Sandalwood & Cypress Cologne Intense
Art of Shaving (2016)

I don't get all of the notes listed in the pyramid, but I do get the chamomile, cypress, and the creamy synthetic sandalwood (which echoes that used in Pasha Parfum).

Considering the explicitly utilitarian purpose of the scent line, this feels like it delivers on the brief: a classy, modern grooming accessory that would never be out of place.

Retail pricing is a bit hard to swallow (better to just go with something truly exceptional, like Villoresi Sandalo), but discounted it's a fine pickup.

The Art of Shaving is seen by some as the ultimate in hipster gentrification because it upsells the concept of the traditional wet shave by offering expensive versions of what your grandfather used to shave with alongside their own suite of scents and soaps. Of course, once you get past all the faux steampunk facial hair and Skrillex side-cuts of the staff, their smarmy condescending recommendations, and the fact that most of these places are in shopping malls (the least-hipster of places on Earth), you can start to appreciate their products a bit more. Sandalwood & Cypress Cologne Intense (2016) is the effective replacement for the brand's original Sandalwood (2004) range, and mostly due to the cost of the real thing making the original formula untenable (even if it did only still have a marginal amount of sandalwood oil). The new take on the accord is filled out with more notes into a proper masculine fragrance in its own right, and is rather good as a fragrance sold at designer price points, although to call anything from Art of Shaving "niche quality" is both foolishly enabling the niche market to fleece us further and giving a slap to the face of niche perfume fans who've already invested. Best of all, this "Cologne Intense" is meant to used as part of an entire suite much like how Avon used to do with their masculine fragrances, so you can go all-in with pre-shave oil, shave cream, after-shave balm, and the fragrance itself.

For starters, Sandalwood & Cypress does not mostly smell of sandalwood like the 2004 scent it replaced, and instead focuses on something of a semi-oriental fougère accord built on a base that contains multiple wood types and an animalic. The opening is bergamot and the odd choice of chamomile, which rounds off the bergamot some and gives that stereotypical soothing aroma you can expect from the tea. Under this rides a spicy core of cardamom, pink pepper, black pepper, and cumin, The cumin is dialed down real low like it is in Brooks Brothers New York for Gentlemen (2008) but adds a bit of a dirty musky tone to the creamy woods base. This muskiness is furthered by styrax that enters the picture when the javanol-powered sandalwood accord shows up, flanked by tones of cedar, guaiac wood, tonka, and olibanum with an evernyl faux-oakmoss padding. How much of these other woods are not just aromachemicals is unknown, because the blending here is extremely well-done and you won't really be picking apart the smell like your typical designer. Whatever is comprising what Art of Shaving considers cypress is also in this mix, but this is no "chypre" to me. Wear time is rather good at 8 hours, and I find Art of Shaving Sandalwood & Cypress Cologne Intense to be a slightly more-upscale take on Kenneth Cole Signature (2005) merged with a bit of the aforementioned Brooks Brothers, but without as much citrus and no hedione freshness.

This is a proper woody scent for men that works well when layered up with the other products in the range but can also perform acceptably on its own. Projection isn't monstrous but sillage will stick around you for most of the 8 hours, so this "Cologne Intense" really just ends up being an eau de toilette with a marketing gimmick. If you can overcome your aversion to "mall niche" brands like Art of Shaving, L'Occitane, or Lush, you'll be rewarded here with an easy-wearing sandalwood scent that is perfect for casual cool weather use and can pull duty both in an office or dressed-down evening events. I wouldn't call this classy enough for formal use because of that slightly animalic undercurrent in the late dry down, but since this is part of a shaving range, I don't think that is intended anyway. There really isn't much more to say, especially if you're the kind of guy that still misses the original and simpler 2004 version of this stuff, but for fans of woody fragrances not so particular about ingredients origins or brand image of the perfume itself, you can do far worse for $100USD. Sandalwood & Cypress isn't my particular favorite from what Art of Shaving sells, but as a true barbershop staple-type scent of higher quality than anything you're going to find at the drugstore it was an easy sell for me, even if I'm yet ready for mutton chops and a man bun. Thumbs up.

The sandalwood is laundry clean and creamy while the cypress adds a green, sharpness, making it a little fresher. A very good daytime scent that could be worn dressed up or casually. There's enough sweetness that a young guy could wear this but the overall feel is a little more mature to me.

Projection is soft throughout but longevity it's very good, 8-9 hours in my skin.

Sandalwood & Cypress Cologne Intense is a great offering from the Art of Shaving, a house which has always done a Sandalwood note really well. Their Sandalwood soap–a hefty bar with a hefty price to match–is one of my guilty pleasures and everything seems to smell better with an underlying hint of Sandalwood. Sandalwood & Cypress opens with a bright Bergamot followed by a slug of pepper (although Cumin is listed, I get no sweaty note here) and then straight to the eponymous notes of Sandalwood and Cypress. During this transition it smells amazingly piney with the crisp, sharp Cypress playing counterpoint to the rich–yet austere Sandalwood note. The basenotes, with their Cedar, Olibanum, Styrax, and Guaiac could overpower but the whole thing–despite its Intense designation–is surprisingly subtle. The Cedar note does have a passing pencil shavings feel to it. All in all, this is a very nice, very masculine scent for any occasion from office to evening and beyond.

It opens with a bit of bergamot and settles down to strong woody notes that are undeniably masculine. It's nice but if it was a movie it would be titled "Gone in 60 seconds".