“Imagine yourself in a Japanese garden – a family garden, surrounded by dozens of delicate trees, grapefruit and hundreds of bushes of gardenias,” Camille Goutal says, the daughter of famed upscale perfumer Annick Goutal. “It's early morning, the day after a thunderstorm. Imagine the drops of the rain on the leaves with the sun breaking through the cloud. The scent of the white gardenia is strong. With the humidity and heat, the scent emanates from the ground.”
That is the story of Annick Goutal's latest perfume Un Matin D'Orage, quite literally translated into ‘Stormy Morning', with notes of Sicilian lemon, shiso leaves, ginger, magnolia, Indoneasian champaca and gardenia. It is a light but complex fragrance that is subtle on dry-down, yet long-lasting.
EDT Spray (50ml) HK$1,050, Body Cream HK$1,200, EDT Roll-on Limited Edition HK$390, EDT Boule Papillon (100ml) HK$2,700,
Fragrances are about stories, Goutal says. Contrary to most fragrance houses, Annick Goutal does not use focus groups to test fragrances nor do they create scents based on marketing research. No, the growing fragrance house is still very much about personal experiences and storytelling.
Each elegant bottle is handmade based on the original vintage find by Camille Goutal's mother, and the butterfly top hand painted with real gold, hence the hefty price-tag. But we say, this scent is worth it. For the fragrance, according to Goutal, is more important than you think.
“The first impression you get from someone when you're close to them is their scent. It's a sub-conscious process but when you don't like someone's scent, you don't want to be near them so much. So the right scent is incredibly important. And if you can't live without a certain fragrance, then you know it's the right one for you.”
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