Santal de Mysore

Chaya who comment her often sent me some samples of wonderful perfumes and Santal de Mysore was one of them. Thank you Chaya! When I first smelled this perfume I was in love.

Serge Lutens (see photo left) launched this perfume in 2001. Serge lutens, served as the image creator of shiseido for 20 years, he released his first perfume for Shiseido in 1981: the now legendary Nombre Noir. He also launched his own "Serge Lutens" line of perfumes under the exclusive Le Palais Royale de Shiseido

This perfume is based on the scent of sandalwood, no surprise when you know its name, it has a warm, thick, creamy, woodsy fragrance. The sandalwood in this fragrance is a deep warm sandal sweetened with a caramel note that could be coming from Fenugreek although it's not listed in the ingredients. The top is sweet but has also spicy notes like the note of Cumin and an almost curry like note. This perfume is so soft and warm, not in a timid way but a full warm soft thick perfume, it's like the feeling of soft velvet. It isn't linear though because of the spices that are used in this fragrance. The fragrance plays a game on your skin, one time it will give you a warm caramel note and another time a sandal note, a spicy note or even a green note comes forwarded once in a while.

It's interesting to know that sandal wood is a very precious material. Realizing its value, the Sultan of Mysore(India) declared it a royal tree in 1792. No individual may own a sandalwood tree. Even if the tree grows on private land it is owned by the government. However, an individual is entitled to receive seventy five percent of its value as a bonus for growing and protecting the trees. It is against the law in India to cut down a sandalwood tree until it has reached a mature age of at least 30 years old. The best sandal wood oil is produced from trees that have matured and are in the age group of 50-60 years, yet because of such high demands sandalwood has become an endangered species.

Christopher Sheldrake (here on the photo together with Jacques Polge, Sheldrake is the one on the left) created this perfume for Serge Lutens. Christopher Sheldrake originally from Australia is a perfumer for more than 30 years and created almost every perfume for Serge Lutens. He also created Feminitè du Bois for Shiseido a perfume that I really adore, I will talk about this one later. Sheldrake is now the deputy perfumer at Chanel, where he works with Jacques Polge, the head perfumer of the house.