SANTAL DE MYSORE
Serge Lutens is where I started, and got my inspiration for perfume. I like the uniqueness of this brand. Today, I received a 5 ml decant of Santal Mysore (blind buy) and sadly, thus far, I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed. Surrender to Chance was great in delivery as usual. Where I live, it was early spring like temperatures today, so it may not have been ideal wearing temps for this fragrance. First whiff: takes me to a beach somewhere, and I’m smelling a peculiar cocktail drink and sunscreen. In the opening, there’s warm sweetness drizzled over the multi-scented spices. Then, strong scent of pencil shavings, caramel, and glazed carrots. The longer it sits on my skin, I’m warming up a bit to the scent—not to say I approve of it! It’s not the Santal Mysore that’s the problem; it’s my nose. For some reason, my nose and Santal aren’t jiving to the same song. So, in my little experience, I know it’s helps to get a second take on the fragrance—probably wait a couple days for the temperatures to reach burrrrr, it’s cold again. So many things can affect your reaction to a scent—so don’t give up the first smelling! Okay, 45 minutes later I’m in first grade again. Spiced cookies, crayons, and pencils. It’s weird, and I think maybe I like it—I don’t for sure. It smells like candied spices. Very woody-spicy on the dry down. For me, the spices and perhaps the sweetness cloud up the sandalwood a bit. However, I’m beginning to like the scent okay now. Not great, but okay. I won’t be purchasing a full bottle of the juice. Many people love this fragrance, and I think that’s great—Serge Lutens is a great brand/product. It’s definitely better on the dry down. The spice curry is strong in the opening. That may be my dislike---curry. Curry is not one of my finest spice scents. Once I let my guards down from my dislikes and the dry down begins, Santal Mysore is actually a comforting scent overall. Then there’s ginger, cinnamon, and caraway, and Vanilla, all simmered in butter. Benzoin. I love Benzoin. Benzoin is one of the first scent material I diluted with ethanol. Benzoin is just gorgeous. The longer I wear this fragrance, it becomes more sensual and luscious. My first impression of this frag was about 2.5 or 3 stars out of 5. Now, it’s about a 4. Now you know why I’m fond of Serge Lutens. It’s brilliant how his fragrances can change over time, and in this case becoming more seductive. That’s how I see it. There’s another one by Serge called Santal Majuscule with sandalwood, rose, cocoa that I would like to try. Serge Lutens, Cedre is phenomenal. I wish it was edible. My favorite SL is Chergui. Diam Blond is great too. Men and women can wear most of his fragrances. Santal Mysore was introduced in 1991, and I would like to get hold of a bottle of the original or the older formulas. To sum it up: I like this scent. Obviously, it’s not the best SL fragrance in my opinion, but I like it and will wear it. The 5 ml Santal Mysore purchase will not go to waste, that’s for sure! I’ll discover more interesting things about Santal Mysore the next time I wear it. It’s always an experience wearing SL fragrances. I do recommend getting sample first—that goes for all (or most) fragrances. This is a wonderful fall and winter frag. Good for many occasions. Great frag for both genders.