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| borrowed via Jaroslav's blog |
Guerlain Santal Royal is an oriental woody perfume with spicy overtones that heralds the coming of the cooler season, in the manner of "cashmere scents" we perfumistas here on PerfumeShrine like to annotate to autumn and winter. Jan Masters describes it as "an evening scent, although I could imagine it cheering up grey days as if cosying up in a cashmere wrap."
Of course pair Guerlain and sandalwood in the same phrase and everyone thinks of Guerlain Samsara (with the lone historian reminiscing about Guerlain Santal parfum from the first years of the 20th century), but we're told this is a very different perfume.
Santal Royal is a Harrods exclusive launch for the opening of their Salon de Parfums, retailing at £125 for 125ml of fragrance and the scent is composed by resident perfumer for Guerlain Thierry Wasser. Harrods are plugging the Salon des Parfums, a new abode for perfume enthusiasts on the 6th floor, which opens on October 16th at 8pm, attendance by invitation only. The fragrance will eventually arrive on boutique counters as well.
The fragrance notes for Guerlain Santal Royal include the eponymous mystical note of sandalwood, coupled with cinnamon and fresh neroli on the top, while the deeper, denser notes of warm amber, musk and leather rise from the base. Preliminary reportage suggests also a note of rose and oud in the formula that isn't mentioned in the official breakdown.
My own addition is that now that the sustainable Australian sandalwood plantations of Santalum alba have been fruitful we're set for a new wave of sandalwood fragrances that will reprise that most prized of woody notes. Assuming of course that Santal Royal contains said ingredient.
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i would love to smell this one....especially if it is using the true sandalwood. the formula may not be strikingly original, but if guerlain holds to good standards of quality, it should be beautiful...
ReplyDeleteAll I can say Helg is .... those perfumes better come here!
ReplyDeleteI mean.... here we are growing Sandalwood for the world and Guerlain will not bring it back here in perfume form! Rrrrr -- LOL
*love to sniff it!!!
Yes, why does Australia miss out?
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, the more that sustainable industry can actually exist & work, the better.
I don't think Australian sandalwood smells as creamy and intense as Mysore sandalwood. (plus, Mysore sandalwood itself can be of different quality and requires suitably old plants)
ReplyDeleteThis of course doesn't mean that it won't be a good frag. we'll smell. I hope it doesn't contain cashmeran, at least.
cacio
Thierry Wasser recently reported from the Guerlain sandalwood plantation in Sri Lanka.
ReplyDeleteWould love to sniff this:-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Vienna.
Gina
NFS,
ReplyDeleteit's certainly better sounding than fluffy marzipans and rosy fruity things. Eh?
M,
ReplyDeletevery good point!!! :-D
MH,
ReplyDeleteI agree that sustainable plantations of anything is a great idea and one which should be supported in any way we can.
M,
ReplyDeleteI believe the plantation of sandalwood in Australia (at least that was what I referred to) is the Santalum alba variety which is the same variety as the Indian sandalwood. The indigenous Australian sandalwood is indeed a different species and smells lightly different, a bit sharper (?)
Not sure on Cashmeran, but surely it won't be the protagonist. Cashmeran is musky btw.
U,
ReplyDeleteoh that is indeed significant news. Thanks for saying so!
So we're to deduce it's Sri Lankan sandalwood instead of the sustainable Indian-identical variety in Oz.
U,
ReplyDeleteoh that is indeed significant news. Thanks for saying so!
So we're to deduce it's Sri Lankan sandalwood instead of the sustainable Indian-identical variety in Oz.
Gina,
ReplyDeleteI believe it will see wider distribution later on. For now Harrods who sent the invitation inform me it's a store exclusive.