Santal de Mysore Serge Lutens for women and men

Santal de Mysore is one of my most favorite niche fragrances.

When I apply SofM, it reminds me of this wonderful Indian restaurant I visited once in New York City. The restaurant was decorated with elegant coromandels, tables, and wall panels made of carved woods. The air was redolent of exotic woods intertwined with aromas of incense, curry, spices, coconut, and sweet dessert ingredients, which made the ambiance quite beguiling.

Now, do notice this is not a sports fragrance. This is an EDP with a very strongl aromatic opening. So don't expect to spray it liberally as you would other fragrances. Don't apply more than 2 sprays for most occasions, and certainly no more than that if you are in very hot weather. This should be sufficient to enjoy this wonderful composition. Also, spray it widespread, from a distance farther out than you regularly do for most fragrances so as to avoid concentrating it on a single spot.

This is a remarkably adventurous and delightful composition. You will be in for a virtual trip to an exotic place in India.

Some people complain they either don't smell the Sandalwood or smell very little of it. SofM will reward you with one of the sweetest and most enjoyable sandalwood scents during the dry down if you give it chance to get there. If you are expecting to smell it at the opening I can see how you might not as the assault from the spices tends to overpower the Sandalwood. But to me it is still recognizable in the opening. Its presence is more evident towards the dry down though. As to whether it is real Mysore sandalwood (vs. Caledonian or any other), because of the current harvest restrictions placed on Mysore sandalwood, some reviewers have doubt it. But I have smelt the real Mysore sandalwood, and SM smells authentic.

This smelled so good out of the sample vial I was ready to buy a bottle, but sense prevailed and I tried it on, which is a good thing. The top notes smelled very much like the opening of Jeux de Peau, which surprised me because the descriptions of the fragrances are very different. Next it morphed into Origins Ginger Essence, a fragrance I like but which is significantly less expensive than this, with a side of caraway that did indeed make it more interesting. The caraway faded on me quickly, though, and it was missed. The overall effect was more cool than I expected or wanted.

The middle stage lasted a long time, and wasn't unpleasant but wasn't what I was looking for either-- it smelled like old fashioned horehound candy. Much sweeter than I was expecting and quite gourmand.

The drydown was nice, but not distinctive at all to me. The search for "my" Lutens continues.

Santal de Mysore is a beautiful warm, embracing scent. But she wants you to stay with her a while before you see her true beauty revealed. This one doesn't sleep over on the first date or even the second or third date. She is a mysterious and engaging lady. You smell first a light fresh cumin, joined by a stronger slightly sweet caraway and mix of spices that some people are somehow identifying as coconut. It is not, it is caraway, beautifully expanding with the assistance of just the right blend of spices.

I find this not reminiscent of Indian food, but of a spice market in the early morning. The spices are dry and clear, not wet and simmering like spices in food.

After about an hour of drydown the cumin and caraway are enrobed with a sweet, creamy sandalwood and other woods that keep the sandalwood from being overly sweet. This development continues over several hours ending in a warm comforting little piece of heaven on your skin. I feel honored to be the recipient of such beauty.

This is a truly beautiful well balanced, amazing scent that unfolds like the petals of a rose under your nose. Breathe in deeply and appreciate it. Don't worry about what it smells like. Santal de Mysore smells like itself, just its beautiful complete self, finally disrobed and open to your pleasure.

I get the cumin straight away, it's the first thing that catches my attention. Then the sandalwood, sweet and caramelly. The cumin hangs in there, but it is not unpleasant to my nose. It doesn't smell of curry to me at all. Curry implies there are more spices than just the cumin, and I'm not getting any other spices. You know how tannins can balance a good wine? Or a splash of lemon brightens a dish? I think the cumin offers that interest, otherewise it might be too cloying. Sweet and woody. I really am enjoying the scent, but would most likely only wear it to bed at night.

Great scent if you're... an Indian chef ;), as it smells exactly the same as curry. Disturbing cloud of heavy cumin and nose-drilling curcuma. No trace of sandalwood or benzoin whatsoever. Literally spicy scent that is harsh and nauseating at the same time. A big no-no.

I really love this fragrance...
I wear it when I go to bed.. for my own selfish reasons..
it's a fragrance that most would recommend ..
for colder days ..
however its such an amazing find that ..
I'd say where it when ever you want...
to surround yourself and create an AURA...
of "Woody Deliciousness"..

its expensive ..200.00 USD a bottle
creating a sophisticated and regal allure ....
just owning it you feel special.

delicioso¡¡

I get a very strong creamy coconut and caramel on the top, a little spicy, but not greatly so. Very little "curry" for me, which is a good thing :-) I enjoy it and find it quite comforting, but I wouldn't shell out for a full bottle.
Edit: not much in the way of sandalwood, either, although it's there, it doesn't stand out over the caramel.

I wish this worked on me - it smells so intriguing in the bottle, but once on my skin, all I can smell is curried armpits.

Kterhark, I totally agree with you - I wore this for a day to test it and it stank of stale curry. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE eating curry and like the smell of it when it's cooking but I don't want my perfume to smell like that!

I hoped the curry effect would fade with the dry down, that perhaps the benzoin would add a touch of balmy vanillic sweetness, but no such luck.

Scrubber, all the way.

Artificial not at all like actual Mysore sandalwood. This smells like a couple of the aromachemical which can be purchased form theperfumer'sapprentice for a miniscule fraction of the cost of this stuff. So, if you can stand that sort of thing, you can read up on sandalwood accords and "woody" aromachemicals and save yourself a ton of cash. Oh, this is a concentrated and tenacious little stinker- it smells strong in the bottle and lasts and lasts on skin, which would be great if I didn't hate it. Foolish of me to put it on once I smelled the decant, but I just HAD to be sure! Only the tiniest little dab of my decant from theperfumedcourt simply would not go away fro hours even after wiping with oil and washing with hot soapy suds!

this looks awesome but i take it looks ike it doesnt have a nozzle or a spritzer is that true? if so that kind of an epic fail

When I first smelt it I was in Palais royal SL amazing tabernacle for my first time. I was so drown into emotions that I started crying, this is how touched I was by this scent. It is a Santal Mysore: so rare so reach so emotional. They just took it and expand the different facets it already have. I am happy it exists. Thank you Lutens and Sheldrake.

Call it what you like, but this is no sandalwood. What it is is an Indian buffet, and a harsh, caustic one at that.

Honestly folks, save yourselves the jingle and powder your hair with curry. This did not wear well on me at all. Its pure spices. I scrubbed it before the dry down, as it was testing my patience and at the end of day I have too many options to bother with a bad sample.

So, not for me, unfortunately.

This sandalwood opens with a fragrance just like fresh, high-quality maple syrup (I put this sample on before breakfast and starting salivating for pancakes)! Woody, spicy, but too sweet and sugary for for my taste in a man's fragrance. The maple syrup persists all the way through the drydown, but after two or three hours the maple syrup makes way for the sandalwood to emerge, leaving an overall sweet, sugary sandalwood (spicy, woody) drydown. This is ok for a change of pace (if you want to risk being bitten by your SO before breakfast), but I prefer a much drier, more simple sandalwood fragrance. I would not buy this.

A very spicy, bordering on curry scent on me. Santal de Mysore eventually melts into a warming veil of sweet sandalwood and cinammon, balanced by the benzoin.

Sadly enough, it's my private sandalwood-trauma. Too strong, too rich, too spicy - erm, glutting. I don't feel well in salty/sweet notes in perfume, so Santal de Mysore almost killed me with its power and oddness. I admit - it's intriguing, as every Lutens' perfume - but definitely not for me.

This is unusual. I don't mean in an extreme manner, it's rather subtle. At first whiff I get honey and woods. An amber and tobacco note follows. Then it takes a completely different turn into coconut, spice, and sandalwood. If finishes with the cumin, a little sweetness, and the sandalwood. Definitely unisex, leaning more towards the masculine.

What I like most about this is it's like an exposed piece of aged sandalwood with nearby scents wafting around at the same time. I appreciate that there are no smokey or incense notes to be found as that has been done to death.

I like the freshness/purity of it. I imagine being outdoors, in the woods in a foreign country in the summer/late fall in the late afternoon, with beams of sunlight streaming between the aromatic trees in almost a prism pattern. It sets a tone of peace/tranquility.

If there was a type of sugar called "sandalwood sugar", it would smell like Santal de Mysore-it's a dark sweet sandalwood, not so dry-rich like a gourmand-like chocolate or caramel or coconut. Nevertheless, it's a woody scent, free of such notes. It opens a bit much for me-too sweet, but dries into a more typical sandalwood-mixed with the scent of hot skin. Very comfortable, and high quality-absolutely not bad, but not stunning.

Goddamn Serge for not mass marketing some of this stuff in the states...because this coconut scented sandalwwod makes me want to smell it on the back of the neck of a big happy puerto rican girl at a NYC parade in july, my arms around her, she's giggling as I tickle her. Good perfumes make you think stuff like this.

I like this original bell jar of Serge Lutens Santal de Mysore. It`s very interesting fragrance for me. Not a typical woody sandalwood, but it is a great and unique scent. The sandalwood doesn’t really take center stage in this fragrance. Instead, the opening notes are dominated by a thick and heavy carmel like accord, and the drydown is very heavy in cumin. It’s rich, sweet, spicy, and woody.This beautiful unisex fragrance gives me a feeling of peace and harmony, and is the best rendition of Mysore sandalwood that I have smelled.