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.

Wow, I sampled this a REALLY love it. Second only to my signature scent. Soft and sensual. Delicious. Lingers. It is everything a woman’s perfume should be. I know this is listed as unisex in some places but I feel it is feminine

Beautifully blended. Most oud-sandalwood fragrances are too dark or harsh for my taste, but peach and amber add such a lovely feminine sweetness to this one! If sandalwood was a woman, this is exactly what she would smell like.

This one is pretty special. I'd say definitely unisex but as it dries down completely feels more feminine. I think it's been slept on for so long. More people should check this one out because it's very underrated.

Again. This is magnificent. I am not sure how ANYONE could hate it. But..... to each his own. The dry down is an obsession for me. It is rich, rich, rich; deep not shallow.

I can tell that Santal Royal is a high-quality, well-blended fragrance, up to the famously high standards of Guerlain, but it leaves me a little flat. I didn't feel the same euphoric rush of recognition that I felt when I first smelled Samsara, that's for sure--or even one of the lesser Guerlains, like Flora Salvaggia in the Acqua Allegoria line. I would like Santal Royal a lot better on my husband than I like it on myself, but I think the smokiness of the oud--mild as it is, compared with some of my Arabian fragrances--would be offputting to him. I just have a small 1.5 ml sample (if that much--it seems pretty chintzy, especiallly compared to similarly priced Montale samples), so I doubt that this will grow on me enough that I would covet a full bottle that I have no business buying, so all for the better I guess. Sniffing my hand, I remember the odor of burning flowers at the Transcendental Meditation center to which my parents brought us a few times. Back then, in the mid-70s, you smelled a lot more authentic sandalwood than you do now, although I doubt anything those hippies were wearing met the high standards of the Guerlain house. Speaking of which, the sandalwood note is excellent, as you might expect--it doesn't smell remotely pickly, and not even particularly herbaceous. It smells more like a fine sandalwood soap, perhaps one of the pricier ones from Caswell-Massey. As Santal Royal dries down, the soft, almost powdery, or incenselike, violet notes float over the smoky oud, and the overall effect is quite pretty. I think I will upgrade from an OK to a Like, with the caveat that I doubt I will spring for a full bottle once this sample is depleted. I think I might be slightly anosmic to it anyway, so I'd be at risk of overspraying.

At first I didn't care too much about this scent. But the more I wore it the more it seduced me into liking it. On my skin the peach is more prominent than what the note votes above made me expect. There's a powdery quality, I don't know if it comes from the rose, or the woods, or the combination of both. It feels like a very dry vetiver. This makes the freagrance feel like an ashy peach, in the best way possible. Or like if you could feel the fuzziness of the peach, I like the experience. The woody, ashy, heavy side makes it feel more masculine. But the peach and florals keep it close to unisex. To me, the opening rides the line between a dark, mysterious, and very attractive male, and something my aunts might wear, settling on the former as the freagrance dries down. There is definitely a light addictive sexyness in the background. The dusty/ashy part combined with the rose make it very formal in my opinion. The peach makes it friendly, comforting, and different at the same time. Very interesting, i don't think i would wear it enough to justify a full bottle, but it makes me want to keep exploring this house.

When I first sprayed my little vial from a sample card, I sensed something like glue or resin along with the noticeable wood notes. Two hours after application Santal Royal is still very strong. The base is nicely balanced. Beyond the oud/sandalwood I find the amber and leather (yay, not over powering) more than musk. I can discern the rose with something else, maybe the peach or neroli, not so much any jasmine. I keep taking a big whiff to try to find the other notes but all I get is the very unmistakable and overwhelming sharpness of strong cinnamon. As lovely as this fragrance is, it's too forward for me to wear frequently. I definitely appreciate it. I checked Guerlain's US website, the lovely green bottle from the Colour Collection Flacon Quadrilobé has been replaced by a black one with a gold medallion. Still classy, but not as stunning as a the one pictured in this frag profile.

I like it but it's a bit too feminine for me, and I'm not exactly shy to wear unisex fragrances. This profiles as more of a spring scent for me, with some usability in the fall and winter, but I live in a cold part of the world. It is really nice but pretty expensive for what it is. $210 fore 125mL at discounters puts it in that category of being overpriced.

I love woodsy scents. This one started off too sharp to me. But if I spray it on my wrist and then add a drop or tow of Nirvana Black perfume oil to it, it smells heavenly. The NB perfume oil is sandalwood and vanilla (it also lists violet but that exists only in the perfume spray, not the oil) it mellows it out into something beautiful.

This is probably the smoothest fragrance I have. Such a delicious rose, a spicy leathery oud. Extremely well blended. Long lasting. Beautiful fragrance.

Overall it is lovely perfume, but sometimes I catch a whiff of sort of rubber hint.

Blind buy of a sample from Fragantica. Because you never know what you're going to get, I sprayed it on the little card that came with it. I thought it was spoiled because it smelled like brake fluid and burning plastic. Five minutes later, far more interesting, very smoky like incense, sandalwood for sure, very dude. Twenty minutes in, bit of leather, amber, musk. So far, no floral or peach notes. That said, I have noticed that my newer fragrances smell very different on clothing or paper than they do on me. I'll have to give it a chance on my skin, but it's going to be 90F here tomorrow, it can wait. I do like this scent so far, I like that it's a surprise that is confusing to the nose at first, but unfolds with some complexity. Since it is so very masculine, I'll keep this sample as a pet, but probably will not purchase for myself.

The initial blast is a chemical bomb, but only 5 minutes in, the juice blooms into a lovely dusty damask rose with expertly balanced oud, wood, and leather that stays linear for a couple hours. This quickly falls into a deliciously spiced skin scent, but I have to bury my nose in my wrists to smell it. For the price-tag, I'd expect to get a good 6 hours out of it - but this barely passes the 4 hour mark. My skin does tend to eat fragrances (which you may have gathered if you've read some of my other reviews), so perhaps others may have better luck with this. I'll finish out my sample, but won't be seeking a full bottle, since it just won't perform -- but other than weak performance, there's really nothing NOT to like about it.

I find the opening note wildly unpleasant and strongly reminiscent of super glue. So much so, that I came to the conclusion I hated it upon my first smelling. As a result, this is definitely not a fragrance to spray in close proximity to other. As it dries down however, the glue is replaced by a strong leather note. It then begins to mellow out and develop a profound sweetness to it. It somehow is a powdery, floral, spicy, and leathery, oud. It's complex and interesting, and I still have yet to figure out how I feel about it. I somewhat enjoy what it develops into but the open is so abrasive and caustic I'm not sure I can look past it. Definitely worth sampling, and definitely not a blind buy.

Opening is burning plastic electrical fire mixed with rancid cinnamon children's lip balm and sore throat breath. Thankfully I sprayed it on my mate and not myself. If it develops into something wonderful, I will be glad to change my mind but otherwise this is a no for me. Update: Tried it on myself for the second try and the opening still isn't working for me. However, after a night's sleep, I can still smell it on my hand and its a lovely sandalwood skin scent that I like very much.

I know a lot of people like this but for me it seems like all of the notes are fighting rather than working together.

There's clearly something terribly wrong with me, because I don't see anything even remotely attractive about this fragrance. It SOUNDED like something I'd love, but all I can really detect, at least in the first hour, is sodden wood and acrid smoke, with something sharpish and sour over the top. * In the second hour it's mellowed out a bit, and now just smells stale, damp, and vaguely "exotic," in a sweetish, old-fashioned sort of way . . . Definitely not something I'd try again, I'm afraid.

Picked up a sample of this. As a huge Guerlain fan, I can’t say I’ll be rushing out anytime soon to buy a bottle. Not a unisex scent IMO. More suited to a woman, but even the Mrs said it wasn’t for her. It’s an overpowering woody, flowery scent that’s too sickly. I could imagine the ultra-bold among us pulling this off. Wouldn’t want to be sat within 15 feet of them wearing it. Not my cuppa.

The opening of SANTAL ROYAL is gorgeous. And as I female, I'm ready to make it my signature. That is, until a minute passes and this bright compilation turns into SMOKE, as in an apartment on fire. Something on fire. If you're looking for a little smokey somethin' somethin' this is your somethin'.

I guess this is one of those love it/hate it scents. For me it’s a hate it. I could not wait to wash it off the 2 times that I tried it and I did try to love it. Yuck! I would never want to smell like this! Glad that I did not buy a bottle.

Sweet wood, too sweet, soon dries down to a smoky incense and oud. I prefer Creed's Royal Oud to this.

A sample of Santal Royal was included in the package when I ordered my bottle of Nishane Hacivat. I'm not familiar with the house of Guerlain, but it certainly is a name that gets mentioned a lot once you start exploring the world of perfumery. To be fair, I'll start by saying that this is wonderfully built. The accords are very well executed with the woods and the rose standing out, and some flowery notes floating within this incredibly warm composition. Perhaps I chose the wrong month of the year to try this, but I can tell you it is not my cup of tea at all. Not at all. As another reviewer on here pointed out, it's a love it or hate it scent for sure. I actually scrubbed it off my wrist as I just couldn't handle it. It was overwhelming, which means that it did perform real well, however it was smothering me. This is heavy, super warm, rich, complex scent, and probably best worn by a middle-aged or even older woman. I have to acknowledge the quality of the craft. However, this is just very off-putting to my nose. This is basically everything that I am not looking for in a fragrance that I intend to wear.

The opening is extremely strong and unpleasant stale cigarette ash on a leather jacket doused in astringent oud. Gets somewhat better after 5 minutes with some sandalwood to smooth it out but keeps an astringent base and is very, very masculine on me. Half an hour later the cinnamon starts to show. Not smelling any floral or peach at all.

I agree with Trotsky and it's the oud. It can work well in very dry, smoky perfumes (Montale has done some interesting work with oud) but ultimately you love it or are repelled by it. I received a free sample of this and after one careful spray was rushing to scrub it off - and I adore really strong perfumes, I mean Bal a Versailles pure parfum, vintage Youth Dew, vintage Paloma, etc. - but to my nose Santal Royal is rotting soaked wood and filled ashtrays left out in the rain. It might wear down well but I couldn't stomach the journey. When Guerlain gets it right, and they almost always do, their work is sublime. This .... no. Not for me.

Gosh.. well I am a woman who adores woody perfumes. I just bought a bottle of this (blind.). I didn’t like it that much when I sprayed it on a cloth yesterday but today I am wearing it in my skin and I LOVE it. I am struck by the very subtle blending of the elements. The oud anchors the sandalwood and keeps it from being too recognizably sandalwood, though yesterday I thought it was too much sandalwood.. not today. Now that I know they are there, I sense the rose and leather, but these are so subtle! Wow, now I have 3 awesome oud fragrances! Oud For Greatness, Oud Palao and this! For my different moods- 3 gorgeous ouds.

Beautiful and complex. I admired this perfume for years, as it was the signature scent of one of my colleagues and couldn’t own it because didn’t want to smell like somebody else. On her it snelled gorgeous, like a proper santal essence. Recently I changed my job, so bought it, but on me only the oud is predominant, no santal, just a strong and complex perfume, probably more suitable for late autumn / winter. Imo this is more suitable to females than men. Don’t blind buy, you either love it or hate it

This is a rich complex fragrance. Santal Royal is dark and mysterious for the cooler months when a warm orchestra of intrigue will entertain both men and women. Most scents this heavy are too masculine for me, but this has enough of a variety of quality ingredients that I will use it again when the weather turns cool and the mood strikes. Use sparingly as too much of a good thing is not good.

Strong and overpowering for sure. It isn't my cup of tea, I think its a bit more feminine than I like, but it DOES seem classy and well constructed. I LOVE that it is a powerhouse cuz I kinda like those scents but its woody and roses to me. Just not the type of scent I love but I can imagine MANY people adore this for what it is.

Awesome, awesome,awesome. I can say my bottle is super strong. Guerlain is Guerlain theyve been doing their thing for a long long time. In Miami I wear this year round, but in the evening for casual and formal dinners, weddings, etc. Not for beginners. I like it trom start to finish, not an every day scent(special)

Sweet woodsy, slightly animalic, still somewhat refreshing somehow with rose and peach. Quite basey. Neroli is hard to detect. Dry down stays somewhat sweet, performance goes quite quickly. Animalic remains. One of the more interesting Guerlains, to my nose. Edit: scent still detectable on skin overnight.

Old woody potpourri from the dollar store. You know the cheap loud and obnoxious ones. Why are they still making fragrances like this? 1980s juice if you like those. No No Guerlain, shame on you. I'll stick with Bottega Veneta, Acqua Di Parma and Manceras fragrances. Way smoother and blended well.

Omg this is pure heaven: smokey, woody, intoxicating, incense.... Pure ingredients and high quality craftsmanship. I love this so much, this is what a perfume ought to be. I replaced Shalimar in my wardrobe for this one... Santa royal is too gorgeous. Thierry Wasser is a genius!

I was happy with Sehr Al Sheila (SAS) until I tried the sample of Santal Royal (SR). SR is delightful and gives me good oud. It's softer and sexier than SAS.

i just want to say WOW that bottle, and where in the hack are these lines we dont get in my country - no fair - dept stores buck up your ideas. hurumph

Definitely a male scent. First impression; medicinal sandalwood. Later a rose, ut soaked in smoke. Can't wait to wash it off. Overpoweringly gross...

What FraGyn said below. Beautiful and class and well blended but, to me, it is a very feminine scent.

Entirely too sweet and medicinal. Extraordinarily long-lasting smoky rose. Polarizing and not for me.