Eau de Monsieur

I love classically-tailored woody chypre fragrances and Annick Goutal's work as a whole (this is the first fragrance ever produced from Goutal in 1980)...so it was destiny that I would eventually get a bottle of Eau de Monsieur (of course, now that it has been discontinued). The atomizer, like all Goutal's, doesn't hold back - a big blast hits my inner forearm! Fresh-squeezed lemon juice fills the air. I am invigorated - but like all Goutals, there are immediate undertones and overtones with it. In Eau de Monsieur, the beauty of perfumery shows as all ingredients are natural, so you actually smell the bitterness of the lemon - so real. The lemon juice is not sitting in a glass by itself though - it's actually lemon juice and immortelle (producing a somewhat tart citrus and floral scent) and then poured onto moss (not heavy or dark oakmoss, but somehow fresher and lighter green moss that is uplifting). The immortelle flower must be in this - look up "The Guide" and see for yourself. That is an essential note missing from the description, but this is not an immortelle-dominated scent, it simply offers a wonderful accent. This is a mature scent - mid 30's-40's (and older) - and for a gentlemen with an aire of sophistication. Hard to describe, but then again, are any Annick Goutal bottles simplistic in detail and olfactory notes (although the ingredients are natural and often few)? This has been discontinued and I can understand why. Nothing off-putting here - the notes are blended into a great composition that makes a woody chypre attractive to me. But, it is too retro and not modern in any way whatsoever - so I could see only 2-3 out of 10 people smelling this and even consider wanting it. This is fragrance for people who understand it. I agree with Uni Mihaela that it is chic, but this is a bottle of Parisian juice. Not quite unisex in my mind - Eau de Monsieur is meant for the monsieur in my mind, just not one who is in the mindset for something mainstream. I went to France for my 1st wedding anniversary trip - and my wife and I had so many incredible moments in Paris. But, we also went to the south and spent time on the Riviera (among other places). This fragrance reminds me of the amazing metropolitan feel of Paris, with a glint of sunshine from Cannes. But, it is at home in Paris - this smells, with the wood notes like a Parisian boutique with wooden floors on a rainy day (moss) with the sun just breaking through the clouds...a mist in the air. The amber is from a candle that the owner of the quaint boutique is burning. You stroll around and there is a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers in a vase offering a rich scent (immortelle) - you are just taking it all in, dressed in nice attire (not as a tourist) and pick out a memory or one-of-a-kind keepsake you can give your wife for the years to come. You say "Merci" after making the purchase and smile. For, you are in Paris and feel the realness of the moment. This is truly a classic and elegant scent of days past - ones that I will not soon forget. How do you give a numerical rating to a wonderful memory or moment captured in a artistic and transcendent fragrance? I choose not to.

I find this a very-pleasant scent! It reminds me of a B&B in which I once stayed, where all of the linens were rustic and durable, clean, pressed and scented of lemons. I remember pulling them back after a long day spent shopping and dining and strolling the surrounding grounds which were planted in black walnuts and oaks; fine-leaved herbs grew in the flower-beds about the main house and its out-buildings. There, in that landscape of memory, lay locked a romance of subtlety, of passing tenderness, and an appreciation of fine and transient things. Yes, he was a gentleman, and sometimes I shed a tear or two for what might have been had our complicated lives acquiesced. Eau de Monsieur starts with a blast of lemon peel, and then quiets down to a respectable hum of sunlit taupe on the skin. Unintrusive, yet persistant, restrained, and eloquent. Longevity for me was about 5-6 hours- which is fine as I'm pondering my evening fragrance by then.

This was one of the first fragrances released by Annick Goutal, and is made remarkable by a note that isn't even in the list of "Fragrance Notes" listed above. The salient note in this is immortelle, which is often called "the curry plant" in southern Europe, where it is found, because it smells so much like the spices typically used in making curry powder (cumin, coriander, and turmeric). It isn't exactly the same, however, and this didn't leave me smelling like I worked in a restaurant kitchen. The lemon at the top and the oakmoss and sandalwood at the base blend very nicely with the immortelle, producing a elegant if pungent accord which, despite the masculine name, could really be worn by anyone (although it seems more for those over thirty, at least by today's tastes). Not having tried the current reformulation of this yet, I don't know how it compares.

Very unusual scent, in my personal opinion. On me it turns into a slightly sea salty note as well. Strange, but not unpleasant.

I can't see how anyone could dislike this, but then again, there's that saying "each to their own". Eau de Monsieur is a citrus-based scent blended just the way I like it, meaning it's less focused on sharp citrusy accords and refreshing in both a clean and herbaceous manner. Annick Goutal's Eau de Monsieur opens with subtle and clean lemon, complimented by an array of aromatic herbs. It is masculine in some ways, but I tentatively call it so, preferring to place it in a unisex category. Once settled on the skin, Eau de Monsieur takes on a powdery-like quality. I'm testing this in the midst of Summer, yet this somewhat warming scent is comforting enough to be worn in the cooler seasons too. The ambery drydown also adds to this likable warmth. I was quite disappointed by the lack of lasting strength, especially since I was enjoying the scent on my skin so much. After about three and a half hours this fragrance had pretty much vanished. A real shame. The sillage was also rather weak, nice in an intimate sense but a little too light for my nose to detect. I like Annick Goutal's approach when it comes to her masculine fragrances, most of them being easily worn by women too, but I'm not impressed with their lacklustre longevity.