Perfume lovers - I want smoky, woody, sandalwood fragrance. Ideas?

[SarahAndQuack]

I am still in mourning for Boadicea the Victorious 'Exotic,' which was amber and sandalwood and a tiny bit of patchouli, with some florals.

I have (I assume!) really odd skin chemistry, and a lot of perfumes that smell lovely on other people just refuse to work on me. I tend to find that in any given perfume, it'll be the sweet florals or citrus notes that stick.

In about 2008 I loved Boadicea the Victorious's 'Exotic' - despite it being quite a shonky perfume line with an overly high price - and I've never found anything as nice. I recently lost weight and started fitting into my clothes from then, and of course they're full of the ghost of that perfume, which is making me miss it! Since then I've to wear nice fresh one-note spritzes (my DD and I share the L'Occitane lemon verbena spray), and that's fine, but I would really like a grown-up perfume.

Thoughts? Thank you!

M & S has a Le Labo dupe. It's Apocathary Warmth. Cost £10. It's lovely. Possibly not smoky enough for you but I love smoky, woody, filthy perfumes (and ones that smell like old libraries too!), so we like the same kind of smells.

Thank you! I will look. I must admit I wasn't keen on Le Labo - I tried out various of theirs in the airport, as you do, and I found them either very wishy-washy, or just harsh. I do really think it's my skin chemistry! But YY, 'like old libraries' would be my perfect scent.

There are some lovely Penhaligon fragrances. My husband wears Halfeti quite a lot.

Timbuktu and Dioressence are both worth a try. Dry, spicy and woody.

Thanks! They sound good.

Tom Ford Black Orchid.

Have a look at Shay and Blue. They are sure to have what you are looking for. I got a sample set a couple of years ago....and fell in love.

Have a try of Cairo from Penhaligon's, Anubis from Papillon or Tiger by Her Side from Sana Jardin. Maybe you would like Darling Nikki from Vilhelm too.

Is Obsession still around? I never wore much perfume, even when I tolerated it, but I loved that for its sandalwood tones.

The sandalwood isn't very strong to my nose but think you'd like the overall impression of smoke in a forest meets ball gown glamour (2019 EDP, haven't tried the EDT).

It's an inexpensive classic.

https://www.theperfumeshop.com/gres/cabochard/eau-de-parfum-spray/p/20550EDTJU

Dossier - Woody Oakmoss, you can get it on Amazon, it's a dupe for Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and it's gorgeous.

Jo Malone Cypress & Grapevine. I got a sample of it the other day and it’s lovely. Cedarwood rather than sandalwood though, and it’s quite masculine.

I love L'Air du Desert Marocain (Tauer). It might not be what you're looking for - may be more of the souk that you wanted, and less of the wood - but several places sell samples.

Otherwise, it's got to be worth trying some of the many ouds now on the market. Loads of them have patchouli & sandalwood overtones. Oud makes me smell like tree bark!

Le jardin retrouve sandalwood sacre

4160tuesdays invisible Ben

Andy Tauer l air du desert du marocain

I wear Obsession, when I feel like being noticed - it smells very overpowering on me! But I love it, and agree it is sandlewoody and has a definite smokey element

You might like Whispers in the Library or By the Fireplace or Jazz Club by Maison Margiela

The Boadicea scent was in a recent Harvey Nichols GWP and there are several of the 10 ml bottles from that set on eBay for around £20.

Ebony Wood from Zara

How about BDK Gris Charnel Extrait?

There is a 100ml.bottle of it going on eBay now for £199 Buy It Now (you can also make an offer...)

Just wanted to say - thank you! I went and tried it, and although my stupid skin didn't react well with it, I did try and like 'Ease'. It's not like what I was describing, but very nice in itself. What a great find!

Thanks all! Lots of interesting suggestions. @DuskyBlueDepartingLight, I love that description of 'forest meets ball gown glamour'!

@Garlickest - ah, see, smelling like tree bark sounds quite appealing to me! I once tried a scent that was described as smelling like new pencils and a library full of leather-bound books, and I fancied that, too. (It didn't, sadly, smell anything like either, and I've blanked the name from my memory!)

Obsession is too much for me!

@friskybivalves - I have occasionally been tempted (it crops up on ebay periodically), but what I really want is something new (and, hopefully, cheaper!) that I can reliably buy. I've had a couple of bad experiences with ebay perfume buys where it'd quite obviously gone off, but it's quite hard to prove it must have been opened.

Defo Tom Ford Black Orchid

Liz Earl No 15

DSDurga Mississippi Medicine.

it might be a bit too smoky tough.