Fragrance review: Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien

Among quintessential summer perfumes, Eau d’Hadrien rules supreme. Created by Annick Goutal in 1981, it is a crisp and effervescent fragrance that relies on the combination of lemon and grapefruit underscored by basil and cypress to capitalize on the burst that citrus can give to fragrances. The icy pearls of citrus notes scatter on the skin and provide a sensation of cold breeze. While the sparkling quality of citrus is wont to be shortlived, as it begins to vanish, dry piney notes of cypress embrace citrus, preventing its chilly glitter from melting away. Moreover, a touch of ylang ylang lends a subtle sweetness that combines perfectly with tart citrus notes. For me, Eau d’Hadrien is a walk down the sun lit road, where the heat of the sun competes with the cool wind swaying the trees lining the path.

Eau d’Hadrien soap is wonderful, and if one enjoys fresh citrusy scents, it will surely delight. The soaps are 4.2 oz each, beautifully packaged and decorated. Their strong scents linger pleasantly, making any of the soaps a great addition to the morning shower. Soap is available wherever the line is sold (Saks 5th Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sephora) for $18, as well as discount perfume websites, such as this one for about $10.

Painting: Wassily Kandinsky. Old Town II. 1902. Oil on canvas. 52 x 78.5 cm. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.

Comments

[parislondres]

Dear V - this has been a summer staple for over a decade and a half. I used to use this and Eau de Ciel on terribly warm days. I heard that AG will be discontinuing the refill bottle concept - which is a shame because I got attracted to this house years ago because they were rather environmentally conscious. Hope the SA just fed me some rumour!

xoxo

[Anya]

The persistence of this, to me, floral marine scent is remarkable, and I suspect it is due to a synthetic base note that traps the citrus and woods. I first bought it because it reminded me of BenAndre, a perfume from New Jersey, of all places!

[carole]

I adore this scent-a good friend of mine used to wear it, and it smelled unbelievably good on her. Thankfully, she shared the name with me and I could buy my own (I kept using hers!). It was the AG line that lead me to learn more about perfume.
I Love this blog! It is a work of art!
Carole

[BoisdeJasmin]

Dear N, I need to research whether it is a rumour or not, because I always liked the company approach. It would be very sad if they started abandoning it. Eau d'Hadrien has been a first AG fragrance I really liked.

xoxo

[BoisdeJasmin]

Anya, BenAndre is not familiar to me, however now you have piqued my curiousity. As for AG, Eau d'Hadrien really does last, which makes me think that it must a combination of citral (as opposed to lemon EO) and some other tenacious base note.

[BoisdeJasmin]

Carole,
Thank you for your sweet comments! AG was my introduction to the small perfume houses. I always make a stop at one of their counters just to smell some of my old favourites, which for one reason or another I did not restock.

[Tania]

I had a sample of this forever and only tried it a couple of months ago. I'm so glad I did. It's the perfect crisp citrus with quite the classy drydown. It never veers anywhere too sweet, too bland, too masculine, too feminine, too anything, really. It's just right all the way through. The tenacity is surprising, with all that citrus. Just like you, I think of it as a portable, cool breeze. It's certainly full-bottle worthy. Now that you've alerted me, I'll certainly seek out the soap, too.

[BoisdeJasmin]

Tania, you captured it perfectly--it is not too much of anything. All of AG soaps are excellent, and this one is very nice. I also like the fact that you have a choice of bottles when you purchase some of AG shared fragrances--a round "feminine" bottle or a square "masculine." I prefer the square one, because it is very elegant with its gold lettering and ornamentation.

[Laura]

Hello dear V! This was my second AG, after Gardenia Passion. I wore this quite a bit but, funnily enough, around Christmas time. It reminded me of the orange, kumquat and other citrus smells I still associate with that season. A spot of Grand Marnier, anyone? Cointreau?

[BoisdeJasmin]

Dear L, I would not mind some Grand Marnier. Ok, maybe not right now, because this is going to affect my ability to work. I also associate many citrus scents with Christmas, because we always got Spanish oranges and clementines around that time. I loved when my mother would make orange cookies with the leftover zest.

[Robin]

Hadrien is a wonderful scent, although I've always like Sud a bit more. Add me to the list of people who now want the soap!

[BoisdeJasmin]

I have Eau de Charlotte soap scenting my closet. I received it as a gift, and it caused me to explore the ancillary line more.

OK, I finally need to try Eau de Sud. Your mentions of it always stimulate my interest. :)

[Lea]

Does anyone know where to find BenAndre, that New Jersey perfume mentioned by Anya?

[BoisdeJasmin]

I have never heard of it until Anya mentioned it, and I am not even sure where it can be found.

[Kainoa]

It has been discontinued. It was the only perfume and bath salts that I have ever really, really loved.
I recently found it on-line for $75.00 from an auction site, but questioned the integrity of the product, so I never bought it.
I wish someone would re-create it. It is so very lovely!

[BoisdeJasmin]

Thank you for mentioning. I hate when a good scent is discontinued. I hope that someone will recreate it though.

[Sophie]

My dad got me the Eau d' Hadrien perfume in Paris this past november. I absolutly love it and so do my friends. Has it been discontinued since then?

[Andy]

Did you know that Annick Goutal are opening their new online boutique at www.annickgoutal.com on 6th June?

Andy

[Kate Peterson]

I really love the top notes in this perfume,but the drydown is a bit too musky and cypresy for me.This fragrance sort of goes from young to old in my opinion.Try before you buy.