Perfume Shrine: Annick Goutal Nuit et Confidences: fragrance review
Nuit et Confidences is the most typically sensual, sweet, and stereotypically “evening” of the series originally named Oiseaux de Nuit and later renamed Les Parfums de Géraldine, after the moniker Annick Goutal took in her 1970s modelling years. Nevertheless it is not the darkest one -that is rightfully Tenue de Soirée which I reviewed here.
Drunk (as in intoxicating, for lovers) vanilla forms the heart of the fragrance, soaked in rum and with a slightly almondy marzipan texture at the edges of this fragrance’s spectrum. It is set with white jasmine, more innocent than carnal. I’d call Goutal’s Nuit et Confidences a cross between rich, multifaceted vanillas like Spiritueuse Double Vanille (Guerlain) and the darkness of Eau Duelle (Diptyque). It is intended for occasions when a lack of imagination is required. This trait almost promises a best seller, and yet it was not meant to be. However, it is like a topaz in gold-bronze tones, suggesting the diamond qualities of a diamond in cognac tones: even if it does not approach the mentioned examples in strength of character, it exerts its own attraction.
Like the moniker “nightwear” in the series, the fragrances do not betray the quality of Goutal perfumes, even if the perfumer-stamp of the first and middle releases, which established the “small brand for exquisite perfume lovers,” has since changed from Isabelle Doyen to Mathieu Nardin of Robertet.
Les Parfums de Géraldine, of which Nuit et Confidences is part, are available in 30ml (1 fl.oz), 50ml (1.7 fl.oz.), and 100 ml (3.3 fl.oz.) bottles of Eau de Parfum concentration at select stockists