Santal Royal

This is pure heaven. I love the green bottle shown but I have the "bee" shaped bottle with gold emblem on it. Anyway. I have been searching for a rich, oriental, rose/cinnamon and had been told it didn't exist. It does, it's Santal Royal and it is *heaven.* I'm wearing her in public for the first time today and two people asked me what I was wearing and used the word "heavenly" to describe it. If you like bright, super sweet modern fragrances steer far, far away. This is rich, dark, smoked and spiced. The rose isn't young, it's an antique rose sprawling like an octopus in an old hedgerow. You catch the scent of it as you go by and it's haunting. It has melted perfectly into the spicy accord that's dominated (on me) by cinnamon, and grounded in wood. I don't get any leather which is good because leather scents smell horrid on me.

A fine quality and perhaps timeless scent. I could see the slight similarity with Halfeti but it lacks the aromatic notes. This is warm, resinous and woody. If you can't handle oud then test with care or maybe not at all. Leather/oud warmed by Amber/peach/rose with a hint of spice. Gradually the flowers wain and it becomes a little more about musky wood notes. The dry down is pretty special. Great longevity as you would expect. A nice warm oud scent but it doesn't excite me enough to go fb. I will stick with my Penhaligons Halfeti. Very classy as you would expect of a Guerlain. I guess a cold weather scent as it would be too much in heat.

Oh this is divine. This is exactly what I want from a sandalwood fragrance, and honestly a fragrance in general, this is exactly to my preferred taste. Musky, ambery, woody incense. Happily I dont get much peach, jasmine or cinnamon, just enough to make this perfectly blended and smooth, well rounded. Its like a fine wine, fermented to perfection. I'm wearing this today and I cant stop sniffing myself. Unisex to feminine leaning, something in it is light and gentle. Love this one, along with spirituese double vanille by Guerlain, need to try some more from this legendary house.

I am testing this from a decanted sample, sent me by the estimable trabuquera. A sniff of the bottle before spraying... Hmmm... This reminds me of perfume I have... A spritz to the back of my hand and - yes! - I am right. This is similar to my most complimented perfume - Wisal Dhahab Ajmal - if a little more rosy. The Guerlain is stunningly good, but the Ajmal is nearly its equal, whilst being about 1/4 of the price (although the Ajmal bottle has nothing on that of the Guerlain, which is just beautiful). Please check out WD Ajmal; you will be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, I just love this. It's so deep and complicated. The initial notes are warm, woody, rich, spicy. As it develops it has an almost fresh scent about it, but you still get all the other layers. That's what I love about it most - I can smell nearly everything listed here: neroli, rose, leather, jasmine...stunning.