Praline de Santal by Pierre Guillaume for Parfumerie Generale 2011

Hi Posse Peeps! You like sweet but need it a little savoury? This could be your jam. Praline de Santal is a surprise packet. It’s strange to me that there is not so much Pierre Guillaume chatter on the blogs and FaceBook pages. He is a sensational perfumer with an incredibly deft touch when it comes to sweetness. Somehow he manages to create sweet scents that are interesting, unusual and totally unisex. That’s quite a feat. I can imagine his fragrances appealing to the non perfume aficionado right through to a hard core perfumista. Recently I talked about another of Pierre’s beauties Foudre here on Perfume Posse

I also love that Pierre has his own factory so everything he does is created, produced and packed with his oversight. That kind of single minded dedication and overarching dictatorship is almost impossible to do without a luxury brand bankrolling you.

Praline de Santal by Parfumerie Generale 2011

Praline de Santal Pierre Guillaume FragranticaFragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Hazelnut
Heart: Heliotrope, Cedar
Base: Sandalwood, Musk, Cashmeran

Sadly this lovely gem, and the rest of the Pierre Guillaume Private Collection, has been discontinued. They were weird, unconventional and challenging if you took notice but also easy enough to wear as Go To Daily.

Nothing I’ve ever smelled is quite like this. Praline de Santal should be a fairly powdery, nutty and woodsy experience if you are looking at the notes list. It is all of those things but it’s also sweet as nougat with a bitterness as if covered in dark chocolate and that odd sweet/savoury of a salted caramel pretzel. Sounds like a mess when I write it down but seriously, it is bloody gorgeous.

All the sweet/savoury stuff happens in the first couple of hours. Little huffs of it surprise me as i go about my day. Once they are done Praline de Santal softens off to a lightly salted amber and woods combination. Imagine if sandalwood had become driftwood and you have a fair idea of the creaminess.

Most places don’t have this beauty anymore. BLOOM has some samples left but everywhere else seems sold out. It’s a shame because Praline de Santal is worth hunting down, even just for a reference of something so different and wonderful.

Do you love a discontinued niche beauty that everyone has forgotten?
What is it?
Portia xxx

  • Marie says:

    I wish I was able to find some of this!

  • Musette says:

    Not perfume, per se, but close enough: Chanel No 5 body oil. Like finding hens’ teeth. I found a bottle on the eeeB, was praying it was legit. It is, blessed be, though it came with an illegit edt (which is fine – I use it to scent the sheets and bedroom curtains after a wash – gives a lovely ‘perfume’ smell). anyhoo, that is my GRAIL, bay-bee. Alas, discontinued, at least currently. xoxoxo

    • Portia says:

      Everyone in Sydney went crazy for the body oil too Musette. It was basically Sold Out before it even hit the shelves. Lucky you got one at all.
      Portia xx

  • Kathleen says:

    I’m afraid to sample a fragrance that is discontinued and hard to find; no doubt I would love it and be disappointed.
    Creed Angelique Encens. Gorgeous and discontinued. Few bottles available on EBay for over $3000!!!

  • bevfred says:

    I always enjoy your reviews. This sounds delicious.

    • Portia says:

      Thanks BevFred,
      If unusual is your jam the this might be up your alley. It’s not super challenging but it does maintain interest to dry down.
      Portia xx

  • crikey says:

    Not long gone, but very gone anyway. I should know better than to fall so hard for limited production fragrances: Aeon 001. The moment I steeled myself to buy a bottle was the moment there were none left. Anywhere. My 10ml is running awfully low, but I am trying to wear it with gleeful abandon rather than eking it out. It’s so bloody lovely.

    • Portia says:

      Hey there Crikey,
      That is the biggest bummer ever. They only made 100 of them.
      I love it also.
      Portia xx

      • crikey says:

        Portia my darling, you are clearly a good luck charm.

        I have *just* paid for an almost full bottle on ebay… the first one that has ever been sold there, and for significantly less than retail. And no one bid against me. This never happens.