Samsara
Eau de Parfum, Guerlain (1989)

I believe that the decant I have is from the EDP Bee bottle, just in case that makes a difference.

The very moment I tried it, I had an emotional connection to this scent. It is magnificent, and breathtakingly beautiful. I shudder to think what the vintage may have smelled like if I find this iteration so unapologetically perfect.

It very much smells like it came from the 80s/90s era of perfumery, and I think that I do have a fondness for scents from that time period. Even though I was quite young at that time, there is definitely a sense of familiarity, as well as an identifying fingerprint… when you smell scents from those times, you just know it. I know I do. When something from the 80s or 90s is sweet, it’s not in the same way that fragrances are sweet today. And almost everything from back then performed incredibly well, but it wasn’t like the performers of today that come off as attention seeking.

But I digress. Samsara, is absolutely one of the most beautiful scents I have ever come across. If I was someone who wore the same perfume everyday, I could easily adopt samsara as my signature. It’s so incredibly gorgeous, that it actually makes me question my large collection. I really only should have perfumes that make me feel the way that this does, but it’s not everyday that you find something that sweeps you off your feet like this. Would my appreciation for it be less if I wore it everyday? Would it become commonplace in my eyes?

I can’t really begin to describe what notes I smell. Sandalwood, sure… and the rest is simply magic. It has a beautiful powdery feel, that makes me feel light as air. I feel like this must be what heaven smells like. It smells like kindness, love, peace, comfort, generosity, intelligence. It smells otherworldly and I cannot say anything else about it.

As a non-dogmatic Buddhist, I feel it important to touch upon their concept of samsara: the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. In a way, it is opposite to that of nirvana, which is the condition of being free from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. What a curious choice of name, and a suggestion that Samsara is of all that is earthly, which in a way, makes perfect sense. It opens like a vernal fanfare, with the fecundity of the earth bearing forth all forms of life from dormancy. The flowers unfurl and release their seductive fragrances: the narcissus, golden and profound, which I detect not long after I first spray Samsara. It is really a panoply of florals: a spring bouquet that over time, as ylang ylang and jasmine advances, becomes more supple, intoxicating.

They seem to over-ripen as we reach the summer heart, and it is here that sandalwood, starting off as distant murmurs, really begins to present itself as the crux, as fruits and flowers continue to ripen and a harvest is around the bend. Warm whispers become a chant as warmth and light counter cool orris root chills with a blanket of vanillic amber. The winter leaves us with dormancy once more and the cycle begins again come spring.

It is the sandalwood here, however, the one constant in this cycle, somewhat buttery, slightly sharp, a calm sentinel and guide, with its elegant repose throughout the composition, that is really what has made Samsara a hallmark and speaks to the heart of the matter. The heart of samsara.

Well isn't this just a gorgeous perfume? Jean-Paul Guerlain seems to have co-opted the multitude of notes and massive blending of his predecessor Jacques Guerlain and created a lush, creamy, sandalwood-based oriental seemingly an ode to both his Grandfather's work and the Middle East, which itself inspired many of Jacques' creations. "Samsara" is sanskrit for the circle of birth and rebirth, signifying the eventual path to Nirvana, and there is little else heavenly as this fragrance. Early formulations of Samsara (1989) are also noted for their heavy use of Mysore sandalwood in the composition, and although no blended Western perfume is really a good reference for the now over-harvested and scarce prized sandalwood variety, Samsara in its original configuration was among some of the richest displays of the note in the base of a Western perfume, making vintage bottles particularly prized by sandalwood fans. Modern Samsara does what it can to achieve the same accord admirably, and is recognizable as the same perfume, but extremely divisive opinions leading to combativeness can happen when discussing Samsara among enthusiasts.

My review sample hails from an opaque red plastic 3.4oz/100ml eau de parfum example of undetermined age used as a tester for those looking to compare observations. The opening of Samara has a fantastically sharp chypre plume of bergamot, peach, lemon, and galbanum, like a thicker, greener, drier Mitsouko (1919), bridging the fresher aspects of that style with the woody creamy base which follows. Jasmine and rose do their fleshy indolic dance atop orris butter and clean ylang-ylang, with narcissus and violet leading up the chorus and disappearing into the harmony. The sandalwood has already made its presence known even by the heart, but its dryness is passed with coumarin, amber, vanilla, musk, and a touch of animalic benzoin to build up a buttery finish which is the coveted finale of the perfume. The florals are definitely more stern than in Shalimar (1924) and the finish less vanillic, powdery, or like the foundation makeup that often bore a proxy of Guerlinade, but that core house note is still there. I find Samsara perfectly suitable for a dandy but less flamboyant guys won't want to go near this stuff, as its tune is dead center unisex at best but will most likely read feminine to the average nose.

Various concentrations and reformulations to account for price points and the dwindling (then depleted) amounts of Mysore make Samsara impossible to rank on performance, but my EdP example in the red plastic bottle was strong at first, then soft but ever-present for hours and hours afterwards, which is not entirely different from the grandiose wake of fragrance Shalimar leaves, just scaled back further to more-contemporary tolerances. Samsara along with Héritage (1992) would be among the last of the classically-styled Guerlain perfumes made by a member of the Guerlain family given widespread release, and signified the end of an era for the prestigious house that would enter into more trend-focused compositions to keep the boat afloat after the house was sold by the family to LVMH. Samsara is just plain gorgeous for many more reasons than I can fit into a review, but if lovely green citrus and rounded florals over creamy sandalwood and vanilla don't at least sound a little appealing to you, I'm not entirely sure you're in the right place. Samsara is best in median temperatures but really is neutral enough to be worn any time, although its character absolutely leans romantic to my nose. Very much worth a sniff in any form, but obviously vintage preferred. Thumbs up!

I'm wearing a 1980s vintage parfum (extrait) and it's quite mellow with sweet, top notes that are floral and herbal. Very beautiful.

I am sniffing some 1980's-vintage SAMSARA EDT on my hand now. After not having experienced it for years. I had remembered I once liked it, but now might have to re-evaluate.

I know it had been initially released during the rise of the New Age/Yoga movement, intended to be a relaxing and meditative and "spiritual" fragrance.

Yet that's not how I'm reading it now. I am very surprised to see just how powerful the aldehyde topnotes are... the "cosmetic" components of the scent, which make it seem very "perfume-y" indeed, and not as "mellow" and woody as I thought I'd remembered it...

The scent on my hand here is very tart floral and brilliantly aldehydic, with the aldehydic topnotes not evanescing quickly at all... They last for a long time, with an almost "coriander"-like sharpness... plenty of iris, and hints of something anisic, in keeping with the "Guerlinade" that haunts things like L'HEURE BLEUE (which used to be much more licorice-y than it is today).

And of course, I'm getting the pronounced heliotrope with its hint of vanilla.

Oddly the sandalwood here seems very restrained... not especially "mystical" or "Indian" or "meditative". It has no chance to get milky/spicy/warm, what with the intense, sharp green-floral-aldehydes here.

I'm pretty sure I detect ambergris, with its curious quality like a woman's lips, breath and skin. SAMSARA is much more "femme" than I had remembered it.

Guerlain always does a good job... even their lesser-scents have an undeniable quality and integrity. And this is indeed a fine, quality perfume. Quite pleasant, but not really my thing...

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