Monday, August 17, 2009

Annick Goutal Heure Exquise

photo by the famous Avedon

I don't know where to begin ! It's been years since I actually wore this . After two bottles , I began my real experimentation with fragrance , rarely wearing the same thing two days in a row ever again .
Heure Exquise was my first foray into " niche" . Sophisticated , powdery rose ...I had a long history with YSL Paris before AG came into my life . This was rose and iris for a more well travelled girl ! I wanted to be her , self assured , polished , aloof...something smoldering underneath .
Jorge introduced me to it - he was ( and still is , at Neiman Marcus ) an excellent SA . Wrinkling his nose if I went for something childish and sweet , he nurtured my perfume love and made me think about what I was smelling .
Annick Goutal was a cerebral parfumeur - tending to love the green almost strident . The opposite of my fragrance spectrum . But she made a few opulent creations , and to me this is one of them .
She is gone now and her daughter is running the house , continuing the traditions . Her mother would be proud .
I shudder to think of a reformulated version of what I wore in the 1990's...this dram vial I am holding was sent to me and it brings back this whole flood of memories ....and I haven't even opened the vial yet !!

2 comments:

pavlova said...

I have always loved that photo -- I am wearing Couer de Fleur today (thanks to you!) to help me survive the heat in style.

lady jicky said...

Oh I adore this Goutal. There is not another scent out there that is anyway near Heure Exquise! My husband even bought me the body oil in a spray bottle - OMG that was heaven.
Ms Goutal was a wonderful perfumer and I love her Camille (great green) and her Eau d Ciel. I want a bottle of her Violetta for Christmas and on my daughters Wedding day we both wore her Tuberose.
I am a huge Goutal fan as you can see!
Do you like her Camille Linda? I would imagine it would be a lovely hot weather scent for you too!
How lovely to have a gem of a Goutal SA Linda - look after him - they are rare as you know! LOL