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L'Art & La Matière

Cruel Gardénia Guerlain 2008

7.5 / 10 344 Ratings

A popular perfume by Guerlain for women, released in 2008. The scent is floral-powdery. It is being marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Floral

Powdery

Fresh

Sweet

Green

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Damask rose Neroli

Neroli

Peach

Heart Notes

Gardenia

White musk

Ylang-ylang

Base Notes

Sandalwood

Tonka bean Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumer

Randa Hammami

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.5344 Ratings

Longevity

6.8274 Ratings

Sillage

6.2255 Ratings

Bottle

8.5251 Ratings

Value for money

6.178 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 10/12/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the L'Art & La Matière collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

O des Soupirs

Armani Privé - Gardénia Antigua

Dia Woman Eau de Parfum

1957

Jour d'Hermès Gardénia

Eau Sensuelle

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions

05/01/2012

7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 7
Scent

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Very helpful Review 4

The Antithesis of a Diabolical Perfume

Guerlain's CRUEL GARDENIA, contrary to its name, is a warm, compassionate floral composition prominently featuring ylang ylang, neroli, and violet--at least according to my nose! Bizarre.

Maybe this would be cruel to those who were looking for a pure gardenia frag, or a big white floral? Anyway, aside from my disagreement with the name, CRUEL GARDENIA strikes me as an excellent creation. A complex, somewhat yellow composition with a touch of sweetness in the opening. But from the opening through to the finish, this is much more of a ylang than a gardenia fragrance. Happily, the ylang is balanced and buttressed well.

CRUEL GARDENIA is the very antithesis of a "diabolical" perfume (of which I have encountered a few): neither overly sharp nor officiously invasive nor a scrubber nor a carcinogenic sci-fi nightmare. Good staying power and sillage, too.

06/12/2016

3
Sillage 3
Longevity 7
Scent

ScentFan
334 Reviews

ScentFan

Helpful Review 3

Lovely Phantom

I tested twice on paper at the perfume counter and briefly on skin, but either the tester contents were different from what's in the bottle or I'd become anosmic by then because not until I opened it at home did I realize I'd made a mistake in buying this expensive Guerlain. While it has all the beauty of Guerlain greats, this darling doesn't linger long enough to be appreciated. It opens with an enthralling blast of gardenia and neroli, but in moments these heady notes become mere phantoms, their glory drifting away. Soon Cruel Gardenia lives up to its name by turning into a skin scent, having cruelly absconded with my money and left virtually nothing behind. Oh, sure, if I actually make physical contact between my nose and my skin I can smell it for a good while, but my nose has better things to do than glue itself to my arm. It would like to smell breakfast and lunch, for instance, hubby's Sir (D.S. & Durga), Avenutus, and other knock-outs., when he wears them. So this review is not a complaint about composition or beauty. On the contrary, Cruel Gardenia is intoxicating when it can be detected--the best gardenia solifore I've smelled to date (but likely not for long since I'm collecting gardenia decants for a sniff fest). What I object to is the theft it commits--giving me almost nothing in exchange for quite a bit.

08/05/2014

10
Bottle 2.5
Sillage 5
Longevity 9
Scent

Dalmajen
45 Reviews

Dalmajen

2

"Excuse me...But, haven't we met before"?

Out of all the fragrances in this special series, I was attracted to Cruel Gardenia the most. I adore the fragrance of Gardenia flowers, and the other notes appealed as well.
As soon as I sprayed it, it triggered a long lost memory. I know this scent from somewhere, but a long time ago. I racked my brain trying to pin it down, but it was always out of my reach. The opening is a lovely soft cloud, not heavy or jarring, just a rose tinted softness. Then along comes violet, yes, I agree with Sherapop, there appears to be violets in the bouquet. I must say, the Gardenia is not at all prominent, and, I was really expecting more. In fact, there is more Neroli and Ylang-Ylang than a very faint Gardenia. This is definitely a skin scent. For the price, it should radiate proudly, so others may experience the beauty of the composition! This is how it reacts on my skin, stays close, and has a very low projection). The dry down is very pleasant. A very soft vanilla, with a well behaved sandalwood. The funny thing is, when I sniff it from the sprayer, it appears a lot stronger, than it is when sprayed on the skin. Mind you, I do prefer stronger fragrances, as have perfume eating skin, so this would probably come across perfect for those you don't like heavy hitters.
At one point, I even thought it was similar to White Shoulders, without the Aldehydes! But the White Shoulders of about 40 years ago). It may come to light, one time when I'm not concentrating on where I have smelled something so similar.
Now the cruel part...As much as I adore this fragrance, even though it isn't as Gardenia laden as I would have hoped), is the longevity! It fades far too quickly, and just as you are really in heaven, it leaves you! A brief encounter with a lovely floral cloud that gives you a passionate hug, then flees into the night....

12/03/2015

Adelina
16 Reviews

Adelina

2

Beautiful!

I am wearing that yellow dress again. You know it, the one you gave to me. You've said that it has the lively color of the ylang ylang flowers. I adorned my fingers with the pear ring and I am wearring your favourite earrings in my ears. At my neck I wear Cruel Gardenia. And I've added a bit to my wrists.
I want it to invade your senses when you will take me in your arms. I wish that when you walk your fingers over my shoulders ,absenlty drawing symbols of tenderness, the smell of blooming gardenias to reach your soul. Do you remember when you said to me that my skin always smells like musk? Do you like how it combines with the fragrance I am wearing? Are you anxious to hide your face in my sandalwood perfumed curls? This ingenue fragrance makes you dizzy, isn't it? Are you afraid to let yourself spoiled by your senses? Don't worry, I'm here. And I will take your hands and keep them at my chest until you regain ballance. It's just the two of us now, and Cruel Gardenia glazes at us, hidden in the hollow on my neck. Come, come into my world now.

04/17/2025

2
Pricing 10
Bottle 6
Sillage 3
Longevity 5
Scent

Elijahrb67
117 Reviews

Elijahrb67

2

How shocking! A Guerlain that I do not care for!

Well, I knew the time would come eventually. I have finally found a Guerlain that I just do not like. For those who keep up with my reviews it is clear that I am highly partial to Guerlain, and I truly love, or at the very least like almost everything they have produced, but Cruel Gardenia is the exception! I should say that this is not an outright awful fragrance, but I cannot say I will even finish my decent. I would describe this fragrance as a dramatically overpriced, modernized (and improved) version of Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds. It has the characteristic pissy-hairspray scent that White Diamonds has, but polishes it up a bit to make it at least tolerable to the nose. The opening here is okay, just a fruity rose opening with a bit of citrus for some zest, but as it dries that hairspray note, coupled with the ammonia note, and some gardenia really come into play. I will say that it is at least tolerable, I did wear it throughout the day and never wanted to spray anything over it, but it is certainly not my cup of tea, and not anything I yearn to wear again. Thankfully for me (though not so good for the fragrance and the value) the performance is quite bad, so I was able to wear something different after only a couple of hours.

This is honestly a shocking entry for the L'Art & La Matière collection. So far, all of the fragrances in this collection have came across as elegant and refined, with unique twists on classic scent profiles that create a unique experience. Cruel Gardenia does this in a way, but unfortunately the classic scent profile it's following is not one that myself and many others are a fan of. There is a fine line between classic and dated, and unfortunately this scent lands itself in the dated category (even with it only being released in 2008!)

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