Grand Amour

I had a hard time tracking down a bottle of this in the U.S. I'm reviewing this even though I've only worn it for 5 minutes, bear in mind. First spray is a little strange for about 10 seconds, then it settles into the prominent hyacinth and lily. It smells really musty at first but it's already smelling more floral, more like what I was expecting based on the reviews. It doesn't project much on my skin. I like it, but it isn't as earthy as I thought it would be - it's rather floral, and slightly powdery. It is nice and I feel like I'll probably grow to like it more as I wear it, but not an instant love. It has the Annick Goutal signature je sais quoi, but it's not that extraordinary. But, I agree with another reviewer that this is the scent of Wuthering Heights. It's romantic, sort of melancholic, and honestly I can't stop sniffing my wrist so that can't be a bad thing. I think it's a safe blind buy if it sounds interesting to you. I do like it. I feel like I'm smelling a lot of rose, even though that's not supposedly one of the prominent notes? I've got nothing bad to say about this. It's another very nice and feminine Annick Goutal, and like Eau de Charlotte, I bet this will grow on me the more I wear it and I wouldn't be surprised if I get through a whole bottle of this. It's a shame it's so hard to find! Not sure why they are not offering this online in the U.S. Compared to the other Goutal scents I know or have. this is a little more moody and complex. I didn't like Ninfeo Mio much (too sharp). I like Petite Cherie, although its not a complicated scent. Eau d'Hadrien is my mom's signature, but I'm not terribly fond of that one, and I like Eau de Charlotte a lot. This is probably on par for me with EdC. They're not similar, but both very unique and French.

This was my first venture into the world of Annick Goutal. Unfortunately I just do not have the right skin chemistry for GRAND AMOUR. At first I got beautiful hyacinth and lily fragrance but in less than one minute the leather tone came through and took over completely. I got hints of jasmine but it did not compliment the leather well. As this leathery smell developed it became more and more like civet with strong animalistic undertones. On top of it the scent turned a bit soapy. This scent brings an image of a leather jacket dropped in the grass and then scrubbed with soap. When the dry down came in, the leather accent finally calmed down and the myrrh came through. I actually like the myrrh in this fragrance. It is light, airy and dreamy. I know that some fragrances turn leathery on me and I do not mind it. But this one just does not work. I bought this fragrance based on reviews looking for a nice natural floral green scent. This is not what I have experienced. My suggestion is to get a sample before buying. I am sure it smells gorgeous on other people but if you have the same luck as I, you will be in a mild shock if you buy it blind like I did. UPDATE: My mom tried this fragrance and it is gorgeous on her. The start is fresh and green but a bit sweet. The most incredible thing is when the heart notes bring the leather accent, it is very mild and sophisticated. It is like green florals with just a touch of leather. I cannot even describe it but it smells beautiful. I gave this bottle to my mom as she absolutely fell in love with it.

Based on a .5 ounce EDT that I own, I just purchased a full bottle of the EDP. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be very close to the EDT, just "more". My first couple of tries with the EDT were disappointing. I couldn't smell anything! I thought I might have been taken for a ride by the seller, I persisted nevertheless and am so glad I did. I w as s finally able to actually smell it from beginning to end. I liked it right off the bat. The hyacinth came through and rang out clear as a bell. Soon it was joined by honeysuckle and a touch of jasmine, the former adding some sweetness to the composition, and the oh so slightly indolic jasmine just makes it prettier. It's odd, but I don't really pick up on the lily, though I think it contributes a subtle spiciness. I don't find the myrrh to be bitter. I think it combines well with the amber, adding some depth. I really don't get anything reminiscent of funeral, and I don't get anything too gothic either, not that I would mind that. In fact, I am hoping the EDP takes it in that direction, as I like haunting and mysterious perfumes, and one that can conjure up images of the "grand amour" of Cathy and Heathcliff is right up my alley since "Wuthering Heights" is one of my favorite novels of all time! I will update with my impressions of the EDP vs the EDT once it arrives and I can do a side by side comparison. In the meantime, I now feel free to spray my small bottle quite freely and lavishly!

Grand Amour Conjours an Image of long slender fingers clad in Black leather gloves slowly Caressing a Bouquet of white Lillies as she walked Solemnly through a Stone Pathed heavily weeded almost derelict Sematary, I can Detect the Note of Iris In Grand Amour It's cold sharpness A perfect Metaphor for her tears gently streaming under her Diaphanous black Veil Or Angel statues made of Marble soaked after an Autumn rain Reveled in it's scent of musty Asphalt, The Red rose's Blood pouring out from it's sinuous Petals drained of color Leaves a Deepy Spicy aroma Leads her to a Tombstone of a Long forgotten 20's Matinee Idol, frozen in time at the age of 31 A small black and white photograph with a Gold edging Fashioned in a Oval A Swarthy Handsome Man Slender Hair Combed Back almost with a Leather Glisten, round Bedroom eyes Of Dark Brown Gazed upon her in a trace she fell in lust for him so she gently raised her veil Revealing her pale Alabaster Placed the Already soaked Bouquet of Lillies on the ground and slowly kissed His tombstone, Leaving a Lipstick Stain of Aubergine, When it started to rain she opened her Umbrella and as she was Walking though the Pouring rain she heard a Beautiful Hymn coming from a nearby Church MEMORARE, O piissima Virgo Maria, Tears Again Filled from her eyes as she walked farther away from the Semetary. Grand Amour & L'heure Bleue are Sisters of Melancholic Perfumes.

The EDP is out of this world! It retains much of what I enjoy about the EDT, but deepens it. While I see EDT performing best in warm weather, I think one can wear EDP any time of year, though I have a feeling it will be best in springtime. I have been having a love affair with Annick Goutal the past month or so, and I am glad I sought Grand Amour, had a chance to try the EDT in a .5 oz bottle, and decided to purchase a full bottle of the EDP. The longevity is pretty decent for a Goutal, especially on clothing, and the silage remains soft and intimate. If I had to choose between the two, I would go for the EDP. It's light enough to perform like an EDT, but more complex and complete. I have fallen under it's spell. PS - earlier this evening I wrote a review on a different perfume and made a comment on how lily is a difficult note for me. In this case, it works beautifully. PPS - this really is almost all about a divine leather and hyacinth on my skin. I struggle to pull out other notes but I know they're there adding complexity and layers. Without a doubt the most gorgeous leather scent I have or have ever tried!

I received a sample of Annick goutal grand Amour from a fragrantica member. As soon as i sprayed it i thought i smelled rubber tires, it's the leather note. Seconds later it morphed into a scary beautiful unique perfume. I smell dead leaves, crushed dried rose petals laid on a leather bed. It's cold. This perfume envoked an instant vision in my mind and this had never happened so vividly to me before. I felt like it's the fall, October, im walking through the woods at night, dead leaves crunching under my feet, and it's chilly in the air, i can feel the cold air in my nose. I walk to a clearing and in there is an old cemetary with dried roses in vases all around the head stones from there loved ones. When you smell the perfume you actually feel like your breathing in cold air! A note in the perfume plays as if the scent itself is chilly. This perfume is very artistic. It's beautiful, long lasting, great sillage. There's not very many scents that can create such intense imagery with me but this one does it. It's not something everyone will love or appreciate. It's beautifully strange. I love it

I know I reviewed this year's ago, but wearing it today, it seems even more beautiful than before. Mine is EDP, and more than any other note, I get leather throughout. It's a beautiful leather, not too animalistic, but rather buttery soft. It smells very realistic of the finished product. I can pick out certain florals, especially hyacinth and lily if I focus, but the others just seem to add to the gorgeous leather note rather than shining on their own. They remind me of what I imagine perfumers in the court of Versaille would do to a pair of leather gloves, adding floral oils to cover any unpleasant animal smells and other unpleasantness. I seem to be alone amongst those who detect the leather as the dominant note. Ultimately it reminds me of a bouquet bound in leather and I just love it. Vintage version though not sure how old. It just reeks of worldly sophistication, though I can easily see how this would not work for many people, especially younger ones unless they are "old souls". I feel like it requires a certain amount of life experience to be pulled off successfully.

I adore the floral silage of this perfume. I get a blast of Hyacinth with the other florals softly playing in the background. It's very surrounding, like you're wrapped in a soft, floral cocoon. Really pretty except for one caveat - you have to get past the opening. It's not necessarily harsh, but a weird dirty green, like grass rotting away on a mulch pile. Even though it eventually goes away, it is there way too long. Once that opening is gone I'm loving this fragrance. I'm using a sample from a pack of Goutal samples. I don't know how old the samples are so it could just be that they're off from old age. I really love what I'm smelling from the silage but I'm also finding that it dissipates too fast and the longevity is on the poor side. Surprising, since I am testing an edp sample. As to the other notes listed, I'm really not smelling them except something a little spicy, which could be due to one of two factors - either this is a very well blended, or the fragrance has gone off. While I like the florals in this a lot, I'm unsure about purchasing a bottle at this point.

Oh my, what a romantic, gothic, haunting, melancholic beauty. This truly is descriptive of a grand amour, a love that lasts beyond one's lifetime - it makes me imagine a ghost of a loved one haunting. This is Wuthering Heights in a bottle. Fragrance-wise, the floral notes are both white and green at the same time, very strong, creamy but also a bit screechy, especially with the strong hyacinth note; surely not to everyone's taste. At some point it takes a clear twist to the dry down which is magic. I don't get any leather personally but mostly myrrh and vanilla. The dry down is my favourite part and I wish it lasted longer and was stronger. I have got a sample of the EdP version and based on this, I would not care to try the EdT. If it were not the high price, I would certainly buy a full bottle. Right now I'm considering some cheaper myrrh perfume instead, but I suppose I might still get my hands on this some time in the future. The notes are so natural and realistic, as always with Annick Goutal, there's nothing synthetic about it.

A gentle, soft bouquet of summer florals on a bed of fresh green stems. This is everything we expect of Goutal, the delicate watercolour palette, the lightness of touch. Refreshing and airy, the colours and notes all adding up to a bewitching, wispy, floral sillage. The white lilies are, I think, an accord of jasmine and soft myrrh and the trace of vanilla rather than real funeral home lilies. And they don't dominate, the hyacinth, lemon, the honeysuckle accord, mimosa, light rose and greening galbanum are equal partners, all light and breezy but with surprising power behind them. The barely-there isobutyl quinoline and broom base (amber and sandalwood are listed instead by Goutal for the eau de parfum but I can't spot them) providing just enough substance to support the flowers and fuse them to skin. Absolutely gorgeous. Its nearest relative is Guerlain's Chamade but it doesn't have the Guerlain vintage powder notes so for me it's an improvement (Heresy, I know. I love Chamade but I love Grand Amour a-more!). A summertime classic.

I wanted to get my hands on this perfume for so long but reviews were so polarising (a lovely spring flower bouquet perfect for a spring wedding vs. morbid, perfect for [your own] funeral...). Well, I finally got a vintage bottle of the EDP. Definitely not a crowd pleaser. Very vintage opening. My mum had lots of perfumes that smelled like this (to begin with) I smell a cloud of lily of the valley& hyacinth, amber. Very warm, mysterious and sophisticated. Most Annick Goutals bring back childhood memories, or take my mind somewhere I haven’t been but maybe dreamt of. I love Songes, and Grand Amour has a similar dream like vibe. It’s stunningly beautiful in a very oldy worldly way. Fresh white flowers go alongside dusty, heavy notes. If compared to an experience, to me it would be walking into an old, beautiful, dusty apartment, with old furniture and books. Dried flowers in vases, pearls hanging on a mirror. And rays of sun coming through heavy curtains on a sunny spring evening.

Someone here gave me a sample of this fragrance. This was not in my want list but it is now. I love soapy florals but it seems to me that everything I encountered until this was lacking something. This is exactly the kind of soapy I was looking for---green, with enough tingle of soap, then very natural florals in one concoction. My disappointment with Petit Cherie and Eau du Sud made me ignore the rest of the Goutals but I see now that I judged too quickly. If I can actually see myself committing to one fragrance for many years, it would smell somewhat like this. The lily here is very lovely and perfect with the leather and I don't know what Lydia broom is but if it is what makes this kinda woody and prickly, then I love it. This would make a good bridal fragrance. It smells white and dainty and pure.

Hyacinth and honeysuckle are florals I like. Usually I find them in in fresh, light or green compositions. Here they have a darker, warmer, background. Dense myrrh and sweet amber are deepening down to a shade that reveals a hint of leather. Very soft but very black leather, like perfectly fitted almost buttery soft gloves. On my skin this broad accord plays simply beautiful. What Goutal does with these flowers reminds me a bit of how Caron pairs the rose with warm myrrh in Parfum Sacre. Except there is no incense here, instead the animalistic element with the sensual leather makes Grand Amour manifest more profane suggestions. Pure indulgent sensuality to my nose. Downside is the lasting-power, it clings forever to scarves and clothes, but to skin it needs reapplying after 4-5 hours.

I have and love the EDP. Very vintage. Very French. I get a lot of hyacinth in the opening and a touch of lily along with spiky green notes. I can’t detect the honeysuckle. After the initial blast I begin to get leather! So many fragrances purport to have leather notes that never appear (at least on my skin). This is not the case here. The floral notes are not fresh..it’s like smelling dried flowers. There is a dusty, dry quality that enhances the vintage nature of this perfume. This will not be for everyone. It evokes for me old leather bound book, dried flower potpourri . Things get a bit sweeter and more resinous in the dry down. I will wear this on cold, rainy spring days. It is a complex and contemplative scent. Beautiful! (Also purchased the EDT, which is fabulous as well)

I got a 1 ounce bottle of this for a steal, $15 to be exact so it was a blind buy. This is a pretty spring floral. Lots of hyacinth, broom, mimosa like a spring garden after a rain shower, very lovely. You can also smell something of the dirt and the roots that hold up the flowers, it is a garden after all in this bottle not just a bouquet of flowers fresh cut and sitting in a vase, no, no.... In this bottle of liquid holds the scent of hyacinths, broom, lilies, mimosa w/ the animalic tang of dirt, roots and rain showers of days past. This is a unique little beauty. Update this to a love 😘. Amazing spring floral. I agree with @churini a bouquet 💐 of flowers wrapped in leather. For those that have seen a bit of life and understand the bitter with the sweet.

This was one of my forgotten favourites in the 90 ́s and thanks to a swap with another lovely member, i acquired it again and oh my, how could i have forgotten her. I agree ir is not an easy perfume to wear : it is not just a floral but not a real oriental either. The incredible green opening of hyacinth and honeysuckle might intimidate certain persons. The jadmin provides a bit sweetness and powdery character but it is not a huge indolic interpretation, remains soft. I just love that contrast between that fresh green opening and the powdery, lush sweet leather dry down. It is a distinct and sophisiticated frag i really love and i prefer the EDP version, it has much more body and longevity and with a very rich and warm dry down! A must try of AG house !!!

EDT: With a name like Grand Amour I was anticipating a big floral smell, but I've been taken by surprise. The first half an hour, or so, is heavy on the leather, myrrh, and musk. As the dry down occurs some florals begin to emerge until I can make out the hyacinth, mimosa, lily and rose. This perfume is flowers with incense and leather that has a dark, fresh dewiness that lasts for a good 12 hours. It's not sexy and it's not flirty, to me this beauty alludes confidence wrapped in a sensual mysteriousness and sophistication. I'm really enjoying this perfume and am looking to try the EDP as well. Big love for AG!

At first sniff I almost recoiled. This is a floral. I love florals but it’s a biiiigggg floral. Almost too much. Finally one night I sprayed some on after having too much wine, because why not, and Grand Amour introduced herself to me, slowly, over the course of several hours. Floral, lovely, but not sharp. Green. Distinct. Different. Gorgeous. She gets better and better. And better. Don’t limit yourself to a paper strip. Spray her on and give her time. Just like any grand dame, she is worth the wait.

I am in love! What a delicious creamy flower perfume. Not your usual flowerwater, but a perfume that envelops you in a thick bouquet with hyacint and lily, with a vanilla-like fullness (without being too vanilla, but it has the body as if it were vanilla), I hope this makes sense, it is too complex to give an accurate description..... But I keep grabbing this bottle (mid winter). PS: I have the edp, does anyone know if the edt is different from the edp (apart from the concentration)?

It’s been years since I wore this, and the new batch has kept it reasonably true to the way I remember it. I bought a tester bottle from fragnet recently and opened it this evening. At first spray it immediately reminded me of Chamade though, and that’s something I didn’t relate it to back in the late ‘90’s. As I love Chamade it’s not a problem for me. Hyacinth and green notes galore, along with that “damp” undefinable quality that exists in those heavy green fragrances. Love it.