Golden Decade & Sandalwood

3 reseñas

Mostrando las más recientes primero.

• DanE

  May 28, 2025

  

  Ay Zara, what a passion they have for doing something right and then screwing it up. I feel like a martyr in the perfume world for being the first review; there’s very little information online about these flankers, and they are like us, those who love buying blind, trusting the brand. Well, here’s the thing: Zara released these elixirs, presumably as a response to criticism about longevity. Good on them. They cost $33 for 50ml ($66 for 100ml), which I think isn’t bad because, although they aren’t true elixirs, they last well: about 6-8 hours on skin and longer on clothes, with a significant and noticeable sillage. If we compare this to the original Golden Decade, which lasts 4-6 hours on skin and 8 on clothes without projecting anything after the first half-hour, this elixir wins by a mile. In terms of longevity and sillage, it delivers and earns a point for Zara. BUT here come the problems…that obsession with releasing flankers and even more flankers! (It’s not just Zara; look at Lancôme with La Vie Est Belle or Carolina Herrera with Good Girl). I understand the business of squeezing a bestseller, and that sometimes they release versions so similar they aren’t worth it, or so different they could have been a new perfume. I get it… but I don’t like it. In the case of Golden Decade, that’s exactly what happens. It’s a rich perfume, people love it, it sells well… how can you put care into giving something good to those who choose your brand when there are better options on the market? Golden Decade Sandalwood smells 90% identical to the original. The difference is minimal: less vanilla and a note that barely gives a creamy sensation (I wouldn’t even dare call it “cream”). Sandalwood wood? It doesn’t exist as such, despite the name. Coconut note? Absent. In this perfume, coconut simply never existed. It’s not that it’s faint or masked; they just didn’t put it there. And that bothers me, because you buy expecting those notes that differentiate it. The only difference is the innovation of declaring non-existent notes. Unlike other cases where I say “try in store” or “buy a decant”, here I say it straight: it’s not worth it even out of curiosity; it’s practically the same. If you don’t have either of them, then yes, it could be, but don’t expect it to smell like sandalwood, cream, or coconut, just GD slightly less sweet. PS, 4 MONTHS LATER: When I bought it, I used it 3 times and wrote this; I haven’t used it since as it’s not for daily wear. Yesterday I was cleaning my perfumes, put a little on my wrist, and surprise: I noticed the sandalwood no longer gave just an almost imperceptible touch of creaminess different from traditional GD, but I clearly perceived a wood, subtle, and thought: where did that wood come from? And to my greater surprise, shutting my mouth for me, there was coconut there, a natural coconut, like coconut cream, oily like the one in Immoral Vanilla… very hidden, barely giving signs behind the other notes, but my nose managed to feel it. Well, it’s shutting my mouth and giving hope that in the future it will become more noticeable. I’ll tell you in another 4 months.

• DanE

  June 15, 2025

  

  Oh Zara, what a passion for doing good and then messing it up! I feel like a martyr of perfumery for being the first review of this flanker. I’m here to warn you before it happens to you, as there’s little information online about these launches, and we’re like me, passionate about blind-buying and trusting brands, so… here’s the deal: Zara released these elixirs, presumably in response to all the criticism about longevity. Well, there it is. They cost $33 for 50ml (so $66 per 100ml), and I don’t think that’s bad because, despite being Zara, they last well. I wouldn’t call them elixirs, but a decent perfume lasting 6-8 hours on skin and longer on clothes, with great projection and a commented trail. If we compare it with the original Golden Decade, which lasts 4-6 hours on skin and 8 on clothes without projecting anything after the first half-hour, this elixir wins by a mile. So in terms of longevity and trail, this new launch delivers, and Zara gets a point. BUT here come the problems… that habit of releasing flankers and more flankers! (It’s not just Zara; just look at Lancôme with La Vie Est Belle or Carolina Herrera with Good Girl). I understand the business of squeezing a bestseller, and that often they release new versions that are so similar they’re not worth it, or so different they could have been a new perfume. I get it… but I don’t like it. In the case of Golden Decade, that’s exactly what happens. It’s a rich perfume, people love it, and it sells well… so is it hard to put care into giving something good to people who choose their brand when there are better options on the market? Golden Decade Sandalwood smells 90% like the original. The difference is minimal: less vanilla, and a note that barely gives a creamy sensation (I wouldn’t even dare call it “cream” as such). Sandalwood wood? It doesn’t exist as such, despite the name. Coconut note? Absent. In this perfume, coconut simply never existed. It’s not that it’s faint or covered by other notes; they just didn’t put it there. And that bothers me because one buys this perfume expecting precisely those notes that differentiate it from the original. But the only difference in this flanker is the innovation of declaring non-existent notes. Unlike other perfumes where I always say “try in store” or “buy a decant first”, in this case, I’m telling you directly: it’s not worth it even out of curiosity, because it’s practically the same. If you don’t have either of them, then maybe, but don’t expect it to smell like sandalwood, cream, or coconut, just GD slightly less sweet. PS, 4 MONTHS LATER: When I bought it, I used it three times and wrote this review, then didn’t use it again as it’s not a daily-wear perfume. Yesterday I was cleaning and organising my perfumes, and when I reached it, I put a little on my wrist, and surprise, I noticed it was slightly different because the sandalwood no longer just gave a barely perceptible touch of creaminess different from traditional GD, but I clearly perceived a wood, subtle, but I thought immediately, hey… and where did that wood come from? And to my greatest surprise and to shut my mouth, haha, there was coconut there, a natural coconut, like coconut cream, oily like the Inmoral Vanilla coconut… very hidden, barely giving signs behind the other notes, but my nose managed to feel it. Well, it’s shutting my mouth and giving hope that in the future it will become more noticeable. I’ll tell you in another 4 months.

• AylenAlfonso19

  January 1, 2026

  

  Honestly, I didn’t trust anything at first, but this left me speechless. In Argentina, you can grab the 50ml version at Zara for around $70; the price is a bit steep, but it’s justified. I applied it yesterday at 1:30 PM, and it’s now 9 AM this morning, and I can still detect a trail. It’s a white floral with sandalwood, very pretty and delicate. It’s not that kind of scent that hits you in waves as you move; you have to lean in close to smell it. Truth be told, it’s a 10.