Perfume Review: Serge Lutens Santal Blanc

Review by Tom I've decided to go back and cover a few of the Serge Lutens that I've liked but haven't reviewed yet (in other words I'm being lazy), starting with Santal Blanc This one starts off with an effervescent accord that both sweet and tart, reminding me of the home-made Sasparilla my father used to make. My parents had their own little Martha Stewart corner: my mother would bottle tons of jams and pickles to be laid down in the old coal cellar, and dad liked to bottle Sasparilla and root beer. Invariably, over the first days of laying them down, one or two of the bottles would blow up in the plastic bins he put them in to contain the explosion, and the fizzy-sweet rooty earthiness reminds me of the scent of the cellar when he opened them to remove and rinse off the survivors, along with a peppery almost pickled smell. Sounds delish, yes? Actually, it's divine: bright and spikey and peppery. It's what most ozonic fragrances want to be and aren't, perhaps because it doesn't use ozone; it's an olfactory "whoopee"! The very woody iris and creamy sandalwood (a sandalwood that I have received many compliments on) come in to ground this scent, but like Daim Blond syrupy opening blast, that "whoopee" opening is never far off; any bit of movement that would make you glow will bring it right back in a more muted form. When it does finally drop out after several hours, if you are like me you can't wait to respritz. Whoopee! Santal Blanc is available wherever Serge Lutens export line is sold.