Guerlain's 2014 Holiday Beauty Collection

For the 2014 Holiday Beauty Collection, Guerlain returned to one of its most emblematic design motifs with the gilded bowtie flacon, now featured in a limited edition shimmer powder. Aptly themed A Night at the Opera, this collection evokes the grandeur and drama of the theater, drawing inspiration from the opulent décor, lighting, and elegance of classical opera houses. The bowtie motif, known as Coque D’Or, is rendered in a luminous gilded finish that catches the light like a finely polished stage prop, immediately conveying luxury, sophistication, and timeless artistry.

This limited edition shimmer powder sits at the center of the collection, its presentation reflecting the meticulous attention to detail that Guerlain has long been celebrated for. The gleaming bowtie on the flacon is not merely decorative—it signals the House’s historical mastery of design, connecting each product to Guerlain’s heritage of elegance and theatricality. The powder itself promises a delicate shimmer, a subtle interplay of light across the skin reminiscent of the glittering chandeliers and gilded balconies of a grand opera hall.

In addition to the shimmer powder, the A Night at the Opera line features several other exclusive creations, each bearing the iconic Coque D’Or bowtie. Collectively, the collection is both a tribute to Guerlain’s storied past and a celebration of the festive season, combining visual grandeur with luxurious formulas designed to enchant and delight. The gilded bowtie flacon, in particular, transforms an everyday beauty ritual into an experience steeped in theatrical elegance and refined artistry.

'Coque d'Or' Iridescent Perfumed Powder (Limited Edition)

Graceful and feather-light, Guerlain Coque d'Or Iridescent Perfumed Powder is a subtle glitter for body and hair. For the first time since its creation, Guerlain has reproduced the original bottle and reinterpreted it in gold-lacquered glass. With a mere press of the bulb, the twirling, airy powder covers the hair and décolleté in a delicate sparkling veil. It's subtly scented with Coque d'Or's legendary chypre notes, recomposed in an exclusive variation.


Notes: bergamot, lavender, iris, rose and patchouli.

'Meteorites' Perles d'Etoile (Limited Edition)

Guerlain Meteorites Perles d'Etoile are light-revealing pearls of powder. The legendary pearls are available in a blend of six light and radiant tones specially designed to enhance your complexion after nightfall under the lights of evening. Its fragrant note of violet adds a light scent while a shimmering finish illuminates your complexion. It comes in a goldtone container with the famous bow inspired by Coque d'Or sculpted on the lid.





'Rouge G de Guerlain - 820 Rouge Parade' Jewel Lipstick Compact (Limited Edition)


Rouge G de Guerlain 820 Rouge Parade is a pure, French-style satin-finish bright red shade for gala evenings—luminous and distinctively elegant. Ready to go out, the exceptional lip color is adorned in red lacquer set off with a golden charm and mechanism. It's the shade worn by Natalia Vodianova in the campaign visual, attracting every eye from her balcony.

'A Night at the Opera' Eyeshadow Duo

Guerlain’s Duo Eyeshadow palettes feature two stunning colors that work off each other to give your eyes a gorgeous glow. One hue is a pure matte and the other is a luminous veil with a glittering or metallic finish. Simply glide on the matte then layer the veil on top, or wear one at a time to create a look that’s yours alone.













'Petrouchka' Eye & Blush Palette (Limited Edition)

Petrouchka Eye and Blush Palette by Guerlain is filled with makeup essentials for your eyes and cheeks cleverly combined in a golden case adorned with a flat bow in red fabric, which can easily be transformed into a bracelet or hair tie. The limited-edition palette is filled with sophisticated hues, including five finely iridescent eyeshadow shades and four matte or pearlescent blushes.

















'A Night at the Opera - Maxi Shine' Gloss d'Enfer Lip Gloss

Maxi Shine Gloss d'Enfer guarantees lips a shimmering, radiant and plumping finish. Maxi Shine's oil composition creates a moisturizing barrier to ensure an intense softness. Additionally, each shade presents varying degrees of coverage and pigment intensity. The perfect partner for a desirable, appealing smile, Maxi Shine offers tailor-made effects for beautifully enhanced lips

'A Night at the Opera' Nail Lacquer

Guerlain's newest nail lacquers are indispensable allies for accomplished femininity. The ultra-vibrant shades incorporate adhesive resins to offer a perfectly even sheen that lasts for days. Using each shade's extra-flat and widened brush, the easy-to-use formula imparts a shiny, daring and immaculate finish.

'Shalimar' Eau de Parfum Set

To celebrate the season, Guerlain invites you into its fairy universe to discover an enchanted Christmas tree, where every decoration is a wink to the House symbols.

Inspired by the passionate love story between an emperor and an Indian princess, Shalimar, which means “temple of love” in Sanskrit, symbolizes the promise of eternal love forevermore. It’s a fragrance of desire. With its smoldering and slightly impertinent character, the star oriental fragrance in perfumery embodies skin-caressing sensuality with a hint of the forbidden.
Set includes:
- Eau de Parfum (1.7 oz.)
- Eau de Parfum Purse Spray (0.5 oz.)

La Ruche Imperiale - 160 Year Bee Bottle Anniversary c2013

La Ruche Impériale stands as a luminous tribute to Guerlain’s legendary Abeille flacon, created in 2013 to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the bee bottle. As part of this extraordinary series, Guerlain invited nine Maîtres d’art from the Institut National des Métiers d’Art of France, granting them complete artistic freedom to create unique interpretations centered around a one-litre bee bottle. The results are not merely decorative objects but singular masterpieces, reflecting the highest level of craftsmanship and creativity in contemporary French artistry.

This particular creation, La Ruche Impériale (“The Imperial Hive”), was designed by Laurent Nogues, a Maître d’art and founder of the Creanog studio, widely recognized as a leading authority in embossing, hot-stamping, and paper insets. Nogues transformed paper into an artistic medium, crafting a honeycomb-shaped case that unfolds to reveal layers of intricate embossed detail. The six panels of the case are lined with pristine white paper, each panel etched with a tone-on-tone honeycomb motif, creating an almost architectural geometry. At the center, the optical illusion of the legendary bee bottle appears, a subtle yet striking nod to Guerlain’s iconic heritage.

The embossing technique employed is singular, developed specifically for this project to achieve complex geometry and an extraordinary interplay of light. Each fold and facet catches the light differently, producing endless variations in tone and shadow that emphasize both the precision and artistry of the design. Beyond its visual beauty, the piece embodies Guerlain’s celebration of innovation, tradition, and the passing of artisanal knowledge: the proceeds of these creations support the “Maîtres d’art – Students” initiative, which ensures the continuation of these rare skills through mentorship and apprenticeship overseen by the Institut National des Métiers d’Art (INMA). La Ruche Impériale is thus both a dazzling objet d’art and a living testament to the fusion of craft, history, and creativity that defines Guerlain.

 

La Cage aux Oiseaux et aux Abeilles - 160 Year Bee Bottle Anniversary c2013

La Cage aux Oiseaux et aux Abeilles is a breathtaking creation from Guerlain’s 2013 series celebrating the 160th anniversary of the Abeille flacon, or bee bottle. As part of this exceptional project, Guerlain commissioned nine Maîtres d’art from the Institut National des Métiers d’Art of France, granting each artist full freedom to interpret the iconic one-litre bee bottle. The resulting pieces are singular masterpieces, combining technical mastery, imagination, and the timeless elegance of French craftsmanship.

This particular presentation, La Cage aux Oiseaux et aux Abeilles (“The Bird and Bee Cage”), was crafted by Nelly Saunier, a distinguished plumassier of the 2008 class of Maîtres d’art. Saunier’s expertise in ornamental plumes and feather artistry elevates this work into a realm of almost surreal beauty. The piece takes the form of the iconic Abeille bottle but is enveloped in a delicate golden cage, within which a mesmerizing feather marquetry is perfectly inlaid into precisely chiselled metal cutouts. The interplay of matte and iridescent feathers, along with subtle contrasts of light and shadow, creates a living sense of movement and depth, as though the feathers themselves might flutter at any moment.

Peering through the openwork dome, one discovers a small silky, feathery nest, carefully cradling the bee bottle as if it were a delicate bird poised to take flight. The visual poetry of the composition evokes both nature and elegance, symbolizing freedom, fragility, and the precious care with which Guerlain approaches its art. Beyond its aesthetic allure, the piece also embodies Guerlain’s commitment to sustaining artisanal excellence: the proceeds from this creation support the “Maîtres d’art – Students” project, which ensures that these rare, exceptional skills continue to be passed down to future generations under the guidance of the Institut National des Métiers d’Art (INMA). The result is a work that is simultaneously a celebration of heritage, technical mastery, and the imagination of its creator—a true jewel of modern perfumery artistry.

 

Bouquet du la Sierra Morena c1834

Bouquet de la Sierra Morena was introduced by Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain in 1834, only six years after the founding of his Parisian perfume house. The name, written in French as Bouquet de la Sierra Morena (pronounced Boo-kay duh lah See-air-rah Mor-eh-nah), translates to “Bouquet of the Sierra Morena,” referencing the rugged mountain range in southern Spain. The Sierra Morena was romanticized in 19th-century European culture as a place of wild natural beauty, sun-warmed herbs, flowering shrubs, and dramatic landscapes. By choosing this name, Guerlain was not merely marketing a fragrance but invoking an exotic, picturesque destination that spoke to the era’s fascination with travel, nature, and the poetry of untamed landscapes.

The imagery conjured by the name is rich and layered: a “bouquet” suggests a carefully gathered arrangement of blossoms, while the Sierra Morena calls to mind wild meadows, aromatic herbs, and perhaps even the resinous scent of pine carried on mountain air. To a Parisian woman in 1834, the name alone would have evoked feelings of romantic escapism and natural vitality, an olfactory journey beyond the city’s confines. This was the Romantic era in full bloom, an age when artists, writers, and composers drew inspiration from nature, folklore, and faraway lands. Fashion in the 1830s reflected this sensibility, with flowing gowns, floral embellishments, and hairstyles inspired by natural motifs—all trends that harmonized with perfumes bearing evocative, pastoral names.

At the time of its release, perfumes often followed established formulas popularized across Europe. Variants titled Bouquet de la Sierra Morena, Bouquet de Sierra Nevada, or Bouquet des Fleurs du Val d’Andorre appeared in perfumeries well into the late 19th century, signaling that this structure was widely admired. Recipes for these perfumes circulated in professional formularies, offering perfumers a template to adapt and personalize. Early interpretations leaned on natural extractions—orange blossom, violet, rose, or herbal notes—layered with tinctures and infusions of aromatic plants. Guerlain’s version in 1834 was likely more refined and modernized, designed to distinguish itself through balance, harmony, and the finesse of composition.

By the close of the 19th century, the perfume industry was undergoing transformation with the rise of synthetic aroma chemicals like coumarin and vanillin. These innovations allowed perfumers to either replace costly natural extracts or amplify them in ways that were not possible before. In this context, Bouquet de la Sierra Morena represents an important transitional fragrance: rooted in the Romanticism and naturalism of early 19th-century perfumery, but eventually reinterpreted through the lens of scientific progress. Women of the time would have embraced its name and its composition as both familiar and aspirational—an everyday indulgence that carried with it the dream of wandering through a sunlit Spanish landscape, arms full of blossoms gathered from the wild.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Bouquet du la Sierra Morena is classified as an aromatic floral oriental (sometimes also described historically as an "amber fougère" fragrance.

• Top notes: bergamot, lemon, lemon balm, citron, neroli, geranium, verbena, lavender, cassie 
• Middle notes: rosemary, thyme, marigold, honey, jasmine, tuberose, rose, orange blossom, orris root, reseda, violet 
• Base notes: : juniper, myrtle, laurel, sumac, rosewood, musk, tolu balsam, vanillin, vanilla, ambergris, civet, styrax, coumarin, tonka bean, cistus

Scent Profile:

The perfume Bouquet de la Sierra Morena, classified as an aromatic floral oriental (sometimes described historically as an amber fougère), reveals itself layer by layer, like a journey across sunlit fields, Mediterranean hillsides, and exotic spice routes. Each note, both natural and enhanced by emerging synthetics of the period, plays its part in weaving a tapestry of scent that feels both luminous and deep, timeless yet rooted in its 19th-century origins.

The fragrance opens with a burst of bergamot, that quintessential Italian citrus from Calabria, prized for its balance of freshness and slight bitterness. Its natural compound linalyl acetate lends smoothness, while limonene provides sparkling brightness. Alongside it, Sicilian lemon contributes a sharper zest, its high citral content making it vivid and tart, balanced by the softer, mellower tones of citron, a fruit long cultivated in Mediterranean orchards for its perfumed rind.

A cooling wave of lemon balm (Melissa) introduces a green, herbaceous note, rich in citral and citronellal, evoking crushed leaves between the fingers. Verbena, with its sharper lemon-green brightness, harmonizes beautifully, lifting the citrus accord into something more aromatic.

Neroli, distilled from bitter orange blossoms in the groves of Tunisia or Morocco, brings a honeyed, green-floral touch through its linalool, nerolidol, and indole, adding delicacy and sophistication. Against this, lavender adds herbal sweetness, its coumarin-rich body bridging into the later heart, while geranium offers a rosy, minty facet through its natural geraniol and citronellol. Finally, cassie (acacia farnesiana), a note beloved in 19th-century perfumery, imparts powdery, violet-like warmth thanks to ionones and benzyl derivatives—an early whisper of the floral opulence to come.

As the citrus and herbs soften, the fragrance blooms into its floral-aromatic heart. Rosemary and thyme, both redolent of Mediterranean hillsides, bring resinous, camphoraceous tones—rosemary’s borneol and cineole offering clarity, thyme’s thymol lending spicy depth. These herbs frame the arrival of floral richness. Jasmine, sourced from Grasse or Egypt, breathes lush, narcotic sweetness through its indolic depth. Tuberose intensifies this white-flower opulence, creamy and heady, thanks to methyl benzoate and tuberose lactones. Orange blossom, again from the bitter orange tree, complements neroli with a sweeter, more voluptuous profile, while violet, full of ionones, lends powdery, candy-like tenderness.

Rose, likely Damascus or centifolia, gives its velvety, honeyed richness through natural phenylethyl alcohol and geraniol, tying the bouquet together. Marigold (tagetes) adds green pungency, balancing sweetness with sharp, fruity bitterness. Reseda (mignonette), a rare floral in perfumery, was beloved in the 19th century for its green, balsamic, honey-floral tone, softly linking to the honey note itself, golden and warm, with phenolic richness that gives depth. Orris root, the dried rhizome of iris from Tuscany, reveals its violet-like, buttery, and powdery luxury, rich in irones that enhance the softness of violet and cassie from the top.

As the heart fades, the base rises with a sensual and complex depth. Juniper gives its dry, gin-like sharpness, while myrtle and laurel evoke evergreen forests, spicy and green. Sumac, less common, brings a tart, resinous accent, and rosewood, a prized tropical hardwood, adds a rosy-spicy, woody tone rich in linalool. The foundation is built on musk, ambergris, and civet, the animalic trinity of classical perfumery. Natural musk (from the musk deer) radiates a velvety warmth, softened by early synthetic musks that perfumers began to explore by the late 19th century. Ambergris, rare and marine, gives salty-skin sensuality through ambroxide, while civet, with its powerful civetone, adds a warm, leathery undertone that deepens the florals.

The resinous warmth of tolu balsam and styrax contribute balsamic sweetness, their cinnamic and benzoic acids echoing honeyed facets from the heart. Cistus (labdanum) enhances the ambered richness with leathery, ambery depth. Coumarin, freshly isolated in 1868, adds hay-like softness, perfectly paired with tonka bean, its natural source, reinforcing the fougère connection. Finally, vanillin—a synthetic then gaining importance—underscores the natural vanilla absolute. Together, they create creamy, sweet gourmand warmth, marrying the exotic with the modern.

Smelled in full, Bouquet de la Sierra Morena is a perfume that begins with the sparkling freshness of a Mediterranean cologne, blooms into a lush floral garden edged with herbs, and settles into a resinous, ambery embrace warmed by musk and civet. The natural materials—Mediterranean herbs, French and North African florals, exotic balsams—speak of global trade and luxury. The synthetics—vanillin and coumarin—enhance, refine, and stabilize the natural beauty, pointing to a new future for perfumery.

In its time, this perfume would have been both familiar, echoing the bouquets popular across 19th-century Europe, and unique, its complex layering and sensual base placing it at the threshold of modern perfumery.

Bottles:

It was housed in the carre flacon.

Fate of the Fragrance:

The fragrance Bouquet de la Sierra Morena demonstrated remarkable longevity, not only as a perfume but also in its transformation into other scented products. It remained in circulation at least until 1901, when records show it being marketed as a soap specifically to Spanish-speaking countries. This adaptation reflects both the enduring popularity of Guerlain’s early compositions and the house’s ability to respond to international tastes.

By the turn of the 20th century, soap had become an essential daily luxury, and perfumed soaps offered a way for consumers to experience a prestigious fragrance in a more accessible form. For Guerlain, extending the life of Bouquet de la Sierra Morena through soap production allowed the perfume to continue reaching audiences long after the original scent had fallen out of fashion in Paris. Its introduction to Spanish-speaking markets was also fitting, given the fragrance’s name and inspiration drawn from the landscapes of southern Spain. This ensured the scent resonated not only as a French creation but also as one that carried cultural and geographical familiarity for its audience.

The move highlights Guerlain’s adaptability at a time when perfumery was beginning to evolve rapidly with the arrival of modern synthetics and shifting tastes. By repurposing a beloved 19th-century formula into soap, Guerlain was able to preserve its legacy, extending the life of a fragrance that had once symbolized refinement and exotic allure. Its continued circulation underscores just how influential the composition had been—both as a perfume and as a testament to Guerlain’s early mastery in crafting scents that could transcend eras and formats.

 

Le Trouble d’Eugénie - 160 Year Bee Bottle Anniversary c2013

Le Trouble d’Eugénie was one of the most dramatic and emotionally charged artistic interpretations created in 2013 for Guerlain’s celebration of the 160th anniversary of the bee bottle. As part of this extraordinary project, nine Maîtres d’art were invited to reimagine the iconic one-litre Abeille flacon with complete creative freedom. Among them, Emmanuel Barrois, a glass architect of remarkable technical daring, offered a vision steeped in history, theatre, and metaphor with his creation Le Trouble d’Eugénie—translated as Eugénie’s Confusion.

Barrois, known for his ambitious architectural glass designs ranging from the Beijing Opera to the future canopy of Paris’s Forum des Halles, applied his mastery of light, reflection, and illusion to a more intimate scale. His piece stages a moment of pure tension: the perfume bottle is imagined as having been dropped, its liquid spilled onto an opaque black glass tray. Out of this imagined accident, crystal-clear splashes rise like frozen motion, creating forms that appear at once accidental and carefully sculpted. These fractured shapes, standing against the dark reflective base, evoke both chaos and beauty, capturing the fragility of an instant suspended in time.

 

The narrative is drawn from the historical figure of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who was crowned in 1853—the very era in which Guerlain’s bee bottle was first conceived. The drama imagines Eugénie in the moments before her coronation: her pulse racing, her thoughts clouded, and her reflection distorted in a pool of spilled fragrance. The piece becomes both illusion and realism, a mise en abîme in glass that conjures the inner turmoil of a woman about to step into her imperial destiny.

In Barrois’s hands, the bee bottle is no longer simply a vessel for perfume but an architectural drama in miniature, embodying themes of fate, fragility, and the fleeting nature of beauty. The creation draws the viewer into a suspended moment—where perfume, history, and emotion merge—making Le Trouble d’Eugénie one of the most poetic and enigmatic tributes in Guerlain’s 2013 collection of masterpieces.

Santal Royal c2014

Santal Royal by Guerlain, launched in 2014, marked a significant moment in the house’s history. Released as part of the Les Absolus d’Orient Collection, it was unveiled in tandem with the opening of the opulent Salon de Parfums at Harrods in London on October 16, 2014. This exclusive setting framed the fragrance as both a celebration of Guerlain’s craftsmanship and a tribute to the East, a region long romanticized in perfumery for its precious, exotic raw materials.

The name “Santal Royal” comes from French—santal meaning sandalwood and royal meaning regal or kingly. Pronounced as “Sahn-tahl Rwah-yal,” the name itself evokes nobility and grandeur. It suggests a perfume designed not just to adorn but to crown the wearer, cloaking them in a scent as luxurious and timeless as a velvet robe. The imagery it conjures is rich: golden palaces, ancient forests, perfumed resins smoldering in the air, and the quiet authority of something rare and enduring.

The cultural backdrop of its launch also plays an important role. The mid-2010s were characterized by an international fascination with Middle Eastern luxury and a surge of oud-based and oriental fragrances across Western markets. This was a period of globalization in perfumery, where Western houses increasingly sought inspiration from Arabian traditions of perfumed oils, woods, and resins. Fashion itself leaned toward opulence—velvet, embroidery, metallic finishes, and jewel tones dominated runways—perfectly harmonizing with a fragrance dressed in the language of richness and sensuality. Against this backdrop, women encountering Santal Royal would have viewed it as a scent of prestige and indulgence, a fragrance that transformed sandalwood from a sacred, meditative material into a modern luxury.

 

Thierry Wasser described the creation as an homage to his travels and the raw materials that captivated him most. In this case, it was sandalwood—specifically chosen for its ability to be both sacred and sensual. The fragrance opens with neroli and cinnamon, a sparkling yet spicy introduction that balances citrus brightness with warmth. At its heart lies the opulent duo of rose and sandalwood. The rose, luminous and eternal in Guerlain’s heritage, is deepened by the creamy, resinous power of sandalwood, giving it gravity and depth. The base, composed of leather, agarwood (oud), amber, and musk, creates a powerful, smoldering trail—at once mysterious, resinous, and animalic—anchoring the ethereal opening in dark sensuality.

In comparison to other fragrances of the time, Santal Royal was both timely and distinctive. It reflected the broader trend of oriental-oud compositions, which were enjoying immense popularity, but Wasser’s treatment of sandalwood—paired with Guerlain’s signature rose and wrapped in smoky leather—gave the perfume a refinement that set it apart from the more straightforward oud-heavy offerings saturating the market.

Interestingly, Guerlain’s Santal Royal was not the only fragrance of its name in 2014. Robert Piguet had also launched a Santal Royal earlier that July, a composition blending rose, nutmeg, sandalwood, iris, leather, and tonka bean, available at select luxury retailers including Harrods. The coincidence underscores the competitive environment of the time, where sandalwood reemerged as one of the most coveted raw materials and became a touchstone for perfumers seeking to marry tradition with modern sensuality.

For Guerlain, however, Santal Royal was more than a nod to fashion—it was a statement of heritage and prestige, a reminder that the house could translate the allure of the Orient into something uniquely Guerlain: elegant, mysterious, and unforgettable.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does smell like? Santal Royal by Guerlain is classified as a leathery oriental fragrance.

• Top notes: neroli, cinnamon
• Middle notes: rose, sandalwood
• Base notes: leather, oud, ambergris and musk

 

Scent Profile:

From the very first breath, Santal Royal opens like a dramatic curtain rise. The air is immediately filled with the bright radiance of neroli, the bitter-orange blossom distilled into an essence that carries both citrus sparkle and a honeyed floral sweetness. Neroli from Tunisia or Morocco is considered the most prized, bursting with natural molecules such as linalool and neral, which lend it a balance of freshness and floral warmth. In this composition, it shines like a shaft of sunlight, pure and invigorating, but softened by a velvety undertone. Almost immediately, it entwines with the sultry cinnamon—spicy, warm, and faintly woody. Cinnamon bark oil, rich in cinnamaldehyde, adds a fiery accent that contrasts beautifully with neroli’s freshness. The effect is a vibrant dance: the citrus-bright light of neroli streaking through the sensual heat of spice.

As the fragrance deepens, the heart unfurls into Guerlain’s most beloved material: the rose. The rose here is lush, velvety, and timeless, a blend of Bulgarian richness and perhaps a whisper of Turkish dewiness. The natural rose oil contains citronellol and geraniol, molecules that provide both its lemony brightness and plush floral body. But rose is not left alone; it is cradled by sandalwood, the star material that inspired the creation of Santal Royal. This sandalwood, very likely the creamy and precious Mysore variety from India, is famed for its milky, sacred warmth—an essence filled with santalol molecules that exude a soft, buttery richness unmatched by other woods. Where roses give passion and romance, sandalwood anchors with meditative calm, evoking both the sacred temples of the East and the private intimacy of skin warmed by the sun. Together, they create a heart that feels like silk—sensual, spiritual, and enveloping.

Then comes the base, a slow and powerful crescendo. Leather enters first, smoky and tactile, a note that feels worn-in, supple, and animalic. In perfumery, leather effects are often built with birch tar and labdanum, giving the impression of a well-loved saddle or a luxurious glove. It lends Santal Royal its dramatic, nocturnal tone. Threaded into this leather is the deep, resinous mystery of agarwood (oud)—one of the most treasured and complex materials in perfumery. True oud, formed when Aquilaria trees produce a dark resin in response to infection, is earthy, smoky, and slightly medicinal, with natural molecules like agarol and sesquiterpenes creating its haunting depth. Here, the oud adds shadow and gravitas, amplifying the sandalwood’s creaminess with its own enigmatic growl.

Supporting these darker tones are ambergris and musk. Ambergris, once found floating in the ocean after years of maturation, lends a salty, mineral warmth with a subtle sweetness that diffuses like sunlight over the sea. Its molecular makeup, rich in ambrein, adds both fixative power and an animalic smoothness. Musk, whether from natural sources in the past or today’s sophisticated synthetic musks, softens the edges, wrapping the composition in a skin-like warmth that clings and radiates. It is this musky glow that transforms the dramatic shadows of oud and leather into something irresistibly sensual.

Altogether, Santal Royal smells like a story unfolding in layers: the brightness of neroli and spice as an opening invitation, the romantic embrace of rose and sandalwood at its heart, and a base of leather, oud, ambergris, and musk that lingers like an echo in memory. It is both sacred and seductive, regal yet intimate—a perfume that makes sandalwood not only the soul of the fragrance but also its throne.

Bottle:

When Santal Royal was introduced, Guerlain ensured that the fragrance would be as visually striking as it was olfactory. Released in an unusually generous 155 ml Eau de Parfum, it was made available exclusively through Harrods, retailing at £125—a detail that underscored both its rarity and its positioning within the most refined tier of Guerlain’s offerings. The launch coincided with the opening of the Salon de Parfums at Harrods, a temple to luxury fragrance where only the most exclusive creations would reside. By aligning Santal Royal with this milestone, Guerlain reinforced the fragrance’s status as both celebratory and emblematic of the house’s heritage.

The presentation was no less remarkable than the scent itself. Guerlain turned to its iconic bee bottle, a design that dates back to 1853, when Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain created it for Eau de Cologne Impériale in honor of Empress Eugénie. Yet for Santal Royal, the bee bottle was modified, distinguished from its traditional clear glass incarnation. Instead, the flacon was cast in a deep, jet black lacquer, lending it both mystery and majesty. The darkness of the bottle was offset by a gilded cap and a gold-embossed label, details that elevated the design into something regal and unmistakably opulent.

What made this choice especially intriguing is that this version of the bee bottle was more commonly associated with the Aqua Allegoria eau de toilettes and Guerlain’s lighter fabric fragrances such as Eau de Cashmere and Eau de Lit—lines designed for delicacy and freshness. By reimagining that familiar vessel in black and gold, Guerlain created a striking visual paradox: a shape associated with airy, luminous scents transformed into a container for a rich, leathery oriental composition. This deliberate tension between tradition and transformation mirrored the fragrance itself, where a luminous opening of neroli and spice gives way to the deep mystery of sandalwood, oud, and leather.

The result was a perfume not only worthy of its royal name, but also a work of art in presentation. The bottle, glinting black and gold, stood as a jewel on the counter, embodying the grandeur of Guerlain’s history while marking a bold step into the modern world of Middle Eastern-inspired perfumery.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Santal Royal has had a fascinating journey within Guerlain’s portfolio. Originally launched in 2014 as part of the Les Absolus d’Orient Collection, the fragrance was quietly discontinued at an unknown date, leaving collectors and devoted wearers to speculate about its fate. For years, bottles of the original release—housed in its striking jet-black bee bottle—were prized as rarities, often circulating only through secondary markets. Its disappearance reflected both the shifting demands of Guerlain’s clientele and the evolving direction of the house’s luxury perfume collections.

In 2024, however, Santal Royal returned in a new chapter, reformulated and relaunched under the Absolus Allegoria Collection. This marked an important reimagining, bridging the historical grandeur of the Absolus d’Orient line with the more contemporary and globally resonant identity of the Allegoria range. Guerlain entrusted its master perfumer, Thierry Wasser, once again to reinterpret the composition. Wasser, known for his sensitivity to natural raw materials and for weaving modernity into Guerlain’s traditions, revisited the structure of Santal Royal to ensure it retained its distinctive, leathery oriental character while aligning with the fresh identity of the Absolus Allegoria line.

The relaunch not only reaffirmed Guerlain’s enduring fascination with sandalwood—a material steeped in both spirituality and sensuality—but also reflected the house’s ability to adapt its storytelling to new audiences. Where the 2014 version had been steeped in opulence and exclusivity, its 2024 incarnation was presented with a more universal, luminous approach, connecting to the Allegoria tradition of celebrating nature and travel through refined raw ingredients.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? The 2024 version of Santal Royal is classified as a woody oriental fragrance for women and men. 

• Top notes: rose
• Middle notes: jasmine, sandalwood
• Base notes: leather, oud

Scent Profile:

Santal Royal (2024, Absolus Allegoria Collection) is an exquisite woody oriental fragrance that unfolds like a journey through a sun-drenched, exotic garden intertwined with the warmth of rare woods and the depth of precious resins.

At first inhale, the rose top note rises immediately, bright and radiant, reminiscent of early morning petals glistening with dew. This rose, likely sourced from the celebrated fields of Bulgaria or Turkey, brings a duality of aroma: a delicate, soft floral sweetness balanced by a subtle green, almost tea-like facet. The natural aldehydes and phenolic compounds within the petals give the rose its characteristic sparkling freshness, which is further enhanced by carefully calibrated synthetics that lift the floral brightness without making it linear, adding a modern clarity to the classic scent.

As the fragrance develops, the heart notes of jasmine and sandalwood emerge, weaving together floral opulence and creamy woodiness. The jasmine, perhaps the noble Jasminum grandiflorum from Calabria, Italy, offers rich, honeyed sweetness with soft fruity undertones and indolic depth, a sensuality that speaks to Guerlain’s heritage of floral mastery. Interlaced with it, the sandalwood provides a luxuriously smooth, velvety warmth. High-quality Indian Mysore sandalwood—renowned for its buttery, milky facets and long-lasting creaminess—imbues the perfume with an enveloping, almost meditative aura. Its lactones and sesquiterpenes lend a soft woody sweetness that harmonizes exquisitely with the jasmine, while trace synthetics subtly amplify the projection and longevity without disrupting the natural elegance of the wood.

The base notes of leather and oud anchor the composition in a deep, resinous intensity. The oud, sourced from agarwood trees, carries resinous balsamic richness with subtle facets of incense, smoke, and spice—depending on the terroir, often Cambodian or Laotian varieties prized for their smooth, sweet, and slightly fruity facets. The leather note provides an animalic, supple dimension, evoking the scent of hand-tanned, sun-warmed leather. Together, these base elements create a lingering, enveloping aura, a woody oriental foundation that is both sophisticated and powerful. The interplay of oud’s natural resins and synthetically refined leather accords ensures the scent retains depth and clarity, enhancing both projection and longevity.

Overall, Santal Royal (2024) is a masterful balance of floral elegance and woody oriental richness. It begins with a radiant, sparkling rose, deepens into a creamy heart of jasmine and sandalwood, and finally settles into a smoky, leathery, oud-laden finish. Every ingredient is showcased with precision, respecting its natural character while benefitting from modern enhancements that provide intensity, persistence, and an unmistakable aura of luxury and refinement.

Bottle:

L’Envolée - Bee Bottle 160 Year Anniversary c2013

L’Envolée—translated as “The Flight”—was one of the most poetic and sculptural interpretations created in 2013 to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Guerlain’s iconic bee bottle. For this ambitious project, Guerlain invited nine Maîtres d’art of the Institut National des Métiers d’Art to reinvent the legendary flacon, granting them complete freedom of expression. Among these, Etienne Rayssac, a master woodcarver renowned for his work on both historical monuments and contemporary design, created a piece that seems to defy gravity itself.

Rayssac, known for his precision in carving and his ability to marry decorative craftsmanship with architectural vision, began his work with sketches and plaster prototypes before shaping the final piece in pale sycamore wood. The result is a breathtaking dialogue between solidity and airiness: a sculpted sheath of wood partially envelops the one-litre bee bottle, cradling it yet allowing it to appear as though it is suspended mid-flight. The smooth curves and dips of the design create an impression of movement, like air currents lifting the bottle into motion.

 

Every line of L’Envolée reveals the artistry of handcraft—chisels and scrapers were used to alternate flowing volumes with sharply defined edges. This interplay of curves and angles allows light to dance across the surface, amplifying the sensation of energy and levitation. The natural warmth and delicacy of the sycamore wood adds an organic softness that contrasts beautifully with the bottle’s glass brilliance, enhancing its aura of refinement.

In its final form, L’Envolée becomes more than a case or sculpture—it is a metaphor for Guerlain’s spirit of elevation and timeless innovation. By enveloping the bee bottle in this delicate wooden drapery, Rayssac captures both the strength and fragility of flight, suggesting a moment of grace where perfume, craft, and imagination take wing together. It is a piece that not only celebrates Guerlain’s heritage but also embodies the eternal lightness of creation itself.