Samsara Eau de Toilette

This is an old American literary reference, but has anyone else read Tennessee Williams? (I fell in love with his plays in high school.) Unfortunately I was not in the AP English class, but I read "A Streetcar Named Desire" anyway, and among many quotes are this one, by Stella, after she is asked by her sister Blanche, what is your husband like? "Oh, you can't describe someone you're in love with!" she says, and leaves it at that. Well I have been in love with Samsara for years, and while I've been steadily writing reviews for other perfumes, I don't think I've been able to review Samsara as of yet. It's because I love her. I mean, you can love a perfume, but I have serious love for this perfume. Among my 100+ bottles of perfumes I have 3 favorites (Aromatics Elixir, Prada Infusion d'Iris, and Samsara, if you want a reference) but Samsara is the one I'd take with me to a desert island, the moon, I would bring her along with me during the Zombie apocalypse, or rescue her among my cat, car keys, and pictures in the event of a house fire. If I had to have a signature perfume it would be Samsara. The review part, what does she smell like? She smells opulent and dense. She smells a bit sweet, bittersweet. She is woody and floral. Samsara is saturated jasmine flowers. She smells red and warm, like opaque wine. Samsara is liquid smooth, except for the iris, which always adds a powdery texture. On the edges she smells like peach liquor, or a tang of bright ylang ylang on the top. And then there is the sandalwood. The vintage sandalwood is swoon worthy, the modern is the best Indian Sandalwood Facsimile that I've ever smelled (but that's because I cut my teeth on the modern Samsara, not the vintage.) Samsara just smells like Samsara, and if there's a perfume that smells similar, it's because the perfumer is trying to imitate Jean Paul Guerlain's Samsara. The notes? Really I don't know. I just know that Samsara works for me. I've never gotten tired of her, she is my woody floral/sandalwood jasmine gold standard, and if she were not in existence, my experience with perfume may be a lot different. Just as aside, I love both the modern and vintage EDT, and one day if I can pick the notes apart, I will review them separately. If you're really going for sandalwood I recommend you get the vintage EDT over the EDP, as the EDT is all gorgeous sandalwood drydown. The EDP is even more loud and opulent than the EDT. PPS--My mother in law also loves Samsara. Once when I was visiting her, I brought along Samsara to wear. After I left, and she was cleaning the guest room, she said she could smell beautiful perfume on the sheets. I guess when I was spraying it on some landed on the linens. Anyway I sent her a decant, which she promptly drained, and last time I saw her I saw she had gotten a 100 ml bottle of Samsara that was already half gone. When I am in their house now I can smell Samsara and it makes me so happy, and calm (the scent once it dries down is calming to me for some reason.) Anyway my MIL is 62, and her favorite perfumes used to be Obsession and Opium, both of which were horribly reformulated, and she stopped wearing perfume. But she loves Samsara in EDP, and I am happy that I got her into wearing perfume again, and my desert island perfume, at that. If you've read this far, thank you. I will try to write a few more Samsara reviews in the future, as I have every possible vintage and concentration on my shelf anyway.

EDIT LATE 2018 THIS REVIEW IS FOR WHAT ARE NOW THE OLD RUBY RED BOTTLES OF SAMSARA, NOT THE BEE BOTTLES, WHICH ARE INDEED REFORMULATED AND NOT MY BELOVED SAMSARA!! GET THE RED BOTTLES IF YOU CAN, OR BETTER YET THE CLEAR ONES IF YOU CAN FIND THEM. Samsara Eau de Toilette, the Newest Edition This gal has been around for almost 30 years now and it’s inevitable that she’s gone through some changes. There are some Samsara devotees that only want her in her vintage 90’s glory and eschew any newer stuff. I am not one of them, I wear both the new and the old versions. Yeah, the sandalwood ain’t what it used to be, but they’ve done a good job making up for it, and honestly, Guerlain does a really good job with the new materials that they have to use. But we’ll get into that. I really think that, for the most part, Guerlain has tried to maintain the integrity of most of their back catalogue of perfumes. I enjoy wearing a current bottle of Samsara as much as I do the older vintage stuff. It’s all there—the topnotes that are that strange combination of shimmering jasmine, ylang ylang, and thick vanilla-praline. As it dries down the florals really come out, the iris is very dominant, along with the white jasmine flowers, and a bit of violet. A difference that I detect is the addition of musk—older bottles are NEVER musky on my skin, but the newer bottles definitely have a note of skin musk. The drydown is lovely—sandalwood, lots of powdery iris, a hint of rose and jasmine, and still a bit of that vanilla praline note that defines Samsara as much as the sandalwood. Sure the drydown is not that magnificent milky, creamy, woody floral that Mysore sandalwood will give you. But it’s pretty damn good nonetheless. Thankfully the Sandalwood does NOT smell like a dryer sheet, artificial aromachemical ‘woods’ or iso-e-super. The Sandalwood has a soft fluidity to it, liquid-smoothness that just gracefully rolls off the skin. For me Samsara’s lasting power is excellent, I get a good day’s worth of wear out of her. And this, too—recently I’ve had compliments from mere 21 year olds on how good I smell when I wear this perfume. That’s how great Samsara is—kids who grew up on no perfume at all, or the sugary sweet/B&BW perfumes are telling me that I smell ‘really good’ when I wear this. Maybe like 5 or 10 years ago Guerlain was formulating the EDT with a really heavy peach note, the praline/vanilla/ylang ylang thing was replaced by a really thick, sticky peach liquor accord that hung around for hours. That’s the only formulation of Samsara I wasn’t fond of, since that heavy top note kind of dominated everything. (I don’t think the EDP ever had that note.) I think that’s why some are noting that Samsara smells of peach and licorice. Thankfully I don’t detect any of that in the newest bottles.

Ya'll Know I Adore Samsara, so here is a review for Vintage 90s Samsara, or, The Smoothest Skin Scent Sandalwood Perfume Ever Hey, skin scent can be a dirty (compound) word around here at Fragrantica. But 90s Samsara, yeah, in the boring yet eminently identifiable clear glass with red top bottles with tan liquid inside, that Samsara, she is the Queen of skin scents. When I wear 90s Samsara I believe in a signature perfume, because that's how she wears, she is Signature Material. She is like, "I turn your skin from that of a mere mortal into a God/dess, this is what you smell like, cream and wood and flowers and heat." I think that the 90s EDT is the most demure of all the vintages, and wears closest to the skin. The progression is pretty fast: A bit of musk, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, and amber, that languidly moves into a base of PURE, UNADULTERATED, SANDALWOOD. That is the smooth, sexy, scent of the Gods here. The signature worthy, oh-I-just-smell-like-this-all-the-time base of sandalwood. That's how amazing it is. Not big, or loud, but just perfect. A perfect skin scent, that wears all day long. I really love Samsara EDP, just as much as the EDT, but unlike the EDP, Samsara in Eau de Toilette is just not as loud, obnoxious, opaque and opulent as her concentrated older sister. She is simpler and better for it. I'm not talking about a difference in sillage or longevity, just personality. This is subtle, confident, mysterious, sexy, my skin is just this awesome kind of perfume. That's why I think Samsara is signature worthy, she never gets boring, or worse, obtrusive, you can just live with her awesomeness all day long. My father is from India, and when I was young he brought me several sandalwood figurines, mostly of elephants, when he would go home and visit. I will never forget how smooth and substantial they felt, and how wonderful they smelled--getting to smell actual sandalwood I think is the reason that now, as a 40 year old woman, I love this perfume so much. This is the real deal, and either you've smelled it or you haven't. The scent of sandalwood is dynamic, multifaceted, and divine--no wonder it was used in religious ceremonies. In the meantime, I had an apartment fire so my precious sandalwood elephants are gone, and sandalwood is an endangered species (my father brought these presents to me in the 80s, prior to well deserved bans on sandalwood tree harvesting) so I will probably never again hold a piece of sandalwood in my hands, and rightly so, poaching the sandalwood trees in India now would be just as bad as shooting tiger for trophy. But I have several bottles of vintage Samsara EDT in my possession, and while the prices have gone up, they are still easily acquired. So that's my review of 90s Samsara.

My sample-vial dealer sent me a dabber of this along with my last order, and I love it so much that now I want an entire bottle. The sandalwood/vanilla/citrus/floral balance seems absolutely perfect to me, vaguely floriental but mostly about that rich amber-vanilla drydown. I'm putting this on my wishlist for sure. I don't have the vintage so I can't compare this formulation to that one, but this version of Samsara is lovely enough to my nose that I will probably buy a full bottle someday, or at least get a larger decant. So far I have yet to smell a Guerlain fragrance that I didn't at least like, and most of them I love at first sniff. Update: I bought a full bottle. I know Tania Sanchez says it's loud, but if this is loud, go ahead and scream sweet nothings into my ear, darling Samsara. As a Yoko fan, I will understand this as your love language. Eventually I would love to expand my collection of Guerlain fragrances (I would love to have a bottle of Shalimar again, for instance, or Après l'Ondée, or Mitsouko), but I think Samsara is the right oriental for me at this stage of what I am no longer ironically referring to as my Scent Journey. Update: I just realized that I have the EDT, not the EDP. I'm going to move this review over to the EDT section if I can figure out how to do this. I'm not mad about it; I think the sample might have been the EDT also. At any rate, you won't hear me complaining that it's not screaming loud enough to suit me. I love this woody, citrussy, sandalwood-soapy floozy! Update: Dear lord, I could bathe in this stuff. There is a balsamic herbal note that reminds me of a shampoo I loved as a child, the original Herbal Essences, and also a clean cola-like fragrance that makes me think of Youth Dew, without smelling at all like Youth Dew. It's very lemony, too, but not the syrupy lemon-poundcake lemon of Lira or the like. This is more like lemon zest than lemon extract, sparkling and tart. Over the woody base it is just addictive to me, and not entirely unlike the smell of lemon-oil furniture polish rubbed into a fine old hardwood tabletop. (That probably sounds like an insult, but I swooned over that smell as a child and enjoy it to this day.) Update: Wearing again, six days later, and I love it more all the time. The drydown is insane. I can't believe I almost never smelled this perfume. Eternally grateful to Sarah C for her prescient sample. I'm going to wear the hell out of this EDT.

My grandmother - my Aita - was a woman of few possessions, but among her precious possessions was a stick of sandalwood, worn smooth after years of rubbing on a stone plate with water to turn into sandalwood paste. “This cools you down”, she’d say and dab some on our temples. I remember the sensation but more than that, I remember the smell. Maybe that’s one reason why I always like the smell of sandalwood incense. Or even the Mysore sandal soap that my best friend used to use; I remember their entire bathroom would be fragranced by that one bar of soap. My hunt for a good sandalwood perfume began way back in 2012, after I got married and shifted to Vietnam and started truly exploring my love for perfumes now that I had access. And I’d heard of Samsara all those years ago as the epitome, the ultimate sandalwood. But then life happened, and somehow the quest never turned earnest. Until last year, when this passion of mine started bordering on obsession and I started really looking at the gaps in my library and wondering what would fill them. And it came back to this - a true sandalwood scent. I didn’t have any. Which is why, when I walked into a discount perfume store by pure chance today - one that I’d always walked past and dismissed - and saw the last bottle of Samsara on the shelf, I couldn’t believe my luck. Could it truly be? That after all those years, she was right there - almost waiting for me. I came out of the store because I had other stuff to pick up but I realised I was in a daze all throughout, my mind preoccupied with the thought of that bottle. I even texted a friend because I know how much she loves her Samsara, but eventually I couldn’t wait. Twenty minutes later I walked out of the store with my brand new Samsara. And yes, a million times yes, I love this. Timeless. Classy. Beautiful. Samsara is an experience to be had. I smell the ylang-ylang and jasmine quite prominently, and as it is drying down, the wafts around me are soft and woody, like the inside of a sandalwood box. I am smiling ear to ear. My quest has ended. Also, I wore this layered with Chanel N°5 and when I say I had an emotional experience... I had to put down the book I was reading because I wanted to bask in the scent.

Sensational. I got myself a bottle initially for my mother, but she preferred the EDP, which she owns, so I decided to keep it for myself, as I'd already opened it. My mother is a massive fan of Samsara, loving the red bottles with the rounded cap whilst loathing the 'Bee bottle' reformulation. Presentation is beautiful, ruby red bottle and gold lettering make this perfume feel as special as it is. I wouldn't pick up by the cap out of fear alone, but it seems to be stable enough. I sprayed on and was so shocked by the scent, in fact I'm surprised by the near unanimous agreement that this is a womanly perfume, I'd argue that it would take quite the mature, confident woman to wear this but then again, I am not the target demographic of this scent, being a stocky man. Gorgeous sandalwood on my skin, unmistakable and the core of this fragrance, it radiates off my skin and is at the forefront of the scent, thankfully. The scent is full, enveloping and stunning, this was Guerlain at their A-Game. The florals act as supporting actors (or actresses, more rather) and help to had radiance to the blend. Performance is great, even in EDT, my bottle handedly gives me 8-9 of longevity with 2 hours as a faint skin scent. Projection is not too airy and not too dense, truly the best of both worlds. Silage is greater than the projection though, as this 'catches' the air in which you stand and lingers. As for versatility and mass appeal, I've mentioned before that this is not a challenging scent, it's just a large detour of typical women's scents, no overblown orange blossom or 'cotton candy-isms' here, very classy but not for everyone, you must love this style of scent, wear it, don't let it wear you, yada yada. If you moderate your sprays, you could wear this from cooler summer days to biting winter days, this is phenomenal and very versatile. The bottle mentioned above cannot be bought in the formula mentioned, only in the newer 'Mitsuko' bottles which I have yet to review but are at least better than the Bee bottles from what I remember. History and worth owning if you find it, just don't take out a second mortgage for it. 10/10.

After immediately falling in love with Shalimar when I started really getting into perfumes a couple of years ago, I was eager to try another one of Guerlain's classics, Samsara. I managed to score a small bottle of vintage EDP through my friend in Japan, but had to wait months before I finally had it in my hands. Well, with great expectations, I found myself very disappointed when I sprayed it for the first time. It had this strange plasticky quality that I couldn't put my finger on, and it was simply nothing like I imagined from reading reviews. I put it away and thought at least I had a vintage Samsara in my collection. A few months later, I found an extremely good deal on a 30ml Samsara EDT in the red bottle. I thought, what the heck, it would be nice to have an EDT in my collection too. When I received it, I once again got that weird plasticky feel at the start of the perfume, but this time, I decided to actually give it a wear. And that day at work, wondering what that lovely smell was, I discovered Samsara's beautiful dry-down, discreet like it was a part of my skin, but fragrant with powdery sandalwood and ylang-ylang. Its soft and slighly musky florals were so delightful. While it makes me think of the smell of skin, I find it more sensuous than sensual. Refined and elegant, it is a true classic. I'm really glad I gave Samsara another chance. Despite that plastic opening, there's something so addictive about it once it settles into my skin. I found myself longing for it more and more, so much so that I got a 100ml tester, also in the red bottle, after I saw a good deal and could not stop thinking about it for many a day. I couldn't really say that this is a safe blind buy; I understand it's the type of fragrance that would not work with everyone. But it is worth trying out, preferably if one could test it first and wait patiently for the dry-down. TL;DR: I was disappointed when I first smelled this classic, but after giving it a chance, it became one of my big loves. Try before you buy, but IMO, definitely worth trying!

I really really like this perfume. I'm not sure if I love it yet, but it's something special. I first sniffed it from the (red) bottle in someone's house and I thought it was an amazing scent. I was 18 at the time and thought it smelled a bit mature but I still wanted it. It was sweet, heavy and deep. Years passed by and I never purchased it. Last week, I saw the EDT version in the bee bottle on sale and finally got it! It's less intense than I remember and it reminds me of Amarige Mariage (I'm guessing it's the ylang-ylang). What I instantly noticed is that is a well-made perfume. Even if it doesn't last as long as I would like it to on my skin (5 hours), I wake up the next morning with the scent still detectable in my hair and on my clothes. I do wish sandalwood would be more prominent on me but sadly it's not. Maybe it's the age (I'm 30 now), but my nose has changed and I'm a bit tired of the many floral fruity gourmands that last 2 hours and/or are generic and inoffensive. Samsara is unique. I understand why many complain about it being watered down. This does not smell like an 80s perfume, but today's market wouldn't really allow for that. So overall I think Guerlain did a good job, maintaining its core without making it smell dated or old-fashioned. Yeah, they could have made this an "Eclait de Samsara" or something like that, but ultimately it is what it is and it's a good damn perfume! It's not to everyone's taste and I like that about Samsara; it has character. I would keep this for formal occasions or whenever I want to feel like a lady. I wouldn't wear it for clubbing (at 30 I don't go clubbing anymore, though haha, but you get the idea). All in all, I'm happy a perfume like Samsara exists and still has a place in today's market of fleeting flankers and unoriginal perfumes. I don't mean to offend anyone, though! But Samsara does feel distinct and I like it. EDIT: I forgot to say that it does smell a bit "make-upy" but I like it!

This is a gorgeous sandalwood fragrance w/ swirling powder and creamy florals. It really reminds me of vintage Tuscany per Donna. I smelled the vintage years ago and bought the current formulation of Tuscany per Donna and really love it. It is toned down a bit for today's sensibilities and I wonder if the current formulation of Samsara would be the same. Toned down. This is really a "BIG" fragrance. You have to of a certain age to appreciate it. They don't make them like this anymore. Smells very similar to vintage Estee Lauder's Tuscany per Donna. A gorgeous iris with lots of wet yellow florals and vintage sandalwood. Edit 11/19/23 Samsara is such a beautiful perfume. It reminds me of other sandalwood classic/vintage types but it is all its own thing. It reminds me of Tuscany per Donna by Estee Lauder but Tuscany has more of an herbal quality combining w/ florals and sandalwood. It reminds me of L'Heure Attendue by Jean Patou but that is more about peach, aldehydes, tangerine combining w/ sandalwood. It reminds me of Lorenzo Villoresi Alamut but that is more narcissus and rosewood combining w/ sandalwood and powdery notes. It reminds me of Hermes Rouge but Rouge is very Rosy. Samsara is wet dewy florals of a beautiful spring garden. Iris, yellow florals, especially ylang combining w/ creamy sandalwood of the best quality. If you love floral sandalwood's like I do they are all a must have. Edit: received my vintage bottle today. This perfume is beyond words. I fall in love all over again everytime I smell it. It is one of those perfumes that needs time to develop and unfold on you that you might learn at least some of her secrets. Perfumes like this and Jean Patou Joy, 1000 are a mystery. They reveal different shades, moods, textures. It is almost like they adapt and can read the feelings of those who wear them. They are elegant shapeshifters. Timeless beautiful. Beyond mere words.

ooooh samsara , ive some great memories of this perfume, a lush rich heady oriental that was perfect for nights out clubbing many years ago ! This uber femminine fragrance filled with wafts of bannana-ry ylang ylang , decadent jasmin and creamy sandalwood made me feel quite grown up and polished , well at the start of the night anyway :) so what an unexpected crazy reaction i got just recently from my loverboy, i had bought the first bottle in quite a few years and the reaction was shock horror - negative ! yep my man said it smells like mothballs ! he turned his nose up at this beauty. it seems there will be no love loss or hanky panky from my wearing of this little stunner ! tiss a strange reaction as my man usually likes my fragrances. im scratching my head over this. ( the mothball / hairspray aldyhidic sharp start my hubby noticed does soften in a few mins) still you cant win them all and i very much love samsara , once it settles a bit of course , u must let it breathe for 10 mins as its a harsh start, its shocking almost masculine at first, less is more , let samsara breathe a little , then this is a stunning , classy , dry , sensual, elegant beauty comes forth, and i shant be parting with this sexy red bottle either ! i will wear it with pride , and wait to see if my hubby has a change of opinion... if not i may not talk to him ever again :) mothballs my arse :) its lovely lovely lovely and im not cooking tonight , it's a pot noodle for him haha :) 8/10 tiss a beauty to behold , negative reactions may occur in rare instances , so ignore them and come to fragrantica to share the joy & for warmer reactions ! !

Samsara, sandalwood queen, oriental finesse, refined Ylang, powdery, creamy majesty. I adore, no, I worship you. You are soft as a velvet pillow to rest my head, tender as a silk foulard to wrap around my soul and smooth as a satin robe to dress my body. Timeless, intimate, elegant, opulent, yet delicate. This fragrance goes right to my heart, conquers it in a blaze of joy and amazement, every. single. time. It has been like this since I was a kid. As a teenager I was allowed occassionally and with diligence to use my mom's splash bottle and smelling it on my skin made me feel special. I love Samsara in all it's concentrations. EdT, EdP, extrait... each one is well balanced. Even though the newer versions fell victim to restrictions/reformulations, they are still good. Yet, if you know the original, you long for its greater depth, lasting power, and the softer accords. I have a vintage bottle of the EdT from the 90s and when I use it I'm in heaven. To me this is an absolute masterpiece. One spritz to see, if my bottle was still good after almost thirty years and I walked through the room, at once aware of the superior sillage. Another spritz and I'm surrounded in my personal cloud of delicacy, sophistication, warmth, but it's not overwhelming, with just the right amount of sweetness. The opening is quite green with sharper notes from the bergamot, but that settles quickly and the drydown is simply divine. I cannot find enough words to praise this perfume. I wish it could be made like this again today.

Samsara like a few distinct perfumes today is not for the faint hearted lady who prefers the light, sweet, breezy scent. This red bottled gem is meant for someone who is absolutely bold. I say bold because primarily the fragrance industry today is currently dominated by fresh, sweet and often gourmand scents and the dense sandalwood base wrapped in Ylang- ylang/Jasmine cord of Samsara is not mainstream, which I personally think is very refreshing. Some say it is dated....I say it is a classic. To be honest I did not rush to buy this because I know time is essential when to pick and wear a particular fragrance especially like Samsara. You need to be confident when you want to wear Samsara because this is not a 'tutu' fragrance, this is red bold silk. Some of the reviews says it is overwhelming. The only time this fragrance becomes overwhelming is when you spray too much. Samsara only needs to used sparingly- a spray on each side of the neck for me. 'She' doesnt need to be loud, her secret is her quiet allure. Hahaha! Here I go again getting carried away. Lastly this fragrance does remind me of the Asia- where I come from. The sandalwood reminds me very much of incense burning and the floral offerings found everywhere in Bali. A sexy, exotic, bold fragrance best worn during cool days/nights.

Light musk and beautiful sandalwood with some wispy green and peach throughout. 🍑 A soft creamy, not sweet, peach - reminds me of running my nose across the skin and fuzz of one that's freshly plucked. There are other things here too - citrus, some floral (light, but certainly present) here and there. Gentle woodiness. More warm vanilla and amber on longer wear, but never heavy. In fact I find the whole experience quite airy and soft.. I also like the sharp green opening but that fades within minutes. Overall complex, yet comforting and wearable. A nice journey in an orchard, a warm amber sunset, to a cup of creamy buttery musk. Just so gorgeous and just right. I can't believe I waited so long to try this amazing fragrance. Edit: I have the 30mL EDT bee bottle. I say this because this stuff is not the sillage/longevity beast others described. Takes about 3 hours but it is a skin scent on me at that point. I was even in my car (at the 3 hr spray mark) driving for 30 minutes and the other person in the car said they couldn't smell it at all. The price point is really low so I don't mind overspraying... in fact I ended up spraying on my wrists and shirt... and it's lovely. Not overly strong at all. Maybe my body just eats it up. It is that yummy...

About ten years ago, I was shopping at the London duty free at Guerlain. I did not want to test too many fearing I might confuse my nose. I ended up choosing Mitsouko for myself, I loved it and never thought it smelled too strong or old, but it certainly was not something not many would choose in their teen years. I blindly bought Shalimar for my mother convinced after several reviews that she would love it, unfortunately she did not and neither did I. For some reason I did not even look at the red bottle of Samsara there which I regret. After several years now off late I wanted to get something by Guerlain again after getting fed up with all the generic vanilla and so called clean and young perfumes out there in the market. I came across Samsara and I had to get the largest bottle available, It smells like home away from home, it is soothing, relaxing and smells so familiar. I absolutely understand what a lot of reviewers are talking about here. I have not been able to wear perfume for several months now because of my pregnancy which makes everything smell wrong and sharp. Now, I am so glad my nose is getting back to normal and I can enjoy Wearing Samsara, it's so unique, it's an experience every woman should try.

I just lost the review I had almost finished, when my phone lost battery power... grrr!! So today, I will not rewrite it. Just say that I am a happy new owner of a Samsara edt!! 😊 And that I don’t think it is strong at all. If I’m abit anosmic to it - well, then I will be the kind of woman who will suffocate the people around me with it!! Love this soft oriental already - and I think it is perfect for summer. When I can afford it, I will buy the edp, too! EDIT, a couple of hours later: Now, this is strange! Right now, as I’m sticking my nose into my own cleavage to feel the drydown, I feel some clear resemblance to Narciso Rodriguez Narciso Rouge! That is not what I would have expected at all. But in a way it makes sense, since sometimes I’m a bit anosmic to that one too - especially the first few times I wore it. But that is, as well as Samsara, a breathtakingly beautiful fragrance. And I have got such compliments on NR, even when I almost have not felt it on myself. And now NR is my signature. I actually think that Samsara will come to share that signature place with NR for me. I just hope that I will feel it stronger tomorrow, as it happened with NR... AND of course, I will buy Samsara edp as well. ❤️

I got to know Samsara through a bottle of the EDP I bought in the mid-2000s. It was bombastic and featured an intolerably sharp note of artificial sandalwood. Eventually I had to acknowledge that it was unwearable, and I sold it. About a year ago I found a bottle of vintage EDT at a vintage clothing market. Curiosity won, and I bought it. I was surprised and baffled at how much softer it is compared to the nuclear-strength EDP I once had. I love the woodsy note now. With all the sweet gourmands on the market Samsara smells almost masculine - but not quite. The florals are too lush unless a masculine skin would keep them in check. (I'd love to smell Samsara on a man.) As the day goes on I get interesting little wafts and facets, with vanilla making a late entry at the end. The overall effect is generous but much more restrained that I remember, and this suits me. I bought a new bottle of the EDT and I find them fairly similar even though there must be at least 20 years between them. Only fleetingly have I smelled the modern EDP but even that is not as strong as I remember my old EDP. It really feels to me as if Guerlain has turned down the volume substantially on the EDP.

I remember trying Samsara a long while ago and being really confused because of how retro it smelled to me back then. Luckily we all mature with age and can appreciate things we didn't before, and that's my story with Samsara. As for somebody who loves mostly sweet heavy fragrances, the slightly bitter, delightfully powdery aroma of sandalwood here was cool, calming and greatly refreshing. Initially I thought that jasmine, vanilla and ylang would turn sweet on me as it normally does but that never happened, and jasmine reminded me of unsweetened green tea. I could certainly pick up notes of bergamot, narcissus and iris, which lasted well through the day. The silage and longevity are an A+ here, and I get so many compliments each time I wear Samsara. I gladly wear it day and night, any season of the year but probably summers would be the best because of that cooling and refreshing effect Samsara's sandalwood has. It's beautiful, the trail is majestic, and after Shalimar, I think Samsara can very easily become "my" scent. Will definitely keep repurchasing.

God, I love this one. I promised myself I wouldn't do it, but I went ahead and bought the EDP, too. I actually crave Samsara when I'm not wearing it. I'm not sure which note it is in isolation that transports me so, but the way they all work together--it's just sublime. Sometimes it reminds me of fine old lacquered hardwood; sometimes I notice the balsamic notes, which remind me of the way Herbal Essences shampoo used to smell to me when I was a child in the 1970s; sometimes I lose myself in the lemon and ylang-ylang and never want to emerge from the deliciousness. I can't believe I almost never discovered this gem, and probably wouldn't have if my peerless decant dealer Sarah hadn't had the prescience to send me a little dabber bottle of the stuff as a gift with my order. I don't agree with Turin and Sanchez that this is loud. If it's loud, it's loud the way I love, like a pipe organ. But I think Samsara probably sounds more like a marimba, or perhaps like a gamelan orchestra. If it is loud, it is definitely loud like wood and not loud like brass.

I just reviewed Dune after receiving a sampler pack of sandalwood perfumes today. I have that on one arm and the other I have Samsara (red bottle vintage). Both of these have been on my wish list to try for some time. I would have bet money that Dune would have been the winner, but I don't like it at all. On the other hand, Samsara is absolutely beautiful. First spray was almost exactly like my Tuscany per Donna, but maybe not quite as good. Then the dry down started and the progression of notes was much more rounded, sophisticated, well blended, with a little bit more sweetness (which usually I wouldn't like, but it's beautiful here). It's very wearable but special and unique (compared to many modern fragrances). I may try the current version when my vintage Tuscany runs out. This Samsara manages to have vintage notes while not being at all old fashioned. The sandalwood is prominent but mellowed with beautiful jasmine and fruits, which balances out any of the objectionable powderyness of some sandalwood scents. I love it.

This is my favorite version of Samsara. It's a velvety smooth Sandalwood focused floral scent with a little fruitiness and sweetness from the Ylang and a nice, clean, soft Jasmine. There is also a little Guerlain spiciness in the base that's really nice. Unlike the edp it is not overly powdery as it's greener and fresher than that but just like the edp, the Mysore sandalwood is the heart and soul of this fragrance and is spectacularly exotic and sensuous! Contrary to what one would think for an edt., this performs just as well as the edp., with fantastic silage and longevity. Of course, this was made in a time when such criteria, along with bottle design, were as important as the fragrance itself. So sad those days are long gone. Fortunately, Samsara had a long run, and there are still plenty of bottles floating around but they won't be forever. If you want to know what real Mysore Sandalwood smells like, there is no better way to do that than to get your nose on the original formula.