HEADSPACE
SANTAL

2022

PERFUMER
Julien Rasquinet

sandalwood
rose
saffron
red fruits
frankincense
patchouli heart
vetiver

REVIEW

Santal by Headspace is among my favorite (sweeter) sandalwood fragrances on the market. I was drawn to their minimal designs, but while the fragrance also feels modern, it’s full-bodied and has a lot happening on my skin.

You get warm sandalwood straight from the opening. It has a similar warmth and sweetness to it as Caron Santal Precieux or even Atelier Des Ors Iris Fauve. A honeyed, saw dust, cozy woodiness.

Santal adds a slight fruity hint throughout that works really well. I happen to have smelled several fragrances recently with a fruity boozy accord, but Julien Rasquinet nailed it with this one. It’s not overbearing, not cloying and not too fruity or too boozy. It reminds me slightly of the dried fruits in Nasomatto Baraonda, but subtler.

The rose is lovely in here; present, but not all too prominent and it blends in well with the other notes.

At first Santal is almost syrupy.As it dries down, there were a few wafts where the patchouli overtakes the comfort of the sandalwood when smelling the skin up close, so I was afraid it would go in that direction. However, most of the time it came across resinous and lactonic, making this more of an incense-rose fragrance with a milky sandalwood base. At other times it still reminds me of the late Baraonda drydown.

A lot going on with this one, although all things are balanced and it doesn’t feel messy at all. Definitely one that goes on my potential wishlist.