Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.
Full-bodied, voluptuous fragrances are as rare today as curvy models on a catwalk. I find it less and less frequent to experience what French perfumers call “gras,” or fat, denoting a certain unctuous richness that characterized fragrances of the past. Although this quality is not always welcome, the multitude of crisp and fresh new launches leaves me craving something with more substance. So once I smelled Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chéri, par Camille, I felt like a dieter who has been allowed a slice of chocolate cake.
Mon Parfum Chéri was created by perfumer Isabelle Doyen, as a tribute to both Camille Goutal and her mother Annick Goutal who founded the fragrance house. While it is a departure from other recent Goutal releases such as Ninféo Mio and Un Matin d’Orage, Mon Parfum Chéri possesses the opulent aura of older Goutal classics like Passion and Grand Amour. It blends the darkness of a fruity chypre with velvety iris notes, embellishing the whole with sweet spices and vanilla.
Iris forms the first impression of Mon Parfum Chéri, and unlike many iris accords, which tend to be rooty and green, this one has a strong floral character. I can almost feel the velvety softness of petals as the fragrance begins to develop on my skin. Iris alternates between delicately powdery and pleasantly sweet, with a scattering of cinnamon and clove giving it a beautiful lift. The darker elements of the composition unfold soon thereafter, and the richness of the woods drenched in plum juice leaves no doubts as to the character of the composition. The sensual warmth of patchouli and sandalwood soon supplants the patrician austerity of iris, while vanilla and heliotrope lend the impression of caramelized almonds. Everything is kept in balance, however, from the chilly breath of iris to the lush darkness of woods. Mon Parfum Chéri at once references the chypres of the past and contemporary radiant floral notes. The result is surprising and unpredictable, blending the best of both worlds.
Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chéri, par Camille includes notes of violet, plum, patchouli, iris and heliotropine. The official launch is in September, but it is already sold at Bergdorf Goodman. Available from Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, Aedes and other retailers in the following concentrations: Eau de Toilette–50 and 100 ml bottle, and Eau de Parfum–100 ml bottles.
Sample: my own acquisition
42 Comments
Elizabeth: Reading this review makes me happy. There is hope for perfumery yet! I love a good fruity chypre, and this one sounds gorgeous. Several of the older Goutals are lovely: I wore Heure Exquise in college. As soon as the trains start running again, I will be heading to Bergdorf’s for a test of Mon Parfum Cheri! August 29, 2011 at 10:05am
Austenfan: This sounds gorgeous! I haven’t seen it yet, but will have to try as soon as it arrives.
Just out of curiosity; is there any Goutal that you would give 5 stars to? August 29, 2011 at 10:30am
dleep: I must try this one. Thanks for the lovely review. August 29, 2011 at 12:02pm
violetnoir: I can’t wait to test this! I have been looking forward to it for quite some time.
Hugs! August 29, 2011 at 12:34pm
Anna in Edinburgh: Your review makes this fragrance sound *very* tempting. Were you trying the EdT or EdP?
cheerio, Anna in Edinburgh August 29, 2011 at 12:36pm
sweetlife: Gah. Velvety iris. “woods drenched in plum juice” !!! August 29, 2011 at 12:37pm
sweetlife: Adding–just crossing my fingers that it doesn’t have a strong dose of that spiky wood stuff that ruined Vanille Exquise, Matin D’Orage, and Ninfeo for me. August 29, 2011 at 12:38pm
karin: Wow! This sounds wonderful! August 29, 2011 at 1:23pm
minette: sounds gorgeous! must try! thanks for kindling a hankering! August 29, 2011 at 2:33pm
Austenfan: Thanks, that one is apparently considered to be her masterpiece by more connoisseurs. August 29, 2011 at 5:31pm
Victoria: Hmm, maybe Sables. I think that it is a genius composition based on sandalwood. Nothing like it exists! August 29, 2011 at 4:33pm
Victoria: I believe that it was the EDP. I just realized that I did not label my sample, so I will have to return to Bergdorf to double check. August 29, 2011 at 4:38pm
Victoria: Its woody notes do have that feeling, so definitely get a sample first. Maybe, the patchouli and vanilla will be enough to balance out the woods, but I know that you are very sensitive to these kinds of notes. August 29, 2011 at 4:40pm
Victoria: I miss these bold, lush fruity chypres, so it was such a pleasure to discover this fragrance. Heure Exquise is something I have been wearing a lot lately. August 29, 2011 at 4:41pm
Victoria: You are welcome! I am so happy with this discovery. August 29, 2011 at 4:41pm
Victoria: It totally fell under my radar, I admit. I discovered it a couple of weeks ago, when I went to BG. It wasn’t there yet at that time, so I waited till they got it in stock. The description sounds so wonderful, and I am glad that it lived up to my expectations. August 29, 2011 at 4:42pm
Victoria: 🙂 August 29, 2011 at 4:42pm
Victoria: It is my favorite launch this season, along with Sweet Redemption. August 29, 2011 at 4:43pm
Victoria: You are welcome! Do let me know what you think of it. August 29, 2011 at 4:43pm
Myra: This is exciting! I am really looking forward to try or maybe even blind buy this perfume based on your stellar review. Do you recommend the edt or edp? August 29, 2011 at 9:31pm
Natalia: it wasnt yet presented at the AG counter when i stopped by… need to check this out. what a pretty bottle, too! August 30, 2011 at 2:41pm
[email protected]: I went on a sniffage in Horrids with a recent convert on Monday and saw this but didn’t touch it (shame!) because we were there primarily to fill a gap in my friend’s growing collection (settled on Chanel’s Sycomore though he also liked Bandit, Ormonde Man, Givenchy Vetyver and Tom Ford Tuscan Leather!). Now I wish I’d picked up the bottle as it sounds simply wonderful. I’m a sucker for a good fruity chypre and am very appreciative of your analogy of a dieter faced with a delicious slice of chocolate cake. Oh well – the ANTICIPATION! August 31, 2011 at 6:01am
[email protected]: Update. My local HoF had the EDT and so I have been able to sample that. It makes me think of Boxeuses and original Femme in its womanliness. I suspect the EDP is heavenly.
Nicola August 31, 2011 at 9:25am
Victoria: Myra, I checked, and my local store only has the EDT so far. That is what I’ve tried. I would imagine that the EDP might be even more splendid (Annick Goutal’s EDP versions are generally richer and warmer, which would be so good for this composition.) I am myself waiting to try the EDP and compare them before I spring for a full bottle. August 31, 2011 at 10:37am
Victoria: I love the shade too! Hope that they will do them in big round bottles at some point. Those tend to look like works of art, so beautiful. August 31, 2011 at 10:37am
Victoria: You and me both! I love fruity chypre fragrances, and I miss this genre, as it is getting rare. August 31, 2011 at 10:38am
Victoria: Nicola, your original Femme reference is spot on! I was going to say Bois de Violette and Femme, but Boxeuses is an even better comparison. August 31, 2011 at 10:39am
Victoria: I admit that I have not smelled the latest version. I cannot imagine what it is like now that Indian sandalwood is pretty much unavailable. August 31, 2011 at 10:40am
Natalia: so true.
what i especially love about AG work, both perfume and bottles, is how tasteful they are, with no exception. such a pleasure to stop by their counter. September 1, 2011 at 4:07am
Natalia: ooh, even better. Bois de Violette and Femme i adore like nothing else in this genre! September 1, 2011 at 4:09am
Anna in Edinburgh: Ooh, if it is full-bodied and voluptuous at EdT strength, they’d better lock up the EdP! Definitely a scent I shall seek out here.
Thanks for the very helpful information, as always.
cheerio, Anna in Edinburgh September 1, 2011 at 12:10pm
Victoria: That’s my favorite too! September 4, 2011 at 10:19am
Victoria: Hope that we can try both versions soon and compare them. September 4, 2011 at 10:20am
sisty: I approach with trepidation, because fruity chypres like Mitsouko, Femme and Femininite de Bois can be a handful, but I’ve become such an admirer of the Goutals lately — they are very innovative, unusual, without being particularly provocative. Simply put, they make me happy, several of them. September 6, 2011 at 9:13pm
emma: I don’t get the curvaceous thing at all, to me it reads dry fruity chypre in the edt version, perhaps the edp is the monster everyone’s talking about. It’s opulent but in a restrained fashion, after all it’s a Goutal. I find the fruity oriental/chypre Lutens Chypre Rouge more baroque than MPC. I just bought a bottle and it looks like I got the last bottle at B&G, edt 100ml so I hope it’s not on somebody’s Valentine wish list this year. February 7, 2012 at 3:04pm
Mer: Hi Victoria, now that you’re in Brussels, have you compared EDT with EDP? I got an EDP sample some months ago and loved it, then read The non blonde review which made me doubt purchasing a bottle straight away, so I got a sample of the EDT from first in fragrance. I wanted to get another sample of EDP to compare since mine has one drop left, but they do not carry samples of it anymore, this combined with my inexperienced nose is gonna make my decision difficult 😀 September 19, 2013 at 1:55am
Victoria: I don’t think I compared them yet, but I might be at the boutique next week, so I will have to check it out. September 19, 2013 at 11:53am
Mer: That’d be great 🙂
BTW, I tried Timbuktu, just once so far, and I quite liked it! September 19, 2013 at 6:05pm
Gentiana Craciun: It is one of the loveliest fragrances I ever smelled… I can”t find it currently on the Annick Goutal site – is it discontinued ? February 22, 2019 at 6:05am
Victoria: Unfortunately, yes, I heard these news too. February 22, 2019 at 10:42am
Gentiana Craciun: Oh, Victoria, I hoped not to true… I”m so sorry… I smelled it first time about 10 y. ago. The tart, mouthwatering roundness of plum beautifully balanced by woods and orris and the low-key and finely integrated patchouli create a harmony I rarely felt in fragrances. Especially the fine vibe of the patchouli appealed me as patchouli is one of the notes that usually get screechy and tiring for me. I kept revisiting it and wished a FB of it, but always procrastinated as I had other priorities or just found other beloved perfumes on bargain prices. I finally got the very last bottle from an internet retailer the last week and it jumped in my top 5 fragrances ever. I had two sprays behind the ears and it kept sending me delicious wafts all day long. That is an exception again, as I become anosmic in about 2 hours for anything sprayed close to the nose (ears,neck)… It gave me a feeling of joy and happiness like the long-mourned So Pretty from Cartier . They are in the same vein of fruity-chypres, I think. Anyway, they share that wonderful tart fruty vibe balanced by woody/ mossy dryness… And now I see that this beauty is gone, too… and not to know if she will ever come back! What a heartache! I have to use my bottle sparingly… and look thoroughly for a back-up bottle. February 22, 2019 at 11:38am
Gentiana Craciun: not to BE true – I wanted to say… 🙂 February 22, 2019 at 11:39am