Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cheri Par Camille

Do you ever encounter a perfume that the moment you sniff it, in whatever form, on whatever medium, be it skin or paper, you know that it is not going to be for you?

Well, I experienced this with Annick Goutal's Mon Parfum Cheri. I'll be totally upfront and state that I have not given this perfume a fair chance. However, the reason for this is that I can't get past first base - one sniff and I'm gagging. I know this perfume has received some very good reviews, but I cannot tolerate it. Why, you ask? It's difficult to put into words, but I feel as if this perfume is literally choking me, with a powdery, sneeze-inducing haze. 

To call Mon Parfum strong is an understatement. To give you some idea, I had a strip of paper sprayed with some and after throwing the paper away about 10 days ago, my suit pocket is still emitting this most awful, choking, cloying smell of Mon Parfum. It just doesn't fade.

The interesting thing for me is that Mon Parfum has notes of heliotrope, violet, plum, patchouli and iris but smells bone dry and very peppery, for want of a better word. Aesthetically I can visualise (or olfactorise?) what this perfume could be, but isn't, for me and I can also understand why others may find it compelling and lovely.

I will end by saying please don't take my word for it, but rather try it for yourself, if you haven't already. It may turn out to be wonderful for you. You may ask why I bothered to write about Mon Parfum at all. I really wanted to convey how strange it still is to me how some perfumes, no matter how good (or not) they are, can almost repulse me, or trigger a viscerally negative response. It is at times like this (and equally when  a perfume blows me away) that I truly believe perfume has a magical element to it.

Annick Goutal Rose Absolue

Those of you who read my blog from time to time might be aware that I love a good rose perfume. Recently I tried Annick Goutal's Rose Absolue, which is a splendid Rose Soliflore perfume, containing six different types of roses, namely Bulgarian Rose, Rose de Mai, Turkish Rose, Damask Rose, Egyptian Rose and Moroccan Rose.

As one might expect from the notes, Rose Absolue is about rose, rose, rose and more rose. I love it though. It smells sunny, glorious, luscious, rich and yet fresh at the same time. I wouldn't call it a very complex perfume, with very little progression, if any, but for people who love and appreciate rose perfumes, this is a must try, in my opinion. Rose Absolue smells very natural and realistic to me, in the sense that it isn't really an interpretation of rose, but rather a presentation of rose in its natural form, smell-wise. 

While rose can come across as old-lady like to some, I think Rose Absolue is lovely just as it is and entirely in keeping with the spirit and style of the Annick Goutal line. 

Image credit - http://www.punmiris.com/images/

Time out

I have a couple of days off this week (Today and Friday) and it couldn't have come sooner. At the risk of moaning, it's been one of those working weeks that shouldn't have happened, at least for me! I won't bore you with the detail, suffice to say that it involved an irate client, a neurotic (possibly psychopathic) bookkeeper and me. Hoorah! In those sort of awkward circumstances I almost wish that I was out picking apples or something. Or being a monk  holed away in an abbey obeying a vow of silence. Oh the melodrama!

I also didn't wear any perfume today, which always leaves me feeling ever so slightly out of sorts, but I did get a few samples from one of my local department stores. Annick Goutal's Duel, Ancens Flamboyant (Yes, Josephine!) and Ambre Fetiche as well as Uncle Serge's L'Eau. Yes, that one... I've tried all of these a number of times, but for some reason when I see samples lying around for the taking, like a moth to a flame I grab! Duel never fails to baffle me. It smells so weird, and yet compelling. I never quite know if I like it or not, but funnily enough, I think it is literally the only perfume that has ever got me a viscerally favourable comment from a lady. Bizarre.

I mentioned some holiday ideas a couple of days ago. I'm increasingly gravitating towards Mallorca, particularly the north-west of the island. If I can only find a favourable deal that doesn't involve staying next to lager louts or a fish and chip shop, we'll be off in a flash!

Annick Goutal - Le Jasmin and Neroli

I mentioned in a post yesterday that I had tried two Solilflores by L'Occitane, Jasmine and Neroli, neither of which did much to impress me.

Today I was browsing and saw the 'equivalents' in the Annick Goutal line, so thought I would try them out. Neroli starts off with a gorgeous orange blast, slightly bitter and citrusy, then pretty much fades to nothing. I'm not complaining - these sort of fragrances are not usually long lasting affairs and I could easily picture myself wearing this with abandon in the summer. It's fresh, relatively unassuming, but very well done.  Le Jasmin, pictured top left, is more complicated to my nose, without ever smelling very jasmine-y, if you know what I mean. In other words, the indoles do not manifest here, leaving a fragrance that is breezy and fresh, without being simple. The notes listed are sparse - just Sambac jasmine, magnolia and ginger - but I swear I smell a lot more. I did a quick search for reviews on Le Jasmin and was interested to read that almost everyone finds this green, light and simple. It's true that the jasmine does not shout or become cloying, as it is wont to do, but in addition to this I get a dose of smoky incense, which is an interesting pairing with jasmine. In fact, when I first sprayed this out the bottle I thought I had put on Encens Flamboyant, so similar did it smell, initially. I even checked the bottle to make sure, but it definitely said Le Jasmin. 

I certainly preferred both Neroli and Le Jasmin to the L'Occitanes I tried. They are very well executed, although probably not totally my style. One thing I do know - Goutal has a lot of florals in their lineup, and they certainly know how to execute these very well.

Image credit - http://www.luckyscent.com/

Annick Goutal Eau de Sud

I find the Annick Goutal line a strange one. A lot of the feminine perfumes are rich, floral, blowsy perfumes; think Songes for example, while the masculines are mainly citrus-based, and slightly offbeat. Then you get the really odd, like Mandragore or Sables. This is not to say that Annick Goutal is a poor line. Far from it in fact, but I would say that generally speaking it doesn't float my boat. However, Eau de Sud is one that I really like. I think if you are looking for a citrus fragrance with a twist, and more importantly, one that can stand up to a bit of heat and humidity without fading within an hour, Eau de Sud might just be for you. The notes listed include bergamot, mandarin, grapefruit, lemon verbena, peppermint, basil, persian lime and woods. If this sounds very citrusy, it is, and the opening is a brisk, mouth-puckering blast of citrus, yet to me, not like a traditional cologne. The citrus fades to reveal quite a herbal heart, what with the basil, peppermint and the sort of citrusy, yet fragrant lime. In fact, later on Eau de Sud reminds me quite a lot of Eau Savage by Christian Dior; I think it might be the combination of citrus, verbena and basil in particular. For some reason I also find there is a saltiness to Eau De Sud, but not so much a sea saltiness, but the sort of saltiness you find when you lick the cut peel of a lovely, fragrant lemon. Have you ever found that with lemon? In spirit, I am also reminded a little of Sel de Vetiver, again not in actual smell, but that sensation of inhaling a humid, salt-laden breeze at the coast on a summery day.

Eau de Sud to me is a better and more interesting fragrance than the other well-known citrus in the Goutal line, Eau d'Hadrian. As I've already said, it is a citrus fragrance, but it has more going on than the usual suspects. It has enough herbs and woods to give it some longevity and interest, yet it remains fairly light and perfect for a warm summer day. While I suspect it might be favoured by men, I can't see any reason why a lady can't wear this. It is perfectly unisex and actually comes in both the masculine bottle pictured above left, and in the more usual, feminine bottle used by Goutal. I think it is a lovely perfume and highly recommend giving it a try.