J’s image of Badar Parfums Sandal Rice
Badar Parfums and perfumer Margaux Le Pain Guérin of Flair Paris have returned with another beautiful fragrance, Sandal Rice. It’s feels like the yin to Estelle’s yang, giving us a darker woody vanilla with a beautiful savoury rice note as a counter point, while still keeping that sleek suave sensation that runs through Badar Parfums trio of releases. Sandal Rice has a tough yet cosy feel from the rice and woods that run though it, showcasing vanilla in a unique and understated way, letting its woody facets shine. It wears like a soft hug from someone very strong, a quiet power, yet simultaneously feeling graceful and refined.
Perfumer Margaux Le Pain Guérin of Flair Paris and Badar Parfums Sandal Rice courtesy of the brand.
Sandal Rice’s opening makes my mouth water with its dark coffee aroma giving the caramel a deep slightly charred richness, making it feel deliciously decadent, the kind you want to sink your teeth into and savor. As your enjoying this grown up treat it feels as if sandalwood and rice crash into each other in slow motion creating this dry velvety powdery cloud of woods giving a brilliant savoury counterpoint to Sandal Rice’s darkly delicious caramel vanilla sweetness. The way the powdery dry rice aroma wraps around you is rather lovely; it’s like a soft smoky veil that’s starts out light before descending through coffee into a smoky rich guaiac and creamy sandalwood musky haze. This clever contrasting creates that strong tough yet cosy hug sensation, that’s hard to convey in words, but when you wear it, you will know.
The rich blend of coffee and caramel creates a lush aroma, subtly infused with delicate notes of plum, cherry and dry cacao, all enveloped in a delightful dark, woody haze. Sandal Rice is packed with the complex and subtle aromas you find in specialist drip or pour over coffees. That dark caramel sweetness enhances the experience, accompanied by woody vanillas feeling as if you have added a dry cream into the mix as things soften out in its heart. As this is happening everything is wrapped in Sandal Rice’s dry powdery rice veil, making it feel again like the scent of the coffee has been trapped and atomised becoming part of this beautiful powdery cloudy haze. It seems as though a memory has been stretched out through time and wearing Sandal Rice is letting us explore it on a granular level, as if we’re back at the moment Proust has dipped his Madeline into his tea and time stopped for him. With Sandal Rice Margaux Le Paih Guérin has updated this Proustian experience giving us a rich black coffee with a delicious caramel vanilla on a delicate rice pastry with a soft smoke in the air. There’s a beautiful dry snap to Sandal Rice’s rice as the coffee’s darkness fades letting a smooth dark vanilla heavy on his woody side shine.
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
Sandal Rice lives up to its name, enveloping your skin in a sophisticated, powdery aroma of rice and sandalwood, complemented by a rich vanilla that is deepened with the smoky facets of guaiac wood, creating a smooth and alluring fragrance.
J’s image of Badar Parfums Sandal Rice
It warms your skin in a beguiling way, sitting above it like a soft woody cloud. It feels dense, yet has this silky transparency with ambroxan creating this cosy aura that gives Sandal Rice a beautiful presence. The use of those sweeter materials cleverly masks the more sharp facets of the Australian sandalwood, while focusing in on its milky smooth sensation, the way the material melt from the opening to the end creates a lovely flow with that dry, powdery woody rice aroma keeping everything in balance. The woody side of a Madagascan or bourbon vanilla is amplified giving whispers of that rich sweetness while focusing in on the woods and rice as it wraps you in its embrace. Imagine an atomised sandalwood cloud that feels like your gently caressing the soft nap of velvet. Margaux Le Paih Guérin shows wonderful skill in the way she uses contrasting notes, they flow together as if the sweeter side is playing a beautiful melody over the darker woody rice rhythm, making Sandal Rice sing a rather beautiful and unique song of vanilla and sandalwood. This is one I’ll be wearing a lot.
Notes: Rice, Coffee extract, Australian sandalwood essence, Caramel, Vanilla, Ambroxan, Guaiac essence, Modern woods.
Disclosure: Badar Parfums Sandal Rice was sent to J for review, thoughts and nose are his own.
– J Wearescentient, Senior Editor, artist & olfactive writer.
Badar Parfums Sandal Rice courtesy of the brand.
Thanks to the generosity of Badar Parfums we have a 50 ml bottle of Sandal Rice 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 2/23/2025
You can read Michelyn’s great Young Perfumers Interview with Margaux Le Paih Guérin here.
Estelle was included in Michelyn and mine Best of Scents 2024 lists.
Please read my review of Badar Parfums Sinaï here and Estelle here.
Instagram: @cafleurebonofficial@badarparfums @margaux.le.paih.guerin @flair.paris @wearescentient
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