I love Le Labo’s Santal 33 so much that I wore it every day for 372 days, until the bottle ran out.
Maybe this is normal for some people? It is not for me. I struggle with fidelity: to places, to clothing, to scents. A change is as good as a rest, right? Not when it comes to Santal 33. I wore it every day for one year and one week, and I was better for it. I stood up straighter, I dressed better, and I smelled (in my opinion) terrific. The right fragrance has that power, and Santal 33 is the right one for me.
That said: To know Santal 33 is to hate it — for its omnipresence, its ubiquity, its dominance. Unless you love it, like I do — passionately — it has been skewered in online outlets ranging from Fashionista to The Cut, which wrote: “In a recent Quinnipiac poll, one in five women said she wears Le Labo Santal 33 as her preferred fragrance.” I read that without realizing it was a joke, figuring that depending on where they asked people — perhaps in a Venice Beach pilates studio — it might very well be true.
If you hate hype, you should avoid Santal 33. But if you love layered sandalwood-centric scents with a certain amount of cultural cachet if not to say omnipresence…..
What Does Le Labo Santal 33 Smell Like?
It’s the best. Officially, in its typically overblown language, Le Labo describes Santal 33 as: “a perfume that would intoxicate a man as much as a woman… that introduces our use of cardamom, iris, violet, ambrox which crackle in the formula and bring to this smoking wood alloy (Australian sandalwood, cedarwood) some spicy, leathery, musky notes, and gives this perfume its unisex signature and addictive comfort.”
Moi, I personally believe that it smells like cucumbers on first application, before settling into smoky violet beach.
On a more meta level: It smells like you know that Le Labo makes perfume for the kind of people who know what Le Labo is, but also don’t mind that its heyday came in the early 2010s. It’s a perfume that speaks loudly about its origins, and the brand that created it. I’m sure lots of people would rather use a fragrance that was a little more neutral in that specific regard. Is it the rich millennial’s version of cKone? It really might be. But that shouldn’t necessarily put you off.
How Long Does Le Labo Santal 33 Last?
Quite a while, actually. While not all of Le Labo’s scents are so long lasting — see Osmanthus 19 — Santal 33 does last. I smell it 6-8 hours later, and on my clothes until they’re laundered. It’s believed that the scents last longer the longer they’re in the bottle, but I haven’t noticed that — it lasted quite a long time from the first application. And I had a whole year (and a week) to test that!
Is Santal 33 a Perfume or a Cologne?
It is a perfume! Meaning it has a higher concentration of scent and will last longer than a cologne.
Why Is Le Labo Santal 33 So Popular?
Two reasons:
1: It just smells great.
Essentially it’s just another sandalwood perfume, but it manages to be more than that: It smells like something you want to burrow into. Not for nothing was it originally developed as a candle (the iconic and perfect Santal 26) and only later debuted as a fragrance.
2: Its marketing is on point.
Its reputation proceeds it: To wear Santal 33 (at least in the beginning) was to be in the know, in New York City — to be able to afford an expensive perfume, to know the cool labels, to get along well in an in-demand world. It’s the same as any cool, expensive thing: knowing about a cool thing, and possessing it, made you cool, too.
Surely this is less true now than it was in 2011, when it first debuted — looking back on its buzz, the New York Times wrote “Santal 33 quickly became a sort of cult secret, whispered through wafts of sandalwood and cedar, only detected by those in the know.” And if cool is inversely proportional to ubiquity, it definitely took a hit after Estée Lauder bought Le Labo in 2018 and widely expanded its distribution. That said: The president’s son in Red White and Royal Blue wears Santal 33. Mexican rapper Peso Pluma, in collaboration with Óscar Maydon, put a song called Santal 33 (“treinta y tres”) on an album in 2024. It still speaks of money, fame, and influence.
#1 is still as true as it ever was.
Alternatives and Dupes for Santal 33
While there are zillions of unisex sandalwood perfumes out there, I think there is only one dupe worth mentioning: Target’s Finery line Jungle Santal. I find them extremely similar and love Jungle Santal. Two problems: The scent isn’t quite as rich and — much worse — the longevity for me isn’t there. I can spray Santal 33 and still smell it the next day. Jungle Santal is gone in a couple hours.
Le Labo Santal 33: Final Verdict
Here’s the thing. Maybe the typically jaded Santal 33 review is true, and the fragrance is 10 years past its prime — a cliché for some people. But who, then, are these people? People who are jaded about perfumes. Who has time to be jaded about a perfume?
People who work in the beauty industry, the media, people who regularly frequent the kinds of hotels where the managers care very much that the lobby should have a singular scent. Those aren’t most people. Those are basically 250 scenesters, going to all the same parties with all the same people, conniving for a bit more power and privilege. Fuck them! Who needs that? They mock. That’s their job — to figure out what might be cool before anyone else, and then tear it down in favor of the next thing. Put this on your neck, and people will want to get closer to you. You will want to get closer to you. (I’ve written my entire Santal 33 review with my wrist glued to my nose.) And isn’t that the point of smelling amazing? Frankly, I don’t want to make out with anyone who gets jaded over their perfume selection, and neither should you.
For the record: Once my 372 days were up, I skipped about a month — my sister got me Thé Noir for Christmas, and to tell you the truth I love it nearly as much — and then went right back to Santal 33.
Buy it at Saks.
