Annick Goutal’s Latest Has Serious Flower Power

Here's the thing about receiving roses from a florist. The peak moment occurs five minutes after they're delivered, once the cellophane's been tossed and the card tucked away. You admire, sniff, maybe tinker with where to place them. After that, your artful arrangement becomes a slowly withering burden. To do: Change slimy water. Pluck browning petals. Toss the dead ones. Ugh, it looks all messed up now. Get bud vases from a top shelf somewhere. Place in bathroom. FORGET IT. Throw everything in the trash and curse every crumpled leaf in your wake.

Hope Mark didn't read that. I swoon for Belle Fleur's exquisite bouquets and their impossible lifespan.

So what's a better alternative? A beautiful scent. But if the bottle's not much to look at, you get the same visual joy. And if the master perfumer didn't quite pinpoint that elusive fresh-picked, straight-from-the-garden scent, you're left with a cubic zirconium version of the real thing. Phony florals are not for me. And artificial rose scents give me a headache. So there's that.

But I still sniff my way through each season's fragrance launches, in search of a composition that is just right. Hopeful and eager like Goldilocks sampling bowls of porridge. 

As luck would have it, a new rose-based fragrance from Annick Goutal arrived just launched. Now, I have a longstanding love affair with Annick Goutal Petite Chérie, a fresh peachy scent. But Annick Goutal's new Rose Pompon delights the senses in every way, from its elegant pendant-adorned bottle to the masterful blend of notes. The overall experience captures that elusive (and fleeting) moment of seeing and smelling a fresh-plucked rose. But without the aftermath of watching them wilt and wither. 

The Notes

The Inspiration

The Perfumers

The Bottle