Santal Noir Dior for women and men

Fragrantica needs to fix this

Santal Noir presents a dry, fragrant sandalwood accented by a delightful burst of rose sweetness in its top notes.
Its exceptional quality raw materials ensure remarkable projection and longevity, resulting in a linear scent experience.

The fragrance opens with a bright, fresh citrus spiciness from peppercorns (upon reading the description from Dior’s site - this might be Ambrette seeds), gradually transitioning to a smoky, warm aroma.
As it evolves, hints of Oriental spice with a touch of clove emerge, while the sandalwood remains the star, shifting from brightness upon application to creamy richness in the dry down.

This smells like an elegant and expensive Danish hotel, with all the natural wood and designer leather chairs

The notes?

This is a lovely spicy scent that's clearly crafted with precision and quality.



It's just not worth the asking price point, and doesn't offer enough uniqueness for being over $300. I think you could find something similar for much less.

This was actually my wedding perfume layered on top of ‘Gris Dior’. It’s a really smoky scent and combined with Gris, it really worked for me. Lasts a relatively good amount of time and projects well. Worth the money.

A beautifully spicy and smoky sandalwood mixed with a sweet and warm rose jam. Starts off musky and becomes spicier and sweeter as it dries down. This doesn't have that lactonic aspect a lot of sandalwoods lean into, which is a nice change.
Perfect for autumn & winter, definitely leaves a trail, my sample is beaming up quite loudly from wrist and it's been almost 4 hrs.
Full bottle worthy if the notes appeal to you.

It's interesting how much the scent develops on you, and you recognize it differently. When I initially bought a bottle, it was a spicy sandalwood with oriental style. Now I mostly feel the rose with a woody arab-oriental sandalwood as a companion, but not the main player. On my skin it goes strong for 4 hours and then disappears completely like a candle being shut down. I don't see any creaminess in sandalwood here, like many others mention. Sandalwood is smoky and dry inhere.

I'm not sure about the rumors of being discontinued, I just checked the dior Europe website (9th of November 2023) and it's available for purchase.

I find it different from Egosite. Boozy ambrette with sandalwood smoke. Dior is discontinuing good scents (New Look, Patchouli Imperial) and launching new cheap ones (Eden-Roc, Dioriviera).

This is a heavily smoky wood, where you smell the smoke in the air more than you do the actual wood. I can't really smell any rose, and I find it interesting that people are getting a creamy type of sandalwood. This is sharp flat-out smoke to me, with some type of sharp, almost herbal spice.

Scent - 5/10
Polarity - masculine
Projection - average
Longevity - average to good

Santal Noir, Maison Christian Dior
(0G01, 205 ml. out of 250 ml., USD 192)

Note breakdown from Dior website :
"Sandalwood, stirred by potent Ambrette and eloquent Turkish Rose"

First Impression.

Santal Noir very fine light Oriental fragrance. I think the blend is very addictive.
You get light but creamy sandalwood, with hint of Boozy Rose on top of a little sweetness of Ambrette musk.
Clove like, Cinnamon like - spicy note floating in the air around beautiful does of sandal wood, rose and ambrette musk. I also smell some think like oud accord as well. (like Oud-Fleur by Tom Ford)

It evoke strong Oriental side of fragrance without being too extreme.
This is more refine offering from Maison Christian Dior and I think this is a bit shame as it discontinued too soon.

This is doesn't really have strong MCD backbone, which is airy and cologne like.
This is cologne with substance, it reminds me note of cognac, boozy-rose, transparent sandalwood and warm spice.

I remember I smell something like this before quite a while but cannot exactly pin-point.

10/10 as first Impression

This makes me feel like a whore, in a great way!

I own a mini bottle that I got few years ago as an extra.

Generally speaking, soft and mellow sandalwood, totally unisex, additionally softened by ambrette. The latter reminds me partially of Dior Homme Intense (2011) regarding ambrette ONLY.

On my skin it is nicely developing also with a rose appearance. The rose itself gives a feminine touch, yes, but overall - this is a perfect unisex.

10 hours longevity, moderate sillage.

I like it but I've got quite a few sandalwood based scents I find being a lot better.

Nice sandalwood scent with a bit of spice and sweetness. Initially more masculine, in the dry down it becomes more sweet and feminine. Average longevity, pretty weak projection, which makes me question its value considering the steep price.

A gorgeous woodsy fragrance with a touch of rich warm woodsy rose (not sweet, jammy or sugary) and a spiced amber finish. Not sure why Fragrantica hasn’t updated the notes or has no accord list but the official notes are :
Turkish Rose
Ambrette
Sandalwood
And it’s classified as a spicy, oriental, woods, amber, floral fragrance. Light on the floral though. The rose is like a rose wood and rose combo and it supports the sandalwood and spiced amber gently but perfectly. So rich, warm, lush, without the screech of the arab cheapies.

OMG... I'm so in love with this musky rose- oh this is a very musky, zesty rose! I was talking to this woman at work today and she just started sniffing my neck in mid conversation-
It's not too masculine, and not too feminine-
This just smells so damn amazing!

Spicy, rosey goodness ⚘️

Wow Wow Wow
this is sooo good
I do get why some see a similarity to Santal Royal ( I really love this one) but they are different
I feel like it's closer to Chanel Egoiste. I would say it's modern version of it.

Out of the 3 I would say Dantal Noir is the best but it depends of your budget (from discounters)
if it's going to be your signature scent go for it, if you have a rotation then go for Guerlain or Chanel there is a difference but you wont really notice it

Chanel Egoiste is excellent for it's price +/- 100$
Guerlain Santal Royal is excellent for it's price +/- 160$
Dior Santal Noir excellent for it's price but hard to find and +/- 250$

I tested it , i liked it but it reminded me a lot of my Santal Royal from Guerlain so i did not need it.

Santal Noir marries light and dark as well as sweetness and spice into a sinuous olfactory escapade. A creamy, fragrant sandalwood is our protagonist in this adventure, locking horns with spicy ambrette that imparts a piquant, musky character.

This dark, spiced sandalwood is threaded through a core of Turkish rose that provides a wonderful sweetness to the composition. It's both jammy and delicate, a unforgettable supporting player that casts a shimmering sunset glow over the spice and woods. It rather reminds me of the way the rose elegantly bolsters the amber in another of Francois Demachy's celebrated creations: Ambre Nuit.

The fragrance is a fairly linear one but never fails to enthrall. Apart from the trinity of sandalwood, ambrette and rose, I get hints of spice and smoke. A light booziness emerges from time to time, almost as if the sandalwood itself has been saturated in a fragrant, spiced liqueur.

The wearing experience is cosy with lovely projection and sillage in the first couple of hours before it moves closer to the skin. It lingers for a long time, the spices and musks coalescing nicely to form a powdery patina.

Oke of my favorite sandalwood fragrances .
It has addicting something ,, a bit of sweet .
So well blended

This is a bad b*tch, dangerous loud woman type of fragrance. Everytime I wear this on my skin it makes me say "mmmmmm" like when you smell something heavenly. rating: 9.5/10

spicy sandalwood & sweet cinnamon

Wearing Santal Noir on one wrist and Acqua Di Parma Oud on the other and after three hours of wear, I'm surprised how similar they are!

I’m getting a spicy sandalwood from this and nothing else. Nice but not really worth searching for. Might let it sit for a while and see how it develops in a month or two.

Edit. Been wearing this on and off for a week now. I can now say for sure that the dry down does remind me of JML Velvet Rose & Oud. Lovely.

I have Guerlain Santal Royal and its one of my favourite perfumes. I applied a little on my left arm and went to the dior outlet and applied a little of santal noir on my right. They both last long and both are identical. Atleast to my nose both are absolute same. With same longevity, sillage and projection, I would choose guerlain cause its cheaper. Both are very good fragrances and top quality products.

This was a surprise to me I didn’t hear about it until I bought it and the truth is it’s actually fascinating
I enjoyed this one and there is nothing I would’ve added to it
It’s what I call a complete fragrance from all sides ready to be enjoyed by the wearer

This has a strong sweetness to it. There is a note of medjool dates at the heart of this perfume. Not sandalwood, not oud, not rose, but dense, chewy dates and maybe vanilla. Enveloping it is a well done Australian sandalwood (I think) and some spices, oud and rose. This smells wonderful when sprayed on a cloth with the sandalwood coming in waves, but on the body, the sweetness overpowers everything else. Overall I would say it’s too sweet for me. I can’t really tolerate overly sweet fragrances and Dior for me tends to be too sweet on average. But if you’re someone who likes gourmand, I would go for this.

Where are the notes for this?

Great fragrance! A much more wearable version of oud rosewood. As if it has been blended with a nice and creamy sandalwood fragrance with a hint of rose (and here I definitely get the comparisons with Chanel's Egoïste).
No resemblance to Guerlain's Santal Royal though.

Strange that this does not show any note breakdown?!?!?

I don't have an 'educated nose' but this is incredibly elegant. I get rose, sandalwood, oud and musk. Far exceeds Our Rosewood on my skin as that was headache inducing. This would work all year round and is completely unisex. A very accomplished fragrance.

Edited to say that whilst I really enjoy the first twenty minutes of this, there is a slight fag ash note to the dry down which I'm not enjoying. I do love smoke but not ash trays.

I got this just yesterday, it is a 2019 batch. I've read how the 2021 batch doesn't last long, I don't know about that.

It works really well with my skin, lasts a long while & projects very well. It has a very nice combination of ambrette, sandalwood and rose which comes out initially and lingers on for a good while for me. The rose isn't overbearing and super feminine, it is really nice and works well with the rest of the fragrance.

Works both in day and night, in my opinion I could wear this year round also (but, akin to every darker fragrance - its commonly seen as a winter/fall fragrance). I wore this today in super heat and it was amazing, kept catching whiffs of myself.

This fragrance is so beautifully unisex, this is truly the first fragrance that I could so perfectly envision being worn by both genders. My first private Dior fragrance.

EDIT:
One of my favourite fragrances of all time (in my collection and short time of trying, albeit). I love this!

EDIT2:
I am kicking myself for not getting a bigger bottle of this beautiful fragrance, it really is stunning.

Dark non-sweet, non-milky santal with potent dry musk, no rose as such at all, as some other reviewers experienced. I am big fan of rose, but I love my santal as well and prefer it as a monochrome solo performance. It has sarcastic, dry smile kind of vibe, at the same time some animalic undertones of musk sending warning signals to the business partners. I think it is very successful interpretation of a modern time predator and I wear it with pleasure at times when I need my confidence calibration.

This smells very similar to the drydown of Tom Ford Plum Japanais (discontinued). If you like Plum Japonais, I highly recommend this as an alternative that is still in production.

Very smooth fragrance, I like it a lot. Don't see any similarity with Santal Royal or Egoiste (really??). Instead, it reminds me of another smooth beauty - Indonesian Oud by Zegna. Since IO contains "oud", that is more sharp; while Santal Noir is creamy and more delicate. Smells rich. The drydown is a smell of a skin of a wealthy woman who hasn't worked a day.

Really nice Sandalwood, cozy and warm. I see no resemblance to Egoiste at all. Moderate longevity on skin ~4 hours but on clothes ~6. I’m glad I bought the 250 ml bottle as it’s the only size left on their website

I am sampling this and I was really loving it, especially bthe sandalwood/ambrette combo. But it's only 1-2 hours after I sprayed myself liberally and it's gone! I am bummed. I was thinking of buying it, but I think I will keep searching out a nice sandalwood.. I have a sample of Santal Sky on its way to me..

I bought mine on the US site like the reviewer below me and also get very poor performance from this. I love it so much but after 30 mins I can't smell it!!! Makes me so sad bc is gorgeous. The ambrette seed is so lovely and unique! As a female I think this leans just slightly more masculine but that doesn't stop me from loving it. It's just the poor longevity that breaks my heart. Maybe I'm anosmic to it.

Edit... Reviewing my review almost 2 years later... I don't know what it was about the circumstances at the time that made me anosmic to this bc this thing is a beast!! Incredible projection and longevity!! I did move to a complete different region of the US with a totally different climate so maybe that's it but whoa! Beast mode!

Love the sweet rose, ambrette, and creamy sandalwood opening. For whatever reason, however, this falls completely flat on my skin after about an hour and turns into just another generic woody scent.

I also don’t get the potency others mention. From the jump this sits close to the skin, and lasts 5 hours tops. Makes me wonder if Dior tinkered with this one, as I bought a recent batch from when they just started carrying it on their US site

Also, I’m confused by the comparisons to santal royale. They’re maybe 10% similar at the most

This is one of the better Maison Christian Dior releases. A beautiful concoction of Turkish Rose, Ambrette and Sandalwood which is extremely nice on the olfactory receptors. I love the dry down as it goes really smoky on my skin. It has extremely good silage, projection and longevity and I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this. Oh...

I also own Guerlain Santal Royal and it smells absolutely nothing like Santal Noir - there is absolutely no oud in Santal Noir whatsoever and if anyone tells you that they smell oud, then they obviously know sweet f#ck all about fragrance. ;) The only comparison between them is that they both have Santal in their name. ;) I think a few reviewers may be telling some wee pork pies that they have smelled both, because if they have, then they would also concur that there's no comparison. ;)

CONCLUSION | ★★★★
One of my favourite MCD releases. Recommended! ;)

This smells nothing like Guerlain Santal Royal. Santal Royal is a very rosy, animalic oud fragrance. Santal Noir is woodsy, creamy, and ambery. I much prefer Santal Noir because I can actually find times to wear it. This smells similar to The Last Day of Summer by Gucci. I do not see any real similarity with Chanel Egoiste. Not really sure how that comparison came to be...

Mmmmmm a sexy manly fragrance, very attractive and raw, perfect for a trip into the woods on a rainy day. I find the ambrette seeds to be a bit on the strong side and very bold, which gives this fragrance an "expensive" aura, like a fragrance meant for the wealthy only (which it probably is). I don't want to smell "rich." However I think that if worn out of the city this fragrance would work much better, like when driving a pick-up truck into the wilderness, the Stones on the radio and your boyfriend on your side :D

#ladylovesperfumes

Santal Noir,Maison Dior

A beautiful milky cosy scent of raw wood of Sandalwood which is combined with the black of Ambrette Seed, hence the name Noir.It contains hints of fruit, liqueur, amber and musk and on the top a very soft subtle scent of Turkish Rose.

It is the best woody perfume I own,I like it becauae its intense, sensual,milky,powerful with a great projection with 2 sprays and 10 hours longavity on my skin and few days on the clothes.I am thinking also for a backup bottle.

#ladylovesperfumes

Anyone have an unloved bottle?! Please DM me.

Big, bossy, classy lady. Stereotypical, but true. A grand lush swell of big plushy dark-rose notes pulsing over a durable, and surprisingly dark, underlay of a fair bit of decent sandalwood (or sandalwood-analogue) and a few slightly more bitter notes of oud and ambrette. There's a lot like it in various dimensions (Guerlain Santal Royal, Diptyque Oud Palao, SL Santal Majuscule) but the Dior holds its own for having a haughtier, more dramatic feel than any of those - it's more of an opera diva than a female CEO or a slumming-it heiress-gone-wrong. I get a bit nervy around prima-donna rose notes like this and so in total, this one is overall a little too piercing for my individual taste BUT there is absolutely no denying its charisma or attack. The initial cloud seems huge to me (across the room and beyond), sillage is unmistakable and powerful, and the lasting power is astonishing. As long as you don't mind being noticed, this wouldn't be out of place anywhere, its quality would bend almost anyone to its will, I think. The bottom end isn't dirty enough to make it unwearable in formal contexts, and while it's not at all shy the rose is well enough done not to cloy.

To be a bit vulgar - she's got some lungs on her, this one. Quite the powerhouse. I'm very impressed. (But still the lightly mellower charms of Santal Royal just edge it for me in this sort of territory.)

I was actually talked into bying this as the Dior-salesman said he had got so many compliments from this. It seems that this is one of the better Dior Maisson fragrances. I also enjoy Purple Oud. Which is the darker scents of the series among others. This is a rosy scent but the wood makes it smell darker and more masculine if you want. Pretty much in the same way as Portrait of a Lady does. Although this is a more simple straight scent. But not bad at all. I love it even if I'm not that fond of roses normally. It's only avaliable in some shops and for me I got a travel bottle of 45 ml in Stochholm. It's a very nice scent indeed,not loud, but has character. Probably best suited on a man like me over 50 or a woman over 30.

Rosy, woody (obviously) and along the lines of a bit of that 'rose tinted amber' drydown.

It's a typical 'modern Niche' take on sandalwood that started with Xerjoff's Richwood, a scent I think I rated a 5/10. I'm not a fan of these sort of 'rosewood' powdery scents.

To some, this sort of scent (and on testing maybe this variation) will be a sort of holy grail of woods but for me, I prefer gourmands and so unfortunately have to follow my own reasoinng and logic and will rate this exactly what I rated Richwood.

So yes, my review come from someone out of this scent genre, so plase don't heed my score as any level or measure of what you may feel. Just putting my thoughts on it out there.

My rating: 5/10
Scent Quality: 8/10

Notes : Sandalwood, Ambrette & Rose
Perfumer: François Demachy

Santal Noir is definitely a Sandalwood based fragrance but starts of with Rose and creamy Sandalwood combo. Ambrette is the magical note to this enchanting potion. As the fragrance develops on skin, it becomes musky, a bit boozy, fruit accord is also detected along with Tobacco. This was a blind buy for me and I am glad to have this in my collection.

A great sandalwood scent with a little fruit, musk from the ambrette and a little rose. It is largely sandalwood and I can see why other's might find this a bit meh.
I enjoy wearing it. I think it leans a little to the masculine so don't expect much in the way of sweet fruit notes or rose for that matter.
I would wear this for work.
A long lasting scent with average sillage. It's an easy to wear scent and easy to like.
I've got to admit Serge Lutens two sandalwood focused scents are still my faves. They have far more personality but if it's to wear to work then SN is perfect. It oozes class and sophistication.

Pepper and whatever. I'm sorry. Exclusive? Top of the line? Boring. Li ear. Fail. In my humble opinion

Extraordinary! This needs to be worn on skin to be fully understood and appreciated. Sandalwood, Ambrette and Rose combine to create a poetic and robust fragrance that is far more complex than the sum of its parts.

To me it smells like a fruity liqueur blast and velvety dry rose blanketed in a dense creamy almost gourmand like nuance. As the spicy Sandalwood becomes increasingly prominent, the creaminess develops into a waxy heaviness that rounds out the fragrance.

Perfectly unisex, its the kind of genius composition that will enhance both masculine and feminine attributes perfectly.

Its a scent that will certainly get noticed due to its decadent nature and obvious quality, if not for those reasons than definitely due to its projection, which for me is heavy for around 4.5 hours, longevity is 10+ hours and the sillage is prominent.
Without a doubt this is one of the most solid Maison Dior release since the classics.

10/10

This is a beautiful sandlewood fragrance easily my favourite sandlewood to date. I dont get much rose just a hint and lots of spice.
Lasts a solid 10-12 hours on me but just wish it would project better, feel as if the projection and sillage could be more powerful but its still a fantastic fragrance.

I’m getting oud, suede, sandalwood, rose, and some brighter notes- maybe some coriander in there? It’s also boozy. Whatever it is there’s way more going on than just sandalwood, rose and ambrette. The opening is great. It dries down to a warmer sweeter scent that is reminiscent of Lancôme’s Oud Bouquet, just lighter. It works in July heat and humidity so well! It will also complement fall sweaters and leather boots. I’m really falling for this one.

I like this scent, but I'm eager to get the latest, namely Spice Blend, currently only available in the U.K. It is supposed to be available in France starting with 1 July 2019. You can find out more about it from dior.com.

The rose and ambrette seed are dominating, followed by creamy/milky sandalwood, sweet fruity notes and a boozy accord. The combination is almost sickly sweet if not for the ambrette who counter fights with its bitter and vegetal smell. To my nose, this combination of sweet and vegetal doesn't quite work, there is something off putting. Though, in the late dry down, it remains a pretty easy to wear rose/sandalwood combo.
5.5/10

It reminds me of Ambre Nuit with an added tartness! Really enjoy it.

Thanks to the fragrantican directly below my review, I am sampling from a decant. Potent rose-oud that also manages to be smooth. Smells like quality with a big presence, especially when it’s projecting in the first couple of hours. The drydown gets even better with a warm resin amber note and more spices.

I own and love Les Absolus d'Orient Santal Royal from Guerlain, and yes, Santal Noir is similar. If I had a choice, I’d pick Santal Noir because the performance is better. There’s nothing sweet here, it leans spicy and more masculine than Santal Royal.

So if you’re frustrated by the current slough of Rose-Oud offerings, and if you can get your hands on Santal Noir, then take it for a test drive. This can easily last past the 10 hour mark, so spray lightly.

Now that I finally own a bottle of Santal Noir and have worn it several times, I can give this fragrance a proper review. Prior to trying this, my favorite fragrance was Ambre Nuit because of its perfect mix of ambrette and Turkish rose. The only thing that really lacked on that one was projection, I really wish it stuck out more.

After trying Santal Noir I kept thinking that this could be called Ambre Nuit Intense alternatively because it does carry the same ambrette and Turkish rose but it also corrects the short coming of Ambre Nuit. The sandalwood in Santal Noir perfectly wraps up this fragrance in a way that every time I get a whiff of it all I can say is WOW. This juice really projects well for several hours and lasts a long time on skin (15+ hours) and even more so on clothes (24+ hours). There is some musk and spice in the background of it and I think it makes this stand out even more.

I've been able to wear it to work a few times with some compliments and no complaints and of suffocating the room. This is also the first fragrance that my wife and I are sharing and we're both able to wear it with confidence. It probably won't be the last especially with all the other unisex fragrances that Dior has to offer (The Cachemire is probably the next).

Unfortunately Santal Noir is not available in America but exclusive to London and the Middle East for now. I've heard of one store in San Jose that had it but I think they received it by mistake. I bought the large 8.4 oz bottle from Harrods in London and I'm sure I won't regret it. A masterpiece by Dior.

Stunning creation from Dior! I’m getting a hint of Oud Ispahan out of the gate but the drydown is a wonderful rosey sandalwood. Ambre Nuit is my all time favorite Dior fragrance, this is now knocking on the door. I need to figure out how to get my hands on a FB.

@Mando I literally tried it today in San Jose, CA (Feb 2, 2019) Do you want me to get you in touch with my Dior SA to help you get it?

@OudAddict, it does come in 40ml. I own one :)

Question: Will this ever be available in the U.S.? Every time I have checked out this line here in the U.S. (West Coast), this one is never a part of the line.

Is it an exclusive for Europe? Dubai? What's up? Thanks for any info.

Sandalwood, Turkish rose, and ambrette. This is really warm, creamy creation by the master perfumer François Demachy. I prefer it much more than Ambre Nuit and it has an intoxicating effect on me that calms and soothes and makes me want to relax.

It will definitely be many people's favourite from the prive range, very classy and perfectly unisex. It's just a shame that it does not come in smaller bottle sizes (as is the case with the entire range).

Regarding distribution, I emailed Dior and they said that it is exclusive to the Middle East and Harrod's in London. However, it can be purchased directly from the UK Dior website.

I tried several of the bottles from this line today and this was the one that really gave me that WOW feeling. It is woody and smoky and feels really exclusive, at least on the paper as I did not spray it on my skin.

Scent: 9.5/10
Longevity: 9/10
Projection: 8.5/10

This is one of my favorite sandalwood fragrances, second only to my new fave Santal Sky, but definitely a goodie. A modern take on the Santal Majuscule without the overpowering notes. A fragrance for eves- for ladies more than men- in my opinion.

"Sandalwood is a sacred wood with warm, milky and comfortable nuances. I've shaken it up with potent Ambrette, which blends hints of fruit, liqueur, amber and musk. It gives this round, enveloping wood a good dose of energy, emphasized by a highly expressive Turkish Rose Essence.„
Quotes
FRANÇOIS DEMACHY,
Dior Perfumer-Creator

Mr. Demachy outdid himself with this very spiritual creation, It reminds me of being in a temple or in front of the Taj Mahal!
The Ambrette seed and the Turkish Rose is to die for...
It has been an absolute pleasure and Spiritual experience wearing Santal Noir...

Elegant, smooth, sophisticated and long lasting. Not entirely unique, but still very pleasing and well done. If it smells familiar to you, that's because it smells super close to Guerlain's Songe d'un Bois d'Ete. Fantastic fragrance.

Just wow! Big, rich, rose spiked with enough wood-resin notes to make it interesting and with a sweet rich undertow of amber. To me the rose is extremely dominant - at first I didn't really detect sandalwood at all. Yet, somehow, not super-feminine, more an unusually unisex and individual kind of rose scent. This is the end of the rose spectrum I love - dark, pillowy, not choke-you-out femme, though certainly strong. The sweetness is floral, not sugary, so it doesn't leave the garden for the kitchen to go full gourmand. Projection is strong though it dies back hard and longevity is impressive. Really glad to have tried this, but as a fanatic for real sandalwood, it's too flower-laden for real love just for me. But this is lovely, luxey stuff.

ETA: tried again and loved the overall scent more (deeply classy, impressive sillage, great longevity, and even more delicious than before.) This time around I got a leetle more sandalwood, but also a much much stronger presence of leather too. Why no note pyramid on this page? I'm a bit tormented and wonder if I'm getting all the wrong things from this. Anyway - it's pretty damn gorgeous no matter what's in it.

The poster that claims this smells like Guerlain Santal should honestly have an asterisk next to any further comparisons.

They have absolutely no similarity in any way shape or form. It’s disturbing some of the misleading posts people make on here...oh they both contain the word ‘santal’ Yeah that’ll do I’ll click that they smell similar and include it in my review.

Santal Noir: A semi-gourmandish sweet jammy creamy slightly rosy sandalwood.

starts off sweet boozy and jammy. i get an orange/fruit jam with a slightly creamy vibe that gives me an image of fruit jam with cupcakes. its not a full-on gourmand though neither is it too sweet. The rose is there and its jammy but its not too prominent. the sandalwood appears more and more as it dries down. its not a sharp/medicinal sandalwood though.
its very very different from oud ispahan. also different from santal royal and ambre nuit

Both projection and longevity are very good.

Overall score: 8.4/10

A very strong projector! The fragrance itself didnt come across as unique to me. I am getting more of a ambretta and ambergris type of mixed accord. The juice is on some serious steriods, that makes it a bit annoying. Even after hours people comment me on one spray that the smell is strong. It’s this potent.

I don’t think this is really sandalwood centred. As such I didn’t like it much. A lot like Guerlain Santal. Guerlain Encens d’orient is a better contented in this genre. Pass here.

My top favourite from Maison Christian Dior lineup. Excellent performance and a beautiful fragrance. 10/10

Santal Noir is a member of Dior’s newly-branded Maison Christian Dior collection, formerly the Dior Privee collection, and it’s a new release, not a carryover from the Privee. Its official description on the Dior website includes notes of sandalwood, ambrette, and Turkish rose. Unsurprisingly for me, the rose takes center stage initially, it being a note that I tend to sniff out rather easily, as I love it. Certainly there’s a wee bit of sandalwood, but the ambrette is the wildcard for me, providing a creamy, sweet, slightly biting, almost liqueur-like vibe, as the Dior site itself states verbatim. I’m not sure I fully rasp ambrette as I’ve only smelled it prominently as part of a handful of fragrances, but it’s surely a significant modifier in Santal Noir as it seems to represent a whole lot of what is going on beyond the sandalwood and rose.

Its performance is strong, boasting what I perceive as a few feet of projection for several hours, and lasting hours more, still to be determined, but it meets the high expectations of cold-weather-leaning Dior Privee Fragrances that have led the way (Oud Isapahan, Mitzah, Feve Delicieuse, etc.).

At $220 for 125ml, the MCD collection’s new members are fairly priced, a great value for superb fragrances. While I’d put Santal Noir in the “love” category, it’s on the low end, and unlike Balade Sauvage, I’m not keen to go out and buy a bottle after my first wearing, though I’ll continue to try my decant more.

Santal Noir has the distinction, at least for now, of having a listing on the Dior website but not being for sale online. Other entries, like Purple Oud, don’t seem to present on the website at all.

Santal Noir has a useful place in this collection, a fragrance that’s not strictly rosy or sugary or nutty but perhaps somewhere at the intersection of all of these, and I imagine it’ll be reasonably popular, perhaps attracting some for whom Feve Delicieuse or Oud Ispahan do not satisfy.

8 out of 10

Lol at average performance, you clearly don’t own it

A dull offering.

Average performance.

Rose. Sandalwood. Yawn.

Nothingness

Dear all,

I hope everyone is doing well. I would like to give my own opinion of the latest 10 Dior products from the private collection includong Purple Pud and Santal noir. I respect everybody’s opinion and i am judging based on my nose.

Starting with both Purple Oud (PO) and Santal noir (SN). They are both smell differently and i would say they are almost new to dior collection especially PO.

Purple Oud smells definitely Oud and no one can mistake that there is an orange note there. This fragrance smells new to dior collection, but not new to the market. This product resembles one of the best selling in the private collection products in Chanel. I would say 70% resembles Sycamore. So, i would expect the selling could be high for this product.

On the other side, SN is not really new perfume smells, although it seems new only from the opening notes. Santal noir contains sandalwood and musk. There is also a very sweet component which i would expect to be Amber. I feel Amber is being overly used although i like sweet perfumes. I am an experience man on musk component and i feel the musk is used in this product “”may”” not be in very high quality. This product seems to be resembling a combination of “”” Ambre nuit and Feve delicieuse”. I would expect this product will be selling high because many people prefer ambre nuit.

Both product I just mention have longer longevity compared with the 8 products released 2018. However, they do not last long like Oud Ispahan.

Talking briefly about the new 8 products.
In my humble opinion, they are not my cup of tea. I feel that Francois is repeating himself. Each new fragrance is inspired from an older version from dior products with small manipulation. For example Tera Bella is a repeat of portifino with some alteration in the notes. Lucky is a repeat of diorsimo but maybe more bargemot is being added. Dioramour is a replication of Dior home. The only new fragrances from the 10 new products I would say ( purple Oud, Sakura “ cherry” , and savage balad “ fig” ).
I was expecting more from Francois, but I still respect his work. He already created many perfumes that stayed in the market since 1947.
My expectation was a bit high because:
1- I was expecting to produce new scents that they don’t exist in the market.
2- i was expecting to produce 1 or 2 new fragrances instead of 10 at once. ( it seems to me producing 10 different perfumes at once can cover many people’s taste. It also seems to be profitable idea in the market. “ Louis vouitton launched 10 perfumes at once in the market, and I don’t like companies copying others ideas and deliver it to people.
3- if this is the scenario of producing 10 at once, at least I was expecting to produce 5 lighter scents and other strong scents , so many people can enjoy.


“ I guess Lancôme and Tomford were the first companies who produced scents that contains chestnuts. “ that kind of idea I am looking for.

I am suggesting to start simple and produce Yalang yalang with “ new item that haven’t been explored in the market”.

Or Oud, cardamom, rose, amber and a signature “chocolate”. Or add milky creamy component. Sometimes if we want to go with normal repeated scents, then we should talk about higher quality.


I am planing to start my own small scale perfume collection by next year. My ideas will be different than today’s designers. I am going to produce perfumes characterized to 5 features of each different person. It’s more like personalized perfume. Hope i can succeed and deliver my ideas.

“ I still respect designers work, but recently I am against competing with others in the market, just to get profit”.

The idea of producing different versions of one perfume is really based on marketing. Dior homme the classic is super nice and unique perfume in the market, why do we need to make sport, cologn, and intense version? The only thing I can think of is to widen th range to cover more people taste and increase the marketing of that successful products. The other thing that comes to my mind, is that it is easier to manipulate a scent and twist it instead of creating a new fragrance from the scratch.
For examples;
Dior sauvage.
Chanel coco madmoisel intense,,, etc.
Chanel blue intense “ coming soon”.
And many other exampels .... etc.

Sorry to make it long, and excuse my spelling.
I hope my description is helpful to many people.

Thank you,

Prot_T.

Seems like this and purple oud are exclusivly sell in middle east.

This one was my favourite of the new private collection, an instant buy. Definitely sweet, very long lasting, easily unisex. It smells like Dior’s version of Lutens Santal Majuscule

I smell it Dior poetic city walk in Dubai I love it. It has good projection and it’s very long lasting.

10/10