Molecule 04 Escentric Molecules for women and men

Sweet, powdery, dusky and delicate sandalwood.
Definitely rosey, a bit potpourri.

VERDICT: I don't like this brand. It just feels like a marketing gimmick rather than genuinely good fragrance.

Fully anosmic to this, I can easily smell Molecule 01 and 02. Try before you buy.

I love rose & sandalwood and adore the sense of warm creaminess that the combination of them provide here. It's not a complex fragrance, yet I don't mind because the authentic-seeming accord provides a comforting feel - a cuddle in a bottle.

Grapefruit? I do sometimes detect a metallic tang interwoven with the rose & sandalwood, but it doesn't remind me of grapefruit or other citrus; instead it brings to mind pencil lead, rather like Escentric 01.


I think that the scent itself is lovely - I enjoy it much more than Escentric 01. The aura also packs more of a punch in comparison with Escentric 01, but I have the same complaint as I did for Escentric 01; the fragrance seems to randomly 'hide' for a while, before randomly becoming detectable for a minute or two, then disappearing again. I wear fragrance for myself to enjoy and I find this type of composition frustrating, since I can't detect it on myself most of the weartime.

Like Escentric 01, I think that Molecule 04 layers really well with Jennifer Lopez's Promise. Another favourite combination I've recently found is Britney Spears Naked Fantasy.

Is this discontinued? So hard to find. No stock everywhere I look.

To me it starts off with a woodyness, almost like a printer paper type of smell, but then it just smells like rose water for the rest of the wearing on me, it sure does remind me of that “old people smell”.

Got a decant so other than maybe it not being the actual fragrance I have to say this is absolutely awful to my nose. Does not smell like a fragrance in anyway. It’s like a blast of the most acidic vinegar like industrial cleaner or solvent. Hours and hours later I could catch a whiff of what could be considered a creamy sandalwood but it was so fleeting. I love sandalwood this stuff to me was absolutely noxious.

I recently purchased a 5ml decent of this. When it arrived in the mail, I excitedly sprayed it on a strip. It was interesting, but sort of faded away after a minute. So I applied a single, full spray on my right inner forearm, put on my jacket, and went off to the gym. What ensued for the next 36 hours was nothing short of an inescapable nuclear gagfest. What in the name of fu3k is this? To me, this is a bizarre, alien olfactory attack. It’s metallic, it’s sour, it’s sharp, it morphs into an old basement uncle… and it’s fu3king everywhere all at once. People who say this sh1t fades away quickly or comes and goes must have a massive sinus infection. Seriously, please see a doctor. I sweat my guts out at the gym—I saturate my clothing. I figured if I scrubbed my skin with a dry towel, followed by a sauna, followed by a soapy shower with more targeted wet-scrubbing, I’d be able to return to normal life. NO. Just no. I don’t get it. I wiped my skin with white tequila. I think the fu3king javanol made the tequila lose its smell. This sh1t is industrial. It latched to my DNA—that’s the only thing I can think of. It fu3king ruined my jacket. I washed my jacket—IM NOT JOKING—and it still smells like I recently sprayed it. It’s now three days later. I wore the same jacket with a short sleeve shirt today, and I can smell this sh1t on my skin again. How is that possible? Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if in 20 years the Environmental Protection Agency discovers this is a biotoxin. I own sandalwood-based fragrances—in fact I made two of my own variations at Olfactory NYC. This javanol sh1t—I just don’t know what the fu3k this is. This is NOT NOT NOT nice, smooth, relaxed vanillic sandalwood. When I told my wife to smell my arm (with a straight face, normal intonation) after the initial whiff she looked up at me, screwed face, confused/disgusted, “BRO”. That’s all she said. But on the upside, performance is amazing, right?

super dry sandalwood and its very clean i like it a lot

I can not smell this. ): Not on skin, clothes, or paper. Even if I spray once on my wrist or clothes and try to get wafts of it throughout the day, I never do. Molecule 02 disappears too, but I can smell that one when it heats up on my body.

I really don't care what others have to say

This molecule 04 (not the escentric 04 version) is my absolute FAVORITE woody fragrance. Most times with woody notes I get "charred bbq wood chip" smell

But this one ON ME
Is very creeeamy
Blends with most of my other fragrances and adds some character to my not so serious fragrances.

Its a beast in the hotter weather of course but i use sparingly because its very strong. Literally all i need is 2 to 3 sprays .

Really good. Repeat purchase for me

Some people can’t smell this at all. For me this is the strongest of all the molecule fragrances. It is so strong at first spray that it is almost offensive to me, with a floral top note. After a few minutes the top calms down and it becomes a nice creamy woody smell with a light spice. The power of this fragrance remains for hours and I can still smell it even after a shower! For me this is Beast Mode.

Its a woody with a citrus element. I mostly layer it.

Sandalwood bomb with a bitter citrus note, not my vibe.

Why would anyone want to smell like this. This is the worst fragrance I’ve ever smelt. It smells like a moldy dry lumber. I sprayed it on a coat, and everybody that walk by was asking what’s that weird smell. It’s beastly and lasts forever. 0/10 scrubber. I never smelled any fragrance this bad.

I recently purchased the travel spray set of all the original Molecule scents. I already have Molecule 01, but I heard a lot of people like 02 and 04 even more. Molecule 04 is cozy, it reminds me a lot of Missing Person and Bois de Balincourt. I’ll have to try layering this with those to help them project more.

As with all these molecular scents, they project big time even though I can’t always smell them directly on my skin. I learned that a couple of sprays is sufficient. People will smell it.

i don’t know about “liquid metallic grapefruit peel were poured over a bed of velvety cream-coloured roses”. Smells like skin. Tad creamy. Showered skin. When you want to smell like you naturally smell good. It’s giving…. nothing. This is cocooning.

Creamy, deep, wild, everlasting. If you think it's weak you got used to it, and I know cause I had the same feeling a few times but then I smelt it on other people 5 meters away and immediately recognised it. I personally love it, it's all I could ask from sandalwood and also I've been into molecule-like chemical perfumes lately - this is the future IMO. My personal judgement is: sillage is moderate on a subjective level and longevity is cca 30hrs if you dont put anything else after it. Top of the molecule line followed by molecule 2.

for whatever reason this lasted only about an hour and a half on me. it smelled really synthetic and terrible for the first 5 minutes, but then faded into almost a...new car smell skin scent? it was definitely pleasant, i suppose.

This is a very long lasting scent that gets me lots of compliments. I did notice that the sample I got was 100 times better than the full bottle. The sample was extremely smooth and creamy almost. The full bottle however was very very sharp. Like everyone states the first 10 seconds as extremely alchol strong but it goes away pretty quickly. Im, stuck because I do enjoy the scent but compared to the sample its a night and day difference. One of them makes me want to smell more and more while the full bottle is a little harsh, while it smells good its a little air freshener like. Almost something you would spray in the bathroom. Probably not worth $60 but if youre looking for longevity it does the trick, you may go nose blind though. Coworker always says they can tell when im coming because the smell travels so far.

This is the strongest and longest lasting of the entire Molecule line. The smell reminds me of a citrus-scented cleaning product (in a good way); however, I don't really consider javanol to be in any way related to sandalwood. Worth a sample but don't expect pencil shavings!

Javanol...
Simple, creamy, slightly musky, and fun to layer with. If you're a fan of sandalwood or like to layer your fragrances check this out.

Like clean sheets under the sun. Amazing subtle fragrance, very airy and lasts incredibly long

I love this. For me, I get beautiful clean musky sandalwood that's creamy, airy, yet somehow thick... aroma so dense i swear i could cut it in half with a knife. . . At first i didnt get it, if anything it was ever so slight and faint -- except maceration transformed it.. this aroma hovers and amplifies with heat and also sweat.
I wear it on its own but I do love to layer with fragrances that also have sandalwood in it. Honestly I have this fragrance, escentric molecule 04, and molecule 02.
I prefer this one out of the 3 I have and yet it is my smallest bottle. When finished or close to empty, i will definitely repurchase.
I feel for those that just couldnt like it at all. For me its simply what i wished my B.O would smell like 😆. I also layer this with my ever so loving burberry goddess. . I'm super happy with it.

This beauty doesn’t deserve all the bad reviews regarding it’s performance. This is NUCLEAR. Believe me. 24 hours longevity and decent sillage. If you all go nose blind to it, that doesn’t mean that it is not projecting. Bunch of amateurs.

Sandalwood-like javanol is the aromachemical concerned in Molecule 04, a scent that I have been keen to try as I love sandalwood, particularly Mysore sandalwood which is now sadly relegated to vintage scents as it has been restricted. However, after the undeniable vetiver of Molecule 03, M04 seems closer to the abstract minimalism of Molecule 01 and 02. I couldn't smell anything on initial spray, and wondered if I was anosmic to this on my own skin, as is the case with M01 and M02. I needn't have worried. It emerges after a few minutes and lingers for a very long time.

M04 is undeniably woody. It is smooth, creamy and a little musky, but quite synthetic. This sounds comparable to the ambroxan of Molecule 02, but M04 is less skin-like, less salty and less animalic. It does resemble sandalwood somewhat, but is much more subtle and synthetic than the harsh Australian sandalwood that is used in modern perfumes that feature sandalwood. I wonder about the perception of javanol - some reviewers below suggest that it has powerful performance, but it is fairly subtle to my nose. It lingers however - it is still detectable 12 hours after I spray it. Sillage is moderate and longevity is eternal.

M04 is a simple, pleasant but synthetic woody scent. It is unisex and can be worn year-round. I can understand why this doesn't work for some people - it remains constant, smells synthetic and lingers for a long time, overstaying its welcome. I tired of it long before it disappeared. I find it reasonably pleasant overall, but abstract minimalism artistry aside, Escentric Molecules are not really my thing - I prefer more complex, less synthetic compositions. The ambroxan of M02 is definitely my favourite, but this is not bad. 2.5/5.

I bought decant on fragrancenet and I can't smell a thing. Nothing.

This may be the most potent fragrance sample I own. I can't stand to apply more than one drop of it. 6 months later my purse still smells like this after I only carried around the sample bottle within another bag.
I don't really get sandalwood from Javanol, but thank goodness I still think it's a pretty scent. If I didn't like it my purse would be ruined. Definitely proceed with caution!

I didn't like this one.I like the "escentric 04" version a little better. But I generally do not like the smell of javanol on its own. Got a decant of it a while back. To me it doesn't smell like sandalwood, just a cheap synthetic interpretation of sandalwood. I actually hated it.
But it lasts a very very long time. I dumped my decant into the toilet and flushed. My bathroom smelled like javanol for 3 months, maybe more. I could not get rid of the smell.

People aren't kidding when they say it's eternal. I sprayed my wrist yesterday afternoon and I can still smell that single spray at lunchtime! Luckily I love this, it's a creamy sandalwood, very very wearable and comforting. Glad I got this before autumn as I'm sure I will be wearing it a lot this season! It's not overpowering though, I don't smell it for a while and then it pops up again and reminds me that it's still definitely around! I would say it's only slightly more feminine because of the sweetness, but it really is truly unisex. I understand that skin chemistry is a big part of this one, so definitely get a tester before buying.

Amazing scent! As a hard fan of Molecule 01, I finally got to smell other molecules at the Istanbul airport during my transit. So basically I sprayed all these Molecules and Escentrics all over my body and went into my flight. One stood out particularly, which was Escentric 04.
What an amazing scent. It stood out by its top notes, but I wasnt sold yet. Only when I was in the air I started noticing this fresh wooden aura around me. Now it was time to figure out which of the escentric molecules that was since I sprayed them all over everywhere. After some thourough sniffing I found the spot and remembered it was E04. I wanted to immediately purchase it, but then I remembered there was also a Molecule version.
On my way back I again had an transfer at Istanbul Airport and I sprayed each arm separately with M04 and E04.
This was an mistake, because I like them both A LOT. Eventually ended up buying them both..

The sillage being created by the Javanol. The aura around the wearer. The mistique behaviour of the scent.
Truly a tribute to modern perfumes!

I love this fragrance but I can't smell it on me. Only spray on clothes and bedding.
Has anyone found a solution to resolve the anosmia?
I tried to dilute it in grain alcohol, but even weaker I don't smell it. Sometimes I feel like I'm hinting at the air, but it doesn't last more than a few minutes.
BTW, one of the most complimented fragrances I own.

The more i use this layered with other fragrances, the more i realize i do not need other fragrances.
It's crazy how powerful and long-lasting this is. The scent tone is more comforting than almost anything i own outside of my vanilla fragrances.

After all the disappointing, short-lived, non-projecting, weak fragrances I've wasted money on.... Molecule-04 continues to show its absolute dominance in my fragrance collection.
Gonna order another backup bottle later today.
This will be bottle #3.

Freshness, then pencil shavings. The end.

This fragrance is so powdery and suede-like, it immediately made me think of Versace Crystal Noir and the smooth cashmeran sandalwood dry-down. I generally prefer my sandalwood notes to be more aromatic and spicy than this sweet, powdery version, so to my imagination this is a luxurious suede with in a cloud of sandalwood incense rather than fresh sandalwood chips.

The longevity of this is bonkers - I could smell it on my sheets the next day.

I think this is a wonderful option for experimenting with layering - this could easily powder down something with a neon or screechy note.

The box I bought was factory-sealed.

And I could easily smell the Javanol before I even opened the box, which initially gave me pause.

I went with the smallest spritz for its initial wearing - I didn’t want anyone in the vicinity to pass out from the fumes.

So, what’s it like? It smells like Mysore sandalwood, albeit less arid, and more transparent, with a sweet grapefruit (?!) effect up top, and some unexpected rosiness in the mids (the perfumer mentions the citrus and rose angles on the brand’s website - and my personal experience confirms this). Perhaps it’s a little rounder and sweeter than its natural counterpart but your mileage may vary.

Longevity seems to be eternal. Accidentally get it on fabric be prepared to live with the ghost of sandalwood through the next few washes.

It lasts for days, I would get whiffs of it even after 3 days. Kind of don't want to use it because it's so strong.

Beautiful fragrance. It works well on my skin, and I can easily feel the Javanol molecule. It lasts a long time on the skin, and on clothes I believe that it only comes off after many washes and, even so, it should be felt for weeks or months. On my skin, it resists a shower and a night's sleep, being noticeable for more than 24 hours, despite not having a good sillage at this stage. Clean fragrance, very transparent and light, despite clearly being a very high quality sandalwood. It reminds me of the sandalwood present in Chanel Égoïste, apart from the Rose and the touch of Cinnamon, it is very similar. Including the effect of Aldehydes. Recommended to test first.

That’s one of those few scents nowadays which is noticed by my environment! Great signature scent if you want to be recognizable… before you literally enter a room!! That makes a huge I mean HUGE impact!

If you wearing this and left a room, it will stay there forever!!!
Longevity- 10/10
Sillage 10/10
Very linear scent.

Very clean, simple scent. I have been told it smells like plumeria, but more frequently people say I smell like I’m “fresh out of the shower.” I go noseblind to it in the sense that unless I’m consciously trying to smell my perfume, I don’t notice it. That being said, other people can smell it from over 10ft away, particularly when the surrounding temperature is warm. I have had no complaints from anyone about it being an overpowering smell, but I still spray very lightly. Just because you can’t smell it anymore doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t. My mom wore this once, one spray on her wrists, and I smelled a faint freshness from across the house when she walked in the door. Despite this, she was unable to smell it on herself any more.

I love the smell but I have to say that this stuff is way too strong. Im talking you spray it in the air and your room smells like sandalwood for the next week. When I first wore this one, I sprayed it once on my forearm right before going to bed. Woke up and forgot to spray something on then went to work and by the time it was on my skin for about 12 hrs one of my coworkers tells me that he can smell it and that the projection was very strong. Just goes to show how strong and long-lasting it is. This stuff is so strong that it is actually a major con for me. I can't wear this without thinking that it'll probably last days and annoy people around me with its nuclear projection which is why I don't reach for it. It smells fantastic though. 7/10

I've had this for a while now, but I guess being a single note I never bothered to review it. But yesterday, I was looking for a very specific feel for a scent. To go out in. Something really unisex, woody, but soft and light, something that can surround you like a cloud and not overwhelm anyone in close proximity yet still be delicious and very "me" - meaning, very gender neutral, woody, amazing materials. (My signature embers is most me, but it is not subtle to say the least.) So after smelling several samples this one stood out the most and it was perfect. So light and fluffy but creamy and woody. Absolutely gorgeous. I'll see if I crave this again - might just have to buy it!

I tested this on in-store yesterday on top of my beloved Burberry “Her Elixir”, and I’m honestly blown away at how good this is 😍 Even after a full day (and a shower) there’s still a whiff of sweet and creamy sandalwood 👏🏻

Need to get my hands on a tester, will update my review later if I can remember lol.

‼️ Important update: A few days after writing my initial review, I bought a 100 ml. bottle and this is now a firm favourite, and my boyfriend's go-to scent 🌟
• This scent is soft and comforting like a dreamy fluffy sandalwood cloud ☁️
• Longevity is eternal 💥 It managed to rub off on my friend's coat after it hung next to mine for a few hours. Sillage is enormous, so even if you go anosmic, be assured everyone else can still enjoy the scent 👏🏻
• Criminally underrated ⚠️

It’s nice but it is definitively very masculine so I won’t keep it in my collection.
This is a longevity monster! It did not want to leave my skin! Even after scrubbing with soap in the shower it was still on my skin! I couldn’t believe it. Lol
The masculine will enjoy this so much, especially for layering with weaker preforming scents.
I do recommend this.

So far my favorites are:
•Molecule 1&2 (will forever be in my collection)
•Molecule + Iris ( forever in my collection!)
These are blind buy worthy!

For just being javanol in alcohol this smells actually great. I guess some people smell it in a different way? For me, it smells really good. A familiar sandalwood smell with a very, very understated soapy vibe when inhaling deeply. Smells like sandalwood notes in other fragrances otherwise.

Do people actually dislike this? Because I'm inclined to wear this or at least wear a fragrance which has this as a major note. Reviews are all over the place.

Really lovely stuff and my favorite from the line although I love the OG as well

To be honest though the first couple of times I tried this I hated this!! Word to the wise when you first buy this I’d spray this about 3-5 times and shake the bottle and then let this set for 2-3 months as this smells very sharp,cheap and like some sort of cleaner at first but once this juice settles it’s heavenly and smooth!!

The smell is a very light BUT present,creamy,warm but also very transparent smell that just smells heavenly in the air ! It’s odd that this scent is cozy,warm but refreshing and light all at the same time which to me makes it unique ! For that reason it works well all seasons and despite the warmth and woodiness it actually smells better in warm weather.

Again the more the bottle sits the better this stuff smells !!

Performance on this is VERY good (even with 1-3 sprays) as it lasts on me 24+ hours and at times when I thought it was gone I was then complimented ! This also has noticeable but not overbearing projection but again 3 sprays is PLENTY!!

A friend of mine said she thought it smelled like a fresh,clean and light professional scent that was also kind of sexy !!

This also is even more heavenly when I layer this w/ molecule 01. I’ve received the most compliments with 2 sprays of 01 and 1 spray of Molecule 04.

Overall rating -9 out of 10 !! Heavenly smell that admittedly I think people around you will enjoy more than you will yourself just for the fact it’s so easy to think this stuff is gone when in fact it’s very noticeable

I thought it smelled kinda good at the start. But I've been having the worst headaches from this one. Nauseating. Love m01, but I gotta give this one a hard pass.

Молекула 04 для меня - это очень странный аромат. Сразу после нанесения я слышу, что от меня пахнет, как от провинциального мужчины с ароматом дешёвого парфюма, который летом вспотнул, сел в маршрутку, и на весь салон слышится шлейф. И это мне не нравится. Но и вместе с тем, продираясь через этот аромат, на коже сидит, что-то очень мягкое и обволакивающее. Что-то очень теплое и нежное. Приятный пудровый аромат. Конкретно на мне он слышится совсем около кожи и как такового шлейфа не оставляет, чему я в данном случае рада. Потому что мне кажется, тут на интенсивность шлейфа будет влиять тот факт, насколько вам тепло или жарко. Хорошо, что он мне достался в виде пробника. Возможно, я попробую его поносить, когда будет теплее и жарче ради эксперимента, но не думаю, что что-то кардинально изменится. Просто не мой аромат.

This is a really beastmode fragrance and it caused you nose-blind right away, a few people say this is like molecule 01, cuz only few people can smell it, i only sprayed it once on my neck, and it disappear after 1 hour or so, so I was disappointed OFC, but everyone in my office (a big semi-open space) was talking about this creamy woody fragrance they was smelling everywhere, so never thought it was about mine, and as soon as I came back to home, there it was this powerful creamy smell all over the place, INSANE! BEEN TOLD that there is this combination, mixing molecule 04 with molecule 01 and 02 and you gonna smell incredible for days, so I'm gonna try it!

Omfg this is SO STRONG and the longest lasting perfume I’ve ever encountered. I literally did 1 small spray months ago but I can STILL smell it on my clothing (that I’ve washed several times!)! Every time I open my dresser I get a whiff of sandalwood. Honestly I’m not sure where I can wear this since even 1 spray can fill an entire building and I don’t want to choke people out.

Very faint smelling to me and i have a good nose for fragrances…every time i spray it i get strange wiffs of like garbage or something weird like nasty sewage smell…am i the only one who thinks it stinks…even when i mix with other fragrances i can smell nasty garbage…anyone else?

The most insane projection & sillage you will ever get from a fragrance. You might not smell it but others definitely will. 1 spray will fill a whole warehouse!

It made me realize sandalwood is the note I like the most in all perfumes I own. This is that note that makes me roll my eyes back in my head. Beast mode fragrance 10/10

huge fan of M01 so I got some testers and this was one. pretty much echoing others' reviews, I can't smell this. I smell the alcohol when I spray it and then... nothing. when I'm not trying to smell it, I get the faintest hint of a woody aroma but if I try to smell it I get nothing. it's bizarre. but from the tiniest, faintest whiff I do get, I think it smells good.

After loving Molecule 01 and not being able to smell 02 at ALL, I had to try the one that emulates one of my favourite notes: sandalwood, in the hopes that I could smell this one.
At first there is the typical sharp blast of alcohol that all these molecule perfumes have (this settles down the more you use the bottle though, and lasts maybe 1 minute). After that, there is what I can only describe as the purest, dryest, baked wood smell I’ve ever smelled. It’s sandalwood-esque alright, but also smells more like driftwood than ‘driftwood’ notes do. It is the EXACT scent of the drydown of Byredo’s Mojave Ghost, without the weird opening. Comforting desert vibes mixed with a “second skin” feeling. God, I smell good right now. LOVE this.

Edit just to say: this mixes so well with citrus scents too!

Well, that is something! Warm and woody, but without earthiness, it is clean. I like that the scent is not dry: smells seducively creamy to me.

Best fact is, that it is actual, present. Not loudly, first time hard to notice, but after a while the air becoms just a part of it's atmosphere. Gently consumes the surroundings.
I am pretty sure I am nose-blind about some chords and still I ve got a slight headache during wearing this.
You don't catch it, but it totally catches you. I enjoy it.

Sillage very strong, longevity 8-10 hours. On clothes: forever?

Can’t smell anything. Read review on Molecule 01.

This stuff can clear a room! Even a tiny spritz is powerful.
Whew! Monster projection and lasts forever, but too strong to be appealing.
Maybe if it were MUCH more subtle, it could have been OK for layering. Trying to layer it with a couple of my fragrances just resulted in Molecule 04 overpowering the other fragrances with it's odd, woody scent.
I suppose you could do one or two sprays into an atomizer, then fill it the rest of the way with your preferred fragrance, but as is, this stuff is unwearable and unbearable for me and everyone I've had smell it.
I'll stick to Molecule 01 and 02 for layering. They compliment, rather than take over.

It's wild that some people can't even detect this scent.
The bottle leaked a little in shipping and I could smell it before I even opened the box.
I wiped the tiny bit of liquid off the bottle and tossed the tissue in my bedroom trash.
The scent completely filled my room and lingered for days, even for a while after I took out the trash.
It's like it permeated everything in my room.

I love sandalwood. LOVE sandalwood. But I have been very badly frustrated trying to find the right sandalwood fragrance for myself. After a recent purchase of a sandalwood fragrance oil that wasn't what I expected it to be, I got frustrated and said "screw it, what's the aromachemical for it? Let me have a bottle of that." I already have bottles of Iso E Super and Ambroxan sprays I made -- Molecules 01 and 02 respectively -- and I wanted to make a bottle of Javanol for myself, but was advised against it because of how ludicrously overpowered Javanol is, so I bought this instead. No samples, just bought a bottle, that's how confident I was in this.

I put one spritz on the back of my hand and everyone in the room was able to detect it in under a minute, not so much smell it as they could taste it or sense that SOMETHING was in the air. To my nose, it's woody and warm, but indistinct, like my brain couldn't quite understand what was going on. It seems to work in the same way some transparent/sheer musk fragrances I've read about do (think Juliet Has a Gun's "Not A Perfume" or D.S. & Durga's "I Don't Know What").

This now has me curious about the remaining Molecule fragrances I don't have in my collection, Molecules 03 and 05, as well as wondering how it will perform layering with some of my other fragrances. Quite an interesting find.

UPDATE:
I must have had a head cold the day I got this bottle, because I tested it recently, and it DEFINITELY smells of Australian Sandalwood. If you like Proraso Red, give this a try, you won't be disappointed.

Well, I can't smell a single thing, a faint alcohol smell for 2 seconds and then nothing, I even sprayed my cabinet but get no whiffs from the scent.
I just have a strange reaction when I spray it, it itches my throat and makes me want to cough for some reason.
I guess I have to keep going with it, just like with Molecule 01, which I love now but which I used to smell nothing from it too.

I own molecule 01 and I can sense the smell, but molecule 04 if the fragrance that I have a hard time to notice, but when I do, it's a complex sweet with woody, creamy, soapy and powdery all at the same time. According to my wife, it's sillage is strong, she can smells my trail. When I woke up in the morning I still could get faint wiffs here and there so, be warned it's one of those long lasting fragrances.
I wonder if this fragrance lasts during harsh winter days? Because to me, this perfume is great for hot weather

It's interesting how different this smells on skin VS in the air, despite being a single molecule. If I'm not wearing this and wave my sample in the air (to simulate sillage), I smell a very pleasant rosy smooth creamy woodiness. It smells like a "complete perfume" if that makes any sense. But as soon as I spray on skin, the beauty vanishes. I only smell faint unpleasant sour metallic grapefruit.

I think this would be amazing IN a fragrance to enhance its sillage without adding much scent on skin. But it doesn't work super great on its own to my nose. Molecules 01 and 02 don't have this problem, they smell just as great on skin as in the air.

I love the creamy sandalwood feeling, though this one performs terribly during colder months, to the point I could not even smell anything. Great one to layer with any citrus fragrance.

Not even quite sure what I am smelling here -- is this javanol?

On blotter I only smell alcohol and on skin it's so faint. To call this sandalwood is like calling the last drop of Coke in your cup thats been watered down with melted ice, Coke -- there's a trace of it in the smell, but it's water.

Truly feels like scented water. I'm all about a skin scent, but even for me this is too Emperor's New Clothes...

My partner can't really smell this, but I can. To me it's fairly strong, and surprisingly sweet. It reminds me almost of a toned down version of Zoologist's bee, and also Byredo's mojave ghost

Wore this for the first time yesterday. Partner got whiffs of it throughout the day, as did I. Couldn't smell it on my wrist. Applied at 11am, partner still commenting on it around midnight. It's sweet, satisfying, and super easy to wear. Looking forward to seeing how my use develops over time.

Must admit to being inordinately fond of Molecule 04. Even tried making my own.
Javanol is extremely potent and in Molecule 4 the dilution is perfect - resulting in a wearable woody fragrance that creates an aura around the wearer with awesome longevity.

Geza Schoen's Molecule 01 (starring Iso E Super) was famously described as "more an effect than a fragrance" and the same can be said of Molecule 04.
When layered it works beautifully to enhance all kinds of fragrances: woods, florals (especially rose) and amber.

Sandalwood is integral to modern perfumery, which turned it into a precious natural commodity.
The perfume industry’s reliance on sandalwood, coupled with fluctuating prices and availability triggered efforts to find alternatives, botanical and synthetic.
The quest to synthesise a realistic sandalwood molecule was (and still is) a kind of arms race in research and development - especially between the "Big Four" of the fragrance industry (Firmenich, IFF, Givaudan and Symrise) resulting in a plethora of sandalwood molecules, (eg Firsantol, Polysantol, Hindinol, Bacdanol, Brahmanol, Ebanol, Indisan, Mysoral, Sandranol, Sandalore, Santaliff, etc etc).
The latest and perhaps most revolutionary innovation in fragrance chemistry is "Dreamwood", a proprietary Firmenich Mysore Sandalwood molecule, 100% natural, created through “white biotechnology” - from sugar, of all things - and the first synthetic sandalwood (“synthetic” in this case meaning man-made and not found in nature) to function as an alternative to, and total replacement for, Indian Sandalwood essential oil. Remarkably, Dreamwood even shares the anti-bacterial properties of sandalwood oil.
But I digress …

Created by Givaudan in 1996, Javanol is not a sandalwood analogue (or substitute) however it effectively replicates the most characteristic effects of sandalwood:
"... Javanol turned out to be the best fit for the receptors in your nose that code for sandalwood. The more perfectly the sandalwood ‘foot’ fits the receptor’s ‘shoe’, the more intense the smell will be. The person who discovered Javanol back in ’96 was Jerzy Bajgrowicz, a chemist working at Givaudan. One of the things he did was to substitute the double bond in a part of the molecule called the ‘spacer’ with a cyclopropane ring. This three-membered ring maintains the electronic properties and rigidity of the double bond but improves on the hydrophobicity, so making Javanol a near-perfect fit for the sandalwood receptor pockets in the nose"
(Scentspiracy.com)

Javanol is a large molecule that can cause rapid olfactory fatigue, meaning that Molecule 04 persists long after its wearer can no longer detect it, and as with Iso E Super (which an estimated 20% of humans cannot smell) how we respond to it seems to depend on our genetic predisposition.

In other words not everyone can smell Molecule 04, but those of us who can usually enjoy it.

As others have commented, Molecule 04 is very potent and can be polarising. Most people - especially those of us partial to sandalwood - love it.

Applied with restraint and moderation the effect can be magical. Molecule 04 can be seductive and intoxicating, but also meditative.

Molecule 04 creates a sublime woody aura around the wearer (what some call a “fragrance bubble”) and a scent trail as you move. Often people seem to notice it as soon as you enter a room and the response tends to be extremely favourable.
(it is not uncommon to get stopped by random people - last week while looking at espresso machines in a department store was asked what I was wearing three times in the space of maybe half an hour)

Making your own version of Molecule 04 isn't exactly complicated - you can get everything you need from Perfumer's Apprentice.

Edit: My current favourite molecule is Timbersilk, a gamma isomer like Iso E Super, which works beautifully with Molecule 04.

Dry, woody, a little like dry leaves and animalic bird feathers. It has a peppery texture and quality (not to be mistaken for actual peppery aroma!), where there is an impression of warmth and an underlying fiery nature. It lacks the lactonic, creamy and sweet component of real mysore sandalwood.

I suppose it could be layered onto other scents, or used on its own as an abstract fragrance.

Completely anosmic to this, if anyone wants to trade for something of equal or lesser value message me

Sometimes I can smell it, sometimes I can't. Sometimes other people remark on it all day long, sometimes no-one says anything. Most odd!
I always love it though.

Sprayed this on a test strip which I left in a room, came back into the room later and wow this is strong!! 😳 I like sandalwood but a teeny spritz of this is more than enough for anyone.

Totally anosmic to this unless it’s sprayed in tiny amounts.
On my toe.
Under a sock.
In my shoe.

This stuff if strong

Bad news: I can't really smell much at all. Extremely faint.

Also bad news: I get a gag reflex and feel dizzy when I do sniff where it was sprayed

It doesn't work for me like molecule 01 and it's variants do. Those are amazing on me.

1/10

I know what people mean about that nauseous note, this is easy to overdo. I get the same note in the drydown of Eros Flame.

I REALLY like this stuff, but buyer beware: this can be insidiously NUCLEAR. I own beastmode stuff, but this goes beyond that. 4 sprays of this can EASILY and generously fill an entire two storied home. For days on days (months???).

If you're a sandalwood lover, get this. Trust me. BUT, if or when you do get this, 1 spray is more than sufficient. And avoid putting it on clothing. The wash will not get this out. Altho it blends beautifully with laundry detergent, I find.

Anywho, that's my 2 scents.

I love the smell of javanol in the morning.

No, really, I love Molecule 04.

It is strong (and sometimes may go nuclear, so easy on the trigger) and long lasting. Truly unisex.

Just a little goes a long way, and I get this really nice and creamy sandalwood floating around me all day.

Best to try before you buy.

Great creamy Sandalwood unisex fragrance. 🙂👍

Why all the dislikes and the bad reviews? You got to understand this, This is NOT your typical local department store fragrance! If you're not into strange ,mysterious , and unique fragrances just stick to Versace, Prada, Armani etc . This house don't make those type of fragrances !
Wether if it's synthetic or natural, This smells wonderful . Addictive, warm , sexy , unique . You have to have a unique nose to understand this designer house .
I love this masterpiece , It will be in main favorite collection for ever .

I so wanted to smell this in hope of a good sandalwood replacement.
It's not :-/
So far I quite liked the Escentric Molecules and I can smell all of them very STRONG.
How can people not smelling these fragrances is beyond my understanding.
Not only they are intense but they are also extremely linear and long-lasting.
I enjoy a bit of 01, but 02 is my favourite.
So I had great expectations for Molecule 04, pure chemical sandalwood, that should be.
It's a nice smell, very lively but... all I can smell is a big giant GRAPEFRUIT!!
I checked my vial and it says Molecule 04 from a trusted source. I thought I received the Escentric 04 by mistake.
It's very citrusy, clean, slightly axillary grapefruit.
Interestingly, I'm the only one smelling grapefruit in here. Family's verdict was: another one of your weird things, metallic, bah.

So I ordered the Molecule Tester kit which had 04 and 05 in it (I hadn't smelt these yet, being an avid 01 fan) and I sprayed like one dot on each wrist of 04. I fell in love almost immediately and couldn't stop smelling myself, or believe the strength of this fragrance and how so little goes such a long way. But then my bubble was burst, because my husband, who is quite into his own set of fragrances, kept complaining in a big way, about how overpowering the smell was and how it wouldn't leave his nose. I thought I'd avoid it for a while and then one night, before bed, I dabbed a tiny drop behind my neck. He went on and on and on about how awful it was. Said he'd never smelt anything so terrible in his life and it was all over the house and left a cloudy aroma trailing behind me. It was on the bed sheets, my nightwear and ME. So I had to change the sheets, douse my clothing in fabric softener and promise to never ever even open the box where the bottle sits. Ever again. I've given my bottle away. Regretfully. But it's the only way to avoid divorce.

Lol...hilarious!
@simen.mellingsaether:
So sorry for your overdose...M-04 is better in lower quantities and especially layered with other frags.
I tend to think of M-04 as a "non-fragrance" and wear it when I go hiking or somewhere I want to smell good...but don't want a loud or identifiable fragrance that's going to attract attention or cause questions/interest.

@ScentedMan3: That is the same thing I do!!! Combining 01, 02 & 04 makes the most BEAUTIFUL fragrance! And you're right, it lasts FOR-EVER, stands on it's own as a fragrance and gives a LOT of compliments in it's simplicity.

This abomination of a scent had me throwing two pillows. I usually spray something right before bed, and this made me stay awake all night. Its the worst scent ive ever smelt, and the scent stuck to my pillow for 5 days before i threw it in the garbage. The only application i can think of is chemical warfare. I had decided to never wear this again, but im really a fan of the 01. Right before i went to work i was going for the 01 but had misplaced the 04 on my shelf, so i sprayed myself generously with 04 and i almost puked when i realised my crime. This should be classified as a chemical weapon and forbidden.

I'm in the 'like it' camp. In fact, I really like it. I have all of the Molecules. Not sure either is a 'love', but they can be used in combination with another perfume (they are very good as primers), or another Molecule, or on their own on days when something more laid back is preferable. From personal experience, even on their own, people can smell them on me even when I can't. So that makes me think that sillage might be better than what I thought. Longevity is good too, about 7-8 hours. Not sure about 'eternal'...
From what I understand, all of the Molecules are patented, i.e. they are unique, so it's overly simplistic to say that they are 'just' a single molecule. Best to sample first, and best to start with the Molecules line. (The Escentric line is basically a Molecule plus other ingredients.)

Just mixed Molecule 01, Molecule 02 and Molecule 04 and this is really good!!! I mean I would wear just this alone and would be completely happy with how I smell. My daughter told me I smelled like I just got out of the shower cause I smell like a real expensive soap and I just got done working 10 hours. Smells so clean. Dont know how this would be mixing with other fragrances. I will eventually give it a try but dont think it would work to well cause its strong to me. It's worth a try.

So I'm completely anosmic to this. The most I can smell is a light rubbing alcohol scent but when I do wear this, lets just say I had a patient in hospital hound me down a hospital corridor with a pen and paper for me to write down the name of the fragrance I was wearing. Imagine that! :/ Must be nice for those that can smell it.

I adore 01 and 02m but 04 goes NUCLEAR for my nose. I wish I were anosmic to it, instead one spray on my entryway lasted DAYS, and I try not to open the cabinet I have it hiding on. I've only found one other person(on Reddit) with the same reaction, but it makes me almost fell ill. Someone on fb marketplace asked about it when I listed and I'm giving it to him for free(tired of inquiries that don't lead anywhere or lowballers so it might as well go to someone who at least was polite) I just want it gone from my house. It is strong and skanky and makes my head hurt. I read on reddit that Lucas Turin said that sometimes perfumers prank each other with javanol and I can see why. Molecule 01 is an absolute favourite but this one has to GO.

Iso-e Super (Molecule 01) = Cedarwood
Ambroxan (Molecule 02) = Ambergris
Javanol (Molecule 04) = Sandalwood

Amazing longevity - I can smell it on my t-shirt even after washing it. Suitable for autumn

I’m not mad at this. From my understanding it’s meant to mimic Sandalwood which it does in a very obviously synthetic way. I know it is indeed synthetic obviously but there’s a very artificial impression to it. It’s VERY creamy. There’s something I don’t enjoy about it though. I don’t know if it’s my own skin chemistry. I like to layer this with molecule one by eccentric molecules sometimes where I think it does work but otherwise not the biggest fan.

I've had my Molecule 01, 02 & 04 tinctures for about 2 weeks now.
I wear a combo of specific mixture amounts of Molecule 01, 02 & 04 (My signature fragrance soon...) and I can smell all of them together.
However, I could not smell 01 separately...only after 02 & 04 were added to the mix...which I expected based on others experience. 04 smelled like those old flower-shaped soaps that my grandmother had in her bathroom back in the 80s.

Now...I can smell that mix over ALL if I layer another fragrance on top. It also lasts 12+ hours and remains an olfactorally-present base scent.
It is POWERFUL!! But subtle at the same time...simply amazing!
To me, the mixture smells like the sandalwood component the greatest, as I configured it. It lights up everywhere I go, but I have to be moving to smell it. If I sit still...it disappears, but others can smell it. For instance, if I'm walking down the hallway to my office I leave a trail behind me. Then when I sit in my office for 4 minutes...I can't smell it anymore. But my teammates are blown away when they come into my office from the fragrance smell...they always comment how nice it smells.

I never would have thought that one of the best-performing, easy-to-use, powerful-presenting and smooth-smelling fragrances I would ever wear would be a collection of singular-molecule chemicals and a little alcohol.
Amazing!

its basically my everyday scent...its not my signature, because it doesn't seduce me the way M.Micallef/Style, does. But very often, Im complimented on it. I lean on this A LOT. This is my 3rd bottle of it...I'll never be without it, because I happen to love sandalwood, fake or organic.. its safe...it doesn't gross anyone out, apparently...its comforting...and I love how stealthy it is...the whole idea of someone smelling it, on the days when I dont, is very intriguing to me. And that happens a lot.

all I know is, the longevity is beast-mode. And on me, it keeps reactivating whenever my body heat rises for whatever reason. When it does, I can smell a big whiff of this, everytime. I can spray it on the inside of a jacket, coat or sweater..and not have to spray it on me for days. Its just there in the fabric of whatever you're wearing...and all it needs is a little bit of heat to get yoiur attention.

A fainter, more transparent and linear Santal Carmin Atelier Cologne, but quite satisfying nevertheless. If you can’t find a good deal on FB of SC, give this one a try.
After I detected the obvious similarity, I only tested 04 on clothes, since SC doesn’t get along with my skin, but performs beautifully on fabric. 04 was more airy in comparison and I stopped detecting it sooner than SC. It’s great for layering.
I personally chose SC from the two, as it is definitely an upgrade from 04.
Be careful when you buy 04 - the other “04” scent from the brand is citrusy but it’s easy to confuse the bottles - it happens on every level - the customer, the sales assistants, the website photos … so don’t strip the foil enthusiastically before you doublecheck the delivery. One is Molecule 04 the other Escentric 04.

Holy Toledo! This one is strong!! If you want to smell like sandalwood for two days from one spritz, this is it! Enough said.

I want to like this one, maybe if I layer it with something? Any suggestions?

Javanol is a synthetic sandalwood and the active note in Molecule 04. A synthetic vetiver, vetiveryl acetate, is the main note in Molecule 03.

This is quite the strange performer - I get a whiff of a very warm and pleasant sandalwood immediately upon application, then it disappears completely. However, it reappears many hours later and then seems indestructible, although fairly quiet. I'm hoping layering might make this stick from the get go.

Initial spray is mostly alcohol. Decided to spray 3-4 more times since I was nose-blind. 15 minutes later, I'm hit with a faint, but overwhelming aroma of sandalwood. Like a kind, oppressive presence is keeping tabs on you.

Still going strong after 5 hours, very pleasant. Make sure to go light on the trigger.

one of my most complimented perfumes, it's soft, alluring, I adore sandalwood and despite this been synthetic I think is beautiful. Sometimes I can't smell it but other people can and when I smell my clothes it's there alright.

I am one of those people who can smell the molecules and Molecule 04 along Molecule 01 have been my favourite two. However unlike with Molecule 01 that I can always smell Molecule 04 was my absolute favourite to start with but gradually my nose seem to have become so accustomed to it that I can hardly detect it these days except for right after spraying it on. Such a shame as I used to love it. The concept of molecules is intriguing to say the least but it is a shame they do not seem to work for many people. As far as I know most of us like to wear fragrances that we can smell. I wear fragrances for myself and NOT for other people but frankly because of all of the above I gave up using Molecule 04 because frankly I do not see the point of wearing a fragrance which not only the people around my can't smell but I can hardly detect myself.

Molecule 04 is a beauty - this is an amazing scent - It's a powdery sandalwood.
This little baby is a beast in disguise!!!
She fills the room, she follows you and she rubs on to anything she touches.
10/10 from me - I have a soft spot for it and I love to overspray

I was positive I was going to love Molecule 04. M01 and M02 are both easy to wear, light and inoffensive. I was expecting a similar vibe from M04 but with more creamy aspects. My god was I WRONG. M04 is probably in the top 5 most disgusting things I have ever smelt in my life. It almost scares me. This is everything I hate in a fragrance. It’s literally a headache in a bottle. It’s a powdery, sweet, sharp smell that’s hard to describe. I don’t understand how people are anosmic to this Molecule, It’s so strong and lingers in the air for days. If you’re looking for a soft, creamy, warm, woody fragrance this is not for you. Definitely try before you buy!

Smells a lot like a slightly sweeter version of Wonderwood by CDG to me.. Although obviously this is just one ‘note’. When I first apply it it’s very strong, then it seems to disappear on my skin. Sometimes I layer with Wonderwood. Not bad, a bit chemically to me.. but I prefer the Molecule 01 woodiness to this woodiness personally, and Molecule 01 seems to project & come and go throughout the day more than this

On me this smells like skin of a ripe grapefruit that has just fallen, juicy in a soft way. The sandalwood comes through as fresh sawdust at first, before settling down to an almost mouthwatering milkiness. It's a clean, reassuring fragrance: the kind of scent I would wear to a job where I wanted to inspire trust. After about 10-15 minutes I can only really smell it when I hold my wrist up to my nose, although other people are able to smell it on me after I've gotten used to it. Probably my favorite of the Escentric single molecules.

Molecule 4 consists of Javanol, which I smell as sweet & sour grapefruit topped sandalwood. Unfortunately, after the first two sniffs, I became completely nose-blind to this molecule for an hour or so.

This is not my favourite smell by itself, and similar to Molecule 1 (Iso E Super), I think Javanol is better as a woody fixative rather than a stand-alone scent.

Interesting novelty and worth a sample to understand the Javanol note, otherwise not recommended as an actual perfume.

Unforgettably the most potent out of molecule 01-04. 2 sprays and it overtakes the entire floor of my home. Sandalwood is soft, it tiptoes gently and delicately around you but you notice it. Very comforting and cozy like a hug but feels a little annoying like when a small child hugs your leg tightly every moment they see you but doesn’t want to let go. Quite intrusive and unshakeable.

For me, smell woody all day long. Very polite & look warm.

To rank all series of molecules. I prefer 04 > 02 > 01 > 03 > 05

If you like 01 i think it's time to shift to 04 ( because i think 04 better than 01 )

A headache-inducing plastic, rockmelon & bubblegum scent with unreal longevity.

Smells like woody honey to me. nfbw. -

I’m a devoted molecule 01 fan, but once I tried this one it became my second. It’s warm, Carmel, and spicy but very hard to put a label on. It lasts forever and is enticing to everyone! Def purchase if you’re on the fence!

Rather alcoholic opening, very briefly could I catch 'cherry lips' the old penny sweet. A wonderful warm deep sandalwood to Molecule 04 thereafter, very wearable, I imagine a warm fire and good company. A different 'woody' note to that hinted at in the much quieter Molecule 01.

This perfume is sooo familiar and reminiscent
of something wildly popular. Dare I say Jicky
if I dared to compare? Strikingly old fashion
yet shockingly modern. There is nothing not
to like here, unless, this isn’t for you, then it’s
“dislikeable”. Very suitable in The winter or in
The fall. Utterly inoffensive but remarkable too.
Classy, polite and impolite at The same time it’s
intriguing to say The least. Holographic, maybe.

To my mind, Javanol rides a fine line between sandalwood, and cheap synthetic rose. Either way, it is certainly synthetic. I am not against synthetics in general - they can be wonderful! But this one feels synthetic to an extreme that is no longer enjoyable. It makes my nose tingle in a very unpleasant way.

Behaviorally, it leaps frantically around the room, never where it's supposed to be. It turns up when you don't expect it, and hides when you seek it out. When you go to shower it off, it reappears afterwards, hardly faded.

I have heard before that it really shines when you sweat. Having put a spray on before an intense bike ride, I can say in my personal experience, this is not the case. I had high hopes, but this is one I have no desire to ever spray again.

So beautiful, warm and clean. I first smelt this scent on someone else just last night while I was shopping and it was so beautiful I just had to ask her what scent she was wearing and I literally haven't done that in years.
Love it

At first, I thought I was completely anosmic to this molecule. I couldn't catch anything. It was 2 hours later that I began feeling it - a not very pleasant, very dry woody scent. It was as if I could feel the wooden shavings taking all the moisture away from my nostrils. Thankfully, it's not a strong scent because it would have made me feel very uncomfortable...

Javanol, you elusive, gorgeous creature of myth and mystery! I have spent months trying to figure out what the amazing (to my nose, obvi) underlying note was in all of these fragrances. I kept picking out this one INCREDIBLE note and just could not place it. I circled the wagons of sandalwood, but all of it was not quite right. Then I stumbled upon the Molecule series, read up on the molecules and realized that Molecule 04 may be the ONE note my nose has been enjoying so much. So, I got the Molecules sampler box to confirm. Eureka! I was right, 04 is the one. It smells like sandalwood, skin, powder, and vanilla and maybe even grapefruit peel. It warms up gorgeously on my skin and I smell it all day long. Incredible on clothes too. I never get any compliments on this scent, but who cares? My nose just loves this. It is impossible to describe, and to grasp it, you must sample it on your olfactory palette. I am obsessed with it.

Hmmm, javanol…what is the point when most people will not smell whatsoever?

In such low concentration this one will be a nice skin scent or can be layered over to give a bit of woody base, but do not expect a complex game of notes. These Molecules are sort of perfume chemist 101 set.

Watered down version of Comme des Garcons Concrete.

Alcohol and Nothingness.



No, not the name of my teenage emo garage band album, but an accurate description of the scent profile of this so called "perfume"

On my skin: creamy soft distinctive sandalwood. Really nice and lasts all day long. Projection is enormous leaving a trail behind. I sometimes get noseblind to it, but i know it's there because people around me notice it all the time.. Huge compliment getter, I even had this coworker that is not a fan of me come and ask me what am I wearing. Too bad for the people that this doesn't agree with their body chemistry, from the comments below. Definitely try it on you first

my god how strange is this substance, a spray and I feel alcohol, just a slight whiff of something minimal, then I go for a walk into a store and shortly after, a clerk says out loud "but who took a bath in perfume?", I answer saying, "excuse me, but are you mad at me?" and the clerk reiterates, "no no, it's not you!"... the next day, I go to work and as soon as I enter the lab, a colleague of mine exclaims "but who took a bath in the perfume?" and the story repeats itself, but this time, I am pointed out as the one who took a bath in the sandalwood...because according to my colleague's nose there is no doubt that the perfume, is sandalwood...now I am aware that I am anosmic to the javanol (I hope I am not anosmic to all heavy molecules).... I do not see any evolution, I feel only a little bit of alcohol and tempered pencil ... my daughter and my wife, do not feel the scent at all, while many of my colleagues feel an important and heavy presence, even after days from a single spray ... some of my friends and colleagues, rushed to buy it ... I must confess that when I bought this fragrance, I was afraid of the sensations it could cause and I was not wrong. ...regardless of whether or not you perceive the javanol, it is an obligatory experience...javanol, in my specific case, gives the best of itself, when used in layers and in synergy with perfumes with a high content of heavy molecules...let's say it amplifies and supports any fragrance, with a slight preference for perfumes containing iso and super and woods...inevitable
Jul

On first spray this is extremely similar to sacred wood by kilian however this is creamer, they are both great sandlewood fragrances and I enjoy both. They both get a lot of compliments. I would wear sacred wood for formal events and molecule 04 for your everyday wear. This is an all year round fragrance and the wife really likes it. Will definitely keep this in my collection!

To my nose and skin, it's 10 percent pleasant after a few minutes, then 90 percent nausea inducing cheap hair dye smell afterwards. While I love the smell of sandalwood, especially in frags like egoiste and Tam Dao, this is a hard Pass.

I have a substantial decant and I wish it were larger 😍

At first, I was sunk, because it took me 5 minutes to smell it on my skin. I quite literally pouted to myself, and became frustrated with my anosmia. I cannot smell Molecule 01 more than appx 25% of the time, and I had concluded that Escentric Molecules just isn't my brand.

However, I was STRUCK after it began to dry down. Absolutely *stuck*, by warm, poofy, clean (albeit synthetic...I'll address that in a moment) sandalwood. It began to waft into, and nearly tangibly warm my nostrils. I don't understand why, but this one is a creeper and the scent takes a few beats to present itself. Maybe it's just me and my weird nose?

I have a bit of sandalwood essential oil, and I gotta be honest, I prefer this. It's smoother, more plush, and doesn't have that distilled essential oil herby undertone that most of them do (you know what I mean if you have a few of them). Synthetic doesn't necessarily entail inferiority, and if I needed to be on people being more drawn to javanol or santalum album EO, I'd put money on the majority choosing this. I adore EOs, but sometimes synthetics are more pleasing overall.

The longevity of this is outstanding, and the sillage (that I can discern) seems a few feet, with a considerable scent trail. I personally think it's slightly more masculine (but I've always thought sandalwood leans ♂️). My husband thinks it's feminine however...so we're at a stalemate. I suppose I'll chalk it up as it fitting my chemistry. I don't care though, I can do the whole "tomboy" thing and it doesn't begin to bother me in the slightest (I actually kind of like it, and I think it's almost more alluring).

This is lovely, and the potential for layering this with other (especially warm/woody) frags is limitless. I like it much more than Molecule 01. I've learned with all frags, but with this brand in particular, that the perceptions of everyone are so insanely varied that one cannot speak in absolutes. I get that other people can't smell it, or that many dislike it. I don't think it's the fault of anyone at all, it just is. But, I'm thrilled to be lucky with this one <3 Absolutely thrilled! This is a full bottle contender for me to purchase eventually (or just to be an idiot again and again repetitively getting decant because I don't want to pony up...either way haha)! I'm keeping this around at all times.

Pretty linear sandalwood, nothing to write home about. It's a solid unisex fragrance. Longevity is above average.

Wow, I'm completely in love with this!
I never paid much attention to the Molecule line - mainly because the idea of having only one ingredient and charging this amount of money seemed like a waste to me but Molecule 04 has changed my mind.
It's nowhere near my expectations, it exceeded them completely. Molecule 04 changes constantly. Yes, it has that creamy sandalwood thing going but it smells so different in different situations, I'm not sure how to describe it.
The performance is crazy. I tried with 1 spray on my hand and it lasted me an entire day easily, plus I could detect it about a week later on my clothes. Yes, it sticks to everything you wear and no, you don't need a lot of it, which is why I think 30 mls will last you forever.
It performs in this very special way that I love and there aren't many perfumes that do this. There's this scent trail that follows you constantly, performance wise it reminds me of BR540 EDP. It lingers and stays with you, only to surprise you every once in a while by still being there. It's veeery pleasant and enjoyable.
The smell reminds me of something very specific actually: Abercrombie & Fitch stores. I haven't been in one for years but when I was (which was about 2015 I think), this is what i was smelling the entire time. This is also the reason I believe that this would be great as room freshener. I could smell this all day and would not get tired of it.
Amazing and incredibly strong stuff!

@Vlud - I'm afraid you are mistaking Molecule 04 by Escentric 04, which are 2 very different scents. There's not the slightest bit of grapefruit in Molecule 04, so before you insert a public comment, make sure you are reviewing the correct item. People read these reviews and it helps shape their opinion.

This one to me is very funny. I like sandalwood and get my beard oil, soap, shampoo, etc. in sandalwood scented smell (Everyman jack or something like that brand). However, this scent can be smelt by me for like 2 seconds when I first spray it on. I wondered why I couldn’t smell it. I can smell molecule 1 and 2 just fine. I was getting horrible reaction (mostly from women) after I sprayed what seemed like a scent less smell. I was told it smelt like a moldy basement etc. I felt like the scent was a dog whistle that I just couldn’t smell. I did discover if I sprayed it at night on a spot on my body that the next morning when I woke up I could smell a powerful scent of the sandal wood smell I was used to, so I know it works to some degree. It is just the most enigmatic scent I have come across, but I am hesitant to use in fear of offending others.

I can barely smell it...

I like sandalwood and have had fairly good luck with a few sandalwood based scents - like Tam Dao (which for me barely registers s/w) and CK Euphoria Liquid Gold among others. I figured I couldn't go wrong with this stuff, so I got my hands on a bottle. What resulted was and is complete confusion.

Going in, I was expecting a fairly realistic if synthetic take on sandalwood -- dry, woody and fairly clear, in a way similar to how ISO-e super registers cedar to me. Upon opening the package, got a hint of exactly the kind of sandalwood I was expecting. Great, right?

Then I sprayed some on the back of my hand. WHOA, WHAT THE??! It was nothing like what I was expecting. Hard as hell to describe -- kind of a funky, almost yeasty note in there, along with something faintly medicinal, coming together in an almost "moth-bally"/"bad breathy" kind of way. The sort of smell you might imagine wafting out of an elderly person's coat closet. Where is that scent the bottle and box teased at? Is this in any way within the bounds of a normal reaction to this stuff?

I'm flabbergasted, but still hoping I can either adjust or somehow unlock the sandalwood scent I'm hoping is locked up in this molecule...

EDIT: Combining this with Molecule 01 seems to help bring out the woody side of the sandalwood, pushing back on the funkiness. Definitely better together and in a supporting role.

I got a sample of Molecule 04 by chance, and I wouldn't have sought it out for myself: this brand is built entirely around the concept of molecule notes, and for some reason I almost always struggle with scents that prominently feature those. I've come to associate them with a kind of chemical, borderline burning smell - even though I realize that they can't be any more or less synthetic than any other note it modern perfumery, I almost exclusively have this problem when molecules are part of the note pyramid.

My apprehensions came true in a way: Molecule 04 definitely isn't for me. But it's not because of my usual problem with molecule notes, because surprisingly there's none of that synthetic burning smell here. Instead, after a few days of testing, I find that this fragrance has two totally different faces, and neither of them are good.

Straight from the bottle, and when tested on the back of my hand, it smells like sandalwood alright, but it's not a nice sandalwood (or at least not the kind I like). It smells somehow sensual in an unclean way, a little like unwashed skin in a closed-off room.

And when I wear it properly, on my wrists and neck, I don't smell anything at all, except when I closely sniff my wrist: then I perceive a vague freshness not unlike that of Juliette Has A Gun's Not A Perfume.

All in all I really don't know what to make of this one, except that it obviously really doesn't suit me - either it comes out wrong on my skin, or it's making my nose play weird tricks on me, or it smells the same to me as it does to everyone else and I simply don't like it. Either way, I'll leave my sample behind without a second thought, and I won't seek out other scents from this brand in the future either.

This is excellent. It's pretty much what it says it is: Synthetic Sandalwood(Javanol). It's really transparent and light, so don't complain about performance. To me this fragrance is more intended as a "Sandalwood booster" and it works as it should. I layered this with Sartoriale and the results were fuckin fantastic, it simply added more depth and increased performance drastically. PS> You could avoid the cost of this frag and just get the molecule by itself a lot cheaper.

Being so immersed in the world of fragrance, it's kind of preposterous that I have never tried a single fragrance by Escentric Molecules. I had a spray sample of M4 in my possession, so I figured I had better give it a chance. Can't believe how much I like this highly synthetic stuff! The first thing I noticed was some intense sandalwood, very reminiscent of my days as an adolescent hanging out with my friends in the new age shops of Haight-Ashbury. It was quite confusing when I also began to detect things like bergamot, lemon, lively red rose, and a vague aura of spices that sometimes smelled like black peppercorns at times yet at other times smelled like the spice of white lilies.

There's so much going on in this juice that I was worried the wonderful sandalwood scent would disappear, but it never did. It persisted for many hours. Sometimes it smelled like the new age shops, and other times it smelled more fresh, as though the bark of the tree was removed and you were sniffing the young wood in the middle.

I find it to be a very well-rounded fragrance although it's always oddly transparent too. It has a nice balance of freshness, spiciness, florals and base notes to anchor it.

The next day, I was lounging on my bed, and I kept getting whiffs of something so magnificent, it drove me crazy. I realized some of the fragrance had rubbed off on my bedsheets. Definitely chemical, tenacious stuff, but I LOVE it!

I feel like it's sacrilege to say this in a way, being a big nature lover, but the sandalwood here is better than that which is found in many natural sandalwood frags. I would love to own a full bottle. The problem with synthetic fragrances is that they tend to give me a headache. This is no exception, but my headache wasn't as bad as with some other fragrances I have tried that give me instant, full-on migraines. With M4 it was a dull headache, which is easily remedied by not putting my nose to my skin and sniffing. Just spritz and walk away, and let it mesmerize you literally from sunrise to sunset with just two sprays.

Two months. Two months is how long it took for me to adjust to this scent. My wife loved it at first sniff and I could not smell it at all. Essentially wore it for her at first but now my nose has finally adjusted. It's still not as potent for me as for my wife (she can tell it's Molecule 04 from a single spray) but the more I wear it the more I smell it.

mio dio quanto è strana questa sostanza, uno spray e avverto alcool, proprio un leggero sentore proprio una cosa minima, vado poi a passeggio entro in un negozio e poco dopo, un commesso ad alta voce dice "ma chi si è fatto il bagno nel profumo?", rispondo dicendo, "scusi, ma ce l'ha con me?" ed il commesso ribadisce,"no no, non è lei!"...il giorno dopo, vado al lavoro ed appena entro in laboratorio, un mio collega, esclama "ma chi si è fatto il bagno nel profumo?" e la storia si ripete, ma questa volta, vengo additato come colui che si è fatto il bagno nel sandalo...perché a detta del naso del mio collega è indubbio che il profumo, sia sandalo.....ora sono consapevole di essere anosmico al javanol(spero di non esserlo nei confronti di tutte le molecole pesanti).....non vedo evoluzione, sento solo un poco di alcool e matita temperata...mia figlia e mia moglie, non avvertono minimamente il profumo, mentre molti miei colleghi ne avvertono una presenza importante e pesante, anche a distanza di giorni da un singolo spray.....alcuni miei amici e colleghi,si sono precipitati ad acquistarlo.....devo confessare che quando ho acquistato questa fragranza, temevo le sensazioni che avrebbe potuto provocare e non mi sbagliavo....indipendentemente dal fatto che si percepisca o meno il javanol, è una esperienza obbligatoria....il javanol , nel mio caso specifico, da il meglio di se, quando usato a strati ed in sinergia con profumi con alto contenuto di molecole pesanti....diciamo che amplifica e sostiene qualsiasi profumo, con una leggera preferenza per profumi contenenti iso e super e legni....immancabile

@Saltaire Hope it grows on you! (and must admit i loved the way you stressed your husband's dislike for the sandalwood scents and then went on about using Molecule 04 as room scent🤣)

I'm sorry, but instead of sandalwood (which I love) I smell roses and freesia (which I abhor). Strange. Will give this away to someone else unless the drydown convinces me otherwise.
edit:
@mmmgood and jayjay88: You were right about sillage/projection and the fact that others will notice the scent even if you yourself don't. My husband just came home from work and, upon entering the living room exclaimed: "Whoa, this smells seriously of sandalwood." He doesn't like sandalwood and insisted upon opening all the windows to help it dissipate.
I had applied only a tiny bit of molecule 04 on my wrists.
During the last three days I had been wearing Etro Sandalo and never once did my husband remark on it.
Perhaps I will keep this sample as a room scent after all.

Love. Love. Freaking love.

So does it smell like REAL sandalwood? Well, no. Unlike most people my age, I've had the pleasure of smelling real sandalwood extract, and in comparison, Javanol is very different, (like a cartoon character of a real person) but still, it's divinely enjoyable. Real sandalwood, is much more woody, has a bit of a woody smokiness to it, like oud, but without the acrid notes of oud. The real thing is sweet, but equally dry and woody, with a touch of smokiness. I think most importantly, the real thing, procured naturally, is more than just one molecular compound. But still, I enjoy this note a LOT. Even by itself.

I can't get this smell out of my nose when I wear it. It's SO STRONG and SO NOTICEABLE which is a huge difference to the ingredients of Iso E Super and Ambroxan in Molecule 01 and 02. It'll take you by surprise... but it's smooth like cashmeran and reminds me of the combination of salted butter and sugar in cookie dough. It doesn't smell like that, it's just that it has that same perfect ratio of salty, sweet, and savory.

The only negative? I can't get this smell out of my nose when I wear it. It's ADDICTIVE! And being a single ingredient, I feel like I'm cheating on my collection when I wear it! So many masterfully crafted concoctions, and yet so many are overshadowed by this one beautiful note... I'm sorry, collection, but you're gonna have to share the stage...

This is a win.

First bought it, last year...wore it often, knowing the legacy of EM scents. There were days, I knew it was there, and there were days I forgot I was wearing it because I couldn't smell it. The number of sprays would vary. But I remember very well, spraying two heavy sprays to my head and then donning a ball cap.

I'm walking across a street, and the couple behind me literally shouted out loud "OMG!...WOW!...incredible!". I turn around, to see the fuss and racket, and they're looking at me. Standing on the corner, they wanted to know, this that and the third about THAT SMELL. I go, "let's calm down, kids, LOL...it's just a sandalwood perfume from Escentric Molecules. And I just sprayed it twice,ok?.

The GF is ahaking her head, no ..and said it smelled like I had bathed in sandalwood. And they were loving it

So, there you go..if you're in doubt about power/longevity, I just got you up to speed.

I'm coming back to read reviews (my original review is below somewhere) just for fun, because Molecule 04 make people complain! I would like to re-iterate that this scent is one of the best things you can get experimental if you don't have interest or access to aroma chemicals. To all those who can't smell it, please, PLEASE be patient, spray it on a paper strip and leave it somewhere you are not always present. Spray it onto collar of a jacket and leave it on the hanger. I have sprayed 4-5 times to my jacket almost 3 months ago, and it can still fill up a meeting room with its smooth, light scent. You smell it more in the air than where you actually sprayed it. I got anosmic to it for a while when i used to keep trying to smell every day. After travelling for a week (without smelling any Molecule 04), now I can smell it much more and my nose and brain kinda cracked the code and I don't easily get fatigue from it anymore. My wardrobe is filled with its alluring sandalwood scent. Amazing stuff.

NOTE: Also whoever says this smells a bit dirty, stinky citrusy etc. is most probably talking about "Escentric 04", not Molecule 04. (See "EllyBabeGold"'s review for example.) For an accurate review you can count on "mmmmgood".

Stay away from this! There is absolutely no scent other than the first blast of alcohol. Molecule 01 at least has some scent that I can discern but not this.

I do not even know how to evaluate it! Lol. I can only barely smell in the opening together with strong alcohol. Can only smell some sandalwood for 10 seconds and the it's gone for ever. I know is there because when I layer it with other perfume increase its projection. My wife have a sensitive nose to perfumes (allergy) and she can't smell it. I tried 20 sprays and nothing. Not even a complain :)

gorgeous and compared to previews scents by this firm i think this is the best by far.i smell soft wood with something fresh.very uplifting and lasts more than you think.the people around you smell it more than you do.many asked me what is this wonderful scent..became an instant love.i will get another bottle for sure.i really want to thank all the reviewers for their helpful comments because this was a blind buy maybe the best blind buy so far!
Edit.respect to the creators of this ,the more i wear it the more i like it and everytime i do its like we are meeting for the first time ..the most complex and evolving perfume i own!

Molecule 04 made to the top of my list from Escentric Molecules line the first time I experienced it. I sprayed 4 times inside of my jacket when I tested it, a month later I am getting an amazing sandalwood / pepper scent around my house originating from my jacket hanger, in approx. 15 square-meter area. Entire space was smelling. You notice it clearly when you come home from outside. At first few days it didn't occur to me that this is only Molecule 04 turned into a beast in the air. It lost some projection in a month, but still very much noticeable. You'd most likely think Molecule 04 is not a strong scent at first spray, lucky if you can get a scent whiff for a second or two. You'll probably lose the smell if you try to smell close on a tester strip or skin. But no, Javanol evaporation simply turns into a beast in the air, or when leftover on clothes, resisting wash cycles and all...and the scent only gets better! This is the only fragrance I experienced so far that comes very close to CdG Wonderoud, which is my signature scent and also featuring Javanol. Same with Wonderwood too. Both are very long lasting, persisting sandalwood fragrances in the end, thanks to Javanol.

You can find this ingredient featured in lower (but noticeable) doses in many fragrances in 00s, Calvin Klein - Truth, Caroline Herrera - Chic for example, and more recently Byredo - Mojave Ghost, Orto Parisi - Bergamask (overdose Javanol with bergamot) and so on...

So keep in mind; Javanol can quickly cause olfactory fatigue, but it will actually be there all the time, full on. A tip would be to spray this to your back, back of the neck and to your knee/leg areas so you can leave some evaporation space to your nose and actually enjoy it like others around you. 1-2 sprays is more than enough!

IG: @talkaboutscents

A beautiful sandalwood peppery beast.


It’s rather pleasing.

Perhaps too strong? Projection and longevity like no other, to the point of choking everyone around you out

WOW! It's soft and mostly sandalwood. What is most interesting to me is that, whenever I layer it with other fragrances, it takes over fully and lasts very very long. 12 hours ++. The most long lasting Molecule scent I own. This is super.

I was 'somewhere' , and a guy walked up to me and said "whatever you're wearing is leaving a trail behind you, you wouldn't believe, dude".

That's all I needed to know, if I had any doubts about Molecule's sillage. The problem most folks have with this stuff is it’s literal nature, and the realization that others will smell you when you can't.

It REALLY does smell like sandalwood chips. As if you bought a box of wood chips, wrapped in some sort of protective bubblewrap (which usually smells like the cardboard box it’s put in)...opened it, and was hit with that literal, fresh out of a box-smell. A day or so later, when it’s calmed down, you smell the sprayer and what you smell is pure, fresh sandalwood, with a VERY vague whiff of creaminess, if you can even call it that. What’s stuck on the sprayer is really what people around you, are smelling. Not plastic..and not cardboard. Trust me, this perfume is the heaviest sandalwood fragrance out there.

I reviewed this before...and actually removed my review because truth be told, this perfume is sorta non descript and simple. To the degree that it can do just fine by itself with no review. It’s not sweet...it’s not fussy in any way...and it doesn’t smell like ANYTHING but literal sandalwood chips. I’m going to buy another bottle because it is the quintessential EM fragrance. Sneaky heavy, where anyone near you can smell it in spades when you can barely smell it or NOT smell it at all. Yes...there is still room at the table for perfumes like this one. Everything aint gotta smell like Kouros on steroids or “Joy” times 50.

And I’d suggest wearing it more in warmer weather, than cooler weather. It works best that way, for me.

This smells like a Bergamot blast, with some ashtray dirt, and a tiny touch of kitten's feces.
I just don't get it.
I just don't get it. A thoughtless blend.
The good news are - if you like it, it lasts for long, but I just don't find it sexy pleasant comforting or complimenting anyone.

Sometimes you try something you don't like, but you understand how it can compliment others or what was the concept behind it. This time - I think they didn't make it quite right.

I keep testing this one over and over again and I keep trying to talk myself out of it. I wore it to work yesterday and kept getting whiffs of a beautiful, fresh woody/rose fragrance, but thought there is no way that I'm getting a floral note from this. I'm shaking my head thinking it's my hair that I'm smelling. Nope, that's not it. Since sampling this one, I've read so many reviews claiming this is SO potent that it is offensive, so now I'm paranoid even though I only have on one tiny spray from my sample vial. I decided to ask the mail lady when she came in if she could smell it and she told me she smelled flowers, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from. My other two coworkers couldn't smell anything even when I put my wrist up to them. This is such a weird one. A chameleon. A ghost. One minute I smell it, the next I don't. One minute it's sandalwood, the next it fresh flowers. I don't think I could love it any more than I do right now. Sold!

When I first sprayed it on I couldn't detect anything at all, contrary to that I can smell Molecule 01 very well, even right after I spray it. Now that almost 2 hours have passed I can sense something soft, milky, woody and airy with just a slight touch of sweetness. It is very pleasant indeed, but I really have to put my nose to the spot I sprayed it on to pick up anything at all. But I can see why people might like this, it's inoffensive but still unique and pleasant smelling.

@mmmmgood THANKS FOR THIS SUGGESTION ! I WOULD DEFINITELY CHECK IT OUT :)

this one is so bad that makes me sick :? only had one spray on the wrist and it gives me a headache already :/ it's not sweet and woody as I expected...more like sour and into your face

The miracle works again!
I was the most sceptic about molecule 01 series molecule because it doesn't work on me. But series 02 molecule is amazing and wonderful, I really collecting compliments. Series 03 is too sharp-citrus for me.
And now I use the new series 04 molecule...and I fell in love again. On every day that I wears mol.04 somebody accosts that my smell is amazing. Great longevity and sillage.

Soft, warm and sweet sandalwood.

E&J, perhaps? It's some sort of cheap brandy.

I get a lemony, dry wood creamy essence. Definitely stronger than 01 and 02 to my nose.
Got a complement.. a co-worker smelled me from 10’.

Scent - faint woods.

Season/Time of Day - I prefer to use this one all year round, day or night.

Projection - I didn't get noticed, I didn't get a compliment.

Longevity - I get 8hrs consistently.

Finally decided to bust open this sample pack that I ordered from Lucky Scent. I know what M01 smells like, since a lot of girls and dudes wear it at work. I dig EM02, would definitely buy a bottle.
Decided to wear M04 and wow! A burst of sandalwood, very pleasant imo. I had to deliver some packages to a different department and one of the dudes who wear M01 says "E what are you wearing today?" I told him, and next time i walked buy he was looking it up online. Unfortunately my lady thinks it's a leans a little towards the ladies.

Wow;)

Certainly not a fan.
All too medicinal compared to real sandalwood ( mysore ).
Fragrance note is too linear. Cant seem to smell the woody part as described in the note pyramid.

love this so much , very minimal , great sillage , super woody , i can understand that some people may find this a bit on the heady side but it is super nice.

i love it

Super~dope;-) thx.~ Geza Shoen

3/10

Like others here, I've also had some unexpected results with Molecule 04. Results such as absolutely insane and monstrous longevity.

To give an example, when I was first testing out this fragrance I sprayed my right arm (not on pulse points, just on the top of the middle of my arm). For me this works well in giving me an idea of the overall strength and smell of a fragrance, and makes it easy to periodically sniff without worry of it rubbing off (like it would on a pulse point such as the wrist).

Well when testing out M04 I sprayed my right arm after work one day to give it a try. Throughout the night I got an idea of what M04 was all about, and I was impressed with the strength, even though it isn't exactly a thick and heavy fragrance. I was getting solid smells of it throughout the night wafting in the air naturally without having to bury my nose into my skin to get a smell, which for me is a good indicator of a long-lasting and strong fragrance.

The next day I got up and showered as usual and went to work, but during the entire day I kept getting whiffs of M04, figuring this was just some kind of lingering scent memory I ignored it. But towards the end of my shift (full shift, 8 hour) I noticed that the smell of M04, that I thought I was imagining, had somehow managed to completely saturate the right sleeve on my long-sleeve shirt. No joke, my entire sleeve absolutely reeked of the stuff as if I had just sprayed it on.

Note that at this point not only had I showered and scrubbed my arm, but the time from the initial test spray had been around 18-20 hours. Amazed at what I had witnessed I moved on with my week at work.

Now fast forward to the next week. All my shirts have been washed (and each shirt, including the one I mentioned, only get worn once a week). It was about mid-week and I decided to wear the same shirt again... and I am not kidding you, that entire day I was getting solid whiffs of M04. And once again, I smelled my sleeve and it was clearly the smell of M04, as the sleeve was still somehow absolutely saturated with the scent. Except this time I hadn't even been testing out M04 (it had been days since I last smelled it), but the stuff is so insanely potent that it somehow managed to cling to the shirt sleeve and make it through a wash.... and the shirt wasn't even sprayed directly or indirectly, it simply picked up the scent off my showered skin many hours after initial application. The sheer strength of M04 is quite mind boggling, it's like it is some kind of living bacteria/fungus or something that requires specialized chemicals to kill (think athletes foot kind of determination, you can't just get rid of it by washing your feet, you need anti-fungal products).

Also note that in my time testing M04, my room is completely saturated in the smell of synthetic sandalwood. The smell has been lingering for weeks now (going on a month now), and every time I walk in the room, I get the distinct smell of M04. And I am the type who always has windows open and fans running to bring in fresh air, but despite that, when coming home to a closed room after work, the scent of M04 hits me every time I walk in the door. It's absolutely mind boggling how much this stuff lingers.

As for the smell, well, you kind have to smell it to know the scent. It's a nice light woodsy scent (almost slightly green/clean) at first, then settles into a deeper woodsy animalic scent. be warned, as it is a dirty/skanky woody style of smell, very similar to the scent profile of Oud/Aoud in many ways. It's a slightly dirty smell, but at the same time masculine and alluring (ie very much like Oud in that regard).

I really can't imagine women wearing this one, it's just too animalic/skanky when it gets into its "settling" stage, and as I described in this review, that stage can last for many weeks on clothes/room. It's a strange scent either way. Very neat because of how ridiculously strong/long-lasting it is (deceptively so, since it really doesn't seem like the kind of smell that would linger on forever), but you really need to exercise caution when using it. It seems to be at it's strongest when used by itself, but when mixing directly with other fragrances it completely changes into something else. It's a very odd synthetic chemical.

I can smell this, I don't think this is fresh like other described.
It has clean and dirty facets.
It's melancholic, depressing.
Long lasting and omnipresent.
Stays forever, even after a shower when you are tired and you want to use another fragrance.
I prefer my Santal 33, it's much more interesting.

Soft Linear note of Sandalwood.
Can smell it ALL the time.

MONSTER Longevity - like days, with a miniscule, tiny tiny amount.

Sillage - subtle.

I wiped some of this on something in a room. The whole room is now full of sandalwood a day later. No signs of abating.

Now starting to tire a little of the room constantly smelling of Sandalwood :)

but I kind of like it.

BTW, the Escentric 04 version complements this single molecule with a pine-lemon citrus note quie nicely.

The opening is very similar to Roja Dove Sweetie Aoud, exact that creamy sweet savery note. In the drydown it softness down to a very nice soft creamy woody scent. Not the best projection and sillage or hidden beast like molecule 01. Amazing blend though, only a bit soft. But if you love the opening, try Sweetie Aoud, it's this on steriods.

Does not smell like your usual sandalwood fragrance.. Maybe that is what actual sandalwood smells like.. a little sweet like concentrated orange juice..

Open air use only. Extreme sweaty note in closed space (car, room, office). You might get comments to take a shower

A Light Sandalwood that will last ALL day with 2 sprays. Just when you think it is gone, it comes back. Very lightly. I do not think More is More with this one, so don't waste it. I think 10 sprays is going to smell & last the same as 2. Others will smell it even when you do not. Just like the "01". It has that same behavior. I LOVEEEE this one 100x's better b/c I am not the hugest fan of the scent the 01 puts off, but if you are a Sandalwood lover like me, you will adore this. Not a Bomb like Samsara, but if you like that, it's along that line. As well as TF Santal Blush or Amber Absolute. Not the SAME smell, just something for you to go by.

I am a big sandalwood fan and Molecule 04 is just great. It reminds me of Kilian Sacred Wood and Diptyque Tam Dao. sillage is GREAT too. I am wearing it at work. The only strange thing that I noticed is that I got a massive headache. I really hope this is not because of Janavol and there is some kind of other explanation because I really really like this one and I don't want to give it away.


Update: no more headaches and this has become my number one scent so far.... There are days when the perfume lasts almost all day, sometimes I reapply. The scent disappears and appears...like magic :)

"Whoa-za"...

I wanted to give brief bullet points of my first review below (at the bottom of this thread) in a much shorter post, esp now that other online reviewers are having the same experience:

(TWO SPRAYS ON TEST STRIP):

-You will get what is claimed; a "soft creamy sandalwood". (And "yes," I can smell it easily, I'm special).

-THE STRANGENESS: Like Molecule 01, it has some whacky characteristics: soft projection, then CRAZY projection, accompanied by absolutely HUGE sillage; you WILL be smelled ROOMS away with this stuff, easily covering 1000 square feet.

-If you're not a sandalwood fan, beware: washing it off will take extra bleach, turpentine and perhaps fire, unless you're willing to spend an hour at the sink.

-Getting it on clothes...forget it; it will be stuck to those clothes for the next several centuries, haunting the closet of the Jetson's new house.

-Sprayed onto a test strip into a basement washer tub and I can STILL smell it (IN the TUB) a week later several feet away...and barely ANY even got IN the tub from the spray.

Sandalwood scent with insane sillage seeks single stinky sap desperate for smelling something seriously strange and possibly subtly sadistic.




Read my first review bottom note (pun) below if you have a spare half hour. (Don't bother; I should be forced to wear Dior Sauvage for a day for using up so much cyberspace).

Interesting that I'd be the first reviewer on this one, (first time it's ever happened) and considering the unusual experience I had with this.

We have a local salon that carries a few niche brands, including Tom Ford Private and the other three Escentrics and Molecules.

Once I heard 04 was released, I went over to get my usual test strip sprayed that I'd mostly ignore the opening of, and instead take in my car for the rest of my Saturday morning. This is something I do most free Saturdays with new fragrances, one of my favorite times of the week.

Entered the salon and asked them about it over by their display of the 01 through 03, since 04 wasn't there.

They told me they will only special order it, and that they do not intend to carry it.

Hmph. I wondered why.

I am a sandalwood fan, not a huge fan, but I do mostly enjoy the scent. So I was eager to explore this.

They had a sample of it in the back room, and offered to just give me a small decant to take with me, which I was happy to agree to.

For some reason, it took forever for them to do this. I was waiting for a solid ten minutes, and they were not overwhelmingly busy at all, in fact less busy this day than normal.

A different lady finally came out and gave me the small vial. I immediately noticed a scent as she handed it to me, but said to myself "dang, she must've been dipping her hands in the Tom Ford line as she made up my sample, because the vial and her hands reek of Oud Wood (the only TF fragrance I can tolerate of the seven I've tried, I do NOT like the TF line at all).

Put the sample in my car and went about my business, smelling something sort of like Oud Wood in my car the whole time. It wasn't exactly Oud Wood, but it just seemed like she must've been handling it and got it all over my sample.

Got home and sprayed two sprays on a post it note which I'd leave in that room for the day while I worked in it.

I got some whiffs off the post it note. Exactly as described, it is basically a "creamy light sandalwood." It is def not great. It is just an "ok" and tolerable scent, not at all "bad" (in other words, nothing like Dior Sauvage; no headaches or nausea).

But as I sat in the room with the vial nearby, that dang Oud Wood wouldn't leave the room.

So I finally took the vial and put it in a thick zip lock bag, and in another room.

But the scent didn't leave.

Later that day (several hours) this scent was permeating a solid 1000 square feet of living space, into a hall and other rooms. Two sprays. The scent is "leaking" into everything.

I forgot to mention that simply handling this vial after I got home, took about 8 washings of my hand to get the scent off.

After noticing the scent was filling up too many rooms, and still not even sure it was the sprayed post-it note causing it, I moved it to a two car garage area...

...and sure enough a few hours later, the two-sprays post-it note that at this point was 8 hours old, was filling almost the entire garage.

What's bizarre is how "light" a scent this is. It is not pungent or thick.

Two days later after double-thick-ziplock bagging the vial, it was STILL permeating through these two bags, and easily.

I had to get the vial in a separate glass sealed container all together to contain the scent. I've had to do with with just a couple other fragrances like Black Afgano.

But this stuff is the worst one yet.

I've discovered that it is the most difficult to wash off fragrance I've ever experienced (multiple washings) and this stuff...just...SEEPS...into...EVERYWHERE.

I wondered: Is this why the salon is not going to carry it? Did they already begin experiencing how uncontainable this scent is?

I've heard some people experience anosmia with this, like they do with 01. I find this fascinating and had a possible revelation about this with this product: One person I know who can't smell it, or had to use it a lot to smell it, is around fragrances all the time, and the perfumes NEVER make this person sick (that I know of).

I get sick much more readily from perfumes (headache/nausea). I had a three hour headache and nausea after smelling Dior Sauvage the first time. I was miserable. Tons of women love that scent; I get instantly sick from it.

I'm wondering if a tolerance is being developed to chemicals with some people, that others don't have, and this is what is determining in part what people do and don't like, and whether it negatively affects them or not.

After all, every human being loves a nice scent. So why would the fragrance industry/community be as relatively small as it is. Frag Com on youtube has only so many subscribers in total. If everyone loves a nice scent, why aren't the numbers of people into perfumes absolutely huge.

I think it's the whole chemical side of things that is causing various reactions, and this scent helped me draw that conclusion...from the standpoint of who can and can't detect synthetic molecules.

(I could smell 01 almost immediately, by the way)

Of course natural scents may make people sick at times as well, but I'm betting its the synthetic side of the equation that is causing the lack of interest on the part of the rest of humanity that loves great scents...but interestingly, does not turn to perfumery, where of course great scents should be, to find them.