Eau du Sud (1995)
by Annick Goutal

Unlike other reviewers here on this page, I didn't get much in the way of citrus in Eau de Sud, despite it being a citrus aromatic.

I find Eau de Sud perhaps more herbaceous and soapy. Almost peppery, especially in the opening.

I like the fresh characteristic of this fragrance, however I find it a little too sharp at times. I'm not really a citrusy or soapy person, so this fragrance isn't really my cup of tea. But for the sake of it being a fragrance from my most loved perfume house, I'd say it is one of the best.

It's lightly feminine on the skin which is something I absolutely adore. For that fact alone, I agree that Eau de Sud would make a lovely choice for those particularly humid days.

Robin on her blog, Now Smell This, mentioned an interesting smokiness, being quite distinctive, which emerged quite prominently in the drydown. Although I had not noticed this initially, once reading her statements and returning to this fragrance, I must agree. The smokiness disrupts the soapy sharpness, which ultimately smoothed out the scent considerably.

I find some similarities between this fragrance and Chanel's Cristalle, although they are not complete replicates.

The lasting power of Eau de Sud, in the eau de toilette concentration is pretty weak unfortunately. This is also one of Annick Goutal's lighter fragrances that don't depend upon the wonderful sillage to create a beautiful aura. Eau de Sud is a fragrance for those that enjoy their soft, clean and crisp scents.

14th November, 2011.

I often talk about fragrances that burn my nose too much, but the first time I tried it, this brew was the real deal...nasal rape in the first degree, premeditated and remorseless. Yet now, coming back to it, I'm morbidly intrigued. I can find lavender and lemon, with the bitter wetness of the pure green notes you find in Sisley Eau de Campagne or Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche. But it was actually not the very top notes (first minute) that felt like a violation of my soul, rather the period after that, once the green foliage had already faded away but the stern, coldhearted citrus of Blenheim Bouquet and its ilk remained. This time it's not burning as much as I remember from before, and I'm impressed with the unusual lack of sweetness. I think my earlier trauma was because I was smelling it last in a long line of newly arrived sample vials, and something earlier (their vile Vetiver!) had set me off, because this time it seems like a manageable dry herbal fragrance. Buyer beware!

5th September, 2011.

Notes: bergamot, tangerine, grapefruit, key lime, verbena, peppermint, basil, patchouli, oakmoss, with hints of jasmine and vetiver.
I'm amazed at how much I dislike this scent! It has a very, very sour and unpleasant dry-down on my skin. I attribute that to the particular combination of patchouli and oakmoss. It is awful.
The scent starts in a promising way, with good citrus notes. The herbs are lamentably brief. Then a brackish brown twang settles in and I just can't stand it.

27th July, 2011.

Eau du Sud is a beautiful, old-fashioned aromatic citrus for which Goutal took more than just a few cues from Detaille's Aeroplane. In fact, I'd call this outright plagiarism, for Aeroplane is an aromatic citrus based on lemon, petigrain, bergamot, basil, mint, oakmoss and patchouli. While the notes given for Eau du Sud are slightly different, the end result is quite similar: a lovely citrus complex deepened by basil and mint notes, which give it a bit of green dirt and lead on to a classy chypre finish. I'm also in the camp which greatly favors this over the lemon cleaner intensity of Hadrien. It's the early twentieth century French Riviera in a bottle, sartorial refinement promenading ocean boulevards, white yachts under a perfect blue sky, picknicks in the chirping buzzing summer garrigue, lawn tennis and lemon trees.

30th May, 2011. (Last Edited: 6th June, 2011.)

This reminded me if Mugler Cologne and Chanel Pour Monsieur had a love child. Certainly very pleasant and clean smelling lemon. From a quick sampling the longevity and projection weren't great, but that could just be me.

If you like citrus scents, this is worth a try. Personally I won't be picking this up b/c I have the aforementioned two

16th February, 2011.

Eau du Sud, which reminded me of Eau d'Hadrien but softer on the citrus. I do believe it is a far more pleasant odour (Hadrien smelling a little too much like citrus ''cleaning product'' for my nose). The lasting power is very average though and ends up, just like Eau d'Hadrien, leaving my skin smelling a little sour.

8th February, 2011.