Sweet French Femininity with Annick Goutal

First; a little trip down memory lane – because scent memories often tend to start right there. Here’s the thing: every child born in Sweden during the 1980’s or 90’s definitely came across the now iconic ice cream boxes called BigPack. They where bulky and probably took up too much space in the freezer, but when you opened them, there was magic: a huge box of ice cream divided into three rows of flavours: vanilla, strawberry and pear. You where supposed to scoop them up in a way that made you have a little bit of all the flavours in one large serving. Heavenly and playful. The reason why I remember these packs of delicious ice cream so well, is because it was right then and there that my love for anything with pear started out. In fact, I would have been a very lucky little girl if being allowed only to scoop from the lane with pear ice cream and skip the other two flavours! Now, as a grown up I realize that the product was probably not of highest quality and the flavours might have been synthetic, but it doesn’t matter because I still chase for pear-flavoured or scented products where ever I go. It’s become a part of who I am: a bit quirky and peculiar when it comes to details that matters.

Around the same time, back at 1980, a woman named Annick Goutal decided to venture into the business of making fragrances. The first bottles came straight out of her own home and it took a while before the (now famous) first Annick Goutal Store opened its doors in Paris. Ever since then, the Fragrance House has been one of the most recognized french labels for niche beauty. Annick Goutal is known for not following trends; in fact they often completely ignore them for the sake of concentrating on elegance and refined beauty. In 1985 trained perfumer Isabelle Doyen joined the House and to this day, she’s never left the business. It is quite rare and shows great dedication to this brand and how its beed developing over time.

in 1998, when I was only 17, Annick Goutal and Isabelle Doyen released their first version of what would become one of the House’s most beloved fragrances: Petite Chérie.

A tribute to Annick’s daughter Camille, this fragrance where supposed to be like meeting a woman-child. She explained the scent as resembling “a cheek you want to kiss”, something so soft and natural, feminine and gentle. This is the background to today’s review. Let me present to you the 2017 Limited edition and rare french collaboration:

Petite Chérie by Claudie Pierlot X ANNICK GOUTAL.

These two french brands have come together in a rare and exquisite collaboration where beauty, sophistication, nautical summer vibes and charity all play their important parts. For a perfume collector, this is a must have for the feminine fragrance wardrobe – all fruits and flowers and dreams of youth.

For those unfamiliar with designer Claudie Pierlot, she’s is known for creating collections where either marine and nautical themes are present, or the vivid large floral Liberty prints that we love to love. As a Scandinavian,  I’ve always been drawn to her stripes and clean design; lots of navy blue on crisp white feels Parisian but also very much like summer in the Swedish archipelago. To me it make sense that these two brands have found each other, as they are not about avant garde or short trends but about sustainable sophistication and playful expressions.

For this collaboration, Claudie Pierlot has been given the opportunity to play dress-up with Annick Goutal’s famous fragrance and the result is so incredibly pretty. First of all, the boxes which are covered in the fashion house’s beautiful flower prints while still looking chick in the white and navy blue theme. It stands out while sitting on the shelf as it lacks of ornamented, gilded prints and emblems. I like it very much for its chic simplicity.

Then follows the bottle! I’m already a huge fan of the oh so feminine shape of these Annick Goutal bottles but to see it dressed in this redesigned opaque, white lacquered costume was just something else. With the golden cap it is still the Fragrance House but the dark navy ribbon is all Claudie Pierlot. I’m in love with the prints on the label as it perfectly matches what’s inside of the bottle.

When I received the perfume and its matching hair mist I immediately was kicked back to that memory of childhood ice cream and love.

Described as a musky rose embedded in juicy pear and sweet peach, you can’t really miss the connection, can you?!

The top notes of Pear, Green Grass and Peach simply makes this fragrance so different from anything else I wear. My husband took a sniff on it and just said: “its exciting. It is an exciting scent”. In the most positive way because if you say that a niche perfume smells like ice cream, it wouldn’t make any sense. Except that it does.

In the heart of the fragrance you’ll find Rose, Hedione and Lilac. Fantastic and flowery; flirting with youth and and springtime. It makes it a casual innocent scent with a powerful longevity. Once again; the child and the woman connected.

Deep down the base of the fragrance the Vanilla and Musk is added to compliment the rose and make the composition more sensual than sweet; Funnily enough I don’t find the scent overly sweet although it kind of should be? It is very well balanced and its no wonder that it has been popular ever since 1998 when it launched.

Today, daughter Camille is all grown up and have taken over the company to run it together with Isabelle who is still onboard. Sadly, one year after the launch of Petite Chérie, Annick herself passed away in breast cancer but her legacy still remains solid.

The Charity Project

Now, this limited edition collaboration is not exactly like any other hot deal. The companies have decided to partner up with Chaîne de l′Espoir (The chain of Hope), an organisation who focus on giving children the chance of education. This is the official statement:

“La Chaîne de l’Espoir has been operating for more than 25 years in Togo, Benin, Nepal, India, Thailand and Haiti, giving the most vulnerable children the opportunity to go to school or gain access to vocational training.

La Chaîne de l’Espoir education programs allow 11,000 children to attend school every year, taking care of their school fees, material support, food aid or medical care.”

Whenever you purchase one of the 100ml perfume bottles or the specially designed striped sweater called Chérie Marinière, 50% of the profits will be donated to the organisation and their work for our Petite Chéries, for the children’s right to go to school.

I think that makes the bottle even more beautiful and I’m hoping that the action will give another child the chance of collection childhood memories like mine, even though they might not necessarily be about ice cream. ♥

 

Product provided for review consideration 
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8 Comments
    1. Hiiii wonderful Angel! I was so surprised and happy to see you commenting in here. Thank you so much sweetie.It means a lot to me. Happy weekend, xoxo, M

  1. Peach and pear notes? OH YES! When you started describing the ice cream, I thought you were going to say Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry. We had Neopolitan which was just that. You had pear instead of strawberry. THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD! I rarely see pear ice cream and we love pears. My mom used to can them! Anyhow, I think I would totally love this fragrance! I always want to get fragrances that everyone else (here in the US) doesn’t have. I don’t like buying the stuff at the department stores. I want fragrances that I have to import! I like to stand out – be different! This sounds sooooo amazing!!!

    1. Wonderful Janine!! I completely love this comment because it is everything that I personally stand for. I know, right, its so hard to find pear ice cream! This fragrance is one of the originals from Annick Goutal when she was still alive and I’m sure you’d love the whole fragrance house. Go get them!! xx, M

  2. Loved reading this story and how this company is still true to its founding values. Oh, and nothing wrong with those super-sweet and totally artificial treats from our childhoods. I remember those very fondly. Thanks for the great post. R

    1. My Lovely Rich, Thank you so so much for your sweet (pun intended) comment! It is a beautiful fragrance house and I as well love that they are staying true to their values and continue to work with the same nose. Lots of love, M

    1. Darling Kelly how I’ve missed you!! But your break has given me a chance to catch up on your blog 🙂 Now I can’t wait to see all of those packages unpacked. And you’re right: Annick Goutal is a hidden gemstone, a bit classic and “old fashioned”. Kisses dear! xxx M

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