J’s image of Badar Parfums Sandal Gold.
Badar Parfums has collaborated once more with Flair perfumer Margaux Le Paih Guérin for Sandal Gold, the newest addition to their collection. Sandal Rice from last year, 2025, gave us a lovely dry rice with a swirl of coffee over creamy vanilla woods, the new Sandal Gold shares some similar notes but takes us on a new journey with a much creamier feel. You might assume it’s just another woody vanilla, but this perfume is much more, it is refined, innovative and playful giving us a contemporary take on a gourmand musk.
Perfumer Margaux Le Paih Guérin and Badar Sandal Gold via the brand.
Shaved coconut adds smoothness and creaminess as it flutters onto dried banana with a savoury bran nuttiness giving Sandal Gold a unique gourmand touch– It’s thankfully far from the endless cupcake sweet perfumes out there. It’s more like the morning in the summer’s sun, bathing in tropical fruits and cereals luxuriating in vanilla milk. Sandal Gold has a dreamy glow, from the coconut, which gives it an airy and translucent soft silkiness plumped as more bready facets come into play through its evolution. The banana bread accord is clever, I get more of that dried banana smell, like those tasty banana chips, so it’s not pushing into the full-on fruitiness but closer to the scent a tropical blond wood, with the breadiness giving pleasing texture, letting the coconut’s sweetness do the delicious work while melting into the lactonic woody vanilla as more of its velvet veil is revealed.
Sandalwood and Banana Bread via wiki.
Sandal Gold’s nuttiness adds a lovely dry feel, one that fluctuates on my skin into moving into a crispy bran sensation. This is a clever contrast giving it a balanced sweetness. It’s also giving a gentle muskiness lending a darker tone to the creams and pale woods. This musk takes over from the coconut dreaminess forming a haze at the edges letting even more of the vanilla shine through. Margaux Le Paih Guérin has composed a playful perfume here with Sandal Gold using some rather unique materials that are weaving through and over each other. It’s like wearing a playful mood as elements of the sweet fruits flicker back in wanting me to chase them, they pull me into a cycle of never being able to find the edges, happily lost in Sandal Gold’s dry yet sweet yet savoury musk. It’s like an expertly balanced piece of patisserie, although thankfully there’s no cake in sight. A sacrilegious statement for those who know me, because I love cake, but Sandal Gold gives me something more, it’s a hard to place happy memory from childhood and a joyful feel of endless summers. Wearing Sandal Gold makes me feel uplifted and happy.
Badar Parfums Sandal Gold courtesy of the house.
As Sandal Gold dries down to its final stage the fruity facets fade letting the nutty bran dryness step forward while also teasing out more wood facets from the vanilla, this mellows out the sandalwood’s more intense nuances. Australian sandalwood is used here, its high-pitched sharp facets are expertly calmed with the creamy lactonic fruits and woody dry walnut, letting its smooth woody side take the lead. Long plume like shavings of sandalwood replace the coconut ones from the opening, it’s still whispering of tropical dreams at the edges as the white musks roll in. Subtle balsamic tones imbue a different kind of richness as guaiac wood adds a kiss of smoke to the vanilla giving it a gentle density, making it feel velvety, yet Sandal Gold keeps its airy feel. Sandal Gold’s creamy vanilla woods sensations drift over your skin letting ambroxan wrap its cosy abstractness around you. It flows and weaves around you, sometimes nutty sometimes sweet before it’s shimmers like a beautiful sandalwood golden dream.
Margaux Le Paih Guérin has composed a stunning contemporary musk, as she weaves together savoury and sweet facets with vanilla and sandalwood forming the backbone. Sandal Gold feels light and playful yet is never childish gleaming with a joyous feeling. Just when you think vanilla can’t be done differently Margaux Le Paih Guérin brings us a golden dream.
Notes: Coconut, Banana bread, Walnuts, Vanilla, Australian Sandalwood, Ambroxan, Gaiac Wood, White Musks.
Disclosure: Badar Parfums Sandal Gold was sent to J for review, thoughts and nose are his own.
J Wearescentient, Senior Editor, artist & olfactive writer.
J’s image of Badar Sandal Gold.
Thanks to the largesse of Badar Parfums we have a 50 ml bottle of Sandal Gold for a registered reader in the EU or USA. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on J’s review and where you live. Draw closes 2/25/2026
Please read Margaux Le Paih Guérin essay in her own words in our Young Perfumer Series here. She was Michelyn’s perfumer of 2025 as well
Badar Parfums Rouge Éclat was included in Michelyn’s and my Best of Scents 2025 Top 10 lists joining Estelle in both of our Best of Scents 2024 top 10 lists too. Please read my reviews of Badar Parfums Oriental Rida here, Rouge Éclat here, Sandal Rice here, Sinaï here and Estelle here. Badar Parfums was Michelyn’s Best Discovery of 2024
To sample or buy in the USA at Indigo Perfumery here
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