Samsara

Samsara by Guerlain (1989) is the sandalwood oriental that Jean-Paul Guerlain composed with Anne-Marie Saget around an exceptionally high dose of natural Mysore sandalwood, jasmine, ylang-ylang, iris and vanilla. It was the first Guerlain fragrance released as an Eau de Parfum, the last great statement of the family-owned house before LVMH bought it in 1994, and the reference sandalwood perfume of the late twentieth century.

This collection gathers the Samsara bottles in our current stock: parfum in the small red flacon, the transparent first-series Eau de Parfum with its gold shoulder ring (1989-1999), the red second-series bottle (1999-2004), the gold refillable canisters, the discontinued flankers Un Air de Samsara and Samsara Shine, and the 2000 La Route de la Soie Silk Road edition printed with a gold caravan map.

Not every Samsara smells the same. Early bottles carry the original Mysore sandalwood accord; later production relies on synthetic sandalwood after Indian supplies were restricted. Our guide explains how to date a bottle from the glass, the cap and the box wording: Guerlain Samsara: The Complete Collector's Guide. For code checks, use the Guerlain batch code checker.