Annick Goutal has launched L’ile au Thé, its newest fragrance teeming with the essence of mandarin, osmanthus flowers, tea leaves and white musk. It can be layered with older fragrances from the brand’s collection.
Inspired by the volcanic island of Jeju off the coast of South Korea, L’ile au Thé eau de toilette (EDT) is unisex and comes in feminine and masculine bottles. It also has a matching body cream.
It was on a trip to Korea that creative director Camille Goutal, daughter of the late Annick Goutal, and veteran perfumer Isabelle Doyen discovered Jeju. They were instantly charmed by the breezy island’s lush greenery, turquoise waters and unique and breathtaking landscape made up of ancient lava cliffs.
“True to the Annick Goutal tradition, each detail in this new fragrance is connected to its creators’ emotions,” said Nani Laurel of Rustan’s.
“The brand’s uniqueness lies in the way it transform emotions into perfume.”
Citrus essence
Like many of the older, more classic fragrances in the Annick Goutal collection, L’ile au Thé EDT can be worn and layered with body creams, particularly from the Eau d’Hadrien and Eau du Sud lines to enhance certain notes.
If there’s one ingredient these three fragrances share, it’s citrus essence, said Laurel. Depending on the combination, layering produces different results.
“L’ile au Thé seems to have been created and positioned between these two citrusy scents—Eau d’Hadrien and Eau du Sud,” she said.
Each scent is unique, but when you combine, say, L’ile au Thé EDT with Eau d’Hadrien body cream, you get a fresh green scent. The mix produces a zestier mandarin scent.
The L’ile au Thé-Eau du Sud combination produces a warmer citrus smell.
L’ile au Thé EDT can even be combined with a floral scent like Fleurs Blanches body cream to bring out the essence of tea leaves.
“This is not new to Annick Goutal. It wants you to play around with these fragrances and discover the possibilities,” said Laurel.
Rose scent
In the case of an older fragrance like Petite Cherie, for instance, you don’t need to pair its EDT with its body cream. Instead, you can pair Petite Cherie with La Rose and enhance the rose scent in both fragrances.
If you like to match fragrances with corresponding body creams, you’re enhancing the entire scent. If you mix and match different fragrances, you’re enhancing certain notes and creating a more nuanced and customized fragrance.
Annick Goutal’s L’ile au Thé is exclusively available at all Rustan’s branches. As an introductory offer, Rustan’s is giving away a small L’ile au Thé scented candle with every purchase of L’ile au Thé EDT.