Arden Men - Sandalwood (1957)
by Elizabeth Arden

Meh, nothing great. Sandalwood is good woods and citrus with oakmoss. Good scent.

A wonderful sandalwood fragrance. It is ostensibly masculine and harsh upon first spraying, but its character is tempered by warm woody notes and a soft drydown that make it almost a unisex cologne. An appealing and genial aroma.

First of all let me say that this is a fantastic barbershop fragrance! One of the best I have encountered in a long time. Where Antico Caruso and Rive Gauche for men are great Italian and French barbershop smells, this is a great American barbershop scent. It is a stylish classic. Maybe it's a tad dated, but even in allowing that, I mean "dated" in a good way. It's the smell of a well-groomed gent. Yes, it's a little nostalgic, and it would probably appeal most to men over 40, like me. The name is a bit misleading, Sandalwood doesn't really play a leading role for most of the development of AMS. At first there is far more lavender than anything else. Then, a little later, lavender shares the stage with sandalwood, and they do a terrific duet. Then it becomes mostly sandalwood with lavender support, but at that point, 4 to 5 hours after application, the fragrance stays pretty close to the skin. It is by then soft, dry, mellow, straight-forward sandalwood, but it is subltle. It is clean, masculine, and gobs of lovely character. Where some others try, and sometimes suceed,in evoking a classic scent--this is the real McCoy; the iconic scent they are trying to emulate. The makers were out of their minds to discontinue this. All I can say in summation is: if you "get it", and if you can get it, go get it!

Don't tell me they're discontinuing this?!?! This is the PERFECT fragrance for a man from the 60s. It is almost purely sandalwood (a very popular scent for incense in the 60s). I LOVE this fragrance and am disappointed that they're discontinuing it. With all the woody fragrances around like Gucci PH and YSL's M7, as well as Creed's Tabarome Millesime or even Vintage Tabarome, this fits very nicely within that group. Yes, I'll say it, the sales execs at Elizabeth Arden are STUPID to discontinue this genuine one-of-a-kind fragrance. And the fact that it LASTS is good too. There are too many fragrances nowadays that don't last even 5 minutes. Instead of discontinuing this fragrance, they should try promoting it and re-launching, directing it at those aging baby boomers and older retirees who play golf all day. It is the perfect scent for them! In my opinion, it really smells like a wealthy man's fragrance. So, if anyone from Elizabeth Arden reads this review, PLEASE don't discontinue this quite yet. With the right promo, it could be a BIG seller.

This is a fragrance that I've always loved to smell on a guy. Interestingly, it always reminded me of a freshly-opened bar of Neutrogena soap . . . not in a 'soapy' way, but that clean, healthy aroma that always made me want to help them hurry up and get a little dirty! I've purchased a bottle recently, but, as with a couple of other discontinued fragrances I've bought, it had that 'off' smell. The nuances are not there. I do wish they'd bring it back. Sigh.

Potent stuff, and definitely NOT for those who eschew heavy doses of lavender. (The opening sprays are akin to cannon fire, not cologne.) But give it time to dry -- PLEASE. This is one scent that will either grow on you (as it has on me) or be put up for swap very soon. (As with A*men and other frags, there seems to be no middle ground on this one.)

The sandalwood used here is positively bone dry, but the opopanax helps give it more depth in the drydown. The cedar notes may bother some twenty or thirty minutes into the drydown, so be forewarned. (They don't bother me, but I know how many folks are with cedar.)

A good, solid, old school men's scent all around, but will have its definite detractors in the "Tommy Generation."

Still fairly available even though discontinued.