Guerlain Santal Royal

Guerlain introduces a new scent intended for the Middle Eastern market; Santal Royal. Santal Royal is an ode to one of perfumery’s highly regarded ingredients: sandalwood.
Presented in a handsome black glass flacon normally usually reserved for the “Les Eaux de Rituels” collection, and with a label design appended from early Shalimar powder boxes, Santal Royal cuts a striking new figure, whilst still acknowledging the House’s prodigious heritage.
Santal Royal surprises with its opening which features (quite obviously) sandalwood, but if in these fleeting opening moments one can avoid being seduced by the darker, woodier aspects of the fragrance, the flight has something of a signature Guerlain treatment: wafts of bergamot and lavender tippy-toe over an aromatic slant of geranium and coriander. These nuances keep the scent uplifting and bright before - mere moments later - richer, more complex notes emerge. Cinnamon and clove-like spices give rise to a thicker core of florals… rose, ylang-ylang and jasmine seem tickle my receptors. They are imbued with an off-the-rack oud accord (which, if I’m to be honest, I’ve smelled before in Armani’s Cuir Noir andPuredistance Black), but it’s earthiness does work well against the precious santal. A biting tartness is also present, suggestive of tanned leather, but it only makes its presence felt from time to time. A warmer foundation of amber, tonka and musks steer the scent back to a more familiar ‘Guerlain’ stable, before the fragrance vanishes from skin altogether a generous 8 -10 hours later.