Songes by Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2005

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hoya Perfumistas!

Yes, I have spoken about Annick Goutal (1948-99) before. We have done days of the Annick Goutal bio and fragrance story (Bio, Frag#1, Frag#2, Frag #3; <<< jump back) and I have used some of the same words here because they are as true now as then (they are in italics).

Photo Stolen fanpop

Songes EdT was my first Annick Goutal FBW fragrance. When the sample arrived I loved it so much I sprayed it on all and sundry till it ran dry just so they could experience the enormous grand white floral opening. What a fragrance! Designed around a dusk ramble on Camille Goutal’s honeymoon and the frangipani’s nighttime scent song of dreams.

Songes means dreams and I think it is an interesting choice of a name for a fragrance built around the scent of frangipani at dusk. It opens so full and spectacularly, not dreamy at all. White flowers pumping out their glorious, decadent fragrance. White night flowers have something so special and glorious that whenever I put this voluptuous fragrance on I almost swoon with delight. A bold fragrance, with solid strength and sillage, unlike most AG perfumes Songes has excellent lasting power too. From spritz to gone is around 4-6 hours for me depending on my day. Along with the flowers I get lovely inedible vanilla, almost amber-ish, and a soft incense note that I’ve never noticed before but this morning I was burning incense and here it is repeated. Halfway through there is a very human element that comes and goes, like clean mouth breath. The whole time I’ve been wearing this my mind keeps saying, “Oh, this is lovely, why don’t I wear this more often?” It’s now got fridge front and centre.


Photo Stolen from escentual-com

The Annick Goutal website says

The twilight in Tahiti, transcending into a inspiring combination of frangipani and tiare flowers.
Creation date : 2005
Olfactory family : Floral, oriental, amber 
(Frangipani, Tiare flower, Sambac jasmine absolute, ylang-ylang absolute, olibanum, French vanilla absolute, sandalwood, amber)

The Perfume Shrine  and NowSmellThis do excellent reviews and Fragrantica for notes and accords.

I have enjoyed bringing you Songes again, do you have a favourite Annick Goutal fragrance? Which one and why?
Portia xx

27 thoughts on “Songes by Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2005”

  2. this is a sumptuous fragrance. i prefer it for a summer night though – that little tropical flower creates a big note that can be a little overpowering in the cooler months. however, if you want to close your eyes and drift off to that summer isle in your mind it is perfect.

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  3. Why do the ladies get all the best stuff? Really it sounds incroyable! Wonderful post I so enjoy your writing. You carried me along on the wings of elan with this one.

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    • Heya,
      They talk about his and hers perfume but I’ve never heard the fragrance complain about who’s wearing it. You should drop the gender boundaries and try everything. The most elegant and feminine florals smell smoking hot on a guy. Men bring their own something to the table that makes a girlish scent irresistible. If you like being sniffed extravagantly by the women around you go to your nearest department store and ask to try some Chanel #5 Parfum. They will riot and you may need bodyguards.
      Portia xx

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      • Oh Portia I know! That was just my entree into the conversation. I wear Shalamar and L’Aimant from time to time. But you are right that we need to drop gender when it comes to scents. My goodness when you look at the notes for a “Male” fragrance you can easily find the same notes in a “Female” fragrance. forgive me, I was just blithering. AND I am going to take your Chanel No.5 advice this weekend! (You know how I love that house.)
        LANIER

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    • incroyable! my goodness i had to look that up – what a word – what kind of perfume would it be? incroyable, the fragrance.

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  4. Well, you know my fave AG is Ambre Fétiche, but there’s a lot from the line I haven’t tried yet. Jane over at Daly Beauty recently did a review of this as well, and so it’s been added to my list of BWFs to try, which at the rate I sample, will probably be sometime next summer. (Honest. I’m booked solid ’til then.)

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    • HAH! Hilarious Dionne. I love that you take your time, we all do stuff so differently. It’s only perfume. I suppose it’s all about finding our own speed. I just LOVE trying new stuff. I should never buy a bottle of anything, but of course it’s a bit late in the day to realise this. HAH.
      XX
      Portia xx

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  5. Portia, I also love Songes but I’d say my favorite is Heure Exquise, although it used to be even better back in the day with real the old style sandalwood. Her Vetiver is also my fav vetiver, and Eau du Sud is perfect at the end of summer and what we Yanks call Indian Summer (unusually warm days in the fall). ~~nozknoz

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    • HEY!! Welcome over here. So glad you dropped in. I love Eau de Sud and Matin D’Orage too. Honestly, I’ve not met a Goutal that I haven’t liked. I do wish some were more tenacious though.
      We call it Indian Summer too.
      Portia xx

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  6. As for now I purchased a bottle of Nuit Etoilee, my first foll bottle of Annick Goutal fragrances. Thanks to it I became more curious about other scents and I managed to get some samples which indicate I need few more Goutals in my collection, so I will slowly add few more.

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  7. Portia, you make almost any perfume sound incredible (or as Lanier said earlier – incroyable 🙂 )! Until recently only Birgit held this power over me 😉

    I will have to re-test my sample because I suspect I might smell it differently today. When I tested it a little over a year ago I remember not liking an opening but then in the drydown it was nice, albeit extremely fleeting.

    My favorite Goutals (I swear I answered this question on your blog already!) are Petite Cherie, Heure Exquise, Ambre Fétiche and Musc Nomade. I’m still testing Encens Flamboyant but I think it’s safe to say that at least a decant will join my collection. And I really hope to like Nuit Etoilee once I finally get to test it properly.

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  8. Pingback: Duel by Camille Goutal + Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2003 « AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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