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WTD, Episode 1.5: Neroli by Annick Goutal

 

Orrange blossom
Photo: Ellen Levy Finch

Neroli – created in 2003, notes include Orange blossom absolute, neroli essence, petitgrain Paraguay essence, cypress essence, cedar essence. I think it’s a nice, non-offensive perfume that plays very safely on all the notes it’s made of. I cannot find a reason not to like it. But by the same token I cannot find a reason to love it. I wouldn’t mind wearing it in summer if I just happen to get a bottle but I do not plan on actively seeking it.

Sillage: light (3 out of 5); tenacity: fair (3 hours).

See all episodes:

Weeklong Test Drives, Season 1: Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.1: Eau d’Hadrien by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.2: Grand Amor by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.3: Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.4: Heure Exquise by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.7: Songes by Annick Goutal

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WTD, Episode 1.4: Heure Exquise by Annick Goutal

 

Iris flower

Heure Exquise – created in 1984, notes include Florentine iris, Turkish rose, Mysore sandalwood, a hint of vanilla. The only distinct note I can smell in this perfume is vanilla, the rest are blended really nicely together and I loved how it smells on my skin. It’s a very soft, warm and intimate scent. And, in my mind, extremely beautiful. I wish it stayed longer in its strong(er) phase but I could catch a whiff of it 5-6 hours after the application. I’m seriously considering putting it on my “to buy” list.

Sillage: light (3 out of 5); tenacity: fair (3 hours).

Read also a review from I Smell Therefore I Am.

Image: my own

See all episodes:

Weeklong Test Drives, Season 1: Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.1: Eau d’Hadrien by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.2: Grand Amor by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.3: Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.5: Neroli by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.7: Songes by Annick Goutal

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WTD, Episode 1.3: Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal

Le Mimosa – created in 2011, notes include mimosa absolute from Grasse, peach, anise, Florentine iris, white musk. Even though I strongly disliked this perfume during my search for a perfect mimosa scent (see links to other reviews in that post) I decided to give it the last try before getting rid of the remaining sample. I still can smell mostly a peach. And it is still nauseating. But since this time I knew what to expect I could tolerate it better. I should mention once again: I’m really sorry I do not like this perfume, I wanted to – because of the cute ribbon, because of one of my favorite flowers, because of Annick Goutal and my hope to find another scent in her line to love. Oh well…

Sillage: light (3 out of 5); tenacity: good (4 hours).

Image: my own

(as always, feel free to share a link to your blog if you’ve written on the topic before)

See all episodes:

Weeklong Test Drives, Season 1: Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.1: Eau d’Hadrien by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.2: Grand Amor by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.4: Heure Exquise by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.5: Neroli by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.7: Songes by Annick Goutal

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WTD, Episode 1.2: Grand Amor by Annick Goutal

Grand AmorGrand Amor – created in 1997, notes include white lily, hyacinth, honeysuckle, hint of Turkish rose, jasmine, base notes of amber, vanilla and myrrh, musky notes. If anything is grand about this perfume it is my disappointment. I wanted to like it (“the perfume of the serene passion Annick experienced with her husband…” – romantic, isn’t it?). But this is one more love-related perfume from Annick Goutal that just doesn’t work for me (another one was Quel Amour! – it was so bad on my skin that I gave away my sample and do not plan on trying it again ever but I read that others enjoyed it so it might be just my chemistry). Once applied Grand Amor stays noticeable for the whole 15 minutes – which isn’t bad taking into the account that I do not like the opening notes: it smells green, powdery and, for the lack of a better description, dusty at the same time. After that it becomes a relatively pleasant skin scent that quietly dies in the next couple of hours.

Sillage: very light (2 out of 5); tenacity: poor (2 hours).

For a more positive spin on this perfume read reviews from I Smell Therefore I Am and Perfume Shrine.

Image: my own

(as always, feel free to share a link to your blog if you’ve written on the topic before)

See all episodes:

Weeklong Test Drives, Season 1: Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.1: Eau d’Hadrien by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.3: Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.4: Heure Exquise by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.5: Neroli by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.7: Songes by Annick Goutal

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WTD, Episode 1.1: Eau d’Hadrien by Annick Goutal

 
Eau d’Hadrien – created in 1981, notes include Sicilian lemon, citron, grapefruit, green mandarin, cypress, aldehyde notes, ylang-ylang and cypress). When I was a child, my friends and I liked chasing and catching butterflies. Cabbage White (Pieris brassicae) was one of the most common butterflies where I lived. No matter how careful you would try to touch those delicate wings some pigment would always end up on your fingers. And from this particular butterfly my fingers always smelled lemony. Eau d’Hadrien scent reminds me of those carefree summer days, bruised knees and weightless wings flapping in my domed palms.
Photo : Bresson Thomas

Robin at NST had an update posted to her earlier review for Eau d’Hadrien referring to the alleged reformulation of the perfume in 2009. I compared two samples – a new one from the store and an older one that I got many years ago. I cannot smell the difference. If there was a reformulation indeed it must be the best one I encountered so far*.

In summer I might occasionally reach for the small bottle of Eau d’Hadrien EdT, which I got as a part of some other purchase, but I do not see it as a full bottle in my collection in future.

Sillage: light (3 out of 5); tenacity: good (4 hours).

(as always, feel free to share a link to your blog if you’ve written on the topic before)

* Update: Thanks to Robin I found an interview with Isabelle Doyen (at Grain de Musc) where she says: 

“But we haven’t touched L’Eau d’Hadrien! All we did, and that may have confused some people, was to increase the concentration a bit to satisfy those who thought it was too fleeting. We didn’t want to touch the formula, so we just increased the concentration by one or two per cent. But that was at least four years ago!”

See all episodes:

Weeklong Test Drives, Season 1: Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.2: Grand Amor by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.3: Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.4: Heure Exquise by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.5: Neroli by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal
WTD, Episode 1.7: Songes by Annick Goutal

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Weeklong Test Drives, Season 1: Annick Goutal

Annick GoutalI noticed that I have a tendency to collect things in series: books, movies, TV shows, costume jewelry, etc. It’s hard for me to stop at, for example, just one show season or a necklace if there are more. I will keep buying books from a favorite author even if the last couple weren’t that great. I will wait till the show is canceled or closed to buy a complete set. And I will keep browsing new offerings from a designer I like to see if there is a piece of jewelry in a new color/form/material that will fill some imaginary hole in my collection. Because of that I have some problems with testing perfumes: my impulse is to go through the complete line or at least a very representative subset of it; and you can imagine how hard it might be in case of niche or indie perfume houses. It usually results in a wide variety of samples for a single line (which I consider an upside of my OCD behavior).

Dive in to keep reading…

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Tea Break

I enjoy drinking brewed tea. In my day-to-day life I consume mostly not caffeinated (not de-caffeinated!) teas from tea bags but on weekends or when having friends over I like making real tea. I’m not a tea snob, I do not read about teas even as much as I read about perfumes so I have no idea if teas that I like are amouages or britney spearses of the field. And I do not really care as long as I like how they smell, how they taste and how they look.

Golden Moon TeaI knew nothing about the brand when one of my friends brought a couple of Golden Moon Tea’s tins as a gift – one with White tea (with an unexpectedly for a white tea well-defined taste) and one with black tea and vanilla (they do not carry it any longer but this one is the closest to the one I tried before). If you were to apply L’Artisan’s Tea for Two lightly, wait for couple of hours and then add Diptyque’s Eau Duelle you would get something close to how Madagascar (black tea) smells.

Dive in to keep reading…

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New Year Resolutions: March

March was much more intense in terms of both perfumes testing and wearing. I was good towards my favorites though I didn’t always spend quality time with them; sometimes I wore them as a part of a comparison test or only for a couple of hours (or as long as they lasted without re-applying). But still I hope they wouldn’t complain if anybody would ask (but, just in case, please don’t).

Quick March stats:

March stats* Different perfumes worn: 61 (11 more than in the previous month)
* Favorite perfumes worn/tested: 21 (+8)
* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 27 (+13)
* Perfume houses I wore most often: Ormonde Jayne and Amouage (I wore/tested them on 12 and 10 occasions correspondingly)
* Most popular notes: top – (not counting bergamot) still cardamom but popular last month lemon shared popularity with mandarin, pink pepper and rose; middle – jasmine and rose (I’m curious if this ever going to change or should I stop counting them in the heart position the same way I stopped counting bergamot among the head notes?); base – sandalwood (as it was in February)but patchouli note was moved into the fifth place and replaced by musk.

Now I’m curious how other people do that. Are two perfumes per day (on average) two much?

Image: my own

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My First Scrubber

While reading What Is Your Perfume Nemesis discussion at Olfactoria’s Travels I was reminded of one of my perfume “hates”. My very first scrubber.

Gucci Rush - Do Not EnterIt was a scent strip in one of the fashion magazines that attracted my attention to the new perfume Gucci Rush. I liked the scent and even rubbed it on my wrist. It smelled good. So the next time I happened to be in a store with a perfume counter I went straight to that tester and lavishly sprayed the fragrance all over my wrist: I wasn’t sure in its tenacity and wanted it to last long enough for me to enjoy and decide if I want to buy a bottle. It did last. Much longer than I wanted it too. I could hardly wait to get home, take off any clothes that came in contact with it and shower. It was that bad on my skin.
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A Friend in Need…

I like all kinds of holidays and celebrations. New Year and my birthday are two my favorite occasions and I always try to get the most of them.

For the New Year 2011 my friends and I had a party at our place. It wasn’t too big or loud but it was warm and joyful, with good food, great drinks and a pleasant (at least for me – can’t vouch for everybody else) gifts exchange. It was a wonderful night; I wore one of my favorite perfumes, was very happy and felt great.

Next morni afternoon I woke up really sick with flu. It was the worst sickness I had in many years. I felt awful and had no strength to get out of the bed for a couple of days. In my feverish mind there were two recurring thoughts to which I tried to hold on as if it was really important to keep thinking them. First – I was very glad and thankful to all the forces of the Universe that I hadn’t got sick 24 hours earlier: it would have been a complete disaster for our party and everybody involved. And second – I was happy that by the time I woke up my new perfumed love (Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if) was already gone: I was dreading to associate the scent I cherished with the misery of that day. So while feeling horrible I felt lucky.

Ormonde Jayne TiareWhen I finally forced myself to get up and start moving, I noticed a wonderful smell coming from my bathrobe’s collar. It wasn’t too strong or persistent, I would catch a whiff of it now and then, but it was so unexpectedly comforting and supporting that I almost cried. With all the testing I had been conducting at the time it took me a while to figure out what perfume it was. Tiare by Ormonde Jayne.

Dive in to keep reading…