Question:
My bottle of Original Santal have been sitting in the closet for almost a year because personally I didn't get it up until two days ago! I rarely wear it because personally I find it too cloying and sweet. But! On monday, I had a seminar at 8 o'clock in the morning, got up at 5:30,showered, felt really invigorated so I said what the heck and reached for my Original Santal. Sprayed on each wrist, arc of my elbows, back of my neck, two on my chest and one on each shin. Put on my undershirt and my dress shirt and for some reason the top notes quickly disappears, I recalled in the past that they were pretty tenacious and cloying, and the mid notes started to reveal themselves and I couldn't help but noticed how good I smelled. By the afternoon around two, the faint tops and mids combined with the base note, it just smelled good! I got it now! I don't know how, but I do get it! Been wearing it ever since. I changed my mind about the similarities to Joop, Original Santal is just classy. Man, how come most of Creed's fragrances need time to like? It is 2 o clock in the morning now, wore it at 2 o clock in the afternoon and I can't stop smelling my arms! I can still smell it! I love it!

Answer:
Yeah, I have yet to 'get it' and frankly, I have stopped trying. I dont mind sticking around for a little while and seeing things through, but I don't quite have the patience to wait any longer with OS. And since there are so many other fabulous fragrances out there that I have yet to try, I'm gladly passing the baton on this one. It smelled like Joop to me from the moment I put it on, and all through-out the several re-tests that I gave it. Not worth my time anymore.
It is sad sometimes that you need to revisit Creeds. But OS is the only one that I have to keep revisiting time and time again and I'm a little fed up. Santal Imperial I didnt like the first time I smelled it. Then a few months ago I revisited it and it immediately shot up to my top 5 fragrances I can't live without.

Answer:
Joop?

Maybe I have a bottle from a "good" batch or whatever, but I get sandalwood flanked by orange blossom and coriander, resulting in

Answer:
Hated it.
I like my sandlewood to smell like that, not sw with rotten fruit predominating.

Answer:
Glad you "got it" - but I can't get over the length of time it took.

When I posted about it a few weeks ago,my sole response was that it was really good in colder weather - something that would be difficult in your neck of the woods. Was the day perhaps noticeably cooler the day you "got it"?
Renato

Answer:
I think you're using too much.
I use about 2 sprays and the cloy-factor lasts only a few minutes.

Answer:
I agree, if one oversprays, it's going to be loud and obnoxious. A nice misting from a distance lessens the sweet top notes. I liked this one from the beginning, but it was one night that I awoke to smell it on my arm where I sprayed it before going to sleep that really did it for me. I like spraying several different colognes on my arms, waiting a while, then trying to remember which is which. Funny how something will smell different when I can't think of the name, better than I recollect, and then when I do, it's the "oh, that's it factor" and the excitement dies down. With OS, however, I awoke and couldn't place it at first, and was really amazed once I remembered I sprayed it on before going to bed several hours earlier.

Answer:
Yes Renato, it was a rainy day and my office got significantly colder because obviously it was a sunless,gloomy day. This scent is very fickle, can't wear it when it's hot and humid but my office is full a/c. I asked my friends if they can smell my OS, as I said, I sprayed one spray on each wrist, two on the chest,one spray each on the arc of my elbow, one on the back of my neck, one spray each on my shins, my friends told me that they could barely smell anything, so I knew that I didn't over spray, maybe because I wear undershirt and long sleeve business shirt, so the scent is buried under my clothings. Twelve hours later i can still smell it, it lingers while I was typing on my computer and the dry down is just smooth,milky,and classy!

Answer:
At first few tests I too worried that it might get loud and obnoxious, but the bottle I got, it isn't loud at all no matter how much I spray it. It stays rather discreet and crisp throughout. I would say it's more similar to Montblanc Individuel than Joop, but Individuel is the really loud one.

Answer:
Assuming you've gotten some of your more typical hot days again by now, how did Original Santal wear on those days?
Yesterday was a particularly muggy day down here, and I tested six scents on my arms in a shop. It wasn't a fair test, the mugginess and my perspiration pretty much killed four of them, and two barely survived.
Renato