Santal 33 Eau de Parfum by Le Labo

people are missing the point. it's supposed to be weird, it's niche. it's like jazz, weird but good and not meant for everybody to understand.

Driving down Highway 1 near the Pacific Ocean, through redwood and eucalyptus trees, a dense fog carrying a woody, salty, electric sea air - a very distinct smell that anyone who has driven in northern California would know. That is all I can think of when wearing this perfume, and so for me it's a winner.

Everyone's chemistry is different, so not everyone will like it. And who cares if it's trendy, or hated, or polarizing. It's sad to see people talking ignorantly and judging those who enjoy this perfume. I am anything but vapid or a follower of trends, I recently came across this brand by walking through a department store and nobody told me to try it, I just sampled all the Le Labo on my skin and kept coming back to this one.

Not everyone will like this perfume, not everyone will smell the redwood trees and fog like I do, but for some of us I think Santal 33 is comforting and memory-inducing in a fantastic way.

One of the best niche fragrances ever.
An absolute masterpiece from Frank Voelkl!

Anyone who says Santal 33 smells like “Dill pickle” has snorted too much substance in their smeller.
(haha kidding but not really)

I get a fresh Cucumber smell within this fragrance but that is nowhere even close to the smell of a vinegary dill pickle. People are crazy.

My breakdown

Fresh cucumber with cardamom and a little hint of mint in the opening. Then the fragrance changes towards a strong cedar note with the mint lingering and the fresh cucumber dying down. Then the magic happens at about the 2-3 hour mark of wearing this perfume it turns into the most beautiful Cedar, iris, musk, and vanilla dry down. The vanilla just keeps the fragrance from being to sharp and it never really “shows itself” but my oh my the dry down is just to die for.

A true masterpiece and it’s far more unheard of than the niche community would like you to believe. In my experience nobody who has asked me about my fragrance, has even heard of Santal 33 or Le Labo and I wore it everyday for nearly a year and received many, many compliments.

I will never not love this fragrance
I own so many fragrances now that it gets less wear time these days, but I’ll never forget the fragrance that started my niche journey and I very well could have ended with and that is Santal 33

The anti-hype fragrance.

And by that I mean, the trend for Santal is to express how basic and ubiquitous it is, how your own delicate sensibilities are so refined that you wouldn't be caught DEAD *gasp* in a major city wearing the dreaded Santal 33!

Well, I've got news for you, folks. We don't all live in New York or LA, and some of us have never smelled this magic anywhere before. And for those of us like myself, who ordered the $6 sample from Le Labo to see what all of the love and hate were about, this mesmerizing, sharp, and polarizing blend of (mostly) papyrus, violet leaf, cardamom, and cedar smells intoxicating.

If you are looking for a sandalwood fragrance, this is not the one for you. But if you are looking for something loud, exotic, and piercing, and you DON'T live in New York or LA, get a sample and give it a shot.

I can't promise you that you won't get hit with a huge animalic waft of deer piss or "dill" on the opening, but I also can't promise you that you won't love it for that very reason and end up buying a full bottle like I did.

Okay I can see why Santal 33 is such a polarizing perfume. To be completely honest, this fragrance was so hyped that I felt like I needed to order a sample to see how it went, and I did. It was an instant scrubber for me. The dill + scrap metal combo from the start was so repulsive and revolting that I didn't give it enough time to shine..

The second use however, was heaven on earth! The opening was still harsh indeed, but somehow more bearable, no more scrap metal, just dill and something very dry and green...(papyrus I think ?) Santal 33 then developed into this slightly green floral-woody combo on my skin although the woodiness was amplified on clothes which got creamier and creamier throughout the day but still managed to retain the dryness and airiness from the beginning and that's when I knew I had to order a FB. Absolutely stunning!

P/s: To all the ones who show prejudice towards Santal 33, if you hate this because of the smell then I totally get it, but if you do so due to the fact that it's so popular and a little hyped up then you're pathetic. I do agree that their offerings are a bit too pricey but the juice quality DOES justify the price tag, so far I've tried this one, Rose 31, Iris 39, The Noir 29 and they're all unique in their own terms ( although the performance on Rose 31 is a bit of a joke ). Also, don't judge people for their choices of scents, let's not make this community toxic folks! :-)