Sandal Wood

To the reviewer below me, I’m sure this isn’t Mysore sandalwood for the reasons you specified, however it does smell quite natural to me, relative to the coconutty, sweaty pencil shavings or dill pickle smelling aroma chemicals which serve as a sorry excuse for “sandalwood” nowadays. Not everyone can spring for Santalum Album sourced from Mysore region of India, but there are many of us who are fed up with synthetic approximations of the note who would like to smell ANY authentic sandalwood note in a perfume, and so I would strongly recommend this Nemat oil as a reference sandalwood, be it Australian, Indian, New Caledonian, album, spicatum, or a blend. If you don’t have a lot of dough and you want a natural-smelling Santal, Nemat is your best bet. I’ve searched high and low and this is the best I’ve found (for now).

For a one note oil, this is shockingly well rounded with a warm projection. When I first sampled it, I honestly wasn't getting a strong sandalwood profile. I can understand some of the pine reviews. However, I pulled it out on a cold day and it was beautiful after it settled. Aside from the obvious woody profile, its peppery, musky, soapy, creamy, and still so natural in a way that reminds me of the tree itself. The undertone of a sandalwood smudge is just lightly smoky, like sitting by a hearth or walking into a metaphysical shop. It feels spiritual in a way, wrapping around varied sensory experiences. Certainly unisex, although layers gorgeously with floral/tea focused scents to bite through the sweetness with rich notes of earth.

I loooove this Sandalwood. It's very fresh and green and slightly smoky. This smells a-maze-ing on a man, but I layer it with Nemat's Vanilla Musk and it becomes more feminine. It's cheap, readily available at natural and natural-ish grocery stores, and has a kick to it. Whenever I first smelled Le Labo's Santal 33 it immediately made me think of this oil. If you don't have the budget for Le Labo, give this one a whirl!

A spicy, incensy sandalwood which smells AMAZING. This is a perfect Fall scent for a more subtle incense smell.

This was a very important fragrance in my fragrance journey. When I began, I had no idea what I liked or didn't. Early on, I found myself repeatedly drawn to fragrances with sandalwood notes, but I wanted to be sure it was the sandalwood I was drawn to. Then I saw a TikTok suggesting this as one of the best pure sandalwoods. She also suggested layering sandalwood fragrances on top of a sandalwood oil to increase the longevity. So I was sold. This fragrance confirmed for me my love of sandalwood. I will say, some days I smell more carrier oil than actual sandalwood in this, but it's not bad. When I don't want anything complex and want minimal projection, this is a go-to. It layers well with literally any sandalwood fragrance. When I wear this under Tam Dao, I always get compliments.

For under $20 shipping included, this probably is the best value sandalwood perfume I have ever had. I have to say that I was a little disappointed by the opening as it has the Australian sandalwood scent profile that I am not too fond of. Luckily it went away quickly and morphed into Indian sandalwood. As you said, it is not mysore and I doubt it is even a 100% natural sandalwood essential oil but it does smell really good. So much better than those pencil shaving perfumes that cost 10 times more. Great for layering too. Raw Umber, thank you for introducing this to me.

THIS is what sandalwood smells like to me, I recall this scent from childhood in various forms, like scented soaps & incense. It's also the type of sandalwood I smell in Santal Blush (2015 bottle), which I love. I have a strong aversion to Le Labo and a lot of modern sandalwood fragrances as I perceive a dill pickle note, but this does not come across that way.

Smells totally natural and agree with a reviewer below- this is a great budget Santal 33! :) I’m excited to start layering this with my favorite fragrances

Best synthetic sandalwood you can find. nuff said.

Soapy smelling mysore sandalwood reconstruction. In the opening it has a slight incense-like smokiness, a milky, creamy texture, and it's on the grassy, herbal side. It's definitely trying to mimic mysore. As it progresses it gets increasingly shrill and soapy. It reminds me of those old fashioned sandalwood scented grooming products that apothecary brands sell. I'm not mad at it. For the price you pay, it's pretty good. Some of the other oils from this brand are impressive, I was hoping for more. Edit: On the Santal 33 comparisons? I don't think so. S33 is a lot more leathery and it rapidly veers into pencil shavings territory. It may be a divisive take, but I daresay Nemat makes a better indian sandalwood than the Lauder sellout, especially when accounting for retail price.

I love this right when I put it on, but after a minute it smells like warm pee..? I'm not sure why this happens but I'm afraid other people will also think I smell like warm pee. I know the smell well from working in adult foster with vulnerable adults. I can't unsmell it..

I'm kind of confused by this one; it has a play-doh and skin musk vibe to it. It's slightly woody, I guess, but... sandalwood? No, not even close to having a sandalwood smell to it. Why does this exist? 「(°ヘ°)

Lovely. Gifted to my sister as I didn't like this on my skin, but on her... warm, delicate, and surprisingly sweet. I notice every time she wears it. Easy unisex scent and very affordable.

This smells like urine and pine. I honestly can't recommend it to anyone. I blind-bought a small phial online because I usually love sandalwood/Santal scents, but I regret not choosing something less offensive, so I’m sharing this in case it saves someone a few bucks. If you’re considering doing the same - avoid.

This smelled like buttery popcorn on me, but not in a delicious way. 😕

I should preface my review that my benchmark for sandalwood perfume oil is the Body Shop Woody Sandalwood which was perfection and was tragically discontinued. I purchased this from Nemat with high hopes to have another source for this magical scent. However, this is a shadow of what the Body Shop used to sell. It is muddled and somewhat dirty sandalwood. Basically the quality you would find in any head shop or smoke shop. It gets worse though. I did not like this when I got it so it sat in a wooden box on my dresser. About 1.5-2 years goes by and I went to use it and detected nothing on my skin. I shook the bottle and tried again and got a very slight dirty somewhat woody scent along with rancid oil. By comparison, I still have a vial of The Body Shop Woody Sandalwood that is nearly 20 years old that smells divine and is as strong as when I purchased it. I don't get the positive reviews. It's a waste of money. If purchasing from Nemat stick to the Himalayan Musk, Gardenia and Jannatul Firdaus (all are truly divine!)

the creamy beautiful sandalwood I'm familiar with at first. but when it settles on the skin it starts to smell a little shrill and peppery and tart, kind of bar soapy. kind of like the way Lush did sandalwood with the perfume Shade. they both smell pretty similar to me, shade is more cold, nemat's is more warm. I get the warm-pee and pine comparisons but this kind of just smells like the sterile air and the carpet of the doctors office. why did I just get that picture in my head. scent is weird. Maybe this is sandalwood. but it's sandalwood scented white bar soap lingering on skin that just ends up reminding me of hotel bathrooms and waiting rooms, yes the scent smells clean but is it pleasant? I don't know. This smells like watching the clock tick endlessly, sitting around and waiting not doing anything not thinking anything just existing because that's all there is to do, just until it's your turn. back to say that in the deep dry down, like its morning now but the oil is still lingering on your skin from last night, thats when it smells like nice sandalwood again. Maybe its just that middle stage that just smells a bit weird. back the third time. to say that this oil is actually really great. beautiful creamy smooth sandalwood scent. just please do not press your nose right up to your skin to smell it oh gosh. this scent is best enjoyed applied on the wrists and inner-arms, letting it waft around as you move about your day, it smells the best in the air and not up close.

Interesting people are getting Santal 33 from this, I can sort of see that, since this does have a spiciness to it. However I don’t like Santal 33, but I do like this one, so if you are in the same boat with having an issue with Santal 33, but like sandalwood, this might still be an option for you. It’s very intense when you first apply it, but after about 20 minutes it mellows out into a spicy/ mysore type of a sandalwood. It says it doesn’t have a combination of notes, that it’s just sandalwood, but I do get a spiciness from it that makes me think of vetiver. After a while it becomes a “skin scent”, a nice alternative to amber or musk oils, as it’s=it+is stated below. I have the roller ball, which does dispense product properly. No issues with the roller ball sticking and not dispensing product here. I purchased this on Amazon for $20.

So on the santal 33 comparison- have tried both, and while I get the pickle scent with Le labo/Ariana grande/etc it’s non existent here. When this first arrived in the mail it was light and green with a lot of the carrier oil coming through. Have picked it up again a year later and it’s so much better- concentrated and strong, super long lasting, with much more depth. Comfy and cosy, perfect turtleneck scent. Longevity is insane too- I’ve fallen asleep with it on and still noticed it on my pillowcase 3 nights later. Point is, it’s a worthwhile cheapie in that it doesn’t trigger that santal sour note and it gets better with time. Worth the money.

fresh wood chips and salted sunflower seeds. i feel neutral about this, i wouldn't wear this as a perfume edit: i read the review that says it smells like warm urine and now i can't get it out of my head. i'm afraid it's strangely accurate