In the spring of 2011, a small New York perfume house turned one of its candles into a perfume. Le Labo's Santal 26 candle already had a following, and Santal 33, composed by Frank Voelkl, was sold first at Colette in Paris. Fifteen years later, a Fragrantica writer credits it with creating a whole genre, the "everywhere scent."
The fragrances reviewers compare most often with Santal 33 are Louis Vuitton's Ink Mark, Diptyque's Tam Dao and Tom Ford's Santal Blush. Ink Mark is the closest: creamy sandalwood with incense and rose in place of leather. Tam Dao is the older, quieter one, sandalwood and cedar freshened with cypress. Santal Blush is the spiced one, with cumin, cinnamon and jasmine around the wood. Le Labo sells Santal 33 at $250 for 50 ml and $348 for 100 ml.
How Santal 33 became the sandalwood everyone knows
Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi founded Le Labo in New York in 2006 and opened their first shop on Elizabeth Street in Nolita. Le Labo still says every bottle is blended, labeled and packed by hand. Santal 33 was the first new fragrance in the main collection since Oud 27 in 2009, built from the candle. Le Labo describes its inspiration as the American West: a person alone on the plains at night, firelight on the face, an indigo sky and a desert wind. The page that sells it still opens with that scene.
Frank Voelkl was born in Germany, studied at ISIPCA, the perfumery school near Paris, and has worked in the United States for three decades. When dsm-firmenich named him a master perfumer in July 2026, Fragrantica's coverage counted nearly twenty Le Labo fragrances to his name, Thé Noir 29 and Thé Matcha 26 among them, along with the Glossier You collection.
Estée Lauder bought Le Labo in 2014, and Santal 33 went from a niche name to a familiar one. Refinery29, quoted by Now Smell This in 2021, described it as the talking point of fashion weeks from London to Paris before Baccarat Rouge 540 took over that role. Fragrantica's Andrei Lensky found it popular in China in 2026, and in the film Red, White & Royal Blue it is the fragrance one of the leads wears. More than 13,700 people have rated it on Fragrantica, and its reviews there run from devotion to bafflement, often on the same page.
What Santal 33 smells like
Le Labo lists cardamom, iris and violet over a smoky blend of Australian sandalwood and cedarwood, with spicy, leathery and musky notes. Now Smell This's launch report adds papyrus and ambrox. In practice the first impression is dry wood and leather with a green, slightly sour edge, and it settles into a creamy, powdery sandalwood with a violet tint. Victoria of Bois de Jasmin, reviewing it in 2011, read it less as a classic creamy sandalwood than as a woody fragrance built on leather and amber.
Then there is the pickle. Kevin at Now Smell This noticed a dill-like note in his June 2011 review, and fifteen years on Fragrantica's reviewers still debate it: some smell dill or brine for the first hour, many never smell it at all. It depends heavily on skin, which is the best reason to try Santal 33 before buying it. Bois de Jasmin and Now Smell This both found it long-lasting and diffusive; Kafkaesque found it soft after the first half hour.
It is unisex, works year-round, and stays dry rather than sweet. Le Labo sells the 50 ml bottle at $250 and the 100 ml at $348. It also sells a 15 ml bottle for $113 and a 1.5 ml sample for $7, a sensible first step given how much the opening depends on skin.
Ink Mark, Louis Vuitton: creamier, with incense instead of leather
Ink Mark is the newest fragrance here. Louis Vuitton released it only in China in October 2025, in a trio called Journey to China, and brought it to its US stores and website in September 2026. Jacques Cavallier Belletrud built it from Chinese calligraphy: the house says he was struck in Shanghai by poems written on the pavement in water, and by the scent of ink, which is made from wood slowly burned to soot.
What it shares with Santal 33 is the sandalwood, creamy and dry, with a papery edge and no sugar; the ingredient list on Louis Vuitton's page names sandalwood oil. Where Santal 33 adds leather, cardamom and violet, Ink Mark adds white incense, a quiet rose and amber, so it reads warmer and smoother. On Fragrantica, Santal 33 is the comparison reviewers make most. Several say the two are close in the first minutes and part ways in the drydown, where Santal 33 turns dry and leathery and Ink Mark stays warm and woody. One reviewer finds Ink Mark far less sour and misses nothing of the leather.
Reports on its strength vary. Several reviewers find it quieter and closer to the skin than Santal 33; one finds it longer-lasting. Fragrantica voters lean toward fall and winter. Choose it if you love Santal 33's wood but not its leather, though a few reviewers catch a briny moment in Ink Mark too. Louis Vuitton sells the 100 ml bottle at $360, on louisvuitton.com and in selected stores.
Tam Dao, Diptyque: the quieter sandalwood, with cypress
Tam Dao is eight years older than Santal 33. Diptyque released it in 2003, composed by Daniel Moliere and named after a hill station north of Hanoi. The house traces it to a childhood memory of Yves Coueslant, one of its founders, who grew up in Vietnam: sacred forests, and elephants carrying sandalwood logs to the temples to be burned.
Diptyque describes Mysore sandalwood, velvety and milky, cooled by cypress and myrtle. Now Smell This's 2005 review found a sharp cedar opening that quickly turns to creamy, resinous sandalwood, and compared the result to the inside of an old carved wooden box. The Eau de Parfum, added in 2013, warms the same idea with spices and amber.
It shares Santal 33's pairing of sandalwood and cedar, and Fragrantica's voters connect the two: Santal 33 appears among the fragrances liked by Tam Dao's fans, for both the Eau de Toilette and the Eau de Parfum. One reviewer there calls Tam Dao sandalwood and cedar done right, with a smoky base, and recommends it to Santal 33 wearers. The difference is in the edges: no leather, no violet, no sourness, and a green, piney freshness from the cypress. It is also softer and shorter-lived; Now Smell This put its wear at three to four hours. Choose it for daytime and for people who want sandalwood that stays in the background. Diptyque's US site sells the Eau de Toilette at $145 for 50 ml and $195 for 100 ml, and the Eau de Parfum at $260 for 75 ml.
Santal Blush, Tom Ford: spiced and floral
Santal Blush arrived the same year as Santal 33, in Tom Ford's Private Blend line in August 2011, composed by Yann Vasnier according to Fragrantica. Tom Ford introduced it as creamy sandalwood with Eastern spices and florals, in a nude-colored liquid and blush packaging. That autumn, Bois de Jasmin listed it beside Santal 33 among the year's sandalwood-rich launches.
Fragrantica's notes open with cumin, cinnamon, caraway, fenugreek and carrot seed, move through jasmine, ylang-ylang and rose, and settle on Australian sandalwood, benzoin, cedar, musk and a touch of oud. Robin at Now Smell This found it milky rather than creamy, with a darkish, almost leathery undertone, and likened it to a more polished Tam Dao.
Against Santal 33, it is warmer, spicier and more floral, with benzoin softening the base. Fragrantica reviewers who own both describe them as relatives rather than twins, and some find Santal Blush creamier and less woody. The cumin is the part to test: on some skin it reads as warm spice, on other skin it leads. Choose it for evenings and cold weather, or if you like your sandalwood with a little perfume around it. Tom Ford sells the 50 ml bottle at $300.
Which to try, depending on what you love about Santal 33
If it is the leather and the dry, papery wood, stay with Santal 33; none of the three here has that same edge. If it is the creamy sandalwood, try Ink Mark, which keeps the wood and leaves out the leather. If you want something quieter and greener for daytime, try Tam Dao, the Eau de Toilette for lightness and the Eau de Parfum for more warmth. If you want warmth and spice for evenings, try Santal Blush.
Sandalwood changes a lot from one person's skin to another's, and all four bottles cost $250 or more. A sample or decant of each, worn for a full day, will tell you more than any comparison can.
Questions
What does Le Labo Santal 33 smell like?
Santal 33 smells of dry sandalwood and cedar with leather, cardamom, violet and iris. It opens green and a little sour, then settles into a creamy, powdery wood. Le Labo describes it through an image of the American West: firelight, open plains and a night sky.
How much does Santal 33 cost?
As of October 2026, Le Labo sells Santal 33 Eau de Parfum on its US site at $113 for 15 ml, $250 for 50 ml, $348 for 100 ml and $1,138 for 500 ml. Le Labo also sells a 1.5 ml sample of Santal 33 for $7.
Who created Santal 33, and when was it released?
Frank Voelkl composed Santal 33 for Le Labo, and it launched in spring 2011, first at Colette in Paris. It grew out of Le Labo's Santal 26 candle. Voelkl has since composed nearly twenty Le Labo fragrances, including Thé Noir 29.
Why does Santal 33 smell like pickles to some people?
Some wearers notice a dill or briny note in Santal 33's opening, and Now Smell This mentioned a dill-like note in its 2011 review. It depends heavily on skin. Many wearers never notice it, and reviewers say it usually fades as the sandalwood and violet come through.
What smells like Santal 33 without the leather?
Louis Vuitton's Ink Mark is the closest match reviewers name: creamy sandalwood with white incense, rose and amber, and no leather. Diptyque's Tam Dao also pairs sandalwood with cedar, with cypress and myrtle where Santal 33 has leather and violet.
Bottle prices are the house's US retail, checked 1 October 2026. Decant prices on this page are live.