Santal Royal Guerlain (2014)

Where to buy

Where to buy

Search on

7.8 / 10 299 Ratings

Santal Royal is a popular perfume by Guerlain for women and men and was released in 2014. The scent is woody-oriental. The longevity is above-average. It is being marketed by LVMH.

Search on

Perfumer

Thierry Wasser

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Neroli, Jasmine
Heart Notes	Peach, Rose, Cinnamon
Base Notes	Sandalwood, Leather, Amber, Oud, Musk

Ratings

Scent

7.8 (299 Ratings)

Longevity

8.3 (247 Ratings)

Sillage

7.8 (254 Ratings)

Bottle

8.6 (255 Ratings)

View Video of Santal Royal (YouTube)

Submitted by Michael, last update on 21.11.2019.

Rate
Collection
Souk
Classify
Notes

Reviews

DemonHead 5 years ago

„Bending to the Middle Eastern Market”

This year Guerlain introduce a new scent intended for the Middle Eastern market; Santal Royal. With exclusivity limited to the new Salon de Parfums...

K1 4 years ago

„"The treasure of east" is not a material of perfumery, it's introversion...”

Here we have a doomed perfume by every single reviewer and critic. I criticize the responsible...

11/07/2019

10.0 8.0 10.0 10.0/10

K84
4 Reviews

K84

Multidimensional and perfectly blended

A masterpiece by Thierry Wasser that opens semi sweet thanks to the amber, peach and cinnamon that keeps evolving to an amazing sandalwood scent mixed with some florals and end up in an amber-y base mixed with top notch oud, leather and rose. This is one of the most complex fragrances that I have as it goes through a lot of phases during its life. Fruity, woody, sweet, leathery...I couldn't say this one is three dimensional. I prefer to say that this one is multi dimensional as each note and accord can be clearly perceived and there are around 10 different phases/stages in its life. Even though I don't distinguish between seasons or moments to wear a fragrance I've experienced that this one works better in the night time and when the temperature cools down. Currently one of my favorite scents amongst my collection.

09/26/2019

9.0 8.0 9.0 6.5/10

HugoMontez
10 Reviews

HugoMontez

Synthetic peachy Egoiste

Everything in this line seems very pretentious. I'm not a fan, to be honest. I love Guerlain but this line is very synthetic in a bad way. I liked Ambre Eternel (discontinued) and this one is not that bad but the others are very forgettable.
This is an opulent Rose-cinnamon-woody fragrance. Could be named Canelle Royal or Rose Royal but not Santal Royal. The sandalwood is minimal and very synthetic. It opens with freshness and sweetness, right away. A tiny bit of neroli in a Cinnamon-Rose bomb. As it starts to drydown, a strong Peach note appears too and shines especially in the mid, giving more sweetness and some femininity. The Oud is very soft and syntethic (again) and only plays in the background, just giving some depth to the fragrance.

Overall, gives me a synthetic Egoiste vibe but more oriental and fruity and not so good, of course.

Excellent performance though.

EDIT: I reach for this many times in this Fall and although I prefer Amber Eternel, this is good. I give one more star to my rating for the overall experience.
3/5

2 Replies

09/07/2019

8.0 10.0 8.5/10

Asasello
0 Reviews

Translated automatically Show original

Asasello

Greatly helpful Review 12

A comment that is actually superfluous, but nevertheless

i want to say a few words about this already much described fragrance - yes, probably it is already "written out", because it says everything essential - even if it is only to become clear to myself why this fragrance takes me. But wait! "Take" may not be the appropriate term, because it promises too much, perhaps I should leave it at the word "please", because that seems to me to come closer to my relationship with Santal Royal.

What is this?! I had already written off rose scents, because the rose often becomes too dominant for me and after a while usually also too annoying; also some noble rose-ud combinations could not really convince me, but I like oud (much to my wife's chagrin). But after the comment of a perfumistos I admired very much, I wanted to give this fragrance a chance and I must say that I can win Santal Royal something, with increasing time more and more.

In fact, this is a perfume that I like to give the time it takes to unfold in all its beauty. It is like a young wine, which one should not drink at all yet, one did not want to be considered in wine connoisseur circles as a "child murderer". If you leave it open long enough, however, it will undergo a development in a few hours, sometimes even in days, which it would otherwise only undergo in the closed bottle in the course of one to two years, occasionally even three or even more years. But I digress...

Santal Royal does not need days to unfold, but its true quality is revealed after hours (or should it be called first?), when tamed oud and sandalwood are clearly perceptible. Clear means here, however, in a very pleasant way. I didn't notice anything of sandalwood for a long time. An inkling of Oud, on the other hand, was already there after a short time, until it became a certainty with increasing time. Therefore, the fragrance changes without losing its heart, the rose, of course. But that's exactly what amazes me, who doesn't like Rose that much. In my opinion, the rose is present from beginning to end, very clearly, but at the same time restrained enough not to be intrusive. It gives the fragrance composition a structure, in the case of wine one would probably speak of the tannin framework. Although I am far from being converted as far as the rose is concerned, this fragrance has a lot more to offer, because the rose is accompanied by some other satellites, of which I can clearly identify the two already mentioned, but also others, without being able to identify them exactly. Towards the end I mean to recognize echoes of other scents I know. Oud Royal by Creed comes to mind, while Santal Royal seems more complex. TF's Oud Wood also knocks on the door. It should be this warm tamed oud that reminds of these two cousins of Santal Royal.

What do I want to say with all these words?! I'm afraid I can't quite... To get to the point: Santal Royal, as disappointed as some of you may be when you measure it against older Guerlain sizes, I want to take up a lance for him from the point of view of modern times. For me, it is not a scent that loudly expresses its presence, nor is it a scent that immediately takes me for itself, but that with increasing time turns out to be a composition in its very own sense and shows that its creator masters his craft
Perhaps another summarizing sentence: I am fascinated to a certain extent, without being enthusiastic at the same time, but feel confirmed in the fact that my new hobby, my discovered passion for scents, is a quite excellent affair. In this sense, this commentary is merely a plea for the art of scent and the granting of time.

5 Replies

07/12/2019

8.0 8.0 10.0/10

Jakobolino
0 Reviews

Translated automatically Show original

Jakobolino

Greatly helpful Review 19

Confess at last....

I kind of have it with Oud. Well, I admit it, I like that precious substance. One man's oud is another man's frankincense. That's the beauty of this hobby (addiction). Since I've been active here, my view of things has changed.
While reading other comments and statements I often discovered that I was probably not alone with it. The emphasis is on war. The tolerance discovered here with the help of writing was transferred to other things. And I don't want to miss the resulting serenity anymore.

Yes,another Rosen - Oud, I'm sure some of you would have thought, sniffing Santal Royal. I can't deny it. But he's very special to me. He smells like cinnamon, rose and honey. He's not in there. I suspect here a beautiful interweaving of cinnamon and peach in the overall picture with oud, which triggers this honey association. And yes, it's bulky.
A typical Guerlain. A fragrance with corners and edges. But just that's what I love about him.
Smooth ironed? Not my world!

The durability and projection are very good and the bottle is a feast for the eyes.

So, to all friends of cinnamon, rose and oud I can only give you a clear test recommendation. And please, give him some time. It is by no means a scent that you should try in passing. He needs some time to unfold. If you give them to him, he will present all his splendour and elegance. And we should take this time much more often. Maybe this is also a way to more serenity and tolerance.

Your Jakobolino

12 Replies

01/26/2019

8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0/10

Jazzy76
320 Reviews

Jazzy76

Really "royal"

A minute of silence, please. Let Her Majesty the Rose with her court of warm woods go in the palace .
Yes, sir, this is a royal scent. Not only for the adjective. However, in spite of the name "Santal" (French word for Sandalwood), the main actress is the Rose , married to a wonderful, deep, vibrant and intoxicating oud. it's the perfect accord. All around, spicy-woody oriental notes and a light flowery touch given by the White flowers (neroli and Jasmine) at the opening, but these gentle and feminine notes are only suggested, so this scent could be perfect for men too and in every case I think that some masterpieces are genderless .
The sillage is powerful and the longevity surprisingly good. A true sacred perfume to wear in fall-winter, expecially by night or in your special occasions.
The bottle seems almost to hide the precious scent inside and maybe is less precious than the ones of the historical collection . Anyway, a refined black packaging suggesting something very special and mysterious.
The price is obviously very high, but ...noblesse oblige!

1 Replies

01/11/2019

9.0 7.0 8.0 8.0/10

DonJuanDeCat
0 Reviews

Translated automatically Show original

DonJuanDeCat

Greatly helpful Review 14

Sweet and soft wood from the Orient

Hola!

I'll start my comment today with a Spanish hello, after I wrote the word "Hola" somewhere else (so not here on Parfumo, but in Whatsapp) without the H and was laughed at by a friend :D
Ola in Spanish means wave, and not hello!!
So... therefore I write Hola and hope that I can remember this for the next time :D

He he, so hello and have a nice evening :)
Today I introduce Santal Royal, a fragrance by Guerlain from 2014, which I admittedly ignored a little when I didn't like Oud at all. Even today Oud is not one of my favourite scents and probably never will be, but after many scent tests I realized that Oud does not always smell the same and in some scents it can even smell quite good. So that means that I don't ignore oud anymore, because among the oud scents there could be real treasures. Yes, it is such a strange thing with the Oud, which can smell depending upon smell combination even times completely differently.

In any case, sandalwood and eagle wood (i.e. oud) should be the focus of this fragrance and form an oriental fragrance. And since the scent is as mentioned by Guerlain, you usually have a good feeling about it anyway (you sound like a Guerlain fanboy now, don't you?)! Well, let's see!

The fragrance:

I smell oud at the beginning, which already radiates well. In addition there are sour roses, sweet jasmine and fruity peaches. You can smell all the scents listed above very well, and everything combined actually results in a beautiful, oriental scent.
After that the leather soon appears, which makes the scent a little heavier and also a little more bitter. The scent is not bad in itself, but I just don't like leather in scents that much.
However, the leather doesn't seem to become much stronger later on, as the sweet scents gain a little more power instead, which at least makes me personally feel the scent more pleasant.
The sandalwood here is for the fact that it appears in the name of the fragrance, actually quite weakly failed, but nevertheless you can perceive its beautiful, balsamic soft fragrance. Perhaps he also makes sure that the leather and oud are not too strong, so that the fragrance is generally well balanced and therefore smells good.
A little later, the fragrance becomes sweeter, the jasmine seems to radiate more strongly again, but now looks less feminine than at the beginning of the fragrance. A little later the sweetness of the fragrance comes from the amber and not from the jasmine. The oud can still be smelled, but now it is much weaker. The later base is mainly woody and a little sweetish-balsamic. A quite nice fragrance, which I like well, but I still do not necessarily have to have it.

The Sillage and the shelf life:

The Sillage is high and strong, as one is used to from most scents with Oud as main scent. You walk around in a large scent cloud, so that everyone can easily perceive the scent at one or at one.
The durability is also very good and lasts at least twelve hours.

The bottle:

The bottle has the shape of most of Guerlain's "bees" bottles, except that it has a shiny black colour (and somehow it still seems to have a dark red touch?) and no bees have been worked into the glass. The dark colour works very well, especially with the elaborately designed golden label. The lid is also golden and shiny. The bow, which decorates the neck, was colored black-gold just as fittingly. A very nice bottle that is just as beautiful as most Guerlain bottles.

Yeah, I have to say that it was a mistake to ignore that smell just because of the oud in it back then. When testing the scent correctly I saw that Santal Royal is a very nice scent in which the oud smells okay. Sure, it's still nothing for me personally, because I'm not an Oud fan, but he doesn't smell bad and fans of Adlerholz can, or should take a look here.

An oud scent like this is often best used on cooler days such as autumn and winter. In my opinion, it is an all-rounder at these seasons, which can be used during the day as well as in the evening. The fragrance is also unisex. Even if the immediate beginning should still seem quite feminine (which is probably due to the sweet jasmine), the fragrance becomes more and more neutral just a few minutes after application, so that I feel it as unisex, as it is also indicated here.

So... that's it. Hey, see? I can also write commissions without having to talk big! But... don't get used to it too much, you never know what kind of bullshit might follow in the next comment, mu ha ha ha ha :DD

4 Replies

01/02/2016

10.0 7.5 10.0 10.0/10

Kankuro
7 Reviews

Kankuro

Helpful Review

A little taste of Orient

I remember when Santal Royal was announced by Guerlain. On that day, many a Guerlain lover celebrated, as the great House of Guerlain would finally make another Sandalwood fragrance, an arabic inspired one that is. Would Santal Royal be competition for the beloved classic Samsara, which originally featured an exceptional amount of real mysore Sandalwood? Shortly after the release, negative reviews started coming in. People where upset about Santal Royal not being a Sandalwood fragrance, but merely another Oud with Rose. Also, people claimed the new fragrance to smell highly synthetic and concluded that not a lot of money was spent on its creation, using cheap raw ingredients. Even the well known and passionate Guerlain collector and blogger "Monsieur Guerlain" couldn't find any love for Santal Royal. But despite all of that, the fragrance seems to do pretty well, as Guerlain will create a whole collection called "Les Absolu d'Orient", which will include Santal Royal as the first creation. And the next chapter is already on its way: Ambre Éternel, the second one in this new collection, will be launched worldwide in February. How did I get around trying Santal Royal? It was pure coincidence. When I ordered Habit Rouge Dress Code, a sample of Santal Royal was added to my order as a gift. After reading all the negative reviews, I hesitantly sprayed a bit on the back of my hand, and slowly inhaled the new scent. Instantly, I was in olfactory heaven! What a wonderful, oriental smell. Thierry Wasser once again created something really nice. I don't know why so many people dislike this excellent scent.

Santal Royal, I agree, is not a Sandalwood scent. Guerlain already got an exquisite Sandalwood fragrance, Samsara. So why did the marketing people behind Guerlain decide to call this new fragrance Santal Royal, instead of being honest and calling it Oud Royal? Well, Samsara doesn't have to fear any competition, the intended target market for Santal Royal is different from that of Samsara anyway. But what does the new, arabic inspired fragrance called Santal Royal smell like? On one hand, it is different from anything Guerlain did before. On the other hand, I think it got a whole lot of a Guerlain feeling. The opening is a fruity, woody, smoky, spicy and sweet blend of a captivating berry like sweetness, which Thierry Wasser already used in La petite Robe noire; Cinnamon and Oud with Rose. The combination is wonderfully exotic and oriental, but also very Gourmand. So Santal Royal is a Rose + Oud fragrance after all. Thus, the fragrance fits into a niche Guerlain already covered with their fragrance "Rose Nacrée du Désert". So why do they need another one? Well, the price point of those two is different. Where Rose Nacrée du Désert is an expensive high end Rose Oud, Santal Royal costs less and offers 125 ml instead of only 75 ml. Isn't it quite nice to see the launch of more affordable variations, instead of more of these ambitiously priced "Ultra Niche" products that are saturating the market these days. Back to the scent itself, on the back of my hand Santal Royal evolved into a more woody-spicy fragrance, but don't be mistaken: The Rose is now the ruler over all other notes. She dominates, but lets enough room for the Oud, which lives in symbiosis with the fruity notes. The combination may not be new, but here it obviously bears Mr. Thierry Wassers signature. Luca Turin describes this signature as "[...] the weird long-term freshness that Thierry Wasser somehow builds into the fabric of his fragrances [...]", and he is spot on with his description. Even in Santal Royal, there is a freshness I cannot fully grasp, but that shifts the fragrance from being too dense and thick to having a wonderful lightness to it. How can I describe the scent in its current phase of evolution? Well, think of fruits drunk of cinnamon, lying on a leather tray, garnished with Rose petals and slivers of Oud wood. Yes, Santal Royal is a "Rose + Oud + Fruit" mixture. No, that doesn't mean Santal Royal is a trivial fragrance that fails to stand out from others. It's exactly the warm and Gourmand like feeling that makes this perfume a true Guerlain, and makes it stand out from the crowd. Adding to the Guerlain feeling, is the leather, which may not be animalic, but adds a nice texture to the base notes, they appear richer and more facetted thanks to the addition of the leather. Those who still got some space for a stunning Rose Oud perfume in their collection, and those who like their fragrances to be fruity, spicy and warming, will be delighted with Santal Royal.

What a marvellous triad of Roses, Oud and spicy sweet Fruit. Santal Royal is not trivial, nor is it of lesser quality. Instead, it shines thanks to its exotic aroma. I do not believe that the lower price indicates lower quality raw materials, that's nonesense. We all know how the "high quality materials" lie is used to push prices for niche fragrances up. Whether it's Chanel, Dior, Guerlain; or Creed, Amouage and Roja Parfums, they all use the same ingredients. Need an example? Frederic Malles new scent "Cologne Indélébile" features the musk material called "Habanolide". Everyone familiar with this kind of materials knows: Habanolide are not exclusive, nor particularly expensive. But yet, they make up 50% of the formula of Cologne Indélébile. Does that make it a bad fragrance not worth the price tag? No. It's still a good fragrance. Everyone experienced enough in perfumery will know to ignore many companies presenting their products telling us "We only use the finest and purest of ingredients that we hand pick from all around the world". It's a lie. And just like that, Santal Royal is not more or less luxurious than any other Guerlain perfume out there. My guess is, people can't get over the bad choice of a name, and are just too disappointed to not find any Sandalwood in Santal Royal. Personally, I don't care, and I will continue to enjoy the sweet cloud of fragrance that is Santal Royal around me. And I am pretty excited for the next Chapter: Ambre Éternel.

11/06/2015

10.0 7.5 7.5 3.0/10

K1
121 Reviews

"The treasure of east" is not a material of perfumery, it's introversion...

Here we have a doomed perfume by every single reviewer and critic. I criticize the responsible bodies behind this. This, I mean the movement which fruit is Santal Royal.

This perfume has a yummy way of oud and sandalwood and is a tribute to Arabian perfume taste which Guerlain, seems, has stubbornly resisted to join but the money Arabs pay would tempt a monk where sandalwoods grow! So with haste Wasser and Guerlain get involve to draw the money in the most profitable time and place, as the house had done by the release of Samsara back in days.

The first impression every time I try Santal Royal is this is not Guerlain. For the sake of whatever you will, which Guerlain perfume smells this cloying?! It is so funny like the final presentation project of a bachelor who prepared it just last night before presentation in school. Totally, unfinished, raw, solid, linear, and…. and quite tempting and promising by appetizing atmosphere added to the opening to charm on.

Guerlian describes "we drew inspiration from the treasure of the east: sandalwood". Let me assure that the treasure of east is not a material of perfumery. It's introversion that west still could not approach unless maestro perfumers as Serge Lutens and Lorenzo Villoresi.
3/10

10/11/2015

10.0 7.5 7.5 5.0/10

MSD
14 Reviews

MSD

Royal Santal OR Royal Rose!!

I had a decant and after using this lovely fragrance, I found it more flowery rather than woody an oud stuff.
First It opens with oud scent and I can smell amber and musk with the mixture of rose. I found it a bit animalic in the beginning. After 1 hour, the animalic scent disappeared and I can say rose scent is the dominant part. This part remains at least for 3 hours with considerable silage and then The projection descents, so that I can smell it near to my arm length and afterward It remains near to my skin.
As its name is Royal Santal, I expected sandalwood and woody scent rather than flowery one, but for sure, It's not that kind of fragrance. I can call it Royal Rose!
I suppose the longevity and silage is great, at least 4 hours with strong silage and another 4 hours with moderate projection.
According to the scent, I think It is more feminine fragrance than masculine one and It suits young peaple more for daily use in both day and night in Spring and Fall. I don't like wearing it in cold Winter and hot Summer.
all in all I like it and I think with regards to the price It is worth to buy.

04/08/2015

10.0 10.0 10.0 5.0/10

Gold
468 Reviews

Gold

Oud strikes again

When did the oud-trend stride into our lives? Was it in the 1980's? No, I guess it was about 10 years ago, when ultra-woody, spicy perfumes started blasting out of the bottle. "Santal Royal" is not about oud, you'd say? I'm not so sure. "Samsara" was a perfume which clearly smelled of gorgeous sandalwood and jasmine and - it smelled like nothing else out there. "Santal Royal" does not connect to this heritage. Instead, it steps into ambery-oudy-leathery shoes and follows a trend set years before. Perfume expert Michael Edwards claims that sandalwood makes up as much as 30% of the composition of "Samsara". The concentration of sandalwood in "Santal Royal" must be much lower and you can't perceive it as clearly as in "Samsara". Mostly, "Santal Royal" is a swirl of spice (cinnamon) and woods (oud comes first). If you sniff carefully, you might pick up a touch of peach and rose (my favourite part of the fragrance). The leathery aspect is quite nice and adds another heavy touch to the composition, which lasts for hours. In their book "The Perfume Bible" the authors Fairley and McKay tell us that it is not unusual for the Middle Eastern consumer to own "170 fragrances". Okay, they can now add this one in its gorgeous black vessel to their collection of oud-scents. They can afford it.

2 Replies

10/15/2014

7.0/10

DemonHead
18 Reviews

DemonHead

Helpful Review 6

Bending to the Middle Eastern Market

This year Guerlain introduce a new scent intended for the Middle Eastern market; Santal Royal. With exclusivity limited to the new Salon de Parfums at Harrods in London (for the time being), 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 and Puredistance 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.

1 Replies