The Exotic Island Perfumer - Santal Exotique

Juan Perez's Exotic Island Perfumer line is wonderful. They are different, stand out from a lot of other perfume lines, and to my nose smell well made and well thought out.

Santal Exotique is no exception. Perez's Etsy listing mentions notes of sandalwood (Mysore, Hawaiian and New Caledonian), black vanilla, elemi, incense, tonka, massoia, cinnamon and rosewood barks, pandanus leaf, cardamom, civet and musk.

In execution, Santal Exotique for all of five minutes smells quite foody, in a similar vein to Luten's Jeu De Peux, but after that it quickly transforms into an incensy, slightly milky sandalwood perfume, suffused with light spices. It is deliciously calming and meditative, subtle, but beautiful. The spices are not overpowering, and to my nose the perfume does not descend into a Christmas-fest, luckily.

I was fortunate to be gifted a generous sample of this by a good friend of mine (thank you!) and I can certainly recommend it without hesitation. Equally, this applies to the rest of the line too.

A briefest of overviews - the week that was

You know you've had a great week (not) when you get to Friday and need to refer to text messages you sent to a fellow perfume fan to remember the perfumes you wore.

For the record, I wore Mona Di Orio Oud, Juan Perez Oud Nawab, Neil Morris A Rose is A Rose and another Di Orio, Eau Absolue. They are all perfectly lovely perfumes and I can highly recommend trying any or all of them. I think that Eau Absolue was probably the most in tune with an early spring day, with its citrusy, herbal notes and undercut with musk. 

Friday was scentless, sadly. I hate it when I go through days without wearing or even thinking much about perfume.

If it is springlike where you are, what have you been wearing this week? 

SOTD - Alexander McQueen Kingdom

I'm not sure what compelled me to wear Kingdom today, other than it was staring at me from my top drawer and I hadn't worn it in a long time.

I snapped up probably the last bottle I ever saw in Tunbridge Wells (and elsewhere for that matter) and don't regret it one single bit. It is a fine and slightly unusual rose perfume, packed with cumin, a note which tends to either attract people, or repel them. I've never had an issue with cumin and enjoy it in food and as a perfume note, so Kingdom is very wearable for me.

I find the dry down quite comforting actually, with a warm sandalwood note that softens the cuminy rose and jasmine. It was marketed as a feminine fragrance, but I actually think it can be worn fairly easily by a man too.

I would strongly recommend trying Kingdom at least once.