Isabelle Doyen: 23 posts

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Songes by Annick Goutal… Dreams is what every new year begins with… Dreams that one has a chance to travel to a new place, to discover new things, to meet new people and to change one’s own shortcomings. The very word—dreams, songes, sogni, mechty, or whatever other language one uses—has a character of something ethereal and yet intoxicating, capturing a moment of complete oblivion. Annick Goutal Songes is appropriately named, because losing oneself in its warm cloud of white jasmine delicately supported by the sweet woods is not unlike being in a dream-like state, when the whole world is submerged in the haze of intense contemplation.

Some of Annick Goutal fragrances are all about subtlety and perhaps too much so, from the transparent green freshness of Duel and the rainwater on violets of Eau de Ciel to the overly delicate whisper of Mandragore. However, Songes is unlike anything in the line, as it possesses a certain full-bodied richness that speaks of seduction and enchantment. The multifaceted top accord structured around jasmine breaks as if into the peals of bells. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Hazy and gentle, Annick Goutal Duel seems inappropriately named, as more than anything it calls to mind opponents who would rather exchange polite remarks than gunshots. It has a certain subtlety that delicately hints at its more forceful aspects, wrapping them in sweetness of violet. On the one hand, it may register as too subtle, yet, on another, it has the same charm as the pastels. Thus, whenever Annick Goutal fragrances are compared to the watercolors, I always think of Duel as a good example of such an analogy.

Created by Isabelle Doyen in collaboration with Camille Goutal, Annick Goutal’s daughter, Duel is a fragrance with a romantic air. Its violet tinged coolness of iris paired with crisp greenness of maté conjures a vision of the Belle Époque salon set with preparations for tea.  …

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Isabelle Doyen says that she became a perfumer through a convergence of circumstances. At the age of 4, she asked herself how a pear can smell of rose and a rose smell of pear. She found this mystery dizzying. She was intrigued by the notion of perfume and she thought that it was a very unique pursuit. Now, it has been 18 years, since she has been practicing the art of perfumery.

She created the following fragrances for Annick Goutal: Ce Soir Ou Jamais, Duel, Eau du Fier, Eau du Sud, Gardenia Passion, Grand Amour, Les Nuits d’ Hadrien, Mandragore, Petite Cherie, Sables, Vanille Exquise, and Songes, to be released in 2006. Her other fragrance is Eau du Prince Jardinier by Prince Jardinier.