There's a glowing review of Byredo 's Blanche, which I read a week or two ago. It made Blanche sound really intriguing; a scent which isn't a scent, but emphasises your natural skin smell. Hmm, now I don't know how other people's skin smells, but for me Blanche smells like a top coat for nail varnish, or something equally synthetic. It's a big thumbs down from me.
Where I struggle to find any fragrance from Byredo that I like, so far there are none from Annick Goutal that I don't like. Today I'm wearing Songes, which I've tried briefly before. According to NST, the notes are:
frangipani, tiare, jasmine notes, incense, vanilla, copahu balm, pepper, ylang-ylang absolute, vetiver, sandalwood, amber and styrax
Songes is a sumptuous floral fragrance and one that I would definitely recommend. The only slightly off-putting element is the colour, which is more or less bright red. Not something that usually inflluences my choice of fragrance.
Last night I also tried Beige by Chanel as I was wizzing through Selfridge's perfume hall. I only tried it on a paper, as opposed to on skin, but it was, as you would expect, pretty good. Chandler Burr mentioned this one a while ago, and I've been meaning to try it since then. Chanel's official descripion of Beige is as follows:
a blend of new white petals and yellow gold flowers are highlighted by hints of honey that reveal its discreet sensuality
I will definitely try Beige again, properly, rather than on a paper sampler and give it a full write up.