Perfume Review: Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien

Eau d’Hadrien is my favorite Annick Goutal fragrance; it is also my favorite citrus scent. Moreover, it was Eau d’Hadrien that single-handedly converted me into a fan of citrus scents and started me on the quest (so far not quite successful) to find at least one more perfect lemon perfume, first being Eau d'Hadrien itself of course. This is not just straight lemon, cypress is quite evident intermittently, adding depth to the composition, but for me, overall, this is the clearest, most transparent, mouthwatering lemon fragrance imaginable. And that clear transparency is what I consider to be the most attractive quality in a citrus scent. Whenever I smell Eau d’Hadrien, it makes me think (and long for) the drink my grandmother likes to make in summer, just a glass of very cold water with several slices of lemon and a tiny bit of sugar. Nothing clenches the thirst like that simple drink, and for me, Eau d'Hadrien is just as refreshing. Strangely enough, however, while I find most citrus scents to be too “cold” (too insubstantial, too light) in winter, Eau d’Hadrien, pure and translucent as it is, appeals to me in cold weather as much as in the heat of summer. I remember wearing it during what seemed to be the coldest, most bitter weather, while staying in a small English village in Oxfordshire. The place was, to a foreigner raised on Agatha Christie’s books, an epitome of Englishness, with a Norman church, an ancient cemetery, a single pub, a Manor and Old Vicarage. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed living there, and Eau d’Hadrien is full of nostalgia to me now. This light citrus scent was most enjoyable on frosty winter days, its scent practically sparkling, almost singing in the icy air. Eau d’Hadrien is available at Sephora, $65.00 for 1,7oz. *Shown on the photo is Chesterton, UK.