Praliné de Santal 18.1

I never tried the original version of this fragrance, but I couldn't wait to try a sample of the re-launch because THOSE NOTES. I haven't tested on my skin yet, but I took some first-impression notes the other day when I received the sample. I'll share them verbatim here: "Yoooo this is next-level cozy. At first sniff: a rich hazelnut with woody notes and a freshness from the salt and heliotrope. It smells woody but not like a forest, hardware store, or old cabinet. Rich creaminess from the hazelnuts without going almond or lactonic. Send me to a cabin and give me a blanket. This smells good af and I've never smelled anything like it." Current me would like to add that a few days later, the heliotrope is the note I can't stop thinking about. I do think you need to be ok with purple florals to truly love this one. They are so beautiful in this. It's like learning something new and amazing about an old friend you thought you knew everything about. The default is to think of this as a fall/winter scent, and it is, but I think it could also be beautiful in early spring. There's something that almost brings to mind crocuses peeking through the soil as the seasons change, on those days when the air is cool but the sun is warm.

This has become a summer favorite of mine! I've been wearing it for a few months and it's a wonderful sweet, nutty and a touch of salty smell that's light and unique. This fragrance may not be for everyone, but if you lean toward gourmand smells and want something unique and light for the summer, this one is great! I like this one a lot because the salt at the end does a good job at keeping this grounded and from going into an overly sweet territory as well as balancing the sweetness. It sits on my skin for a decent amount of time. I usually can get an entire 8 hours out of it. I feel like this one sits closer to my skin and doesn't radiate too much. While I think it'll sit well in cooler weather, it's been a wonderful gourmand for the summer!

love. creamy sandalwood spiked by a slightly sweetened nutty hazlenut. fabulous.

Yep, that’s a nut all right. It’s not sweet at all in the opening; it’s dense, tan, almost-savory Hazelnut Flavor, not too different from the smell of hazelnut flavoring in coffee. I bet a lot of people will hate this: it’s very simple, and the foodiness is a bit startling. I was looking for a bona-fide hazelnut scent for a while, though, out of curiosity, and Praline de Santal does deliver. There’s a an airy, synthetic, abstractly “floral” aura around the edges, which somewhat elevates it and makes it smell like a perfume. There really isn’t any attempt at realistic sandalwood; but there is a nice cashmeran backdrop, which gives it a pleasant, slightly 90’s-mom vibe as the overt hazelnut fades. In fact, I really kind of like this throwback drydown; I’m not sure what scent I’m remembering (Donna Karan Black Cashmere? Armani Mania?) but it was definitely a casually elegant, comforting presence, spritzed on those fold-out ads in late-1990s/early-2000’s Martha Stewart Living. It’s warmly glowing, vaguely “woody”, very faintly sweet, and totally department-store mainstream and synthetic...but it still smells a hell of a lot better than anything you’ll find at Macy’s today. OK PG, I’m sold. This is lovely, understated nostalgia. Cozy sweaters, hectic coffees, the New York of rom-coms and sitcoms.

So this scent opens with a heavy dose of cashmere and sweet almond. It’s cozy, fluffy, and slightly nutty. Then you get a lot cedar and some hazelnut in the heart. It’s dry, woody, powdery and softly sweet. The dry down is extremely heavy on the heliotrope and almond smell, and I love both of those notes but this was too much for me. It was too sweet, too floral, and too powdery. I wish I got more nuttiness from the almonds or more of those hazelnuts and wood, but the dry down is really just a ton of sweet heliotrope and almond.