Songes

I love Songes. But of course I do, because I love jasmine. I have jasmine growing in my backyard and during the late spring and early summer you can find me near it more often than not as I take in its gorgeous scent one breath after another. Songes is the jasmine I know and love dialed up to Spinal Tap 11. But this isn’t rock n roll. This is the sound of a rich and emotional bossa nova ballad played by a guitarrista infected with saudade during a languid afternoon while you lay on a hammock in the tropics, heat and humidity kissing skin balmed by the occasional breeze, perfectly ripe tropical fruit in a bowl next to you for snacking letting loose the fragrance of its oils and sugars and juices into the air, the smell of your high quality tanning lotion occasionally making its way to your olfactory receptors. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, like a breeze all of their own perhaps from along the tropical forest tree line or the well-tended garden of your resort: jasmine, frangipani, and ylang-ylang. The smell is intoxicating to the point you almost cannot stand it. The crafted cocktail in your hand has nothing on the effects created by this fragrance on the breeze. As I smell it now for who-knows-what-number time, it still makes me weak at the knees, a sigh and moan leave my chest, eyes roll to the back of my head, a tingle spreads down my scalp and up my back - sorry, this is getting inappropriate isn’t it? Ok, switching gears, on to the technical stuff. Songes is a lot like No. 5. Songes is very obviously a jasmine evocation, white and musky floral with many dimensions, but the frangipani and the ylang ylang have a lot to say too, making this a floral amalgam much in the way No. 5, Joy, Arpege, and all of those other classics are that have won our hearts and noses. Speaking of Patou, this reminds me a lot of Chaldee. Songes wouldn’t be Songes without the frangipani with its white, rich, sweet, coconut fragrance that is certainly present at a Spinal Tap 11; without the ylang-ylang with it’s yellow, banana and tropical fruit and citrusy notes; without the richness of the vanilla, cinnamon, or musks bringing an extra layer of sweetness, animalic purr, and earthy depth that makes the perfume feel like a beautiful caress that goes on forever. Sorry, never mind, I’m incapable of doing an objective analysis of this. It’s too good for me to give a damn about that. Excuse me while I go melt into a hammock in a tropical flower garden.

I bought the original formula of Songes. Songes, or "dreams" is a lovely little number to daydream with on a hot summer's day, whilst wearing your prettiest dress in the sunshine. To me, this seems hyper-feminine and beautiful and hopelessly romantic, and I feel as though I'm walking barefoot through a cottage garden in the springtime, that has the flowerbeds in full bloom, whilst eating a vanilla cupcake dusted with crystalised sugar. At first, I wasn't sure about it, because it smelt strongly of an outdated jasmine and gardenia, and it didn't really remind me of the newer version that I tested in stores, either, which from memory seemed sweeter, lighter and more tropical. Whilst the perfume is surprisingly not super sweet, there is a pronounced sweetness, and at times I did find it to be overwhelmingly floral. But on the skin, this is pure beauty. The perfume starts strongly, with that "outdated" floral scent again, before it quickly develops into a heavy vanilla blanketed by a background of creamy white florals. The jasmine then develops intensely here, and sometimes it is a bit too sharp and the tiniest bit green (but this may be because I'm wearing this on a unseasonably warm day in winter; I really feel as though a true summer's day will really round out the edges on this one and blend it all together seamlessly.) From time to time I sense some creaminess from the ylang-ylang and some sweetness from the frangipani, and I developed a little bit of a headache, which I think is due to some hidden buttery tuberose (not listed as a note). The vanilla then reappears during the dry-down, as the florals become less noticeable and are consumed entirely by the sweetness. A moderate to heavy sillage; longevity is for about 9-10 hours.

Yet another heartbreak. My original bottle was purchased by Annick Goutal. Now, they have changed the website to Goutal Paris. They have changed the bottles. They have changed the descriptions. Before, the descriptions were long and detailed, almost poetic, now it is just a short retail blurb, not a mention of Annick Goutal, has she been scrubbed from the website? The beloved original scent has been lost forever. The original Songes was the stuff of lovely dreams, just as the name implies. It lasted hours, and even longer on some fabrics. To me, notes in the opening through to the dry down depended on how close the nose is to the fragrance. The jasmine might have called to you from afar, but when you approach, the frangipani is what you find up close, and a hint of vanilla, and on and on, warm and sometimes heady. At times, it is just a little too much for the wearer, but to the person experiencing it on someone else, it is enticing and alluring, magical. At least, that is how my man describes it. Each time your olfactory ponders, you find as many questions as answers. It is truly dreamlike, always fleeting, changing, whispering. But now, what is the pale juice in this redesigned bottle? Is it the same? I sincerely doubt it. There is no such thing as a signature scent, unless you buy a hundred bottles at the same time, and guard them for life. Reformulations make people buy new perfumes. They don't want us to have loyalty to one scent. So, they reformulate and force us to buy a dupe of the scent, or something "close", something "new". They've taken an art form and turned into a quick turnover profit. I will enjoy the rest of my bottle. I will search for original bottles. I will mourn when it is gone.

Songes by Goutal is a masterpiece in execution and each note blends perfectly together, giving me an undulating bouquet of tropical white and yellow flowers that unfurls and blossoms on my skin as it opens. A slightly latexy and sweet frangipani is the most noticeable on my skin, followed by the buttery and oily ylang ylang, the slightly heady jasmine and the frutiy tiare flower. I only get a hint of sensual and almost gourmand vanilla in the base. It reminds me of what would happen if both Terracotta by Guerlain and A Chant For The Nymph by Gucci had a love child... it would most likely smell like Songes. Songes is less sweet than A Chant For The Nymph, but sweeter than Terracotta. I can imagine wearing this equally both for work or on vacation, since it is very tropical but still ladylike. It has a certain reserved quality about it that is still flirty and yet sweet, like something made for Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Very beachy and enchanting. I think that you could wear it anytime, except during winter. Sillage was about moderate, but the longevity on my skin was only barely so. I only got 4 hours wear time all up on my skin, which was slightly dissapointing for me. I was lucky to get it for only $45 AUD though as a set of ten 1.75ml vials from a seller on Ebay... basically an entire small perfume for very cheap! Considering everything above, I'd give Songes an 8 out of 10. It has brilliant execution and the ingredients are of an incredible quality, but it just needs more staying power. It also can't compete with my beloved Terracotta... Terracotta is still the queen bee of tropical white and/or yellow floral scents for me!

i am addiced to this amazing fragrance !!! i love it so much i have back up bottles lol i did read some negative reviews but gee i am completely opposite of their opinions lol.......i find this fragrance one of the best vanilla florals around !! yes vanilla is prominent but its done in a beautiful luxury way not in a teen fragrance scent way lol and the floral mix is perfect.......i find the jasmine is a bit of a stand out on me in the floral arrangement but over all beautifully done :) its one of those fragrances u spray on u & u literally cannot stop sniffing.......i call this a yummy scent its very feminine & romantic & the description is perfect - a powdery cloud of vanilla & florals..........if u love powder scents this should be in ur collection i really miss annick goutal scents........you dont hear much about them anymore - its kind of like they got lost in the midst of ALL the millions of niche fragrance lines when the daughter took over awhile back it just wasnt the same - its like the line dropped off the face of the earth lol.....its now called goutal paris & the original beautiful feminine bottles with the cute bows are history - now the bottles are more streamlined & kind of unisex looking :( also its hard (in the USA) to even find where to purchase the line but even if i wanted to (purchase the new goutal ) the prices are 3 times as much as they use to be.........the scents are over 200.00 a bottle now (a bit more than my budget allows sadly ) so if u love annick goutal originals gather them up lol - u can still find them on frangrance discount sites:) and this is one of their best ones besides la violette :)

This is one of those perfumes that's hard to describe because I like it so much. As a kid, I was fascinated by watching motes of dust floating through a ray of sunlight that would go through the window at a certain time, late in the afternoon. The way the tiny particles would glow golden in the light just seemed to freeze time, it was so magical. Songes gives me that feeling. It has a hazy, golden, soft focus quality to it, the feeling of sun warming your skin, that magical hour or so in the evening when the light turns everything to gold. Since that says nothing about how it smells, I'd say it smells tropical, but I'm not from the tropics so I don't know the actual flowers very well. It smells a little like jasmine or gardenia, but much richer and honey-sweet, with a rounded quality, almost banana like. It has a hint of salty oiliness to it that gives it that sensual skin quality, that note in the background reminds me a little bit of sunscreen or monoi. Vanilla is also noticeable, but it doesn't have a cupcakey kind of sweetness to it at all, it's much more rich honeyed tropical flowers, warmed up and mellowed with vanilla. With that thick, dense, honey-like sweetness it seems like it should be horribly cloying, but somehow it just floats, if you don't use too much. This stuff is really strong, even in the EDT. It could be pretty seriously heady if overapplied, but the sillage on the EDT is amazing! I had a friend comment from across the room that it smelled like Hawaii, and I had only put on a tiny dab and forgotten about it. It's also the longest lasting Annick Goutal that I've tried, and my favorite by far.

After reading the backstory of this perfume (Camille was inspired by the scent of frangipani at night time in Mauritius) I felt like I really needed to try a sample of this and ordered a vial from fragrancenet. It is night time here and raining very heavily right now and I'm not sure if the atmosphere is affecting the scent but it smells lovely. The frangipani, slightly sweetend by vanilla is the star of the show with ylang-ylang, jasmine and tiare acting as the back-up dancers. They play well together though I do feel like something is missing, I'm not sure what. Maybe I need it to be creamier or sweeter of maybe a hint of coconut or pineapple? But I'm a gourmandophile at heart so that could be the problem. Honestly though this is a sophisticated, well made frangipani scent. I'd reccomend it for 21+ because it just doesn't feel sweet&sassy enough for school girls/college girls, it has that 'I'm not a kid anymore' feel (but I'm not trying to say "GRANDMA PERFUME ALERT!" either, just to be clear.) Personally, I would save this for a hot&humid day. I feel like trying it on such a cold and rainy December day was a mistake. With some 'summery' fragrances, you can put them on in weather like this and it takes you away to a warm tropical paradise but Songes turned out to not do that for me. (In case you want reccomendations, the Comptoir Sud Pacifique perfumes are great for this!) Anyway, TL/DR: A very elegant and sophisticated Frangipani + vanilla + yellow flowers scent. Less on the 'tropical' and more on the 'foral' vibe.

Songes EDT is on par with Ylang Ylang Nose Be by Perris Monte Carlo as the best Ylang Ylang fragrance from my collection! Two absolutely memorable perfumes for this scent profile! A couple of summers ago I fell hard in love with the note of ylang ylang. I am not quite sure if I recovered because to my nose, there’s no flower that smells more divine and heavenly than ylang ylang. Lilacs included in this comparison. It was one of Demi Rawling’s videos where she was talking about Perris Monte Carlo’s scent what made me want to get my nose on perfumes featuring heavily this tropical flower. Songes was a very happy discovery, blind buy to be more precise, when an online retailer decided to reduce all Goutal’s perfumes for half off on their website. The rest is history, I cannot explain in words how beautiful this perfume is! As soon as I sprayed it on my skin I was instantly hooked on Songes. The ylang ylang note is paired here with another loves of mine, frangipani and tiare flower. A dream come true for tropical floral lovers. The jasmine note is not a stand out note in Songes. But the creamy, sweet, gourmand vanilla is perfectly blended with the flowers and creates one of the most intoxicating and addictive tropical florals scents I’ve smelled in my entire existence! If only I would have known how gorgeous Songes EDT is, I would have bought three bottles for half price off to have it for the rest of my life! For an EDT it’s not a bad performing scent. Projects strong for the first hour and last for days on clothing!

I have this bottle since November 2015 and its safe to say half of the bottle been savored deliriously with every spray. Of all Annick's that I've tried, Songes triumphs all of them. The scent just keeps on coming to you, surrounds you in a warm milky exotic flower sensation that makes you feel loved... yes, loved. Grown my own frangipani's and ylang ylang trees, its quite hard for me to distinguish the smell of both flowers in this mixture, (to actually identify and recognise a whiff of the individual flower)... but i know it is there and it contributes to my cravings. Its hard enough to find a good frangipani's perfume as the main character builder to where I am from, but for the fact that perfumers rarely use this flower in their creations added to my frustration of chances in exploring the possibilities of this great scent. Reason of the flower unknown to most of the western hemisphere community helps. This perfume is not much of a crowd 'pleaser' to where i came from, so be wise and try it first. The dry down is a good 12 hours for me where it settles to milky with flowery vibes to it, like a smoke vanilla with a dash of florals. Could have been linear if i haven't tried hard enough to differentiate the heart and the base. So silage and longevity is super great on me. Works great with your sweat too. Review is based on Songes edp To those who love Songes as much as I do, they might agree that it is a stuff of dream indeed.

Songes edt is a bomb of ylang and other heavy tropical florals with a sharp over-ripe indole facet. This stuff is such a powerhouse, you really only need one spray to share and distribute between your wrists, nape and sides of neck, and that will be *plenty*. Dries down to a powdery mineral sweetness, a little bit like sweet hay. I really don't pull too much vanilla from this one, even in the dry down which I'm actually pretty relieved about. The saving grace of Songes is that it smells extremely natural, and wears on skin like something that is made from natural ingredients. Though it is quite potent, its strength does not pulse and radiate off the skin like the synthetic supernatural florals found in a Mugler, or dry down to the mercilessly tenacious Iso E Super of Elie Saab edt. If it developed in either of these more artificial directions, it would be either lackluster or sickening. Fortunately, it smells natural till the last trace vanishes. Heady as it is, Songes allows me to breathe without suffocating, and my skin melds with the scent, instead of clashing or being masked. It's bold but harmonious and absolutely not for everyone. It stinks like the tropics stink: steamy, organic bordering on rotten, sweetly golden, shimmering, humid, thick, bountiful, and raw. Feminine, gorgeous and dirty-dirty. Very French.

A beautiful white and yellow floral - once the cumin note dies down! I have a decant and I am seriously considering a full bottle. For the life of me, I can't understand why perfumers use cumin as a note. I love spices, and I understand that in many cases, they seek to reproduce the smells of a body after passionate love-making, but cumin smells like tank body odor and unwashed armpits to me. If my lover smelled like this, I'd kick him out of bed and tell him to hit the shower! There's a fine line between smelling musky and animalic and smelling like you haven't showered in 2 weeks, and cumin crosses that line for me. Thankfully, it recedes fairly quickly in Songes. All in all, this is really pretty. A tropical floral done right, not cloying, just creamy ylang and tiare,drying down to soft, dreamy vanilla. A strong like that would be a love if not for that blasted cumin!!! PS - changed my mind. I do love it. Just purchased a 1.7 oz EDP from Ebay. The cumin never goes away completely but it does blend in with the other spices not listed, giving it some edge and making Songes more than just another beachy white floral. The longer I wear it, the more deeply I fall in love with it! Beautiful, but try before you buy.

I've always loved frangipani, and am hoping someday to find the perfect incarnation of that lovely flower. In light of this, I had thought that the Sylvie Chantecaille Frangipane would be that Holy Grail. My attention was drawn to the description of Goutal's Songes, and in a comparison, I'd have to say that the Chantecaille fragrance is flat and simple by comparison. Songes is not just a simple soliflore. The floralcy, which does not come across as pure plumeria (frangipani), develops gradually, almost linearly with a soft, smooth, blended base. It lasts very well on my skin, and although superficially it resembles others of this type, it smells much subtler, much higher quality than other things I have smelled. One reason compelling me to purchase this was the fact that others around me immediately complimented me, something which usually only happens when I wear Miss Dior, Murasaki, or Moschino. Whatever white flower notes are here to not attempt to be the big blowzy ones of Fracas or Jungle Gardenia, although I like those fragrances. It's a different type of tropical white floral, one far more in keeping with my personality, although I also wouldn't exactly call it "restrained", rather soothed.

I received Songes EDT as a Christmas gift recently. My friend knew I was very fond of the scent of tiaré flowers since I bought a bottle of Intense Tiaré by Montale and she was pretty sure I would like Songes although it was not on my wish list. Well, Songes has a lovely Tiaré scent and I’m also a big fan of jasmine but – and there always is a ‘but’ – it also has a rather heavy woody-resinous (or amber) base which I still have to get used to. In colder weather like now, it is fine. The wood and amber give a nice comforting ‘feel’ to the scent. I am not sure if I will be able to wear this in warmer weather. I’ve been wearing Songes to work the past couple of days and had no remarks (good or bad), I am aware of it all the time. Every time I move a whiff of Songes whirls around me, but it doesn’t seem to radiate very far. For me the EDT is strong enough, it lasts for more than 6 hours on me and on my scarf you can still smell it after one week! My favorite Tiaré is still Intense Tiaré by Montale, it is a pure floral scent and has a mere hint of coconut which makes it one of my favorite perfumes.

This perfume literally has the features of a masterpiece, while not being much advertised - which is capital for anyone who wishes to emit a smell not addressed to the massses. Although not a fan of very floral perfumes myself, I find that "Songes" is characterised by a perfection of proportions: 1) A mysterious and solid base to create the best atmoshpere. 2) A both deliberate and interesting choice of white floral notes. 3) A space for the skin elements to complete the scent by polishing a successful recipe. In a few words, wearing "Songes" expresses a multi-faceted personality, that is sophisticated yet sentient, sensibile and sensual, and it may be worn both in winter and in summer depending on whether someone chooses an EDP or an EDT. Personally I choose the EDP whenever I find it available, because on my skin it displays great sillage - heavy I dare say - and longevity with only a slight change of the scent by the end of the day. This perfume is definitely a "head turner" for various reasons and, as far as I am concerned, it is one of the best - if not the best - of the house of Goutal.

I am among those in the minority who have chosen winter as preferred season to wear this beauty. It's an intrinsic feature of any scent to be personal and to convey unique feelings and emotions. Songes for me in summer would be impossible: its creamy warmth wraps my skin so warmly that in the heat of sunny days I am afraid I would be choked. That's me of course and the summer where I live which is humid and sticky. Songes in winter is a warm blanket near the fireplace, sipping a hot chocolate with a cat purring on the carpet. An image of cozy happiness, calm peace of body and mind. Wearing Songes is so soothing. It makes you live in a chaotic metropolis as if you were on a peaceful tropical beach surrounded by fine sand and colourful fishes. It's such a "young" scent, peaceful, innocent and pure (but not banal, it has all the richness the Goutal's creations have made us accustomed to) that I would not marvel at its being used for therapetic purposes in cases of depression. Love, love, love it. Absolutely wonderful. And long lasting too. A must.

On me, this perfume is sensual, evocative, and makes my husband and I want to jump right back into bed. The deep smooth jasmine balances perfectly into my body chemistry. My advice (if you like jasmine scents like this) is to wear this very lightly, as it is long-lasting and has a grand sillage. It's a perfume for someone with confidence, as it will precede you no matter how little you use. Not a perfume for a "Scent Free" office environment. For me, sophisticated, special and very sexy. I'll keep my bottle. If you don't like jasmines or big white florals, just steer clear. Buying this perfume is part of my experiment to try and find a jasmine that I like, since my husband adores the scent. While I like the scent of jasmine flowers rising out of dewy soil on a warm summer evening, I find it cloying as a perfume. That said, this is the best jasmine scent I've tried so far. Smells wonderful on me, somehow settling to a more grounded scent than I would have thought, and meets my husband's needs for a hot, almost nasty, hit of wicked jasmine.

(review of the older bottle/formulation, liquid inside is red) This one is like a soft cloud of sweet tropical flowers following you wherever you go. I get none of the skank/animalic notes describes in some comments. None. To me this fragrance is just delicious vanilla and tropical flowers. And well done tropical flowers. I cannot compare with the real thing (I'm not from a tropical region) but it smells pretty natural to my nose. It has better staying power than other Goutal fragrances and last hours on my skin even during hot Summer days. Last all day in my hair. There's one comment below comparing this one to CSP Aloha Tiare and I must admit that both are quite similar this is true. I find Songes to be softer and sweeter than CSP AT though and this might be the reason why it has better reviews (?). I do like CSP AT but find it too strong for day to day wear. This is not the case of Songes at all. For example I wear Songes to go to the office but I would not wear Aloha Tiare. I now cherish my little vintage bottle of Songes :)

Can I just quote most of you here? Love at first sniff for me as well. It reminds me a lot of my most favorite Guerlain Ylang and Vanille, and yet, it ***might*** even exceed my love for Y&V??? Can It be??? This is a bit heavier which is a good thing for me so it will last a bit longer. The Ylang is almost more prominent than the frangipani to me but the combo is a smooth, sultry and romantic scent. The vanilla makes it more universal for seasons. I can see it being very cozy in colder months yet it's fresh enough for summer heat. So far, I'll give it excellent arm's length sillage and I'm at four hours and counting for longevity. It's such a creamy, nearly exotic but not quite, floral beauty. And of course, the bottle is adorable. I could not be any happier to have tested and purchased this all at once. I'll own a bottle forever! If you like tropical without coconut, suntan vibe, rich vanilla without being like cookie dough, and and exotic scent without being weird, try this. I really don't see how you'd regret it!

Intoxicating, creamy and tropical white and yellow flowers, Frangipani with fruity notes and gardenia/tiare flower giving you the summery and exotic smell of paradise and sun lotion. Ylang ylang with its creamy and almost banana-like feel together with Frangipani, both being yellow flowers, emphasize each other. Tiare flower having all the exotic and sweet properties as the smell of coconut, there is no need for a coconut note, making this stand out from all tropical coconut-suntan scents (which I also love). The jasmine is subtle and not crispy. A unique take on a summery sun lotion scent! One of my top five. If you know the smell of Lush R&B hair conditioner, you can get an idea. Guerlain Lys Soleia is similar but lighter, whereas Songes has more depth. Also, the EDP has more jasmine in it than the EDT, which immediately smells like the EDP's drydown of creamy frangipani.

I wish I looked as beautiful as Songes EDT smells! It's the Truly Scrumptious of perfumes - wealthy, pretty, sweet, charming, lovable. If you like white florals, particularly jasmine, this is a lovely rendition of one. I don't own many because they often have a habit of turning acrid or resinous on my skin after a while, particularly on very hot days. When I applied Songes, there was a moment after three minutes when I detected a rubber note, but it soon disappeared, leaving a heady aroma. I tried the EDP and that had a longer lasting rubber note and it was a little overwhelming so I'm putting the EDT on my wishlist. Some have noticed the similarity between Songes and Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia. It is striking, but you can tell the difference and I've never been a huge fan of lily. If that doesn't bother you, save some money and get Lys Soleia.