Santal Blanc

What a beauty. I generally gravitate towards gourmand and/or stereotypical "feminine" fragrances but as I fell deeper and deeper into the fragrance world, I also fell in love with clean, musky scents and their delicate nature. I'm saying this because this is what Santal Blanc is, to the core. I'm the kind of person who enjoys woody notes as either supporting / balancing notes, or on other people. I tend not to wear woody-centric fragrances as they feel really masculine on me--- again, in a stereotypical, classical way. Also, my skin loves pushing woody notes forward, so I always feel like they're pushed to the max when interacting with me. On my skin, the first minutes of SB give a dry yet quite soft sandalwood. At this stage, the mental image I get is that of sandalwood's shavings. As for the fig in the opening, it is perceptible but veeeeery subtle. I do agree that it's quite reminiscent of Philosykos EDP's fig but there is no green facets in SB at all, contrarily to the former frag. I personally don't get the sweet, fruity facets of the fig, rather its gentle and slightly coconutty milkiness. Within the first hour of wear, it then slowly evolves into something more powdery (as the violet notes come through), and the fragrance only gets softer and slightly creamy. The powdery accord doesn't give me makeup nor a vintage vibe, it just feels like a clean powder, if that makes sense... doesn't go to the baby powder territory either (to my nose, at least). As it enters the soft and creamy stage further and further, the musk gains in intensity and, without ever giving a full "fresh laundry" or "out of the shower" experience, it does give an overall "clean skin" aura to the fragrance. I'm now deep in the dry down stage as I'm writing this review, and I'm left with a quiet and slightly sweet scent. It's not an edible sweetness though. Funnily enough, it reminds me of the "sweet" quality of a papersheet, of a notebook... in fact, it really reminds me of the nice and comforting scent of a book. But again, it's really delicate and muted. I feel like this the consequence of a dry, nutty, slighty sweet tonka peeking through. I'm not sure but I also feel like the benzoin is accentuating both the creamy and faintly sweet aspects of the fragrance. Throughout the entire wear, SB's sillage is quite small, but I feel like it suits the scent perfectly. It adds to its discreet, low-key and effortlessly elegant vibe. Longevity however is quite decent-- it's a skin scent but the perfume lingers after the 7 hour-mark. Can I make my love for SB more apparent? I feel like nothing clashes with anything here. Every single note is interacting perfectly with the ever-present sandalwood, and serves as a supporting element to enhance and embellish a different aspect of it. Thanks to theses various interactions, you get to experience sandalwood when dry, milky & creamy. It's always done with restraint, elegance and softness. Ah yes, did I tell you how soft this fragrance is? SB is that soft-spoken and quiet classmate, co-worker or friend that always seems so calm and level-headed. They seem a bit distant at first, maybe a little bit cold even, but they're actually so warm and kind. They just listen more than they speak, and you enjoy how reliable and helpful they are. They're the kind of people that come into your mind when you're in a difficult situation, wondering "what would *insert name here* do?". Their presence is enough to calm you down, even when you guys just sit together in silence. They remain calm in stressful situations. They may move in silence. They probably listen to lo-fi tracks and chill, indie soul/R&B music. Signature-scent worthy.

VC&A Santal Blanc has been a love since it was first released. The only fragrance from this brand that I've been interested to add to my collection and purchased once in 2021, but it was such an unusually big purchase for me at the time that my bank thought it wasn't me and rejected it lol. Although sometimes price is not a deterrent to me especially if the fragrance is loved and of quality, which this was, I saw it as a sign to save my money and move on to buy other fragrances instead of just one that was a final 300 price tag for 75 mL. Timing is everything because this year is the first time I've ever seen it discounted and it reminded me of the scent that I love, used decant samples for, and still had two brand samples left for reference. I retried and the "it" feeling was still so strong, so I bought it and can now happily enjoy this figgy, milky, sandalwood scent. The fig is sweet and not green to the point of Diptyque Philosykos. Like a sweet fig milk that also comes across like coconut in the best way. The sandalwood is milky and not too cream-dense so it is perfect for the warmth. The violet borders an edge of sourness but never crosses into that zone. Still I wouldn't really crave this in outside winter because the violets in here may turn pickle-like. The violet honestly calms down very quickly in the opening and later adds a clean character to the fragrance as it continues its dive deeper into sweet milky glory. Santal Blanc lasts on my skin up to 12 hours and has very good moderate projection. Some people used to complain about its performance years ago but I could never relate. The comparisons are understandable especially for other fragrances sharing that sandalwood and violet profile, but Santal Blanc is different. The very smooth Le Labo Santal 33 shares a similar sandalwood-violet accord, but is more woody and less sweet without the coconut proxy. It also isn't as milky. Hermes Santal Massoia does have a sweet milk infused with dried fruits thing that's similar to the fig vibe in Santal Blanc, but it is mostly woody first with no violets or bordering sourness.

I’ve been pining for a sample of this perfume for several months and I finally got my hands on one. The Van Cleef Collection Extrodinaire has some standouts, and after wearing Santal Blanc for a full day I’m convinced this is one of the best. Yes, the sandalwood is synthetic as expected. The other notes that surround the wood essence are what make Santal Blanc remarkable. I don’t think of this as sandalwood per se, instead it’s a pretty white wood scent. The thick layer of fig milk and musk lean exotic, and this is a scent I could easily wear in the Spring and Fall (and possibly summer months though I need to test first). On my maiden voyage I wore this a full 10 hours, then this morning upon awakening I could still smell it. Like others in this line, it doesn’t have strong projection or sillage, but Santal Blanc has major stamina. On my perfume eating skin Bois Doré fades away in about 2 hours, and California Reverie lasts maybe 3 hours max. Granted others in this line have better performance, but these are the two that I ended up buying for my collection. (For comparison, I loved Orchidee Vanille but that one barely made it to an hour which is why I could not justify a purchase). And I’m simply surprised, I wasn’t expecting longevity based off the notes. I love Santal Blanc and for the first time—for a Collection Extrodinaire perfume—feel the retail price is fair. That’s also a first. Overall a well done sweet fig and exotic wood based perfume in a gorgeous white bottle. EDIT this should’ve been named Santal Blanc Figue.

i’ve had a bottle of santal blanc for almost a year now. i still love it just as much as i did when i first smelt it in store. i actually found it whilst i was on a mission to find a dupe for a beloved discontinued perfume, so it’s quite special to me. it’s a wonderfully rounded, very addictive fragrance. so soft and creamy. although coconut isn’t actually a note in this, it is quite prevalent to my nose. however, it’s not the overly sweet, cloying, suncream type of coconut.. it’s subtle and airy. i smell fig milk rather than fig nectar. the violet, tonka and musk are what make this such a gorgeous, rounded fragrance to me. the notes blend so seamlessly together. i don’t often like clean, classy, polite fragrances, but there’s just something about this that i absolutely adore. only negative i have to say is that, for this price point, i would expect a better performance. it has quite an intimate projection/sillage, and quite an average longevity. i find that it lasts longer on clothes than on skin, so i like to spray it onto any flowy fabrics that adorn me when i wear it. it is certainly up there on my list of favorites. as soon as i run out, i will be repurchasing another bottle...... just not at retail price. i see a few trustworthy europe-based perfume websites, such as notino, sell it at very discounted rates.

I had the chance to smell the entire unisex part of the Collection Extraordinaire in a well retailed perfumery. The whole series is great, but I didn'tsmell anything that suited me, until I tested Santal Blanc. My first thought was that I'd never smelled a perfume this particular, delicious without being gourmand, and odd. As I let it sit on the paper strip, I couldn't help but falling in love with this silky, green and luxurious scent. I purchased it without even trying it on my skin - I was euphoric. The scent resembles exceptionally the creamy aroma of fig trees, combined an intoxicating yet immaculate sandalwood. At the moment of the spray one can sense a hint of citrus. I cannot detect any of the other notes. If I'd read the notes before getting to know Santal Blanc, I would have never imagined I'd fall in love with this perfume. It's an incredibly sophisticated, ageless, pleasantly sweet fragrance, with an enormous sillage and a remarkable longevity on my skin. It's labelled as unisex, and even though to me it definitely falls under the womanly category as it hasn't got anything masculine, I guess a man could pull it off too. Give this perfume a chance, and test it if you can - it's worth the price, and it smells different from anything else I've ever tried. My new signature. A fresh yet sweet woody scent.