Santal Kardamon

I have found many of the Maison Lancome line odd but this one is the freakiest yet. It smells like hospital to me. Not sure I can describe it better. It's not like Dettol or cleaning products though. It's like everything about being in hospital. I've been in many, many times as a kid n as an adult. When I was little hospitals did mostly smell strongly of Dettol but then they started to privatise n outsource the cleaning n the smell changed.. then they got superbugs haha so they did not save money overall but practices didn't change back >:( Anyhow, so I don't mean straight Dettol. But it's.. it's the hospital linen cupboard, even more so it's the anaesthetic room.. it's the smell that hits just as they inject you with anaesthetic.. your arm goes cold n you start to fall backwards.. when you come round in those crispy cotton sheets that have been mass boil laundered.. tubes.. my arms are starting to feel funny just smelling this. My inner elbows are braced for impact haha this is so weird. I quite like it, purely because this is such a familiar smell n hospital to me hasn't been especially traumatic or anything, just a kind of regular holiday but with needles. There is no overt rubber here but I recall hospital masks with a nebuliser, salbutamol wafting. I have some straight sandalwood essential oil, I have cardamom in the kitchen cupboard. I know what leather smells like & vanilla... those things are not here. I just get Eau de Emergency Ward 10. I actually quite want to get a bottle now, because to me hospital is in some senses, home. Amazing stuff. I'm sure it's totally not what was intended n I'd be fascinated to know if anyone else has the same reactions but this is what it does for me. Strong like. Btw, if anyone is reading this n thinking OMG what the hell do you have there, it's official carded samples, def the genuine article :) Addendum: Husband thinks it smells of hospitals too, he says there is a note of surgical spirit in there.. but he really hates it n says hospitals are actually nicer haha. I still like this n will try n get some. This lasted five hours on my very dry skin. Not particularly impressive longevity for the price. Addendum: I have done as threatened n bought a bottle! I love this stuff! I don't know what they were aiming for or what others can smell but it's hilarious to me that this smells as it does n that I like it so much. Husband now says "It's all right" btw. After saying all that it should be obvs this is not a blind buy x

Punchy and charismatic and upmarket - femme at first, but always tough with it. On me, though detectable in the beginning, the cardamom and sandalwood are actually minor players here - it's overwhelmingly a no-messing leather scent with sharp, boozy, almost medicinal resin amping up the attack. Maybe it's the citrus which makes it a little sourer and less warm/rounded than I was expecting from the pyramid above ... that doesn't make it any less bold, but I almost yearned for a tiny bit more sweetness, which almost never happens. Grand and complex - though not changing much over time - and the performance is muscular, with a billowing cloud of sillage up to 3m at first, and though that grande-dame entrance quietens down within a couple of hours, it's still batting away bravely 9h later as a skin scent, with a tiny bit of gentler sandalwood and vanilla peeking out cautiously in the latter hours. More than respectable ... but I think Guerlain Santal Royal kind of fills this classy-lady-leather-sandalwood vacancy for me. And it's a bit expensive for what it is (though obviously made with care out of really good materials). Very much worth sampling and chasing for discounts, though.

Cyber Monday deals on Neiman Marcus website for perfumes caused me to blind buy a bunch of them on my wishlist. Lancome Santal Kardamon I haven’t seen any you tube reviews yet but I love the notes so I bought it. I love it! When Federal Express delivered my perfume early this morning I ripped open box and sprayed it on me assuming it will last only 4-5 hours...wrong! I showered 7 hours later and still could smell it as if I recently sprayed it on! I’m going on 9 hours with scent hardly fading! Sillage is still 6 feet with a nice scent trail with only 2 sprays early this morning. Notes showing up on me are not what I expected but I love it anyway! This is not a cardamom bomb like I hoped for originally. On me the pepper opens up then ten minutes later citrus sneaks in and stays for hours with amber, sandalwood, vanilla (not sweet), hint of clean patchouli. Cardamom was only in first couple hours lightly mixed with other notes. This was worth buying and I plan to wear it often this winter. I’m not sure how this perfume performs in heat.

It seems this one generates polarized responses. I, for one, have a lot of love for Santal Kardamon!!! It's creamy--milky, warm, spicy (you've gotta love cardamom, which I do), and seems to balance light and dark elements well: bright citrus with hints of liqueur, patchouli, and leather. To me, these latter elements are more of an abstraction, which indicate to me how well blended the fragrance is. I can’t believe no one has mentioned the similarity of this fragrance to Remember Me by Jovoy. These are about 90% the same, but SK has turned up the dial on sandalwood. However, I don't see any resemblance with Santal Noir by Dior, as was mentioned. I consider it a hidden gem of the Maison Lancome collection, which gets more attention for Oud Bouquet, Parfait de Roses, Jasmins Marzipane, all of which are indeed outstanding fragrances. This one is a little more avant-garde for ML, but still wearable--even in summer in South Florida, I have no problem rocking it! I should add sillage is moderately-strong, and longevity is excellent.

Santal Kardamon is all about the Cardamom & Sandalwood. It's spicy and fresh and a pinch of sweetness, but not overly sweet and very unisex. It feels and smells very balsalmic. So it's rich and dense due to the leather and birch. It's beautifully blended in and balances the fragrance. SK is bright while being resinous. This is very unique and pleasing if you love spices. This is also creamy because of the vanilla. It's so gorgeous that I would love a back-up of this. The sillage is beyond arms length at first and then calms down but still shows a nice normal presence that is just right and last's a long time especially on clothes. If you love Portrait of a Lady which is a very dark spicy fragrance then you will love this because this is a brighter spicy fragrance and you will find it a nice edition to your collection.