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romka_uk – :
Some niche can be challenging to wear. Take, for example, the Slumberhouse you bring out twice a year, for meeting Hipster Joe, cuz he ‘gets it’. Or that thing with cade-overload that you reserve for social occasions calling for ‘smelling like a bonfire’. That is not the case here.
Bois de Santal is a refined, airy, soft-spoken interpretation of sandalwood. Very safe to wear, virtually anyplace, anytime. It’s impossible to over-spray a Keiko Mechuri perfume. Nobody has ever been accused of over-doing Bois de Santal.
Dialed super-low on the volume, like a feminine version of Olfactive Studio’s Lumiere Blanche. In fact, the powdery rose with ambergis/ vanillic undertones take center stage, more so than sandalwood, on my skin. Office-friendly, and safe for meeting the Mother-in-Law for the first time. Inoffensive. And you won’t need to hear Joe drone on about having ‘worn it before it went mainstream’ because no one around you will smell it.
kanaka – :
Bois de Santal is such a chameleon. On first test I got such a beautiful rich sandalwood evocative of the Indian species — nutty, resinous, and sensual.
On second, third and fourth testing I am met first with roses, beautiful and clear, then warming with soft wood and benzoin resin, a little warm ambergris in the base to give some fleshy body. It’s a stunning rose perfume, polite, elegant, natural and inviting. When it plays with rose dominance, it reminds me a lot of SHL 777 Rose de Petra which I already own.
Sandalwood dominance is what I was looking for. I do love how this is elusive and temperamental — I really appreciate perfumes with character. However the sandalwood I’m craving keeps playing hide and seek. This is not reliable enough to be my sandalwood perfume but I highly recommend Bois de Santal for lovers of soft woody rose.
ychekmazov – :
I would normally love this but always wary of ambergris notes. It might be a sexy smell but a little too animalic / skanky sometimes. Although that is precisely it’s charm I guess 😀
stevaisse – :
This perfume is a comfortable but sexy, resinous benzoin-bomb. My fiance looooves it (couldn’t keep his nose off my neck), and it is a definite full bottle candidate when I finish one of my other sweet balsamic fragrances. Same family as Ambre Fetiche.
volya666 – :
Bois de Santal by Keiko Mecheri is a blush colored negligee. There is something about it that says skin and sex. Much like the reviewers below me I am mixed in the notes I am picking up on. I think my sample had more rose than the bottle I bought which is more sandalwood, ambergris and tonka bean. Yes, the sandalwood does smell rather synthetic – but I am wondering if it is because of the way it blends with the rubbery musk-like smell of tonka bean and the salty ambergris? Tonka bean and I usually do not get along, so it is no surprise that I once again dislike it in this fragrance. In Bois de Santal it has a human-flesh, sweaty, heat-of-the-moment vibe…yet weirdly enough smells like play-doh…if it were made for adults. I too find the opening unpleasant, but the men in my life seem to really like it and I have already received three compliments – one being from a complete stranger who walked passed me in a store, stopped, and then turned around to say “You smell really good!”. The sillage and longevity must be pretty good, radiating about three feet and lasting a good six hours on me. As much as I sound like a hater when it comes to this fragrance (damn you tonka bean!), I actually really enjoy the dry down and it is excellent for those certain promiscuous situations *wink, wink*.
volk3131 – :
This starts with a long lasting (an hour plus) blast of eau d’insect repellent. When the initial blast finally starts to wane ( you may be walking out the door by then), one gets a chemically smelling, fake, sandalwood–kinda like a room air freshener in public baths. I hope that for this price, my experiance is due to my own body chemicals mixing badly with this scent. I love sandalwood (true mysore) and was so hoping that this one would work for me, but alas, it really did not.
Hermes01vp – :
BOIS DE SANTAL is more rose than wood to my nose.
It wears like a sheer veil of rosey mist on the skin. It is fresh, dewy with a hazy cloud of soft, salty, skin-like sandalwood. This is soft, powdery but not noticeably sweet or creamy.
It is rather linear but very well crafted. BOIS DE SANTAL showcases this beautiful, lively rose that radiates femininity and positivity.
This perfume has a very cheerful spirit and is absolutely adorable. Not a masterpiece or unique, but a simple, true rose that blossoms harmoniously on your skin.
Must also add that it smells divine on this cold rainy London afternoon.
fidenyk2702 – :
Bois de Santal starts out with a strange ‘off’ note, that I could only call ‘eau du jungle’ —almost like the smell of warm, limpid, half-fermented flower petals and fruits. For me this is a bit unpleasant. This opening is tart and sweet, floral and fruity, stewed and warm with an undeniable edge of rot that I find disturbing. My husband, however, loved this opening and thought it was “beautiful!”
As it dries down it transitions to a very natural smelling facsimile of Mysore sandalwood. Not the real thing but close-ish. ***Given that the real thing is so hard to come by these days, I would highly recommend you sample this fragrance for this drydown*** (as long as you can stand the first 45 minutes of wear). This is NOT a safe blind buy.
ETA: Please scroll down to Elisa S’s lovely review below, she has provided a good counterpoint to my interpretation of the scent. 🙂
Qbasic85 – :
an interesting santal mix. falls in the ‘santal carmin’ and ‘sacred wood’ santal camp and NOT in the ‘santal blush’ and ‘tam dao’ camp. this santal is paired with other components to produce a quite sweet and intoxicating scent. maybe a little to sweet for me, but it certainly is well put-together. nice…
evm972InsuffBooni – :
Mellyhelly totally hit the spot, so, if you want to find a decent convincing review, go directly there.
As for me, I’ll only add that, on a personal note, this sandalwood fragrance achieves what Tam Dao failed to deliver: a sandal with a round, milky, soft, slightly powdery effect.
Whereas Tam Dao comes out as edgy, a little bit raw, a tad dry, Bois de Santal projects a smooth, deep and enveloping skin scent, very relaxing, very addictive.
The rose is almost undetectable, but the fragrance does have a distinctive flowery component, whereas the ambergris and tonka do add a soft, silky base.
Lovely, but very feeble and discreet, you can abound.
Fuckerbot – :
One of my favorite fragrances. A bit smoky but light and smooth sandalwood. Soft and a bit powdery rose. Balsamic accords.
It’s not a ‘loud’ scent, but delicious and quite sensual.
I mostly get an evening feeling from it, but because it’s very mellow and calm, it doesn’t seem ‘out of place’ at the office or at other day time chores.
And I feel like the fragrance has a number of different ‘faces’: Sometimes I mostly get smooth delicate sandalwood, some days it is more balsamic and smoky, while other times, the soft, powdery rose is more prominent – while offering whiffs of spicy-salty ambergris. Never boring!
Edit:
I agree with Eos’ husband (in her review above) – I love the opening!
(But it’s interesting how we perceive smells differently – because I don’t smell anything rotten or bad: To my nose, it seems like the ambergris may play a larger role in this phase – but whatever it is, I think it is great!)
So no, it seems like it wouldn’t be a safe blind buy then (also because it’s an expensive fragrance)…
Edit 2:
Other reviewers have mentioned osmanthus. Some days I smell that too – like today: a delicate, sweet and fruity accord in the opening of the fragrance. Followed by smoky, rosy sandalwood.
GAN20122 – :
Oh, I love this one! In the awful synthetical sandalwood market, a scent keeps teh real thing alive! Well, I’m not sure it is natural, but it smells natural.
In the opening it is very wet and wild, almost animalic and a little stinky (a good stink). Then it mellows and becomes a totally enticing sandalwood fragrance that soothes my brain.
I love all other notes here, especially the light-handed tonka and ambery edge. Also rose smells quite noticeable, but the whole scent is only little floral. It smells like a light magical potion that doesn’t scream around. Lovely.
alexxxxxxx7 – :
Luckyscent sample: Amber and rose (almost orange blossomy to my nose) are lovely. I agree with everyone…this is light. Sexy. Soft. And reminiscent of a Hermes type Elixer/Eau Claire des Merveilles. Very pretty. I do enjoy sniffing it! The sandalwood is not sour, it is very pleasant. I rarely like sandalwood, as I prefer a ceder, fir, or oud type wood in my perfumes. But alas, short lived, and too close to the skin for me. I’m a loud perfume wearer. 😀 Good office scent. Good gifting scent. Will not offend.
elmir041 – :
Such a beautiful ambery, osmanthus-laden opening. Heavenly! Slightly sweet thanks to the vanilla. Overall a lovely smooth fragrance; warm and sensual. (ETA: No mention of osmanthus on the KM page, so that smooth slightly floral scent might be rose. I don’t know…) Has kind of a fruity kick to it.
I don’t know what white sandalwood smells like but there sure isn’t any of the smoke or heaviness that regular sandalwood brings. I can certainly understand why someone might find it watery or thin (see review by shenanigans) if they’re expecting a classic sandalwood perfume, but I love it, I think this is a beautiful fragrance.
Longevity seems pretty good but I need to re-test this and put it through its paces. Watch this space for an update 😉
ETA: Retested this several times and every time it smelled so different to the first test. The first time I tried this scent I didn’t smell a hint of rose, but every other time it’s been there loud and clear. I must have been wearing a body lotion the first time I tested, and the lotion altered the scent slightly.
It is still a lovely fragrance, but not one I’d wear. It’s a little too powdery and I’m not very fond of rose-based fragrances.
m700 – :
Lots of promise at the beginning. You find yourself waiting for it to get there. But sadly it never does. It’s a pleasant enough fragrance but rather thin and watery.
juli_84 – :
I’ll be very honest here. I have tried bunch of Keiko Mecheri’s perfume’s and none of them leave a good impression, the smell is lovely, but it’s so shy and almost not there. And it fades away very quickly.
In case with Bois de Santal it’s the same. At first I was hit in my face with blow of osmanthus and spicy tonka bean, after 10 minutes I was left with sandalwood? Or what is this? Very shy, syrupy sweet (from osmanthus I guess), barely there. So. Yes. Where is it?
msveritova – :
I think that I may by now have become somewhat jaded by the veritable deluge of sandalwood frags currently available, most of which hit me as sour and synthetic. So I took up Keiko Mecheri BOIS DE SANTAL today in the hope of reconnecting with “true sandalwood of Mysore,” as it is described in the adorable pink book that accompanies this house’s large sample set.
BOIS DE SANTAL does smell natural and not sour at all, as I was expecting, having become somewhat familiar with KM aesthetics. I cannot say, however, that I love this composition. It is a nice light woody oriental, but it reminds me of a profound quote by fellow fragrantican Action (in a pm in which we were discussing niche perfumery):
“My problem with most niche is that the formula and the variety of ingredients is too simple. Niche stands out in high quality ingredients and they find that special enough. But for my nose that is actually only the beginning of a perfume, certainly not the end of the product.”
I agree with Action in the case of BOIS DE SANTAL. The base here is beautiful, but where is the perfume?
KOTYARA8 – :
It is very interesting … really animalic to my nose. Settles very close to my skin. I can not explain how I feel about it … but my nose is back to my wrist again and again.
I say as ‘Chandramukhi’ it is soo deep.
StasikLawyer – :
This is soo deep and magic. All the divine soul of the sandalwood, with something more added to brighten the woody aspect of it: floral, peppery and animalic in the dry-down.I cannot identify the other ingredients beside sandalwood, least the amber- maybe because it is very well balanced.