I haven't worn Annick Goutal's Les Nuits d'Hadrien in ages. More than a year, I think. My bottle predates this blog by a couple of years (I think I bought it soon after the 2003 release), and when I talked about this perfume here, back in 2007, I was still regarding Les Nuits as Hadrien's darker side. It's interesting how perceptions change. Or maybe it's not perception; just notes that stand out to me more, things I notice and notice less. Whatever it is, wearing Goutal's Les Nuits d'Hadrien today felt like experiencing a new perfume.
I remember clearly how the last time I spent a full night with this Annick Goutal perfume I got too much cumin for comfort. I appreciated the way the various citrus notes were making the transition into a rich ambery base, but the journey there suddenly became a bit rocky. I haven't given Les Nuits a full day's wear since, except for the occasional comparison and reference spritz.
Today I found celery. Right after the familiar Hadrien-ish green zest and and arotamic citrus leaves I smelled another green thing: the unmistakable scent of celery. Good thing that I like it for the most part. The greenery, stalks, and leaves are long lasting and slightly sweet. They're punctuated with spice, stuff that to my nose smells like dill seed, cumin, and even a hint of carrot. It's very vegetal and also very musky, with just a hint of that ambery thickness I used to fine in Les Nuits d'Hadrien way back then. It's also more complex to my nose, less perfumy, and one of the most challenging offering from Annick Goutal.
I think I'll start wearing it again. From time to time.
Notes: green mandarin, tangerine, bergamot, Sicilian lemon, ylang-ylang, cumin, sandalwood, white musk, amber, vanilla.
Annick Goutal- Les Nuits d'Hadrien ($98, 50ml EDT) is available from Luckyscent.
Artwork: Ford Smith- Branching Out.
I have a decant of this floating around somewhere in one of my perfume stashing areas, but it's remained in perfume decant limbo land, never progressing to full bottle status - not exactly sure why. I think it got lost in the shuffle of just too many perfumes and, despite my having gone through many, many, many bottles of Hadrien, this failed to make as strong an impression on me. But it sounds intriguing and I need to go find that decant and give it a serious second chance.
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I just noticed your new profile photo - very elegant! Reminds me of that wonderful photo of Diana Vreeland in profile circa 1940, with a Spanish hat and a rose behind her ear. nozknoz
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