Eau d'Hadrien

@Louismanuel: There is no presentation of Eau d'Hadrien with the words 'pour homme' in the name. Hadrien is a shared fragrance and it has no gender designation. The only difference is the bottles; for the men's presentation, the bottle is shorter and squat, whereas the women's bottle is taller and slightly more traditionally feminine in appearance. These are relatively new presentations but the bottles for the men's/women's Hadrien have always been different. The juice however, is identical. This particular page depicts the Hadrien edt, in an older, ribbed bottle, marketed to women. There is currently no Fragrantica page for the women's edp. It was identical to the one shown here, with the exception of the ribbon holding the name card in place on the bottle. For the woman's edt, the ribbon was white, as shown here. For the women's edp, the ribbon was gold. These ribbed bottles are still available online, but not officially through the brand, as the bottles have changed. Finally, there *is* a Fragrantica page for the older Hadrien edp for men, in the square bottle. It's called Hadrien Absolu. In closing, a word on the overall longevity of Hadrien, because I see that's a common gripe here. The edt is a wisp of a scent. Top to bottom in about 2 hours but even then, it's detectable if someone is standing close. The edp is another story entirely; more pronounced aldehydes, ylang, cypress, and yes, in the opening citrus blast of bergamot, grapefruit and Sicilian lemon. The edp lasts on *well moisturized* skin 5-6 hours. Even the reformulated edp. Goutal never intended her scents to last the entire day. She created them to smell good, and then fade away, leaving room to spritz on something else (preferrably another of her creations, of course), later in the day.

Annick Goutal was my first foray into niche fragrance, back in the early 90s when the brand could only be found in about 3 shops in all of NYC. Hadrien was her love song to Italy, Tuscany to be more specific. While the Eau d'Hadrien of today isn't what he used to be - with reformulations and all - I am happy enough with the current version to always keep a bottle or two (I am also very fond of the eau de parfum version) in the refrigerator. It opens with a bracing blast of lemon, properly tart and very dry and given a little lift by sparkling (not soapy) aldehydes. It's sharp and likely to make you pucker. It quickly moves through grapefruit, citron, a touch of the sweet and tropical ylang and finally settling into its woody base of cypress. The grapefruit and ylang are more evident in the edp, so much so that it feels like a different fragrance - they definitely share the same DNA but are different enough to warrant owning both versions. People often complain of the longevity of Goutal fragrances but I have it on good authority that she never intended her fragrances to last all day; she preferred a scent applied in the morning to fade away, making way for you to apply another of her perfume creations later in the day. If you want your Hadrien to hang around a bit longer, try layering it with the body creme, which has a very high percentage (I think it's 3% or more) of perfume. It's a pretty luxurious way to experience the fragrance, and if you're a fan, you should treat yourself. :) A modern classic for those who love their citruses neat and dry. It's been love for me for over 20 years!

(Bottle c. early 1990s) Water from Hadria, or Hadrian Water, a town of northern Italy. Or, perhaps, a reference to the Roman emperor, Hadrian, or to someone "dark haired", apparently. How ever you choose to translate this, and derive the creative vision from the meaning, there is no doubt you will find blistering Italian sunshine heating up a lemon and herb garden. At this point in the perfume's life, which for this bottle is getting on a bit, the top notes of lemon have gone a bit bitter and astringent to give a determined bergamot and lemon verbena accord; not the intention of Annick Goutal or Francis Camail, but it is certainly striking as was the original lemon top. The sheer force with which this old perfume still tries to assert those top notes certainly gives you the impression this was a lemon bomb in its prime. It dries down quite quickly to a heart of cypress and grapefruit. They too have lost some of their bright and sour notes but instead now have the effect of dried green herbs and freshly ground anise roasting in the sun. The woody and aromatic oily note of the cypress turned more anisic, and the sulfuric tendencies of grapefruit highlighting the more dried zest facet... I think. So, while it may not be the same perfume it was nearly 30 years ago, it's a testament to just how good it is that even well-aged it is still great.

What a disappointment! I was looking forward to trying Eau d'Hadrien very much, because I love citrus, I love the colour yellow and most promisingly I love Mémoires d'Hadrien by Marguerite Yourcenar. So my expectations were high, which is rarely a good thing... My first impression was of a lot of citrus, nice and a bit herbal. I wasn't blown away, but not immediately dissapointed either. I thought it would be interesting to see where it and/or my appreciation for it evolved. The problem is, it didn't. After half an hour it's almost entirely gone. I have a sample I bought online; I'll try this again if I see it in a store to see if I get better results with another bottle/another version of it (the eau de parfum instead of the eau de toilette, maybe?), because I do so love the idea of smelling like that book! Edit: I finished my sample on a hot day, and in the crook of my elbow this time, and the effect was very different. Still a lot of slightly herbal lemon, but blooming in the heat and much brighter. This time the simplicity of the scent did make it convincing as the perfume of Hadrien in the book! It lasts a bit better, too. I think I would like at least a decant of this after all, but now I know better than to wear it on a colder day...

One of the very best EdCs you can find anywhere. Beautifully blended with a dry, almost arid, grapefruit keeping the other citrus notes from getting too sweet. It is this grapefruit note that elevates this fragrance and justifies its almost legendary status 40 years after its initial release. The quality here is indisputable. The notes smell incredibly natural and are given a sparkling sensation throughout the opening and middle by aldehydes. The base has a pleasant cypress note that last for a considerable time. Indeed, the longevity of Eau d'Hadrien is impressive for such a hesperdic fragrance. This scent is as unisex as it gets. At one time, this fragrance was my everyday warm weather scent. These days, I live mostly in hotter climates and find that, while excellent in every way at temperatures up to the middle 80°F (38.5-32.5°C) range, at higher heat levels (especially with accompanying high humidity), this fragrance is just a little bit too weighty to be quite the right choice. But on merely warm days, this scent is just magnificent. The current bottle is elegant and attractive and the atomizers used here are among the very best. This really is wonderful stuff. Highly recommended for warm weather use.