Songes – rich and warm and sultry

Summer always makes me crave tropical florals - the ‘great whites’ - gardenia, tuberose and jasmine. And this summer, it's all about Annick Goutal’s Songes.  Based on indolic Sambac jasmine and full of tropical florals, it's all I can think about right now. The Annick Goutal website says that “During a romantic trip, as she was walking in an exotic garden on the island of Mauritius at nightfall, Camille Goutal was taken by surprise by the scent of all the exotic and secret white flowers, at dusk when the very spur of nature intoxicates the night.” Ms. Goutal was on her honeymoon – living out romantic dreams and making memories in a sultry tropical paradise. Songes, which means ‘dreams,’ is the scent she developed with Isabelle Doyen to capture that moment. 

The first thing I always experience when I spritz Songes on my skin is the smell of a tropical summer from the frangipani, tiare and Sambac jasmine. So embedded is this scent memory that I can’t really separate the notes, so I don’t. I enjoy their rich, opulent fleshiness, awakening and arousing scent memories from so many different points in my past. 

These whites are big girls; if they aren’t handled just right, they can run roughshod over the fragrance. Frankincense tempers them at the heart, giving Songes a resinous depth and darkness. At the same time, French vanilla sweetens them, toning down the indolic aspect while getting the best out of it and adding a velvety creaminess. Copahu balm gives it a balsamy, camphourous note and tricks my nose into smelling tuberose, which always makes me smile. Ylang-ylang bolsters the white florals' presence to the woody base, where vetiver and amber cut through their richness and styrax adds a note of creamy vanilla. 

Songes has some heavy, opulent notes, but the fragrance, especially the eau de toilette, doesn’t wear heavy. It wears rich, warm, sultry and, at the same time, tender, delicate and feminine. It is the smell of summer dreams on your skin.

Check out Songes in our Shop.