I had given up searching for a my perfect Summer lemon fragrance when I stumbled upon Eau d'Hadrien by Annick Goutal.


You wouldn't think much from the name or the packaging (especially the square bottle). So many perfumes these days rely on attractive bottles to make you try a scent (and it certainly works!). Annick Goutal bottles all look the same so you really have to rely on word of mouth/reviews, an eyecatching name or good ol' perseverance to find a scent for you in this range.


Fragrance notes: Sicilian Lemon, Grapefruit, Green Mandarin, Cypress, Aldehydes, Ylang-Ylang


Eau d'Hadrien is simple, classy & super-wearable. It is also an addictive scent & really energising. definitely a form of aromatherapy.


This fragrance starts with a super fresh just cut lemon scent, not long after a lovely fresh grapefruit & mandarin combines with the lemon. The scent is very natural & it is deliciously juicy. Just when you think you have Eau d'Hadrien figured out the cypress/aldeydes gives it a small unusual herb type quality & the ylang- ylang gives it a tiny soft edge.


I usually choose this fragrance when it's warm, or I don't feel like a complicated perfume. It is also perfect when I need a pick-me-up. You know how you just have days like that?


I see many people compare this perfume to cleaning products, well I don't use lemon cleaning products often & the ones that I have used certainly don't smell like this!

Eau d'Hadrien works for anytime of year, however is simply perfect for Summer.


This perfume is termed as Unisex. Whenever I see the word "unisex" I'm very weary as the scent usually still leans on one side (be that masculine or feminine - usually the former) however Eau d'Hadrien is neither & I would most probably call it Asexual as it is neither feminine, nor masculine if you know what I mean.


Lasting power is not too bad on my skin, I get a few hours out of the EDT. It will last even longer if you layer it over moisturiser. The scent seems to lie close to the skin but I get lovely whiffs of it during the day.


It also seems like a perfect layering scent, I am eager to try it with vanilla or sandalwood as I think they would compliment it very well.


There seems to be two different bottles - the square one (which seems to be marketed to men) and the tall bottle (see both above). I have a small square bottle - it is great as it lets you control how much you use, whether it be a dribble, half squirt or a full spray. Some perfume bottles only let you do a full spray or none at all. I might be way off base, but I feel that this shows the quality of the nozzle.


I highly recommend you try Eau d'Hadrien! continued >>

Confession: I'm a heavy oriental spice, vanilla and patchouli whore who was recently struck with having nothing to wear during the long, hot and humid days of summer.


Eau d'Hadrien is light, citrusy and refreshing, and so not my style. But I bought it on sale and it has been a lifesaver on those hot days when I kept it in the fridge and spritzed it on for much-needed refreshment after waking up in sweat in an un-air conditioned apartment.


It starts with a burst of lemon and stays very linear, with a nod to the crispness of classics like Dior's Eau Sauvage.


The problem is lasting-power. Like so many Goutals, this lasts about an hour tops on my skin. Nice for a summer fling, but not something that I'd pay full-price for.


Do all refreshing and light summer scents have to be so fleeting? The Middle Eastern oils I bought in Egypt (orange blossom, white floral,) say otherwise. And I prefer them for summer - I can do citrus and refreshing, and still have some oomph.

I tested this at Saks. At first I was like ahhh lemon goodess :) Even my hub said hmmm very lemony and clean, unfortunately, it started to dry down and smelled exactly like lemon pledge on me. I like how my house smells when I use lemon pledge, but that's not what I want to smell like.

I've been on a search for the perfect lemony scent for years, since first smelling it on a ballet teacher I had in fifth grade. I had nearly given up hope when I read a magazine review of a fragrance called Lemon Cloud. I googled it found that luckyscent provides (paid) samples and while requesting that, stumbled upon Annick Goutal's eau H'adrien. The Lemon Cloud was forgettable but the AG was THE ONE! My goodness -- it's the perfect bit of lemon and warmth on my skin and feels like heaven. Of course the price is outrageous (for me) so I ended up buying a brand new tester of the men's bottle online. So happy to have found my lemon!

A great warm weather scent. It's lemony for sure but not in a silly plasticky way. It settles into my skin and stays for the day (I have the EdP, the EdT doesn't have staying power on me). Husband loves it on me, and he is picky about perfumes. It's not super sweet, which is such a great change for citrus scents. Spraying it on as I get dressed in the morning helps wake me up, for real.

Tonight I was doing laundry and got a whiff of it in a cardigan I wore the other day. I kept sniffing the cardigan!

So I went to Nordstroms to test their meager Annick supply. This was one of three (the others being Petite Cherie and Gardenia Passion).

I have no prejudice against Lemony scents. I happen to love Fresh Sugar Lemon (no staying power though) and Jo Malone Verbanas (also no staying power). I love wearing lemon in the spring/summer because it's bright and happy.

I can say that this lasts a very long time, something I thought was impossible in a lemon scent. It also smells a bit more complex than my two favorites. But to me it smelt a little like pledge cleaning spray. I don't really know why.. this is a well loved fragrance that many celebrities and mua celebrities adore. I'm going to chalk it up to my body chemistry. The Nordstroms SA was nice enough to give me a sample so I will update if it ends up smelling better to me. I can still smell the drydown on my skin 6 hours later though (and my skin eats perfume). And it is pleasant and does not resemble cleaning fluid. The first hour-two definitely did.

Yes, this is fresh and lovely, very, very orange though. But I would keep it and adore it IF it lasted more than an hour, and that is the Eau de Parfum.

The only citrus scent with any lasting power for me is Calyx.

This is for the EDT: I'm here to jump on the Eau d'Hadrien-loving bandwagon. In the bottle and for the first ten minutes it smells like you have literally rubbed a lemon on your wrists. However, after those topnotes fade, it becomes a thing of beauty. It smells like an edible shampoo, or like something delicious and creamy emanating naturally from the skin. It's not a very strong scent but it does have a quiet, persistent presence. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5 is that it just needs to take it's awesomeness and double it so the people I get close to can smell it as well. I do find this full-bottle worthy and perhaps I will try the EDP and/or lotion to amp it up a little.

Reminds me of being in a lemon grove in Sicily. Green and yellow, crisp, but warm and sunny. Depending on my mood, I wear it alone or I layer it with Fresh Sugar which cuts the sharpness a bit. This perfume lasts the entire day on me.

In the past few months, I have been looking for a beautiful scent and simply have not found any new ones that make me want to fork over my cash. So I decided to go old school and repurchase a few blasts from my past. This was one of them. My other two were Fracas and Trish McEvoy #11 White Iris. I still love all of them and actually look foward to choosing my scent for the day and then spritzing.

Smells refreshing. Think crisp citrus. I own Sula citrus perfume from Ulta $34.00 and they smell almost identical except I don't think the Sula lasts as long. The Sula drydown also smells like tang but I love tang so it's okay with me.