Collection Notes de Fond : Santal-Basmati
Affinessence (2015)

Toasted rice & sandalwood are the introduction to this sweet & comforting fragrance. Patchouli & iris are also detectable here, but seemingly only in a supporting role; the former to enhance the woodiness, the latter to smooth them out. The rice impression dissipates after thirty minutes along with the fuzzy texture, leaving a smooth, buttery sandalwood which slowly fades. The projection is low to moderate, it's very close to the skin after eight hours, but it lasts a good fourteen hours before fading entirely.

The rice note makes this one deliciously different from other sandalwood fragrances. lf only it lasted longer, because what remains after that first half hour, while pleasant, does not distinguish this from other sandalwoods that l enjoy far more.

Warm cooked rice and very little else.

The opening of Santal-Basmati was disappointing, a big sweet blast of typical modern-smelling perfume. The idea of this line is to focus on base notes, which could help explain the jarring opening. Within a few minutes, it settled into a sweet, woody fragrance with some complexity competing with the sweetness, showing promising development.

I couldn't really pick up on a rice note. There is a touch of interesting complexity as the sweetness dissipates, but I would have guessed it came from the wood note itself.

For how disappointing the opening was, it settled into a surprisingly agreeable skin scent: warm and round as advertised. The listed note of cashmeran is mostly what I get from this fragrance, more so than sandalwood or basmati rice. I like cashmeran (so-called blond woods) fairly well, and they've tried to add something to make it more interesting, but there's only so much that can be done, seemingly, with a cashmeran-centered fragrance.

Surprising, the smell of white fresh boiled basmati rice instantly makes you smile.?develops to a soft, nonchalant fragrance which is at the same time relaxing and exciting