The Tale of the Drifting Wood Forts

During storms, trees, branches, and roots fall into rivers, and float down into the ocean, and then are washed ashore by the waves. The salty sea water transforms the color of the wood from brown to silver white. Sometimes, there is so much driftwood on the sand that the sand is invisible. Often this debris forms driftwood forts where one can shelter. But mostly, people build them by stacking logs like a pup tent. The driftwood filters out sound and sunlight and provides a sense of peace.

Sandalwood Driftwood is a rare, discontinued perfume that has never appeared on markets outside of Spain. Little is known about this perfume, and the keynotes are unknown, apart from sandalwood and driftwood. The rest is all up to the wearer’s perception and sensation. This perfume was a revelation for me, bought blind on Vinted from a Spanish seller, since ZARA has never launched it on the Italian market. N°02 in the Jo Malone Ocean Collection, I would have expected something with a marine inclination, like Zara Ocean Nº1 - Salty Ocean Bouquet sibling. Instead, it surprised me like Zara Ocean Nº4 - Saffron Orange Flowers and Zara Ocean Nº3 - Caviar Bergamot, which are fresh and light like water, but without marine inflections. Specifically, Sandalwood Driftwood has whispers of salinity, but neither seaweed nor salt are the dominant theme.

Bright, brilliant bergamot and bitter, tart lemon open this Jo Malone creation. It is vivid, pungent, like smelling the aroma of freshly cut green citrus. But this is not a citrus fragrance and the citrus accord lasts only for a few breaths, just long enough to awaken the senses from a momentary numbness. Little by little a slightly salty and woody accord rises, like the scent you breathe on a beach on a windy day, with the waves pushing the lifeless trunks of the trees adrift towards the shore, floating in the sea for an infinite time, and now they are beached on the shoreline.

The more the perfume settles on the skin, the more the sides emerge sharp notes of sandalwood, which here closely resembles that used in other ZARA creations inspired by #santal 33. This is a dry sandalwood, which those familiar with ZARA fragrances will have no trouble recognizing. In the heart there is they also feel some hints of straw and hay, probably due to a dried lavender, made less aromatic and more herbaceous. Surely there are slightly floral, spicy aspects, but I would say more than anything balsamic. And along with these woody accords, there is also a salty accord in the background. For a moment I doubted that the fragrance would take an aquatic direction, with strong influences of calone and algae. But fortunately, the marine accord is salty, that of ambergris , and all the modern molecules that reproduce the smell of salt. Adding a dewy facet is the rose, or a pink geranium, which here appears fresh and moist, not at all sweet and gelatinous.

When the fragrance has reached the apex, and begins its descent towards the dry-down, delicate greenish, foliage accords emerge. The sandalwood takes over the whole scene, but instead of the creamy and warm traits, here it appears pungent, vigorous, which at times resembles wood shavings of cedar, with those typical slightly resinous nuances. On my skin this fragrance seems like a layering of Santal 33, the Sandalwood, with a marine and salty accord, the Driftwood. I don’t mind it at all, and I’m glad it has turned my fears and biases on their head. The best thing is to discover new sides from time to time that I hadn’t smelled before.

As I interpret it, this fragrance is suitable for spring and summer days. So light, dry, and fresh it is perfect for both work and leisure occasions. If used indoors and during sports, it should not bother those passing by. The performance is excellent, as almost all of Jo Malone’s creations for ZARA.

My interpretation is based on a bottle I have had since December 2024 (BC 13260).

-Elysium