Palo Santo
Cremo (2021)

Palo Santo is a value-priced scent that hits above its weight. The notes are as described—I get cardamom. I get papyrus. And I get Palo Santo in spades. I do not get a pickle note but what I do get is a salty note often associated with ambergris which gives this a slight driftwood vibe. While most of the other Cremo scents are good but not unusual, Palo Santo is distinctive, dry and very masculine. Their grooming products are very nice and it was the smell of their sculpting paste that made me take notice. I was wearing an expensive niche scent the first time I used the Palo Santo hair paste and all I could smell all day was the Palo Santo. It put my Peau d’Espagne SOTD to shame—and that’s saying something! Best horse in the Cremo stable. I am intrigued, however, by the notion of a pickle scent. Eau de Cornishon Haute Concentree? I’d go for that.

I will start this review with a story for context...
When I was younger (1970s) like many families we had a full sized station wagon. At that time our home was more rural and we would occasionally use a 'burn barrel' to burn garbage. My father would obtain these barrels by purchasing old pickle brining drums from the local pickle plant.
Unfortunately one time brine leaked into the car and the pickle smell would never go away. EVER. Even professional detailing proved futile.
Having explained all of that it should be no surprise that I can barely go neutral on Cremo Palo Santo and now understand that Le Labo 33 would be a no-go as well.
I can eat pickles, no problem. Crisp and dill-icious. I can't stand smelling like a pickle barrel at all. I'll leave this neutral, barely. It didn't help that this bottle leaked during shipping and it seemed like my entire house smelled like our old station wagon for 3 days after I opened the package.

Cremo Palo Santo is reputedly a clone of Le Labo Santal 33. I've never tried Santal 33, so I can't directly compare it. What I can say is this fragrance smells smoky, paper-y, and...pickle-y. Yes, this seems to inherit the pickle vibe that some people get from Santal 33.

I'm neutral on this fragrance because, despite the pickle vibe, I don't think it smells offensive or anything. It smells... fine. But I've never really been drawn back to it, like I have with other Cremo fragrances. I like it in my collection, but I'm more just fascinated with the competent attempt to clone a niche fragrance at nearly 1/10 of the price.