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L'Art & La Matière

Santal Pao Rosa Guerlain 2021

6.8 / 10 214 Ratings

A perfume by Guerlain for women and men, released in 2021. The scent is woody-spicy. It is being marketed by LVMH.
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Main accords

Woody

Spicy

Floral

Oriental

Sweet

Fragrance Notes

Oud

Sandalwood Myrrh

Myrrh

Rose

Cardamom

Fig

Hazelnut

Perfumer

Delphine Jelk

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

6.8214 Ratings

Longevity

7.8164 Ratings

Sillage

7.2163 Ratings

Bottle

8.8158 Ratings

Value for money

5.6102 Ratings

Submitted by Juli11, last update on 10/06/2025.

Interesting Facts

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

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Aqua Allegoria Forte Rosa Palissandro

Invite Only Amber | 23

Gris Charnel Eau de Parfum

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/07/2024

10Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

MrsGuerlain
555 Reviews

MrsGuerlain

1

The couch scent

There is a place in heaven for spicy-woody fragrances… and somewhere close to the middle of this place you meet Guerlain Santal Pao Rosa. I could wear this every day, but I am sure it would not necessarily be a good idea. The fragrance apparently divides people in here and probably also in the rest of the world. So I am sure that to some of my colleagues, friends and family members it will be a challenge to sit next to me wearing it. This is a couch scent.
Picture this: I sit in my comfy couch, with a soft, woolen blanket. I drink tea with rum and listen to really good old style jazz. The kind with trumpets and a sexy female voice telling how much she misses her lover, now he has gone away. Outside it is raining, and the sound of the falling drops falls in like an extra instrument… and I am wearing GSPR. In generous amounts.
So close to heaven…
332/365

03/20/2025

7Scent 8Longevity 9Sillage

Elijahrb67
117 Reviews

Elijahrb67

2

The Outlier

In general, it's safe to assume that with most Guerlain products you can expect to see at least some similarity between them. Even with the more avant-garde scents from L'Art & La Matière, you typically know what to expect. Unfortunately, Santal Pao Rosa breaks this statement into pieces by setting itself out from pretty much everything else Guerlain has ever produced. I wouldn't say this is a bad thing, as it, at the very least, is a strong reflection of Delphine Jelk's creative and artistic abilities, but I'm not sure it particularly works with such an expensive scent from this particular lineup. This is a very strong, astringent sandalwood scent with just touches, and I mean very minimal touches of vague floral notes and cardamom to add just enough sweetness to keep the fragrance tolerable. It's very potent and a bit screechy at times, but it doesn't smell awful. It's very reminiscent of burning a stick of incense, or the smell of the inside of a holistic store that sells talismans and crystals and things of that nature. I certainly wouldn't write this one off, but it's definitely a weaker creation, at least in terms of Guerlain products.

However, points should be awarded for being the outlier. Being unique is a very hard thing to do these days, and Santal Pao Rosa certainly exceeds at being unique. However, I think it could stand to be unique at a fraction of the price, given that it's a bit of a tough wear, and will certainly take an acquired taste. Perhaps it would work better in the Absolus Allegorias collection? I encourage people to keep from writing this one off and give it a fair shot, but keep in mind how strange it can be.

10/30/2021

7Scent

FrauHolle
556 Reviews

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FrauHolle

Top Review 46

Good day, Delphine, good day, Thierry.

You are surely wondering why this perfume is rated so poorly in the Parfumo community. Let me tell you:

The theme of "Rose-Oud" has been exhausted; since 2017 already. And one can hardly expect to win any awards with a rose, uh, flower pot in 2021.
Although I believe that this creation did not aim to be a copycat, as something like hazelnut and fig would absolutely contradict that.
However, neither of those is perceptible, and yet this jumble of aromas from the rose, and also the oud, makes it quite difficult to be a rose-oud, if you know what I mean.

Rather, the subject here smells of olibanum/incense, in a Mélange à Dãsch, with a somewhat sweeter rose, a rather creaky-cheeky pepper(?), cedar wood(?), and IF, then yes, a very artificial oud.
Is that so?
Has Guerlain really let itself go (Translator please turn off) and ventured onto the slippery slope of cheap aromas? Doesn’t anyone notice?
Yes, we, here, notice it. Because for many, many years, every single day, besides sleeping & growing, we do nothing else but sniff your perfumes.

I’m sorry, this perfume will unfortunately be a low-quality product in Germany.

Best regards,
I love you anyway.
Your Frau Holle

10/01/2021

3Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

NurPixie
8 Reviews

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NurPixie

16

Back at Mom's Dining Table...

Do you know that feeling when you catch a whiff of a scent and it triggers a memory?
I experience this quite often. To my disappointment, however, I usually can't pinpoint exactly what it reminds me of. There's just this vague thought of "you know this from somewhere." Then again, there are days when I immediately know where I’ve smelled this scent before and I "relive" that moment. Sometimes with a certain nostalgia.

Today, I received a sample of the new Santal Pao Rosa. I couldn't imagine anything from the scent notes and I didn't want to be influenced by the reviews. So I rolled up my sleeves and sprayed cautiously - and suddenly I found myself thrown back ten years to my mother's dining table. Not because my mother wore a distant relative of Santal Pao Rosa. No. I see myself at the dining table, with my brothers, my mother, and my stepfather, who still lived with us back then. We are eating gourmet fish with dill sauce and starchy potatoes. My stepfather is rambling about movies he wants to see in the original version. My mother rolls her eyes in boredom. I pass my brother the cucumber salad with herb-dill dressing. Dill.

Risking repetition: DILL.

That's all I perceived when I sniffed my arm. This perfume simply smells like dill at first. Slightly sweet, simultaneously herby and sharp.
So... Nothing against dill, I like dill! I love to throw it on my vegetables, on fried chicken breast, and so on. But as a perfume, it really doesn't need to be, and so Santal Pao Rosa unfortunately doesn't join the ranks of my Guerlain favorites. What a pity. Because the bottle and the beautiful red of the perfume really appeal to me.
Later on, something woody comes forward for my amateur nose, but the dill note remains present. Unfortunately, woody scents don't seem to be my thing either.
I can't even catch a whiff of hazelnut and fig.

What a shame. I would have liked you so much, Santal Pao Rosa. I am still grateful for this memory, and maybe I’ll call my mother again and ask if the four of us can get together again and eat gourmet fish with starchy potatoes, dill sauce, and cucumber salad.

04/13/2023

Schlina33
11 Reviews

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Schlina33

9

Who are you?... tell me more!...

In the reviews, Santal Pao Rosa does not fare well - which I (as not an absolute rose fan) have to fight against :)

Well, I have to admit that rose is not my absolute favorite fragrance note... BUT, this scent has a different approach with me. I received it as a goodie with another order. After just a few seconds, my aversion to rose said: Wait a minute... What kind of character is this?... tell me more about yourself.

Specifically - what comes:
At first, of course, the rose and cardamom come right away! Right after that, the sandalwood.
The rose does not come off as soapy, rather elegant and stylish. Overall, a floral sweet, woody scent.

I find the combination of sandalwood and cardamom quite interesting. They complement each other wonderfully, and the rose brings a completely different scent character to the mix that is truly harmonious. The notes are very well balanced and create a really unique fragrance. Somewhat mystical, elegant, stylish.
It is slightly feminine yet also somewhat unisex due to the sandalwood.

If someone wearing this scent walked past me, I would immediately turn around and want to know who it is. Whoever wears it is not a fleeting encounter. I want to get to know that person better.

I haven't smelled such an interesting fragrance in a long time.

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