Sensuous

Once you skip the 1 minute of boring floral top notes, it's just like eating a slice of bread with honey while sitting on a freshly cut (cedar?) tree trunk in a pairie surrounded with forest. It's a greyish autumn weather and you're wearing cozy wool clothes, enjoying this little moment on your own. I'm positively surprised and impressed, picture me like the kombucha girl meme while smelling this.

This isn’t your typical woody fragrance. It feels light, soft, and slightly sweet, making it very easy to wear.

This has been my aunt's signature scent since I can remember. Used to secretly spray it on myself while visiting her. Probably I wasn't so discreet as I thought, because the silliage is very good on this one. I wouldn't wear this myself during the summer months, but I see it as the perfect cozy perfume for colder weather. It smells like warm honey, amber, and melted candles.

Soapy, slightly tropical florals becomes a sweeter and more woody scent with a nice hint of spice. Lovely in spring and autumn, needs just some external heat. I get around 5 hrs on my skin.

Smells like grandma, beautiful.

Buzantian’s brief was explicit: move the house away from florals toward what the brand called an opulent oriental woodsy-amber concept. The marketing framing was warmth, sensuality, skin. The specific word in the name is sensuous rather than sensual — a distinction worth making, because sensual implies a relationship with another person while sensuous implies a relationship with one’s own senses. This is a fragrance designed for solitary pleasure in the most literal sense: it smells like your own skin when it is warm, when the materials have had time to settle, when you are somewhere quiet and not performing anything. Lily, jasmine and magnolia open into a woodsy-amber heart alongside ylang-ylang, settling into sandalwood, white honey, pepper and mandarin. The construction is deliberately warmer and more opaque than anything the house had produced since Spellbound — the woodsy-amber accord providing a dry, slightly smoky warmth that connects to the oriental tradition without being oriental in the classic incense-and-resin sense. The ylang-ylang adds a creamy richness to the heart without the animalic excess that ylang can produce at high concentrations. The white honey in the base is the most distinctive element: not the thick, golden honey of Youth-Dew’s register, but a lighter, more aqueous honey that adds warmth without weight. The flankers — Sensuous Nude and Sensuous Noir — are both considered by the community to exceed the original, which is an unusual verdict and may reflect that the original’s ambitions were slightly in excess of what a mainstream Lauder release could contain at that price point and with that degree of innovation required in the construction. The original remains excellent, with a specific quality of warmth that no other Lauder fragrance — not even Youth-Dew at its most ambitious — quite achieves. Released into a world that was about to become economically colder and more frightened, Sensuous is a fragrance about the specific comfort of your own warmth. It knows you are going to need somewhere to be. It makes that somewhere your own skin.

I'm obsessed with this fragrance. It almost makes my mouth water for some reason. What's in this stuff? Lol. It's woody, powdery and sweetly musky, yet sort of nutty and tropical floral (ylang?) I get a subtle bubblegum in the background. For me, this is a great example of a perfume with true aromatherapy qualities. Saltair Santal Bloom body products layer well with Sensuous!

This is the first scent I have that I can actually smell honey in. I’m either usually anosmic to it or I don’t really know what it smells like. This one reminds me of the honey lemon lozenges we used to use when sick when I was little. Not that it smells like lemon, but the honey smell is very similar. Add some florals, some sandalwood and a bit of orange. It’s a warm freshie. I would never think those two descriptors would ever go together, but that’s what I get. I don’t think I’m a honey girl. We never ate or used honey in anything growing up and it’s not a note I am used to. This warms up to a warm woody, slightly peppery and a touch powdery fragrance. It’s really pretty and I’m sure it would be beautiful on someone. Im just not sure it’s my personal style. It’s a soft subtle understated fragrance. I picture a very classy woman wearing this. It gives me that vibe of the current trend of “the old money aesthetic”. Subtle, understated elegance. I wouldn’t call it sexy, but rather, sensuous only in its barest sense. I’d say it’s a soft, “your skin but better” scent.

The opening gives me the impression of chalky root beer or violet candies – this is definitely a vintage sandalwood. It doesn’t feel particularly warm on my skin, and honestly despite the sandalwood it doesn’t feel particularly woody to me due to the overall powdery texture. From the reviews I thought this would be more skinlike in the drydown but there’s still a lingering chalky candy vibe to it. Feminine in an understated kind of way. For the record, I personally don’t find this to be particularly “sensuous” or sexy but I appear to be in the minority. If you like vintage sandalwoods ie Samsara you will probably love this!

I bought this from reviews. Loving the notes especially sandlewood and had high hopes. It's very outdated to me. I still love older perfumes but this doesn't smell like anything that came from the 00s (looked up the release date 2008) more 80s. I've given it to the 65yearold that wears it at work.

I really love this. It’s comforting but also sexy and clean?? I get the sandalwood and the honey and the amber and the orange mostly. I just feel like a more bold, confident version of myself wearing this. Definitely signature scent worthy. For reference, I’m in the 25-35 age range and don’t find this outdated or “old lady” like!

So dissappointed! I Blind bought it based on the reviews that it has a strong sandalwood note, which is my favorite note. Well, it has none! I don't smell any sandalwood, only honey, and it's not a good perfume either. Now I'm stuck with it. So, so dissappointed.☹️ l love Estée Lauder, I use many of their products, but this one is a total failure for me.

Impressions of Sensuous by Estée Lauder. Winter. Outside, a blizzard rages and it’s already getting dark. The warm embrace of a kind mother at home. And nobody needs to go anywhere. Spicy hot tea with milk and honey. And later, Disney cartoons on TV: “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.” Spicy. Warm. Cozy. But a little sad (this sadness is for my younger self as a small child with my mother, and the impossibility of being there and then). For me, this fragrance is for a special mood

This is a comforting sandalwood-heavy fragrance I always come back to. It’s more nostalgia for me as I wore it when it first came out then repurchased in 2025. Inoffensive, but alluring. Sandalwood is the most prominent note for me but there is also a nuanced freshness to this - I don’t get a cloying and sticky sensation whilst wearing this. Too light for date night, more suited for daytime especially in cooler temperatures.

This is beautiful, like a silk veil. Very, very classy, distinctly feminine without being loud, tacky or gaudy, which I truly appreciate. I do not smell the honey note, what I get is woodsy (with a prominent sandal note) and the powderiness in the drydown, which is heavenly. This is a true gem. I wonder why nobody from the fragrance YT community speaks about it. I think this would.make an ideal office scent, because I cannot imagine anybody being offended by Sensuous.

I just blind purchased this one, and amber mystique. If they turn out to be shit I’m blaming you all because these reviews have me seduced…..

Bought a bottle of this last week. I'm usually a sucker for big, loud scents, but I fancied something a little different. After snooping through the reviews here I thought this one might be worth a crack. It's really lovely. Definitely more on the your-skin-but-better side of things rather than WITNESS-ME! levels of attention-grabbing. Partner just came in for a hug and lingered a bit longer than usual, but didn't acknowledge that there was perfume. Interesting. Soapy and a bit leathery to me initially, but mellows into this gorgeous fuzzy honey-ylang-sandalwood cloud. Put it on an hour ago and it seems to have settled into that for now. curious to see how long it sustains. I don't know if I'd call this one overtly sexy, but it's not *unsexy* if you see what I mean. If I were to criticise it, I might be tempted to call it a beige scent, but that would be doing it a disservice. There's complexity and nuance here. I keep coming back to sniff my pulse points. If it were truly beige I'd be bored. Personally, I don't get the mum-hug vibes from it other people mention (but then: I am in my late thirties, and my mum was very into YSL Opium when I was growing up). I don't think it would have sat quite right in my teens or early twenties, it does seem like a scent for a person comfortable in their skin - so perhaps not quintessentially motherly, but maybe a little more mature.

I worked for Esteé Lauder when this product was launched many, many years ago. I was a beauty advisor at a Macy's in South Florida when I was also hired me to be a model at the company's corporate event for the fragrance's launch. Back then I was a cute 18-year-old brunette and apparently somewhen similar to Hilary Rhoda, who was the face of the campaign. All of this to say this is a special fragrance to me.. it's very distinct and the name fits it beautifully. Just bought a new bottle to reminisce.

A fragrance I will ALWAYS have in rotation. This is one of many my mom wore throughout the years as I was growing up that I adore and reminds me most of her when I smell it. I think it is great to wear all year 'round, but I think it shines especially in 65-80 degree weather. I also like to layer this with Initio Absolute Aphrodisiac. If only I could bathe in it!

This was one of my first perfume purchases and I bought it blind, years ago! The creamy, honey & warm notes make it a very intimate fragrance, to me. The scent tells me all about a woman who is quietly confident in her own skin. She has fully integrated her dark side, and is gently expressing it. She's not issuing you a challenge or an invitation, but both are worn on her skin all the same in equal measure, unmistakable only to those close enough to touch. I can appreciate that. I like that it's woody and clean, not really sweet, not really floral. It wasn't what I was looking for when I bought it. The intimacy of it makes it more occasionwear than everyday for me, but I can see it fitting differently for others.

I didn’t expect to like this but I do! The sandalwood is so beautiful. There’s a bit of vanilla or honey, a bit of pepper, a bit of the white florals. The soap is strong at the start but dries well. Very nice. Saving this for cooler weather.

This was a surprise….modern, warm, classic, yet different. Initially, it reminds me of Mitsouko (from 1930’s Guerlain, an old favorite) , but then changes as the layers warm up on your skin. This is suitable for work, dates, a great non-floral go to for the modern woman. Enjoy!

This perfume will always be one of my favorites. When I was 21 years old, I would go in my grandmother’s perfume cabinet and test them out and this one always was my favorite. I would dose myself in it and then go to work and I would get so many compliments about how good I was smelled. I love that the scent reminds me of her and all of our memories. This will forever be one of my favorites and I was lucky enough to find it for very cheap online so that I can be a heavy sprayer

I can’t work out how I feel about Sensuous. At first, I thought it was a blind buy fail and I wondered why it has so many fans. However, the more I wear it, the more I get it. Warm woods, comforting ambery goodness, a bit of honey. There’s something languid about the way it stays close to the skin but goes on for hours - like it doesn’t have to be loud to prove itself. The ad campaign with the white shirts - nailed it. Easy, tousled…sensuous? Everything I’ve just written sounds ridiculous but I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s almost magical. Also, you can get some excellent deals through UK discounters - I paid £19 for 50ml.

Not love at first sniff but I fell flat on my face after that dry down came . Lasts super long as well. Smells like comfort

Honeyed suede - That's what Sensuous smells like to me. Suede is a note that I don't always enjoy, but I loved this fragrance at first sniff (and suede isn't even a note in this fragrance!). The woody notes are perfectly balanced out by the honey and amber notes. I could easily see myself wearing this out at night - although it's slightly cozy and spicy, I'd definitely wear this in warm weather too.

This is so beautiful! It’s a signature scent worthy fragrance. Sensuous is present without being too loud, it’s beautiful enough to wear everyday without feeling too special or boring. It’s unisex for sure but the smooth, round quality of the florals and sandalwood make this lean into the feminine side. On my skin, no one note jumps out- sensuous is blended to perfection. It’s smells creamy, the texture is a pressed powder the main note is that of expensive sandalwood, with an almost edible sweetness. Of all the florals listed I perceive Lily most but I have to really look for it. Sensuous creates a wonderful scent bubble. I also found a bottle of Sensuous Nude and Sensuous Noir. I’ve read the flankers are even better than this and since I’m so taken with Sensuous, I’m so excited for the others to arrive.

This is delightful. I found a travel size at a yard sale with less than half along with Beautiful and Pleasures but this one is my favorite. Very mature and spicy (pepper) but smells like clove. The formula in mine is still fresh and light in color and is certainly a woody oriental. Doesn't exactly open with Lily, Jasmine or Magnolia imo, it's sheer. Heliotrope?? There is a slight smokiness deep within it you can only smell if you spray a lot. Could be the amber. Honey and Mandarin are the base notes but it's an accent. If you don't like that "old" smell it's not for you. It's Estee Lauder so it's not gourmand, not a treat. It's archival pre-2010 without ambroxan or silly vanillas. Warm but not for the heat.

For some reason it reminds me of Coca-Cola it's very enjoyable.

UPDATE I can still smell it on my skin more than 12 hours later! My first time owning it - it smells soapy and lemony (maybe it’s the wild orange / honey combo) but not in an aldehydic type of way, but in a your skin but better type of way - clean smell. Definitely a daytime scent but don’t underestimate it as it’s powerful! It does stay close to your skin but on me it lasts for over 12 hours, reformulated or not.