Original Santal Creed (2005)

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7.5 / 10 388 Ratings

Original Santal is a popular perfume by Creed for men and was released in 2005. The scent is spicy-woody. It is still in production.

Scent goes well with L'Homme Intense

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Perfumer

Olivier Creed

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Orange tree absolute, Ginger, Lemon
Heart Notes	Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary, Pink pepper
Base Notes	Mysore sandalwood, Cedar, Vanilla, Benzoin Siam, Ambergris, Musk

Ratings

Scent

7.5 (388 Ratings)

Longevity

7.5 (291 Ratings)

Sillage

7.0 (282 Ratings)

Bottle

8.0 (295 Ratings)

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 12.07.2020.

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Reviews

04/03/2020

10
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage 10
Bottle

Onkel2000

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Onkel2000

Copy and be copied

I'm not a friend of Dupes, I think original or nothing (Turkey holiday original Hilfiger T-shirt for 8€ nee thanks please leave it) but what do you do if the real original, in the case of the Creed, is the real copy, I'm talking about Montblanc Individual who was there before the Creed, you should assume that the cheaper of the more expensive cribbed what is also in 99% of cases so.I bought the Montblanc when I didn't know Creed at all and later got to know Creed through Aventus...with Aventus, I think that the original is superior to all Dupes...there is always something wrong with the Dupes...there is usually something scratchy or poor quality...as a Creed fan, I am of course happy and I see this as confirmation that it makes sense to pay many times over.In the case of OS and MBI this is not the case at all, I have a bottle of Creed here from the souk and sprayed this one on the left and the Montblanc on the right on my arm - 100% the same scent and absolutely indistinguishable - even after 3 hours not.I have read here that Creed is of higher quality, partly fruity but with my two there is no difference, a very nice and recommendable scent and who doesn't know both should try it, only in this case the Montblanc is enough or if you have one you don't have to buy the other one.

3 Replies

03/10/2020

8
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Ovaissaleem
54 Reviews

Ovaissaleem

Original Santal

Notes to my nose are Cinnamon, Sandalwood, Coriander, Juniper Berries, Rosemary, Lavender and Tonka Bean.

A very classy and clean scent but to my nose it's very light. Definitely high quality ingredients are used. Cinnamon in the opening is dominant with velvety undertones of Sandalwood with hint of coriander. Near the dry down Tonka Bean becomes more prominent. A very pleasant scent to wear.

12/11/2019

7.5
Scent 7
Longevity 8
Sillage 8
Bottle

Morpheus1

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Morpheus1

Very helpful Review 8

Quick-change artists and deceivers of your senses

I would like to say a few words about this controversial scent.

It's my first Creed fragrance, Batch 2011.
I find it to be fruity, spicy, woody, orientally sweet. But it's also heavy.
He has quite development and does not remain monotonous.

It starts with a ripe sweet, very tasty orange paired with the pungency of ginger.
The fruity sweetness stands here in the foreground.
So far not bad.

Now the delusion begins.
In the middle part I can agree with Meggi, the lavender in this form strongly gives the impression of "Joop Nightflight".
Peppermint and spices quickly join in.
Central component seems to be the juniper berry, which is not disturbing at all but present.
The typical beery-smoky Creed DNA is revealed.
Has the scent been changed? It is no longer present in the current pyramid.

Over time, the fragrance becomes softer,
the berry gives way more to the woods, vanilla and amber.
Delusion of senses Part II begins:
In fact, after 1-2 hours you can already see nuances of Joop Homme.
But: by far not as killing and penetrating as the pink nervtöter.
Rather a subtle, improved, finer version for gentlemen.

I don't know Montblanc Individually, but I can imagine that it doesn't come close to the Creed in terms of quality.

In summary, no bad incense at all with playing, alternate facets that has similarities after DryDown to Joop Homme.

That one tears up the smell and evaluates badly I cannot understand.

1 Replies

06/03/2019

6.5
Scent 7
Longevity 8
Sillage 8
Bottle

Norleans

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Norleans

Top Review 22

It's getting so warm

At the beginning of my membership with Parfumo I had such an extreme phase. Every day a dump truck from the post office stopped in front of our front door and dumped loose letters with samples and fillings into our driveway. I consumed fragrances really "hard" (keyword anonymous perfume-dependent "APa"). I definitely wanted to immerse myself in this new perfume world and test everything I could even remotely like. This has calmed down a bit in the meantime... meanwhile one Sprinter is enough.
But my bottling of Original Santal dates from this time. This letter reached me at that time together with some other fragrance letters, so I had the olfactory overload that evening. My wife thought that the nearby perfumery had opened a branch in our dining room. I've learned from this that it's best not to test more than three fragrances per minute......so more than three per fragrance tasting really shouldn't be for my nose.

Since Creeds Spice and Wood (and this is the benchmark for me when it comes to woody scents) was also part of the woodsy scents that evening, Original Santal went even deeper (lower) and wasn't worth a second sniff to me.
Recently I was in a big perfumery chain at the Jungfernstieg and wanted to let my wrists smell of robbing Nordmann at the Creed shelf when an ambitious, well-groomed middle-aged employee appeared out of nowhere next to me, faster than Lucky Luke sprayed the Original Santal bottle on a test strip and presented it to me friendly, but also a bit dominant, near my upper lip
I don't want to say that I fell in love again (in Original Santal, not with the nimble lady), but my nose felt it, without direct comparison to Spice and Wood and the other myriads of scents of the above-mentioned scent sample fish...uh, tastings, as quite pleasant and warm caressing, slightly sweetish.
As for the fragrance itself, I can say that I don't know how orange tree Abolue smells, but a citrus fruit doesn't cross my mind in the top note. From the beginning I smell a sweet wood with which a very nice warmth and light sweetness resonate. The scent remains pretty much the same in my nose, except that the sweetness comes into the second row in favour of wood. Thus a "comfortable", warming wood remains at the neck / wrist. The durability I feel with approx. 5 hours as ok for a Creed, but for a wood smell nevertheless a little bit narrow-shouldered. Original Santal is ideally worn on wet and cold days as it warms you from the outside and spreads a light cosiness.

In my nose nothing beats the Royale Exclusives Spice and Wood under the term "wood", but it is so incredibly rare and expensive that I keep my 3ml in TC like hardly anything else. Original Santal is not bad, but a little too monotonous and warm for me. I'd rather go for Bois du Portugal at Creed (please test the BdP more than once, it takes a bit until you find it good).

Thanks for reading.

6 Replies

10/29/2018

8.5
Scent 6
Longevity 7
Sillage

KLewis
26 Reviews

KLewis

High quality Individuel?

I've seen many reviews comparing this to Montblanc Individuel created by Pierre Bourdon, rumours of his involvement with Creed Green Irish Tweed have lead to people speculating his involvement with Original Santal to produce a much higher quality variant of Individuel... I personally can't see this being true, but I found it interesting.

There definitely are similarities between Creed Original Santal and Montblanc Individuel, they are both fruity, spicy, sweet and woody fragrances, the main difference between the two is that Individuel holds more of a clean freshly washed clothes kind of scent while Original Santal retains its spice and fruitiness thanks to the higher quality ingredients that Creed use.

In my opinion, this is probably the most "designer" smelling fragrance that Creed has released, if I was to spend Creed prices on fragrance, my choices would be Green Irish Tweed, Millesime Imperial or spend that little bit more and go for Aventus because I find those fragrances so much more interesting. The scent of Original Santal can be found in a few cheaper, designer options and the price is what makes the difference, £25 for something that smells like Original Santal is a good buy, but spending £215 on a scent that doesn't smell too different from £25 designer fragrance is not.

05/21/2018

8
Scent 6
Longevity 6
Sillage 8
Bottle

Basti87

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Basti87

Comes definitely very close to Individual

Creed - by far not my brand, even though I find some of the fragrances in the range quite solid and I indulged in Virgin Island Water this year. Among the fragrances I find solid is this Santal. Tested because of the alleged similarity to Montblanc's Individual. An often hyped scent I've had for a long time. I was excited about this individual with Creed DNA.

The fragrance comes in the usual bottle. Here in a nice red gradient.
Santal I have now already tested 2 times and I must say that Individual is absolutely right as a given fragrance twin. Definitely both have their own character traits, yet the scent DNA is quite similar. What makes them both special: A nice berry note paired with a great sandalwood note. In addition, both have a strong sweetness, which is unusual for a Creed, but I like it. I don't like this creed "interpretation" much better, but it's a bit softer, more harmonious and more suitable for the office, while the Montblanc has a bit more of this Joop Homme vibe.
Santal does not have much fragrance development, which is not bad, because the fragrance is quite pleasant over the whole course and will not disturb anyone. The base, however, is much gentler, more woody and the berry notes slightly weaker. I like this Creed.
The performance is unfortunately, as with many creeds, not the yellow of the egg, especially in the price range. The individual beats him to worlds. The Sillage is not bad, especially at the beginning, the durability rather mau, since it is already after 4-5 hours very weakly only perceptible.

All in all a good release for me, but I would never buy it. Who wants to have this: At Notino you get 120ml for relatively "fair" 180 Euro

03/07/2018

QuercusAlbus
72 Reviews

QuercusAlbus

A Certain Rudeness

2018-03-07-05-32 UTC -- The question of whether an expensive perfume is worth it is always a sore one; and these perfumes ^are^ rather high-end. It's difficult to know the degree to which one has been °coached°; but when I tried this, it seemed to me to have a particularisation of that certain stamp that distinguishes a high-end 'fume. In this case it was a certain sheer rudeness - and yes I do mean it conveys to me that it is quite frankly erotick: intraspiring of it is like being touched erotickally. Not that I absolutely ^require^ a 'fume to do ^that particularly^, but it is one of the things a 'fume ^can^ do whereby I clock it as a quality & substantial 'fume.

I perceive instantly that this is essentially a sandalwood 'fume, & yet the sandalwood is somehow ~transfigured~ such that my impression is of the nature of "who would have thought of putting that slant on it". It seems somehow to °lap-dance° or °pole-dance°, if you like; but I realise that some may dislike such analogies. But perfumes are, I think, an essentially erotick accesory, what with their musk & civet, & matters of that sort; or at least very many of them are, and this one very brazenly so. Basically, broaching a certain terminology that I have found to have considerable currency amongst 'fume-heads, I think it does have quite a hefty ~funk~ to it.

I find it curious that in a earlier review it is averred fastidiously that there is *no sandalwood in this* . I find this curious particularly in the light of my observations, firstly that it is ^essentially^ a sandalwood 'fume, and secondly, that the sandalwood is strangely transfigured. I would say, on reflection, that there ^is^ sandalwood in it; and besides, if there were not, the manufacturer would be lying outright! I do not venture to comment on whether Creed ^would^ do that.

I perceive that this is not a very popular fragrance with the reviewers on this site. Still, I chose it carefully without jnowledge of any reviews; & I also ^commenced^ this review likewise with same unknowledge, and I maintain my position that it is a thoroughly excellent fragrance - and bold also. These divergencies of perception are not atall unusual in the realm of perfume.

I've read all the reviews now. The balance has swungen somewhat towards the positive, and I see that there are others who see in it roughly what I do; but as for the ancilliary marketing imagery & mythology protended by the manufacturer - ^any^ manufacturer of ^any^ perfume - it certainly is my philosophy to resolutely ignore all of it. And if it is in reality Australian sandalwood that is called 'Mysore' only by reason of there being some continuity in the provenance of it fræ ~Mysore~ stock, or by reason of some other technicality, is that necessarily bad?

1 Replies

08/14/2017

MasterLi
371 Reviews

MasterLi

Helpful Review 4

Spicy and Sophisticated...

I've actually waited a long time to wear this one, as I've been wearing Creed fragrances for a while now. I have also become a fan of sandalwood fragrances recently and am always happy to try out new fragrances. With Creed - Original Santal I get a very high quality opening which impresses me, except for the fact that I've smelled this before, namely in Individuel by Mont Blanc. I feel like this is the "elephant in the room" when it comes to Original Santal, because it's hard to justify a purchase for this one when you know that Individuel is available and is at least 70% or 80% similar. I could say that the Creed is somewhat more mature and spicy (and I have no doubt that they use quality ingredients), yet the similarities I feel are too great to ignore.

Having said that, I love the presentation that Creed offers, I love the made-up backstory and history etc (we love to be lied to really..) and I almost "buy in" to all of that. But ultimately, as with all fragrances from this house, it's worth it if money is of no issue to you. I do personally like this one, as I love the combination of spices and soft musk and the hints of sandalwood etc. which is a really great combination, however there are better sandalwood fragrances out there, better cinnamon fragrances out there, and better musk-like fragrances out there. I feel that there is nothing wrong at all with Original Santal as a standalone fragrance, but the fact that Individuel came out first and almost does what this does makes it hard to justify buying at full price. I will keep and use my decant but I'm not convinced to pay the full price for this (despite the fact that it is well blended etc.), and in this case, it's more of a "like" than a "love" for me.

06/28/2016

8.5
Scent 8
Longevity 8
Sillage

ScentFan
327 Reviews

ScentFan

Lost Love Found

The previous review of Original Santal reminded me I hadn't transferred mine from "Sniff Fest - Hubby's Collection" in the forum to the database.

9/22/15
The first time I went to a Creed counter and smelled the men’s perfumes, one caused such a reaction I’ll let my alter ego ScentGal tell about it. {CENSORED} Sorry, I can’t repeat that. Here’s the rub — not only did I ignore my reaction, I didn’t write down the name of the perfume! Ever since, I’ve been trying to find it. Was it this? Not sure. Was it just a fleeting moment, never to be matched? Original Santal obviously has sandalwood—mysore, thank you very much. The heart is lavender/herbal and the base rocks—cedar as well as sandalwood, ambergris and musk with vanilla and benzoin. All I know is the first sniff left me defenseless, like continued sniffing on skin almost does now. Eyes close. Thought stops. ScentGal returns and I have to censor her once more. The man who wears Original Santal is no seducer of young women. Women of all ages flock to him because he is fascinated by the fairer sex, adores their femininity and charm, wants to take them on his yacht and sail away. More’s the pity for just one yacht and just one lifetime.

8/21/2017
I asked the really knowledgeable salesclerk at the Creed counter today if the Mysore sandalwood in this fragrance is real. He assured me it was. He said Creed searches out and secures its raw materials to ensure future production of each scent. Australia is successfully growing this sandalwood now, in the vacuum left by india's reduced production.

06/25/2016

8
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Syed
9 Reviews

Syed

The Trail Of The Mystic Asia - Creed Original Santal

This is my first review of a perfume, hope all goes well. Will appreciate your feedback.

I was introduced to the niche side of perfumery via the Green Irish Tweed ( which i will also review later on ) and immediately became a devout Creed perfumes follower, Santal is my second foray into this newly found experience.

This fragrance was launched in 2005 by the House of Creed, and is still in circulation. 'Santal' is French for Sandalwood.

Touted as being an interpretation of the scent for Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary in the 19th century.

So here it goes......

a) Bottle : I would give this one a strong 9 on 10. Its the brilliant use of shades of red and slight yellow, that project a magnetic attraction. Frankly, it is what constantly allures me towards the bottle. The selection of this colour theme shows that Santal is by no means the clean, fresh, and green fragrance you have been looking for. The richly coloured and textured bottle invites you to the more sweet, tangy and spicy side of the mysticism of the sub-continent and is reminiscent of the 2 dominant notes in the perfume i.e. Cinnamon and Orange Tree.

Scent : Now about the juice, I would give it an 8 out of 10. For starters, kudos to Olivier Creed for such a bold divergence into unchartered territories.

This might just stand as a symbol of versatility in the House of Creed in its most accessible and mainstream form.

Now comes the first spray, and there is an instant burst of Orange Tree, Cinnamon and juniper berries at the start, which makes it have a very spiced up and wildly chaotic opening, after some time ( roughly 30 minutes or so ), we start getting a wisp of faint lavender, ginger and the still prevalent peppery aroma, however not a bit settled down.

Eventually, after a good 3-4 hours this scent settles into its base notes which are mild vanilla and as the name suggests a less over powering sandalwood and Creed- favourite ambergris.

Longevity: 8 out of 10. This would depend on the number of sprays and, the climate you live in.

I would have a good 3-4 sprays of this and it conveniently lasts for at least 5-6 hours, even though I live in a pretty hot climate.

Overall I would grade it 8.3 /10 ( a strong B ). This is a very good scent, to be used in the day in relatively cooler weather and at offices and even casual gatherings, but a definite NO for college hangouts.

End-note:
I have read a lot of reviews for Creed Santal, ranging between good to mediocre, but the critical point comes in its comparison to Mont Blanc's Individuel and Joop Homme, this happens owing to its similarity in its smell, and the precedence of their release to Santal, which have led many to believe that Santal is hugely inspired by the latter 2 perfumes, and at such a hefty price its better to rely on the aforementioned designer perfumes.

Well, people we are talking about a house that prides itself in producing perfumes from pure, non-synthetic extracts of flowers, woods, spices, citrus fruits and infusions of ambergris and vanilla, hence the claim of being expensive is self-justified. The similarity should end only with the kind of smell, there is just no other comparison.

In conclusion, Creed gives us one of the best and most original takes on Sandalwood fragrance. Buy it with an open mind and you might just find yourselves basking in the ancient spice routes of the mystical subcontinent.

Pls let me know how you feel about this review.....

1 Replies

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