Santal, Skin, and Memory: Narciso Rodriguez’s New Move For Him

If you think the world needs another flanker, I’m with you. If you think it needs another musk, I’m still with you. But when Narciso Rodriguez says musk with sandalwood in a bottle called Santal Musc for Him, I sit up straight.

This is the newest offshoot of Narciso Rodriguez For Him from 2007, a scent I wore on chilly, wet nights when I wanted something quiet but firm. That original had a mineral-inky cool that made room for intimacy. The brand’s signature musc has always felt like clean skin with a pulse. Add sandalwood to that equation and you get a promise I can’t ignore: warmth hugging transparency, velvet over glass.

Here’s why the timing is sharp. Sandalwood has been the stealth star of recent men’s launches, cozy without frosting the senses in sugar. If Santal Musc for Him leans creamy and meditative, it could be the grown-up counterpoint to the loud, blue crowd. If it leans drier and woody, it might sharpen the musc’s halo and keep things city-sleek. Either path sounds right for January.

Flankers succeed when they keep the soul and change the temperature. The soul here is unmistakable musc on skin. The tweak is sandalwood, which, in the best hands, reads as skin that has learned a few new words. I’m hoping for projection that stays respectful, the kind that travels only as far as a scarf. Think office friendly, date ready, repeatable. No fireworks, just low light and good angles.

Will it replace the original Narciso Rodriguez For Him in my rotation? Probably not. Classics earn their closet space. But I can already see Santal Musc for Him becoming the piece I reach for when I want the NR signature to feel more tactile, more knitwear than poplin.

Verdict for now: I’m interested, and not just politely. If you live for the clean-sensual paradox of Narciso Rodriguez, sandalwood is the right kind of trouble. If you don’t, this might be the gateway. Either way, I’m testing it on a cold morning and a warm neck. That’s where musk tells the truth.