Mysore Santal 
Ethos Grooming Essentials (2020)

I love this stuff, you cannot overspray it and it gives the wearer a nice bubble of sandalwood for several hours that I find extremely comforting and very 'natural' smelling. I wear it to Cross Fit and have had some members compliment me on 'smelling good' when I cannot even smell it anymore on myself.

I think this would be a great body spray for layering underneath some florals or even another 'sandalwood' fragrance that needs a jolt of real Mysore.

I would compare this to the Mysore diluted in perfumers alcohol that the brand AbdesSalaam Attar sells which is much more costly (and costs more to ship from Italy) or the sheer-minimal sandalwood that one could smell, years ago, in Floris' Sandalwood (which is now disco'd)

Before addressing the perfume in question, the name Ethos Grooming Essentials may not be well-known to most in the perfume community. Those who also dabble in higher-end traditional wet shaving circles, however, will likely be familiar with both the Ethos house, and the nose behind it, Mr. Frank Lipani (going under the user name Dragonsbeard). The house tends to focus on using all-naturals (whenever possible) in its offerings which run the gamut from perfumes, to shaving soaps and creams, pre and post shaving products, and bar soaps among others, frequently with many difficult to find ingredients. Now that the house intro is covered for the uninitiated, let's move on to discussing Mysore Santal, EdT.

I normally open my reviews with an objective list of notes and accords smelled throughout the perfume's development, but in this case I will just move directly to the subjective portion, as the name "Mysore Santal" is very apropos, with real Mysore sandalwood proving (both the essential oil and actual wood chips) the first, last and everywhere in-between scented ingredient in the perfume. Projection is below average and longevity average at between 8 and 10 hours on skin.

I actually came across the Mysore Santal EdT purely by accident. I had previously used a couple of the Ethos shaving products and was impressed enough to seek out an aftershave offering to match the shaving soap I was using. During the search instead I found and bought a bottle of the Ethos Mysore Santal Skin Food (aftershave) splash, which boasted the use of real Mysore sandalwood essential oil as its near-sole fragrance driver (supported by some actual Mysore sandalwood chips at the bottom of each bottle to bolster its scent performance over time). Fast forward a few months later, I was impressed enough with the Skin Food that I decided to also give the Mysore Sandalwood EdT spray a go which is pretty much a more concentrated version of the Skin Food splash (complete with even more real Mysore sandalwood chips at the bottom of every bottle that seep into the perfume over time) in spray form.

When first sprayed on skin, the perfume has a slightly creamy, dark woody aspect to it that has just a touch of sweetness and nuttiness. It projects at its maximum (which never is at anywhere near powerhouse levels) for the first thirty minutes, before gradually becoming more of a low projecting personal scent, as the dark woody aspect folds into the slightly sweet creamy, nutty facets to create a smooth extremely natural smelling woody focus that is unlike any other kind of sandalwood to those who have smelled real Mysore before. To those that haven't (and the vast majority of perfumes on the market no longer contain any of it due to scarcity and cost), this is a fine reference perfume to get well-acquainted with its true fragrance profile. The whole journey ends in similar fashion, as it remains highly linear through its all too brief finish. I strongly suspect that one's impressions of the Mysore Santal EdT perfume will be highly impacted by what the wearer is looking for. If searching for amazing development and a "full roller coaster journey" with emerging and changing notes along the way, you will come off highly disappointed, as will those seeking projection and longevity metrics that only synthetics allow. To those going in knowing this is about exploring the increasingly rare and expensive real Mysore sandalwood in all its glory and nothing else, it is hard to find any fault in the perfume, and indeed in the opinion of this writer it smells absolutely fabulous! The bottom line is the $75 per 60ml bottle Mysore Santal EdT may not bring lots of changing notes and accords to the table, but what it *does* bring is a reference quality example of what real Mysore sandalwood smells like in perfume form, impressing when worn by itself, or when layered with a number of other perfumes, earning an "excellent" 4 out of 5 stars rating and an easy recommendation to those seeking a reference real Mysore sandalwood perfume without breaking the bank seeking out increasingly expensive vintage offerings.