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tur4iq – :
I really like this. It’s nice and smokey. But it’s also very floral. Sillage is beastly. It just leans a bit too feminine for me.
surrickov – :
OMG I fell in love with this fragrance straight away when it was sprayed on a test strip. I am a lady that loves fragrances bordering more on the unisex side, I was warned by the sales assistant to go careful as it was the strongest fragrance in the shop. A week later the test strip is still going strong so I ordered a bottle. I see that some feel that it borders more masculine but I think quite the opposite, I can smell peach and neroli with some subtle oud but no sandlewood i also find it very smooth and not astringent ( i can’t stop sniffing)It’s very sexy for a woman who wants everyone to know she’s confident enough,she doesnt mind everyone who knows it but not in an unsophisticated way. My signature will always be coco chanel but I’m hoping that maybe after a few times of wearing this will be my new signature. A true masterpiece.
SvetlaNa777 – :
نعم هذا العطر روعه .. مهما تكررت نوتة العود فلها لمسات تختلف.. وخصوصا مع جيرلان
مهما تعددت النوتات وكان العود حاضرا.. فيسكون الماسترو
عطر نقي جدا بلمسه احترافيه يجعلك في حيره.. هل هو مكرر ام انه لا يشبه عطر اخر
طبعا انصح بتجربته.. ومن يقتنيه فهو يستحق
8.5/10
lmoibnvmeed – :
I recently procured a 125mll bottle at a deep discount, as part of a much larger order.
This fragrance is very intriguing….
It’s perfectly unisex…and perfectly oriental.
I do not detect notes of Guerlain DNA.
I own another fragrance remarkably familiar to this….
And I say familiar…..because I wanted to avoid the use of the term similar.
Oud Touch….
There is a clear separation of the notes that is really quite splendid….
The entire composition is stunning and is a very easy fragrance to enjoy.
The Sandalwood smells hypnotic, and the rest of the engredients really
emphasize all of the best qualities of the note.
It is reminiscent of Varvatos Oud, and Franck Oud Touch…both of which I own
and enjoy often.
Dark cool heavy Oud …blacks and browns ….mixed with minute bursts of very colorful orange yellow….
The Verdict : Excellence
lexxa63 – :
allright. this is the only one i bought two bottles of it. for many reasons.
sillage is enormous.
longetivity is beyond words.
it’s 125 ml. so definitely is worth the price tag.
although i have many others but people recognize me by sillage of this perfume.
10/10 to this one
KuDS – :
OMG, this perfume is the exact replica of sandalwood!
No joke.
This is the exact scent I recall from my childhood days of entering Indian leather stores and smelling sandalwood. This is also the smell of Indian Sandalwood soaps and sandalwood incense sticks.
The top note is slightly feminine and sweet but the dry down is leathery and masculine. But from top to bottom, sandalwood is ever present.
This is certainly a unisex scent.
A masterpiece by Guerlain that managed to evoke in me, a sense of nostalgia. Well done! 5 out of 5 stars!
zaripusha – :
From this, I only get the oud and leather.
Also it’s a bit harsh in a weird way.
The performance is very good, but I find it too masculine for me.
I love oriental, I’m ok with unisex, I’m not into girly girl scents, and I believe in gender-benders, but this is still too masculine in my opinion. I think it should be marketed as a mens only perfume.
I will keep testing it anyway (this is my 3rd time).
MsTol19 – :
I deleted my previous review because I have completely changed my mind on this one. My first time testing it was at an airport duty free counter and the SA sprayed it on paper–nice! I like it!–then on my wrist–TWICE–and I had to scrub it off. Too acrid, too strong.
Tested it again today using a dabber and it was heavenly. The scent was still a beast, but with a light touch it was fruity, woody, and a bit sweet. My husband immediately picked up on the peach note over everything else, which surprised me. All I could smell was wood and spice.
Here’s my advice: go easy on the trigger and you’ll get more enjoyment out of this one. It is elegant, regal, and delicious. Not sure if it’s fb-worthy for me, but I’ll enjoy my sample vial while it lasts and see how I feel about it in the winter.
Update, a few days later: I couldn’t wait for winter. Ordered a bottle because the more I sampled it, the more I fell in love with it.
ladylenokkk – :
I wrote an earlier review and I am a fan of this perfume and all its glory.
However, it’s recently gotten warmer and I am experiencing different results – the perfume is a lot more boozy and after a particularly warm day, by midmorning it smelt very animalic with a faint nasty element.
So if this isn’t your thing I would not reccomend using it in the summer months. This is the first perfume I own whose results are this drastic depending on climate. Will try it out on summer evenings and see how it fares then.
demimurjo – :
This is a beautiful three dimensional version of current formula Chanel Egoist. For those that are not smelling the sandalwood, wait four hours at least. Once you smell it, you will be able to detect it a lot earlier in the development.
navov – :
Les Absolus d`Orient Santal Royal Guerlain
To me this perfume gave me an impression with thousand faces. As I begin with this review writing now in the night we already have one particularity of the “Guerlain Santal Royal”: it is one of the perfumes which performs better in the evening and night while, in my experience, at daytime it gets easily distracted and even sometimes seems to wholly disappear completely. Yet if this isn’t the case, as now it is clearly present one gets also the whole patch at once. I smell a definite strong medicinal (just the way I like it) oud. I smell the strong rose which correlates with the oud in fickleness and the lovely perfumy non-linearity. Then the sandelwood of its name fairly early also steps in and it is a particularly powdery sandelwood. It is this note specificly which ultimately gives this scent its ‘footstep’ and I remember having read that we find not a Mysore- but an Australian sandelwood in here in any case the powder factor, already considerable, is enhanced with the clearly discernable cinnamon note. So secretively writing in the night within the cloche of ‘Santal Royal’ I am getting continuous wafts of rose, oud, sandelwood, cinnamon and the leather I perceive here more as a composed factor which emerges as a combined factor of oud, sandelwood and even the, nowhere sleepy, rose. Because of its fickleness it took me a while to get “into” this perfume whereas its daytime “halfvalue” seemed to dwindle rapidly yet in the evening after my work I could often smell the fully restored perfume back. This feature to me also proves that high-class ingredients were used as they kept coming back and back. The perfume is also a real ‘work-in-progress’ qua development on the skin. In (twelve) steps first the oud appears intermingled with a strong rose, then also at the same time both this lovely, indeed somewhat cabinet-like, sandelwood ‘smokes up’ in company of even more powder of the cinnamon. the leather is rather an ‘achieved taste’ which for instance in Montale or Tom Ford or Vero.Profumo is more exaltated and explicit. This diminishes however nowhere the highly recommendable experience of this emotional perfume which offers its authentic ingredients as the waft of a chic salon, elevating the wearer sticking her, him, with golden stars. Not one but myriads. Now, after hours, what rests are the woody notes with an air of sophistication.
slugencurge – :
ترکیب بوی چوب عود و کهربا و رز اینجا یه شاهکار درست کرده نمیدونم شبیه کدوم عطره ولی بوش برام خیلی آشناس
خیلی با کلاس و خوردنیه 🙂
امتیاز 10/8,5
cdHawWrinia – :
Boozy oud and joss sticks. Very woody, like the inside of a freshly made cabinet. Something about it smells like a stately home. Not my cup of tea.
DETONAVOMEK – :
My till date best perfume I rate it close to Ajmal sandalwood. It is must for any sandalwood fragrance lover.
Goran – :
This is oud-y, sandalwood-y goodness. The projection and lasting power are substantial, so go easy (or not). Definitely a masculine-leaning scent, but I’m a woman, and it smells great on me! Can’t recommend enough. No need to go into minute detail–everyone before has done a better job than I ever could. Completely worth the investment.
katyha – :
I tried this perfume on at an airport and the smell remained on my scarf for MONTHS after. So I bought it.
This perfume is HEAVENLY and is my new signature.
It starts off very sweet and syrupy (maybe too sweet for some). After about an hour this initial sweetness wears off and as the day progresses, you are left with a deeper and more mysterious fragrance.
Like the beautiful glass bottle it comes in, the colors associated with this fragrance are black and honey-gold.
I’m surprised at all the negative press this perfume has gotten (something tells me it may have to do with Luca Turin’s one star) it smells neither synthetic nor cheap on my skin.
To me, it is a delight and an absolute winner.
venak – :
I struggle to wear Oud based fragrances at work (office) as the girls will often turn their nose up at the smell. However Santal Royal turns that issue on its head and lets me get away with it for some reason. It’s loved by all and I’m not really able to explain why.
It opens powerfully with all the strong earthy masculine scents, Oud, Amber, leather and hints of cinnamon. The Floral’s; Peach, Rose, Neroli and Jasmine don’t make much of an impact I have to say. So it’s very heavy and masculine. Almost tar like at times. Some Females could get away with this, but I think most would struggle, I’d also suggest very young males should give it a miss too.
The masculine tone does soften overtime, but it’s still feels very broody and man-like. Perhaps this is the appeal I’m not sure. Even after owning the bottle for a few months I haven’t grown to fully love it. In fact the only reason I keep going back to it personally are the compliments and how well liked it is by those around me!
The projection and longevity scores ridiculously high on Fragrantica (which is why it attracted my attention in the first place), but in my own experience it’s only average and comparable to all the famous male Guerlain’s fragrances. Rather Good but not Excellent.
The bottle itself is wonderful I must say. As with most Guerlain’s the Price is good for what is quality juice.
oriecorPiew – :
Yummy woody – oud – rose
Color impression: tarnished honey
The most scrumptious oud/rose composition ever. It hires Mitsouko’s peach and Shalimar’s vanilla to render raw oud, rose and sandalwood and come up with a super delicious orientalism all the way through. Compliment goddess, longevity beast, sillage monster.
★★★
131611 – :
What a harsh dry medicinal leather! very animalic smell like Sivet that I don’t like.
OlimpiadGame – :
That this fragrance is so obscure and ignored by most Guerlain lovers is down right criminal. I don’t quite understand how it happened, the confusion of multiple bottles? The name? Either way, if you miss this you are missing out big time.
Earlier this year I was craving rose and cinnamon. I was pretty much told by just about every perfume lover that such a scent didn’t exist. But it DOES. It’s *right here.* And it is so good.
Santal Royal is what a perfume should be. It’s fairly easy to find, affordable (it’s not cheap but it’s reasonably priced) and gorgeous.
To my nose, and on my skin it’s a juicy rose, not dry or powdery, absolutely *drenched* in cinnamon. Think a bouquet of red antique roses (the really fragrant kind) and cinnamon sticks and then bury your face in that.
There’s a bit of medicinal oud at first and there’s a lovely spicy wood base that keeps the whole thing grounded.
This is one of the only perfumes I own that gets regular compliments. I’m a light sprayer, but even with just two sprays I regularly have people compliment my perfume or say how lovely someone smells. It’s a winner folks!
If you want a spicy rose? Buy this.
natashashegai – :
I love the opening of this. The florals amber and peach really stand out. Then the warm cinnamon sandlawood is good but I’m not that keen on the drydown of this. A harsh dry medicinal leather – oud.
wamgueque – :
Absolutely. Fabulous. It’s a sweet oud-rose scent with outstanding longevity and sillage, a little goes a long way. It reminds me of Tom Ford’s Oud Wood, though Santal Royal is sweeter and more eastern, making it more exotic to my nose.
A truly outstanding, masterful blend with sandalwood taking a back seat. Sometimes oud can go in a medicinal direction, and I don’t detect that happening here. Like other reviewer’s have noted, I think it’s the sandalwood and neroli that make this creamier and easier to wear than many other oud dominated scents.
This is not linear, I do detect changes but the drydown makes it difficult to switch to another perfume if you get it on clothes, so beware.
Very sexy scent, my new signature. Perfection in a bottle.
10 out of 10.
Vikusik2010 – :
I’m in two minds about this fragrance. On the one hand I love the opening, the depth, the sheer quality and middle eastern vibe of this fragrance in general. However that is one of things I don’t like…it’s intrusive…invasive even strong heavy projection and a unrelenting smell which I can only take for a short period without nasal fatigue. This is the problem with many UAE frags oils and attars I have, they bang too hard.
I also have a slight problem with this being called santal…suggesting sandalwood which is clearly in the mix and might even save this scent somewhat, but it’s undoubtedly an oud. The oud is loud, proud and has that sharp, dankness which reminded me specifically of AdP oud calonia a fragrance I kinda like but actually gave to a friend for the same reasons I couldn’t wear this one.
In fairness to the Guerlain composition here oud, musk, rose, citrus and resins are handled absolutely perfectly and combined much more lovingly to create a smoother, much less clumsy and more rounded scent.
I like it, I think it’s brilliant in fact, and couldn’t help sniffing it throughout a long wearing experience but for me it becomes a little too much. This is just personal preference because I’m quite amazed by the opening and just how much oud potency and carefully finessed surrounding notes. Another stunning scent from Guerlain but definitely one for unapologetic oud lovers.
Update: The deep, deep, deep drydown (approximately a week later on my coat sleeve and a sample card) and I’m absolutely amazed at the smell. Not least because it’s still there but because it’s warm, soft, complex and truly outstanding. It’s not just a base trail either there’s mainly oud a soft sandalwood left sure, but it even the subtle heart notes still remain. Crucially it’s not harsh at all. Maybe this is the key to having this scent? Spray it on clothes you’re going to wear in a weeks time.
vantei – :
This one with Ambre ethernal are most beautiful recent releases from Guerlain. Don’t let the first impressions mislead you. Both are artistically crafted and well worth for the freezing cold winter days.
mar288Negeltzex – :
One word: gorgeous. Ok, I lied, two words: gorgeous perfection.
Olga 2011 – :
This fragrance is something u have to be patient with in order for its true beauty to emerge. The opening has a dusty note that’s abit harsh and takes time getting used to, but once it dries down a lil the rose note starts to come out and this is where i fall madly in love with it. Normally i hate oud fragrances, jubilation xxv and creed royal oud to name a few but this, the oud isn’t so pungent so it may be a scent of anyone who isn’t so much of an oud fan. Longevity and projection is extremely good. I used 2 sprays, one in front and behind the neck and I’m set for the whole day. Happy sniffing guys and gals
larybakinna – :
15 years ago, I had this scent as an attar named mutassaliq musk
I love this one though
Grey – :
So Guerlain is still able to make good stuff! This perfume gave me back my faith in this grand old perfume house.
Santal Royal begins all warm and smoky, with a discernible rose note, and dries down to a colder but very enjoyable mix of leather and incense (not listed, I know).
Can’t smell the cinnamon, to be honest, but the sandalwood and oud are very present from the first spray to the dying notes, and they are lovely!
Santal Royal is refined, elegant and mysterious. A “grown up” perfume of restrained sensuality.
EDIT: The cinnamon is there, but can be smelled several hours after the first spray, like 4-5 hours later.
leosmall – :
Finally i got my hands on this scent,
it has been hard to find around here,
but today i got it and i must say this one
does not disappoint me, this may be the
best oud fragrance i have ever smelled so
far, it is blended so well and it projects
and lasts very long too, to me this is a
masterpiece from guerlain that both genders
can enjoy.
lordkreveton – :
It’s big and blowsy and take-no-prisoners, but with the sweet and floral notes perfectly balancing out the deeper darker stuff. To my nose the first rose and floral burst is a little bit too much – yet overall this is, if anything, a little more masculine than I was expecting. What I *wasn’t* expecting was to find so little actual sandalwood buried under the enveloping layers of oud & rose. The oud is very definitely there – in such concentration and quality that the ‘sexy sticking plaster’ smell starts nearing leather territory – and there’s so much leather in the mix anyway, it’s hard to draw the line on where leather ends and oud begins. But where is the sandalwood? If it’s even in there, its rougher teammates have stuffed it in the cupboard under the stairs and you can only hear the faintest squeaks of protest from it.
I’ve only smelled a few dozen of the oud&rose formulas now in every market – and I know there are hundreds and hundreds to choose from, with more subtlety and variation than I’ll ever appreciate – but to me this just read as a classed-up, extra Frenchified, slightly leatherier and more urbane version of Diptyque’s Oud Palao. And that is not a bad thing at all; it’s classy and unisex (for the daring), the sillage is bold and brave, the longevity impressive as well. But overall this is just a little less spicy and characterful than I’d anticipated, though the oud kick was a pleasant surprise.
(ETA: on further wearing – on different days this turned into something much woodier and more individual – and on others, into the smell of the inside of some verrrrrry sophisticated grand lady’s handbag. I am developing deeper respect for it.)
zav2878 – :
Smells exactly like leather oud-Dior except this is a lot softer.
It’s a nice dusty formal smelling oud.
Leaning more on the masculine side for me.
Quite long lasting too!
wye048InsuffBooni – :
Warm, spicy, sweet, and woody. A heavy scent, and a tad cloying, but entirely addictive. Without the abrasive sharpness of many aoud scents I have tried (here’s looking at you, Montale).
An absolutely comforting perfume that I can wear on any occasion. One spray and you’re set for hours!
Rife with a sexual energy that enjoys the warm sun but is rather impatiently waiting for darkness to fall.
5018225 – :
I gotta say I do love it… second time wearing and it, and it is so nice and got complements, but I need to write more about it later…
dimon27ru – :
Beautiful fragrance! It reminds me of tibetan sandalwood incense. Amazing
Astexy – :
It’s really good. Everything on the note list is there, except the oud. Still beautiful. This one us quite unisex I think.
sashakyznezov – :
Excellent love it, smells like Bukhoor (incense), not oud
Talaridzi – :
Incredibly good! 10/10
professor – :
Sounds gushy but this scent is beautiful and amazing!
I don’t have any oud/rose scents in my collection so this is just what the dr ordered! The rose is prominent to my nose but it’s still easy for both sexes to wear(if this bothers you).
Fruity, almost jammy on opening, sweet and cool rose and warm and smoky oud/sandalwood. Not powdery like samsara!
Lasts a long time and has already gotten lots of compliments even tho I was convinced it was a skin scent after a few hours!
A tiny bit sprayed in my bag and I can still detect it over a week later…
I’m wearing it in warm summer weather (for UK).
Bottle and packaging are stunning! Got a 125ml EDP for under £100, not bad at all given the quality and potency.
White cotton shirt, chinos and royal santal and I feel like an Arabian prince!
siroshtan – :
I have a vintage jacket which smells of cigarette smoke but looks great. I had to spray it with something fast so I grabbed at the Santal in a department store. Well, the rest is history. My full bottle is on its way, purchased upon return home for a much better price. Had to be done. I scanned my collection to determine whether I have something similar. The closest contenders are Mystique Amber and Mystique Wood so I had no choice.
Heavy incense, oud, pipe tobacco, very rich. The sillage is great and the longevity should be quite strong too. I have a few Shalimars and Samsaras but this is a cut above from Guerlain for me.
It was very fitting for a cool May evening but I imagine it will be even a bigger winner in the fall and winter.
Vovan_cross – :
Maybe it’s the oud, but it smells like infection to me.. I can imagine why people like it, and why it could be a signature scent as it’s very interesting, just not for my skin I guess..
kisyBedsHeili – :
the rose note ruins it for me otherwise great dry down and fantastic longevity..I don’t see why there are two Santal Royals in the Guerlain line up. with different notes??
FGHT – :
this is a beast. one of the best performances that I’ve witnessed from a fragrance, a 10/10 fragrance for the colder months
CeasiashizDib – :
This is a force to be reckoned with! Dry, very dry sandalwood, dense oud, a touch of rose, plus leather and smoke. I can’t tell if it’s me (I usually go for more pillow-plush Guerlains), but I cannot stop sniffing my wrist. Second day I’ve sampled it….hmmmm.
стрел – :
I usually avoid the oud/rose combo scents, but this one is a winner. Heavy and sweet, so it’s best for special occasions in the colder months.
dlatoevace – :
Absolute perfection in a bottle. It was described to me as sweet, when i tried it i realised how off course the comments were, on my skin anyway. Very dry oud, with early glimpses of sandalwood. Incredible longevity, and strong sillage, particularly on clothes. A wonderful bottle, the notes are spot on, this is glorious, I’d prefer it as a summer fragrance. Worth the cost.
Blokbum – :
Guerlain santal royal, I love this perfume, I got a bottle yesterday and it’s fantastic
vanya_100 – :
Santal Royal opens with a 5-second whiff of neroli, quickly moves on to bitter woods, and then the rose dawns. In 2-3 minutes it settles into a loud, compelling combination of sandalwood, rose, and oud.Then, after an hour, it becomes the gorgeously smoky scent reminding of an old, mysterious oriental manuscript kept in a smoky room filled with incense smell and dust, with horizontal light coming through the window to ignite the dust into fleeting gold. At this stage, the rose is only there as a supporting note that makes it smooth and turns its otherwise dry flavor into a multi layered, deep aroma.
I’ve read some reviews where the perfume was described as not containing sandalwood or smelling artificial, chemical. Those people don’t have a really good sense of smell and the ability to distinguish individual notes. The perfectly blended santal, rose, and oud can throw the less sensitive nose off track into believing that it’s a simple and very artificial oud smell. This is not so. The rose tricks them into thinking that the oud smell had been altered. Those people simply don’t like the combination, which truly isn’t for everyone. This is a complex aroma and may be difficult to understand for the inexperienced nose. Others can’t smell the sandalwood as a separate note because it’s so well blended that they become convinced it’s not there. In fact the strongest note is that of sandalwood.
Santal Royal is a fragrance with a lot of personality. It’s strong, compelling, yet subtle. It’s dark, mysterious, smoky, a bit leathery and a bit bitter. It’s truly unisex. The rose and sandalwood make it feminine enough, while the oud, leather, and smoky bitter quality make it masculine. It’s bittersweet in the beginning, them becomes airy without being fresh and full bodied without being sweet.
Unfortunately I don’t get out of it the enormous sillage and incredible longevity others have described but then again my skin doesn’t hold scents in general. It’s still among my longest lasting perfumes. Only if I spray it on clothes or fabric it can indeed radiate to 2.5 meters and keep for 7-10 days. However, the smell it radiates is very subtle and you can only catch a whiff every now and then. It’s the subtle aroma of an incense stick left on a shelf in the bookcase and not the overpowering pouring of a cascade.
For me it’s totally worth the price tag but it should never be a blind buy. Find it, smell it for a few days, witness the story it tells while aging and then decide. You may not even like it at the first whiff but grow in love after a few hours.
Нечай – :
Santal Royal smells exactly like Jo Malone’s Velvet Rose and Oud except Santal Royal is a much smoother version. As Jo Malone’s smells sickly sweet and very synthetic, but Santal Royal is the real deal.
It has great presence, great projection and sillage.
sanya242 – :
Quite lovely!
I’m not sure what I was expecting. I suppose not much, knowing this would not, and could not contain any Mysore Sandalwood. But Wasser did something rather nice with this, and it works, at least for me.
The opening is bright, and the perfect balance of jasmine and neroli. It never gets heavy, but it’s enough for indolic lovers to get a nice sniff or two before giving way to the gorgeous rose (and wow…this really is NICE) and Cinnamon! And it is DELIGHTFUL! Oh this combo is just dazzling! I can’t wait for my husband to smell this on me!
The dry-down, is a long, languid, resinous wrap in beauty and sensuality. Definitely FBW, and most certainly worthy of a colored Bee Bottle!
хрюндель – :
Dry down of Santal Royal is same as “Desert Falcon by Arabian Oud”.
But Desert Falcon Arabian Oud is much much lower in price round about 45$.
GreammaPrerne – :
Tested this today so my review is not based on prolonged wear: in the beginning, Santal Royal is very similar to Montale Honey Aoud. The sweetness then dissipates and the oud note smells very animalic and cheesy (like actual cheesy undertone; sorry I know this sounds crazy but this was my experience with it).
Beautiful oud interpretation, minus the unpleasant aforementioned hue.
Try before purchasing.
FlyHippo – :
“A Little Daring, but Controlled ”
I blind bought Santal Royal after for a great online deal. It is also the first fragrance I own from the house of Guerlain. I received two comments on Santal Royal in the same day:
1. A colleague asked from distance, “what are you wearing? I like it.” He has a mature nose and is familiar with fragrances.
2. I was in a vehicle with another colleague who asked me, “what are you wearing? You smell like shit today”. He isn’t familiar with eastern perfumery, musk, or more complex fragrances.
Santal Royal isn’t for everyone. The main notes that my nose detects are musk, rose, leather, and oud. These are the prominent notes from start to finish.
If it is applied heavily, musk takes over, and it has a strong but refined animalic note. Rose sits in the middle layer while leather stays in the background. If it is applied lightly, rose is the dominant note with musk in the middle layer and leather in the background.
I personally don’t like the harsh animalic notes in Montale and some other works. The musk in Royal Santal is extremely refined and done in a controlled manner. I love the smell of musk in Royal Santal.
If Santal Royal is viewed from a strictly eastern perfumery perspective, Thierry Wasser has failed it. It tries to smell eastern, but it lacks the authenticity of eastern fragrances.
If Santal Royal is viewed from a western perspective, it is also a disaster because most westerners, at least where I live, are not familiar with daring and complex fragrances.
However, if Santal Royal is viewed in absolute terms, what it offers in terms of refinement, quality, and scent, it is an amazing fragrance.
The longevity is great, and it leaves a nice scent trail as you walk by.
The $200 USD asking price is not justified for Royal Santal, but I highly recommend it if you can find it for a price in low $100s.
ehm875Unlogrere – :
This is great. Very balanced, soft, woody and with a distinct touch of rose which gives a soapyness while also brightening up the heavier woody notes.
I don’t see vetiver in the notes but there’s something here that reminds me of smoky astringent vetiver, it might just be the way oud appears. The oud is light and doesn’t tip into the more tarry versions. For example it’s softer than the oud in MFK’s oud collection (‘Oud Silk Mood’ etc)
It’s also successfully unisex, with a very light sweet touch, though there’s a sour/tart note to balance it (maybe leather?)
In all, I’d say this is a very unisex, soft woody scent that’s pleasing, not too challenging and very easy-to-wear without being typical or too mainstream.
Sillage soft to medium, longevity good
KASPER – :
Heavy creamy musk and oud. More on the sweet Side.
If that’s your jam, you should really give it a try.
nothing – :
In a time where oud is such an overdone note in perfumery, it’s refreshing to come across a a fragrance that deviates from the norm. On my skin, the oud is rather tame and combined elegantly with a voluptuous rose note. The aroma is consistent and has excellent silage and longevity (> 24 hours). I cannot detect any other notes, although now that I’ve read that neroli is present, I can smell the effect: it calmed the scent down and made it slightly creamy. Overall, this is a tranquil, yet mesmerising oud fragrance. 10/10
Kashevar2006 – :
Absolutely love this perfume. One spray lasts for the whole day and even the next. Whenever i hang my coat with this perfume sprayed on, my whole closet begins to smell of this perfume.
The scent itself is unique in so many ways. Living in dubai, I’m used to oud scented perfumes but santal royal is something completely different. It takes combines oud which is a strong and heavy smell with something sweet and floral. The result is an absolute banger.
The price tag is way too high so i’m probably gonna wait till there’s a sale going on somewhere to buy my next bottle
autorem79 – :
WOW! This is everything I’ve ever dreamt of in a fragrance. Strong, masculine and unique. There are not going to be many people in my social circle who wear this.
I tried a sample at House of Fraser where it is now available. Previously being exclusive to Harrods & Selfridges.
The Oud is very prominent and made me feel much richer than I am and made me stand a couple of inches taller. I sprayed some onto my hand which lasted the whole day and some on to my coat which is still prominent.
BUT
Can I justify the £125 price tag.
If I was a much wealthier man then I would definitely buy myself a bottle but until then I’ll have to wait for a sugar-mummy to come along and spoil me.
Certainly on my want list and if I have a good win on the horses will be on my have it list.
gapur2009 – :
It is no doubt gorgeous, a real sillage monster. One drop spread all around has atomic sillage and longevity! Use with caution!
But santal? I haven’t smelled any. Oud, yes! Lots and lots of oud! I can’t figure out why t