Heure Exquise

Heure Exquise EDP, Revisited 5 years later In 2010 I had already bought "Petite Cherie" from the mall, and I liked it. I was also reading "Perfumes: The Guide" at the same time. I compiled a list of perfumes that I wanted to try, based on my reading, and this was one of them. Fragrancenet had a 50 ml bottle of this in EDP for like $45 or something, and only now do I realize how lucky I was to snap this up at that time. First off, it is in Eau de Parfum concentration. Secondly, it was old. The ingredients list is only Water, Perfume, Alcohol. I have already had 3 AG bottles turn on me, and truthfully I would not seek out "Vintage" Annick Goutal because their perfumes have such a short shelf life. Shockingly, this, for some reason, still smells great (my bottle of Petite Cherie from the mall went bad in a year.) Maybe there really is Mysore Sandalwood in my bottle--the sandalwood in here smells awesome, and we all know that no one puts that kind of sandalwood in there perfumes anymore. So I'm lucky. When I reviewed this over 5 years ago, I had no idea what I was smelling, I only knew what I felt. Now, with my 'trained' nose, I still feel the same overwhelming emotions--a weird mixture of sadness and hope, wistful? when I wear this, but I can better appreciate what is going on. The overriding notes in here are dry, dusty, and antique. The galbanum is not so much green as aged, like greenery in the woods that have ripened all summer, and now it is fall, and they are becoming concentrated and dried up. That and the powder--the iris in here is SUPER rooty, SUPER dry, and SUPER powdery. The galbanum may be the earth, but the iris is not earthy at all, it is rather ghostly. The other floral are muted and hard to smell unless you are looking for them (but this may be because my bottle is getting old.) As HE wears down it becomes almost skanky and dirty, dark notes that creep in, and the sandalwood base helps it along--woody and a bit creamy underneath those dark notes. The intense iris powder never goes away, it is evident through out the entire wear. Vanilla? Not on my skin. I totally love HE. I have still have never smelled another perfume that makes me feel the way HE does. I love iris, and the combination of slightly scary dark notes along with the sandalwood is just golden. Unlike most AG's this does have good tenacity, just don't expect too much silage. So now that I realize that I have a super old bottle of AG that hasn't gone bad yet, I am in a hurry to wear it as much as possible--until now I only wore it a few times a year (and I wore it when I got married!) but now I'm terrified that it's going to turn. I've never smelled the EDT, and at least they didn't discontinue this when the company got bought out. Still I am a little afraid of what it smells like now, it has to have been reformulated.

I immediately fell in love with this scent. That rarely happens meanwhile. Let me first say that it really bothers me that most reviews here are 3/4 texts about Chanel. Heure Exquise certainly is a scent that stands for itself, why do people haggle hours about Chanel or not Chanel? This is not Chanel, end of. (sorry, but it really bugs me) About Heure Exquise: an old-fashioned, yet not "old" scent for sure. It starts with an almost spicy freshness, clearing the mind. Shortly after I get even more spicy, but still fresh notes of garden clove (not listed but defo in there) and very light sandalwood. A soft Iris, only slightly powdery, joins in and gives a warm (but not at all stuffy!) touch to it. In the base a get a very soft, unsweet vanilla, the spicyness and the clove remain though and make this a very harmonious, soft, spicy, superfeminine scent that, for my nose, is so perfectly composed it's comparably out of this world. After I got my hands on a 4ml sample of the old edition (the EdT in the older, pretty bottles) I immeditaly tried to get an original bottle and was lucky to find one on ebay. One of my favourites in my collection, and no, not comparable, no need to steadily compare this to other scents, it really stands for itself and in a very good way.

Annick Goutal Heure Exquise may be my favorite iris perfume to date. I feel like I’ve never really smelled iris before; every other iris scent was some kind of mistake or bad dream. In Heure Exquise, there’s not a hint of rootiness or metal, just clean, luxuriously soapy creaminess, blending with vanilla smoothly till it reminds me of a shortbread cookie. The iris has a suggestion of fine hand lotion, or a hotel room with the smoothest white cotton sheets in the world and a thick white matelasse coverlet. That sense of minimalist yet luxe pleasures. There’s a dreamy breath of hyacinth to set it off, and occasional hints of rose, but they’re accents; the iris is the main event. Heure Exquise is often compared to Chanel No. 19, but I find the Chanel much greener and colder, more of a crisp galbanum-centric fragrance. The Goutal is tender, cozy, with the barest suggestion of a honeyed aftertaste to the soft iris-vanilla base. 2 hours in, the sweetness is overt, and we’re in golden vanilla-sandalwood territory; the iris remains as a creamy texture. It’s almost, but not quite, too sweet for me. Definitely a traditionally feminine scent. Noticeable sillage, but no louder than a whisper. This one’s a keeper.

Absolutely beautiful. I love Annick Goutal perfumes, and I ordered a bottle blind-a serious gamble at these prices. After my first sprays, my immediate impression was of classic perfumes from the 1940's....when perfume was womanly and much more intricate than the "fruity sweet fresh floral" fragrances everywhere today. I was hesitant; what if it turned out to be a dated, old lady fragrance after the topnotes faded? Did I make a very expensive mistake? I went about my day, and several hours later I caught wafts of a breathtakingly beautiful scent......notes of powdery dusky iris and rose, with delicious smoky,warm notes ...and I smelled my wrists and fell completely in love with L'Heure Exquise. It's totally different from my other perfumes; I can't always wear iris scents, and powdery scents can be tricky; if done badly they smell cheap and dated to me. This is in a whole different league; it's a masterpiece. Heartbreakingly lovely; this is honestly the first fragrance I have ever worn that truly feels romantic to me. It conjures an image for me of a classic old movie, a gorgeous Gene Tierney or Lauren Becall , in a ladylike, but sexy dress, on a date with a handsome stranger. I love it.

Heure Exquise (EDP) (9249Q, December 2019, USD 70) If you ever familiar with green powdery scent No.19, Chanel 28 La Pausa. I think you will absolutely love this little beauty easily. The quality of Fresh cut glass smell (Galbanum) is beautiful here. Haycinth adding the haziness into the mix, is create fog of illusion. Iris here, is almost unfold. This is similar iris I found in 28 La Pausa. The one that dry and Chalky, I like my Iris that way. While Iris is beautiful, The Rose is come to the party. Even more so surprisingly beautiful. Although Glbanum, Iris, Haycinth work in harmony. The rose manages to show me the "Bloom rose" - centered in all environment that other scent create, somehow. What I do specially like, is while no.19 is leans cold. This one, is more nuptial. This leans woody (powdery sandalwood) dry down. A bit thick but much warmer than 19. Will you like?, I don't know no.19 is something a little harder to like. But I won't shade a single tear complaining Heure Exquise.. It is beautiful, in her own way. Score 9.5/10 Longevity : 5 hours Projection : 1 hours strong before fade significantly Classification : Leans femme, with all iris - floral aspect