Songes is firmly anchored in the mama category. The kind of yummy mummy who’s still madly in love with her husband, walks with a lazy hip-sway, swims in the nude and takes catnaps in a hammock for two while the girls are kept busy by the nanny…
And with Songes, mom’s clearly on a holiday. With its salicylic cocktail of tiaré, ylang-ylang, frangipani blossom and vanilla notes, it smells of French summers (salicylates were used as sunscreen before the discovery of more effective ingredients).
This is a huge, fleshy scent, almost oily in its creaminess, but it wears softly: white flowers divested of their diva attitude, relaxed and lazing in the sun. The fruity jasmine is mostly obvious in the opening, along with what seems to my nose to be a very brief, slightly singed note I sometimes get in white florals – other people have commented on a rubbery smell which is definitely jasmine essence. Tuberose isn’t listed but there’s something green and mentholated up there that sure smells like it. Then the tropical flowers quickly take over. Their sweetness is cut through with vetiver and incense, all the way into the amber-sandalwood-vanilla dry down. Then it smells just like sun-kissed skin after dusk.
When Songes came out, my boyfriend loathed it instantly and the samples went back in a drawer. Now the boyfriend’s out of the picture and my love affair with Manoumalia – which could be Songes’ little sister gone native, with its creamy tropical flowers underscored by earthy vetiver – inspired me to pull the samples back out. When those were gone, I bought a bottle and the body cream (which I warmly recommend). Oddly, I remember Songes as being much stronger and much more jasmine-y when I first tried it. Any of you Songes lovers out there have the same impression, or is it just my tolerance to big florals that’s gone up?
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The Baccarat Songes bottle they have for sale at Aedes de Venustas makes me go cross-eyed with desire whenever I look at it. I knew nothing previously about Songes, but the bottle is gorgeous.
RépondreSupprimerRe. the mentholated tuberose scent you're picking up -- do you think that might be the ylang-ylang? Ylang-ylang can exhibit an edgy kerosene flair, depending on how it's used.
And now you've just introduced me to another Goutal that I apparently need to investigate further on my own . . .
Nathan, it could definitely be the ylang-ylang... I've been wearing Songes, Manoumalia and Beyond Love in the searing heat of the South of France these past days (along with a very daring décolletage) and they stand up well to all the circumstances. Definitely something you should smell.
RépondreSupprimerMama, Songes is a full-on Dream on you... I've no point of comparison, but if it doesn't smell richly jasminey to you, your nose is definitely more grown up than mine ; )
RépondreSupprimerThanks Louise! I don't know, it just felt much stronger at the time, almost too much to handle... Hmm.
RépondreSupprimerI wonder if your original sample was the EDP? Do you remember the color? I have Songes EDP in a slightly worn moon bottle inherited from Ina Prouty, who used to run a beautiful perfume blog. (I bought it to wear for my wedding after searching fruitlessly for the EDP online.) The juice is a beautiful deep rose, and I believe it has both more jasmine and more vanilla/sandalwood. It is rounder and riper and can be a bit of a sillage monster. The EDT, which I also enjoy, and own a tiny 15 ml bottle of, has a bit more sparkle, is slightly less lush, more floral/tropical, and the juice is a much lighter color.
RépondreSupprimerAnd yes, I get that bitter moment, too. I think of it as duskiness. When I first wore it (it was one of my very first perfume loves) I used to suffer through it. Now I welcome it as a counterpoint to the sweetness.
Alyssa, that must be it, but I really don't remember. That original sample from the time of the launch was poured into an atomizer along with a couple of new ones very recently... It didn't seem to be differently coloured.
RépondreSupprimerAnyway, no matter, I can go back and test the edp at the shop.
I remember Ina, I used to read her blog!
Simply comply w/ the right-on B&W photo you`ve posted - curl up, cool it, and breathe in deeply to ENJOY! A lush scent as this gives warm and comforting embraces...
RépondreSupprimerHotlanta Linda, it most certainly does... I'll be adding the shower gel to the pleasures soon!
RépondreSupprimerI've lurked on your fantastic blog for ages, and rarely find myself counter-arguing anything you have to say, so this is the first time I've commented!
RépondreSupprimerFor me, Songes is proof that you can have too much of a good thing. Strangely enough, I can wear (and enjoy) Fracas but I find Songes overwhelming. Maybe I prefer my huge white flowers to be soliflore, or almost soliflore. They have such strong identities in their own right, these tropical blooms, that a mix seems simply to blur their characters, rather than highlight them.
Thanks for de-lurking Mimi! Though you don't have to disagree to comment! ;-)
RépondreSupprimerActually, Fracas isn't really a soliflore: it's got a hefty dose of orange blossom (tuberose's usual partner-in-crime) and quite a bit of jasmine. I suspect it might be the tropical flowers that don't sit right with you (ylang-ylang, frangipani, tiaré). Their smell is quite different from that of white flowers like tuberose and jasmine.
Very possibly - living in Ireland, tropical blooms seem out of place, somehow, so perhaps it's a contextual thing :)
RépondreSupprimerI love this review!
RépondreSupprimerThe first time I wore Songes I had purchased the body cream. I wore it as I worked in the garden-I used a lot of cedar mulch, and the effect of the earthy cedar and the tropical fragrance remains etched indelibly in my scent memory. It's a potent and beautiful scent. I usuall spritz on some Tubereuse, too, to add to the overall halo of beauty. I thought Mamoulia was simialr to it-. is just a bit too tropical and jasmin-ish for me.
How do you choose the images to accompany your reviews? You're a talented artist, for sure! And have you an opinion of Rochas Mystere? I just bought a bottle and I'm enjoying it a lot. Not a lot of reviews on it that I can find.
Carole
Mimi, that may be it... or just a matter of taste!
RépondreSupprimerCarole, I'll have to think about trying some cedar-ish to layer with the Songes body cream, it sounds like a heavenly combination!
RépondreSupprimerAbout the images, it's a pretty long process, that involves a lot of Googling and lateral thinking... I try to choose images that reflect both the contents of the post and my own tastes. It often takes me almost as long as writing a post, so I'm glad they're appreciated.
I've never smelled Rochas Mystère, unfortunately... It seems to have slipped under everyone's radar!
Well, the care and attention you pay to choosing your art really adds to the overall enjoyment of the site. It is incerdible!
RépondreSupprimerShould you wish to try a sample of Mystere, please email me at carole_macleod@hotmail.com. It's an open offer, no time limits! I hope this isn't too forward of me: not sure what the etiquitte is when offering samples. I post under the name madamex at POL and MUA. I really like the Mystere, and am surprised that there is so little information about it. It's soft woods with resin-y sweetness, but it's not sweet at all. It's as remarkable as parfum de therese. It was an impulse purchase for me, and I'm glad that for once I didn't analyze it to death before committing to a purchse!
Carole
I don't have a full bottle of songs but I think it's fuller in the hot weather! it's delicious but it's very potent on me (lots of scents are) so it's one I would wear sparingly. It's on my list of full bottles I want but never quite get. I think next time in Paris it could well be a contender for a purchase!
RépondreSupprimerCarole, thank you for the compliment and thank you for the offer. Mystère is discontinued but still fairly easily available it seems: I'll take you up on that offer! Not too forward at all -- I get sent a lot of sample from my readers and fellow PoL members...
RépondreSupprimerRose, I don't where you are geographically, but you can get a better deal on Songes edt from a new American online retailer, REI RIEN (not affiliated).
RépondreSupprimerOf course nothing beats the full Parisian retail experience, and the fact the fragrance becomes a souvenir...
Okay, now I'm picturing Nathan inhaling deeply into your deep decolletage. ;-) Songes is usually "too much" for me, but on rare occasions when I reach for it, it's lovely.
RépondreSupprimer"Okay, now I'm picturing Nathan inhaling deeply into your deep decolletage"
RépondreSupprimerLOL! Tara, the first time I read Denyse's response to my comment, I thought: "Her decolletage stands up well to all the circumstances . . . ?" :)
Hi Tara,
RépondreSupprimerYou see, that's the weird thing, Songes used to be too much for me too... (And Nathan would've had company!).
Nathan -- it does too, with a little help from La Perla and Cadolle...
RépondreSupprimerYour reviews are so beautiful that you make me want to immediately go out and buy a bottle! But I'll restrict myself to a sample. Also want to add that I truly look forward to the art you use on your blog; it is very much appreciated!
RépondreSupprimerDonna
Thank you for your kind words, Donna. They'll give me a little extra push to start reviewing again -- I've just finished a big job, oof.
RépondreSupprimerIt sounds scrumptious. Going on the must-try list.
RépondreSupprimerOlfacta, write back when you do! (Just bought the shower gel. Yes, I've got it bad.)
RépondreSupprimerOh, dear, I am so glad you mentioned that tuberose impression. That was mine exactly, and I feel vindicated that a real "nose" like yours found the same thing in Songes.
RépondreSupprimerYour review makes me -- almost -- want to try it again. This AG scares me, though. My first and lasting impression was of Loud, Aggressive White Floral, which is my absolute least favourite femme fragrance category!!!
Lovely review, as always.
I meant NOT to be Anonymous. I MUST get the hang of your comment page. . . :-)
RépondreSupprimerIt is in French and I'm guessing at some of the selections. . .?
There I go again. It's Robin R. from Vancouver, in case anyone wants to know!
RépondreSupprimerRobin, I hadn't realized about the comment page, but there isn't much I can do about it...
RépondreSupprimerAs Nathan states in the very first comment, that tuberose impression might come from the ylang-ylang.
One thing you can do with Songes is try the edt, which is less potent, and the body cream, very true to the scent and pretty much sex in a tube (does that sound a little salacious?). I'm a big white floral girl myself but as I posted, I don't find Songes at all as overwhelming as I did at first try.
Now, I'm one of those who can't do Fracas but is absolutely sporting Songes. Has been true from early in my perfume curve...by which I do not mean my decolletage, lol.
RépondreSupprimerI always love seeing these different reactions (varying responses among appreciative perfume wearers) and their progressions over time...
ScentScelf, I wouldn't classify Fracas with Songes at all: one's a tuberose-orange blossom, the other's a tropical, pretty heavy on the solar notes and with a much more sensuous base.
RépondreSupprimerThat's it!! (goes off, whistling a happy tune now that she has words to define her comprehension of the two...) Thank you. :)
RépondreSupprimerScentScelf: well now, you can splurge on ylang, frangipani and tiaré to your heart's content.
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