For most of the last decade, one santal was the smell of every concept store, gallery opening and good hotel lobby. Le Labo Santal 33 turned a dry, slightly leathery sandalwood into a social signal, which is a lot of cultural weight for a single perfume to carry. Tom Ford Santal Blush takes the same wood somewhere warmer and spicier, closer to skin than to cedar shavings. Together they show the two poles every newer sandalwood perfume is still negotiating between. One reads like a studio apartment with good shelving, the other like the dinner afterward.

Once a note becomes a mood, the couture houses arrive, and sandalwood is now firmly in that phase. Yves Saint Laurent folded it into Libre, a perfume franchise originally built on lavender and orange blossom. Christian Louboutin went further with Santal Fétiche, which leans into the provocative naming the brand has always enjoyed. Neither is trying to be the quiet, anonymous wood of 2015. These are santals with a logo on the collar, and they are comfortable with that.

The biggest shift in sandalwood is how often it is now paired with something soft enough to blur its edges. The 7 Virtues Santal Vanille leans on vanilla to make the wood feel creamy rather than dry, which suits colder months when a dry perfume can read austere. Kayali Freedom Musk Santal | 34 does the same job with musk, keeping the scent close and a little clean. This is the skin scent movement meeting the woods category halfway. It is less about being noticed across a room and more about smelling good at a close distance.

At the top of the category, sandalwood is being treated as a material to show off rather than a vibe to borrow. Ex Nihilo Santal Calling comes from a Paris house known for letting clients personalise scents in its boutique. Van Cleef & Arpels Santal Blanc sits in a jeweler’s perfume collection, which tells you how the house wants the wood to read: pale, polished, precious. Both are more about texture than trend, and each perfume rewards a slow first wear. Sandalwood has historically been one of the most prized raw materials in perfumery, and this end of the market wants you to feel that history.

If you take one thing away, it is that sandalwood no longer needs the famous bottle to justify itself. The original still smells like a specific era, and that era is mostly over, even if the perfume itself holds up. The more interesting bottles now either soften the wood with vanilla and musk or dress it up with a fashion or jewelry house signature. Pick based on distance: close and creamy if you want something personal, polished and pale if you want the wood to feel like an accessory. Skip anything that just smells like a candle shop. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Long Lasting Perfume That's Still There After Dinner and In the Stars Bath and Body Works.