere and this review is for the oil, not the edp. First, I don’t know how I got so lucky to find a seller who let go of a batch of thirteen (!!!) 10mL roller bottles of the oil, for the paltry sum of about $20 - no, not a typo - but I’m glad I have enough of this to last a lifetime. The packaging describes the scent as mellow and creamy and I’d say that’s pretty accurate. It’s not a big scent but its persistent hum reminds me of freshly polished wood, is lightly sweet and very comforting. Ignoring the list of notes here, what I get mostly is a soft blur of white florals, cedar (no pencil shavings, thankfully), sandalwood and a skin-like musk accord. It’s the sort of thing where you can’t tell where the perfume ends and your skin begins - it just becomes a part of you. H&M claims it’s responsibly -sourced Australian sandalwood they’ve used, and I can’t say how true that is, because every encounter I’ve had with that material has been thin, high-pitched and screechy. Not the case here. Considering what I paid for it, that’s rather impressive. Worth noting: It lingers beautifully on fabric for days. Nice work H&M.

Reviewing the oil here. Must be the one of the best bargains I ever got, what a shame H&M fragrance line is discontinued in my country of residence now. Simple yet lovely! Deliciously creamy sandalwood, musk and a hint of cedar. Yum. This smells both comforting and sexy. Ugh, I wish I picked up more bottles! It's relatively linear, but come on, we've got this lovely buttery sandalwood thing going on here and it's good, I'm fine with it staying like this. It sits close to one's skin but the longevity itself is actually great. Actually you know what made me write this review today? When I was about to leave my house in the morning, I hurriedly picked out one of my scarves to wear on this windy day and I couldn't stop wondering where this freaking delicious scent was coming from, as I wasn't wearing anything remotely close to it... It was so soft yet so clean, I was puzzled! And then I realized it was Santalum that I wore about a week ago while also wearing this scarf lol. It's a crowd pleaser and a safe frag overall. I'd say absolutely give it a try if you come across it.

On me/to me this is quite linear sandalwood, sweet, nutty & milky. No timber-wood or forest-wood, pine or cypress, just some fleeting red cedar at first. A *soft* heady-floral heart note. Nice. A bit boring. Ok skin longevity, low-decent sillage. Can be a good buy on sale. -------------------------------- Update after a few months: nowadays I find the cedar and sandalwood really really well balanced. And I get hints of cypress and the other notes, still wouldn't say pine. This has actually become my daily go-to scent all winter. Btw I have the spray and rollerball and don't perceive a great difference. Rollerball just stays closer to skin. ----------------------------------------------- Added: sniffing a Timbersilk "perfume" I got from Etsy, and can say that that's really dominant in Santalum.

The fragrances of H&M keep on surprising me. What a stunning and very affordable line of perfumes. This Santalum (10 ml oil based stick), is very good. This is outstanding perfumery by Oliver Pescheux who is the perfumer of almost the entire line. The Makassar Patchouli, one of my favorites from the line, is excellent but Santalum is rising even a bit above that one. It’s one of the best sandalwood perfumes I know with almost niche quality. The eau de parfum is maybe a bit more piney and smokey, this oily one is sweet, soft, tender and creamy. Yes, very sensual indeed. There is vanilla, jasmin, musk, a light cedar and a sweet peach that compleets this wonderfull creation. I’m gonna rush to the store to get me some more!

My craziest perfume story ever! Bought a full bottle at a second hand shop for 2.5 euros because, I valued this 50ml bottle more than my usual 50ml morning coffee. Anyways, just after spraying this I realised that the opening is feminine and a touch too mainstream for my taste. Didn't bother with respect to the price, so I forgot about it. Then, in office, I start to feel that I am wearing a complex signature-worthy subtle perfume. Just the right amount of complexity, projection, and cleanliness you need in such a scent. The fact that H&M sells these quality perfumes, that indeed deliver their Scandinavian approach, is quite astonishing. This is strongly recommended

This review is for the oil. Summary: I love it. ------------- Very nice, completely unisex, woody fragrance. On me the cedar is quite strong, dry like pencil wood shavings. The sandalwood (the creamy type, not the incense-y type) and the pine and cypress (green and resinous) are also quite noticeable and sometimes one shines more, other times another. I happen to enjoy this kind of unpretentious wood scent very much :) Occasionally I can detect some other notes, vaguely sweeter, but I am unable to identify them. Gives me the comforting feeling of walking in a conifer forest after the rain, or being in a place where manual woodworking is going on. I love it :)

I have a big collection of niche fragrances and when I saw this selling at a second hand boutique for 2 €, I just bought it because it is fun. Believe it or not, I chose this perfume more often than I chose the other niche perfumes that i have. Especially during fall/spring. It is so well-blended, subtle and inoffensive. Well done H&M. This is the first cheap perfume that actually is impressive for my nose

This is AMAZING. It's definitely got that Tam Dao vibe but dare I say... better? Same perfumer so I get the similarities but this is such a rare gem. The price is simply amazing. I see it's no longer available on their website, what a damn shame. This was such a gift. PLEASE bring it back.

So far my absolute favourite from H&M. Such a shame they are hard to find now that they’ve beeb discontinued. Beautiful musky sandalwood that smells expensive for such a small price.

I love this stuff. I scored the perfume oil rollerball for € 4 and am contemplating getting the bottle because ooohhhhh man this is unisex sexiness!

H&M needs to bring this one back!! I use my oil rollerball so so so sparingly because I don't want to go without it 😭

Perfume oil: warm, spicy, creamy. A hint of sweetness too.

This is awesome. I layer the oil with No 5.

Cheap, but it makes *me* feel cheerful. Papery-dry, very slightly sweetish, unexceptional and largely synthetic sandalwood (it's a total cavalcade of Iso E Super, I suspect.) Never less than pleasant, and possibly even amazing for its tiny price - but despite the hype, this is *not* a dupe of TF Santal Blush, so don't be fooled if that is what you're hunting for. Thankfully the peach is nothing more than a vague tinge of warmth and in all honesty I couldn't pick out the other woods in isolation either. Think a generally sweeter, milder, less-savoury version of Zara's Tiveden and you're there. It just all adds up to an overall nice, completely manageable, middle-of-the-road sandalwood scent with mediocre-to-poor longevity. Nevertheless it's still much better than many other budget sandalwood fragrances I've tried and at less than £1 per 2ml, an absolute bargain. Worth having a bottle to live in a bag as a go-to scent-emergency fallback, in my view.

Bought this oil at an unexpected sale, with half a dozen of other scents. I am a huge fan of woodsy / resiny oriental scents, so got myself both - the Santalum and the Patchouli oils. When I was younger I preferred "louder", more obvious notes, but this time I was wishing for something more refined, more gentle to the nose. And the Santalum is just perfectly what I wanted - a subtle whiff of mildly scented air from sandalwood fan, pleasantly refreshing, without any sharp "splinters". Vanilla buffs out any hints of rough edges, making it a toned, elegant version for any occasion, really. The scent vibrates gently, more flowery, leafy at the beginning, gradually closing to almost lactic, creamy notes, but always with delicate sandalwood at the centre, surprising and enchanting. Great buy.

This is a lovely composition. Definitely a good bang for the buck. I've got a feeling H&M might either continue making this line at a higher price as the word spreads or they'll discontinue it. Yes, it's that good. This, along with Universal, which smells a bit like Celine's Fever, and Black Papyrus are definitely worth the purchase and are at a great value.

I've had the oil for over a year and just got the spray... it's so much smokier! The perfume oil is instantly sweet and very creamy, vanillic, but this one opens up airy, definitely woody & smoky. I like it a lot. Edit: Has a very buttery feel to it later on. Lasts well enough while remaining very light.

I bought this mainly because it is an exact dupe of TM Santal Blush which is crazy expensive. This is not as cheap as you would expect from H&M but it is from a premium line and it is a nice perfume. If you always wanted the Tom Ford one, give this a try!

Blind bought the rollerball 2nd hand. As a rookie perfume hobbyist it reminds me of suntan lotion and peanut butter. More feminine to me, can't think of occasions or outfits to match the scent. Quite unique.

This is a lovely sandalwood scent, sweet and soft. Reminiscent of TF Santal Blush and Guerlains Samsara. Longevity 4-5 hours, projects well the first few hours.

There's a sweetness to this that's unaccounted for by the listed accords. It's pretty spectacular for such an inexpensive fragrance. I used to have the oil and preferred that to the spray but I'm grateful to have a bottle since they've become hard to find.

In "vibe" only...of the following...EL Sensuous, Adam Levine,TF Santal Blush and a tad /touch of Samsara-ness. I love this one..but ...it..does...not..last...on my skin....@#$% !! Still, for the price, this is a great scent anyways. I have 4 of the newer H&M scents..and I am impressed so far.

Yep, Sandalwood. It smells real and is quite alluring but I was hoping for a bit more from this. Definitely another quality scent from this range but not as interesting as some of the others for me at least.

typical alcoholic mix sandalwood smell, its stronger than the other h&m releases but longevity sucks. Gone in 30 mins.

Woody, sweet, quality, phermonal, just like Diptyque - Tam Dao

Trabuquera - I love your idea of a of scent emergency!