01/23/2022
Drseid
819 Reviews
Drseid
4
A Meditative Journey Laced With Wonder...
Sanctum opens with natural smelling slightly bitter lemon with underlying radiant frankincense support before slowly transitioning to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the slightly bitter lemon remains as co-star to the now focal radiant frankincense, joined by initially supporting peppermint that gradually trades places with the lemon as co-star as time passes, with the now supporting lemon gradually melding with fresh herbal chamomile, slightly honeyed rose de mai and and dry sandalwood late. During the late dry-down most of the earlier aromatics vacate leaving relatively dry sandalwood and resinous vanilla-like tolu balsam on hand through the finish. Projection is below average and longevity average at 7-8 hours on skin.
Santum on first glance comes off as a fine example of a frankincense focused perfume. While it certainly is that at its core, there really is so much more to the perfume. First off, unlike most frankincense perfumes it is very personal in its demeanor, never projecting more than a few inches off skin. If someone comes close to the wearer they will smell it, but otherwise it is primarily a perfume for one's own enjoyment. With its amazing transition of initially pairing gorgeous slightly bitter lemon, then peppermint and other subtle herbs and florals with the frankincense Sanctum adds a bit of mystery and sophistication rarely found by its peers. In fact, it took a few wears to realize what I initially thought was just peppermint taking the fore and the lemon shifting to support late, to discover the transition actually involved a subtle herbal chamomile that once you notice it, can't be ignored. Finally adding the stark, dry sandalwood to the mix in the late dry-down provides the perfect finish for the perfume's all too brief longevity. The bottom line is the $90 per 30ml bottle Sanctum is a near-perfect introspective, then meditative journey for the wearer yielding many pleasant surprises along the way, earning an "outstanding" 4.5 stars out of 5 rating and an extremely strong recommendation (and a purchase) from me.
Santum on first glance comes off as a fine example of a frankincense focused perfume. While it certainly is that at its core, there really is so much more to the perfume. First off, unlike most frankincense perfumes it is very personal in its demeanor, never projecting more than a few inches off skin. If someone comes close to the wearer they will smell it, but otherwise it is primarily a perfume for one's own enjoyment. With its amazing transition of initially pairing gorgeous slightly bitter lemon, then peppermint and other subtle herbs and florals with the frankincense Sanctum adds a bit of mystery and sophistication rarely found by its peers. In fact, it took a few wears to realize what I initially thought was just peppermint taking the fore and the lemon shifting to support late, to discover the transition actually involved a subtle herbal chamomile that once you notice it, can't be ignored. Finally adding the stark, dry sandalwood to the mix in the late dry-down provides the perfect finish for the perfume's all too brief longevity. The bottom line is the $90 per 30ml bottle Sanctum is a near-perfect introspective, then meditative journey for the wearer yielding many pleasant surprises along the way, earning an "outstanding" 4.5 stars out of 5 rating and an extremely strong recommendation (and a purchase) from me.