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nuanuaduapyw – :
I wanted this for so long, that when I had the available funds I made sure to buy it, and in the EDP. I am a little disappointed. It smells like pears. Really sweet , realistic pears. It is a nice smell, but I think it’s too exaggerated of a pear smell for me to really enjoy it. Pear candies? The sour white wine smell this gets later on just isn’t the right meld with my senses. The rose here is nice but it is dusty. like a rose potpourri. I can totally wear this, I don’t dislike it, but I don’t like it as much as Quel Amour, which was a blind buy too but is my signature. I love Annick Goutal, and look forward to trying other scents, but next time I will probably just buy the EDP of Quel Amour…
Update…I am convinced that seasons affect our sense of smell very profoundly. Now that it’s June, the glory of this perfume reveals itself. The sweet pear becomes peachy, maybe a ripe apricot which is a true facet of certain roses… this is a rose in full bloom, maybe even dropping some petals, her fragrance carried on the warm breeze. Now it makes sense. Incredibly sweet and romantic, and delivers on every promise this house represents.
krios – :
Gorgeous scent, albeit quite similar to Rose Splendide. I wish it had a bit more longevity, considering the price tag. The smell itself is absolutely beautiful though.
serenja22m3 – :
On my skin, it starts out as a very intense, green jammy rose, and then it starts pulling this peculiar ammonia smell.
This is sadly one I cannot wear.
pendulum of life – :
A beautiful vintage rose-featured scent. The opening is fruity, not like most of the modern perfumes’ synthetic fruity beginning, it smells like berry red wine, ripe and mature. The rosy part is quite rich and intense, it gives the representative vintage feeling of the classic rose scents. Very well-blended and its lasting power is good among all Annick works. Another beautiful vintage rose scent juxtaposes the Agent Provocateur that I’ve recently tried. These are worth-collecting classic rose scents if you’re into this particular category. Recommend it very much!
Andrey60970 – :
When it goes on, because of the sweetness, the top notes smell like lily — a really sweet, green, grassy lily with an odd sour note, oh, then you realize the sour note is the rose, a really sour green rose like sniffing the cut stem and leaves. As the sweetness goes away, the rose takes over. This is not jammy or sweet. It’s not the lovely rose scent many adore, this is dry dry dry rose petals in a keepsake box years after someone gave them to you. I love rose scents and really like this one. I have a decant. I don’t LOVE it where I would wear it often and bathe in it as I do SL La Fille, Lush Imogen Rose, Tauer Rose Flash or Perfumer’s Workshop. But this is a nice change in my rose rotation. If you are a rose lover, it’s a must sniff because it’s different from all the other roses out there, including no oud. LOL
elizabethespinozaou – :
A big blowsy rose on a hot summer day. This reminded me a lot of Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose, but without the nuclear effects of Tea Rose. I don’t pick up any of the hibiscus that is supposedly in this. It’s all rose and while it’s true to the plant, something made it very boring for me.
romann93 – :
I had written off Annick Goutal fragrances in the past as being underwhelming and short-lived and I’ve just had my sentiments reinforced.
I was hoping that Ce Soir Ou Jamais was going to be a richly seductive rose soliflor, but it’s a limp, watery squirt of wilting rose petals. It’s like the perfume you attempt to make as a child with some rose petals and an old jar the garden with some water. In the summer sun it turns rancid but adults humour your cuteness and let you put the stangnant mixture on their wrists then tell you it smells “lovely”. It never does. This has a similar weakness and unfreshness about it.
There’s no strength nor conviction with Annick Goutal fragrances. They are never ‘out and proud’ nor “here, queer, get used it it”, as they all seem to be confused whispers of the amazing brief that they originally intended to be.
Others have mentioned the wine note, but it’s a whiny smell rather than a winey smell.
But my main gripe is the rose note; I adore a true rose but this is more geraniol and citronellal rather than a true rose. This is not a bouquet of lush roses. I’m done trying with wishy-washy Annick Goutal.
artak112233 – :
OMGoodness I am in ROSE NIRVANA!
If I close my eyes, its almost as if I have transcended as a Queen into the palatial, lush, Kings rose garden.
The paths in this mysterious garden are lined with silky smooth, pungent, ohhhhh soooooo SWEET Turkish crushed rose petals.
On this magical garden stroll I detect wafting breezes carrying in sexy spices, and musk maybe from a nearby spice market. It’s as if they are floating in on angels wings especially to grace this beautiful gardens presence.
This heavenly fragrance is intensified and warmed by the heat of glorious sunshine.
The aroma from the wine in the glass I carry mingles with the Roses and spicy musk in perfect harmony.
All in all…a decadent olfactory treat.
My experience with this Frag from start to finish has been divine.
In my mind you must be a rose lover extreme to appreciate this vividly colorful, rose perfume.
It is not for those who like to dabble with a rose scent…
It is for those no matter what their age, live to rebel in a glorious rose fragrance.
Sillage was great. Longevity was good
A tad pricey but worth every dollar spent.
Could even become my signature scent?
denukas97 – :
I tried all of Annick Goutal´s rose fragrances while in Paris in June. They all smelled different than I had thought (except for Rose Absolue for obvious reasons). Ce Soir is the strangest one of them and the one I thought I´d have bought. I didn´t. Because I didn´t get it- it REALLY smelled like slightly wilting rose mixed with the left over wine you find in glasses the day after you´ve had a too rowdy party. And the room they sit in had been too warm and humid. That isn´t necessarily a totally bad smell and can even be cozy to a certain degree. But do I want my body to smell like that? I think not. There was something watery and dewy and astringent, maybe kind of sweet-tart, in the fragrance at the same time and I am not sure if that´s the ambrette seed or the hibiscus since I don´t know how hibiscus smells. It was just a strange and if not unappealing, so an awkward scent. But now… I find myself sniffing the tiny vial I got at the perfume counter and I feel that Ce Soir has got more to it than I grasped in the store. The vial smells from tart apples (maybe that is what turns into stale wine on my skin?), sweet/tart rose and something like pond water. I still don´t think I´d buy it (it´s expensive), but then again, I would actually love to be surrounded by this smell since if anything it´s extremely interesting!
Edit: I am now obsessed with this utterly strange and gorgeous smell. As much as I adore Pompon, that I got, I wish I would have gotten this! Exquisite and so different. By all means, this is not an easy to figure out perfume. And there IS something wicked about it, almost off. It´s very sexy.
LYOHAHA – :
FRAGRANCE REVIEW FOR CE SOIR OU JAMAIS BY ANNICK GOUTAL
Notes: Hibiscus Rose Amber Ambrette
I had heard that this scent was boozy and I’m purposely surrounding myself with boozy fragrances to avoid actually drinking lots of booze. This is an unusual beautiful fragrance that does evoke a red wine. I don’t know how they did that with such few notes and with no rum, cognac or even a black currant/cassis. I’m going to have to conclude that the hibiscus an the ambrette pairing make this into a booze. It’s spicy too. The rose of course is the dominant note. I do love this scent. It smells like an elegant beautiful young woman (the rose)let’s just say she’s a super model who is in Paris for Fashion Week sitting alone at a luxury hotel restaurant-bar let’s say the Plaza Athenee and she’s just ordered a drink for herself but she’s waiting for a mysterious admirer who has slipped her a note asking to meet her at a specific time, 9pm. She believes this man could be of some use to her as usually only other fashion industry types do this sort of thing. She waits and waits and drinks and drinks. The scent becomes progressively richer boozier and spicier so I’m guessing she ordered more drinks. Yeah the guy never showed up. It was tonight or never so the answer is never. But the aroma of the perfume is not melancholy at all. It’s sweet, strong, delicious, rose-scented, boozy, intoxicating and heady. It’s elegant and very formal something to wear with evening clothes to formal dinner parties or even a wedding. It is a rose so if you like rose fragrances and have worn as many different rose perfumes as I have you’ll enjoy it. This is a spicy rose and it dries down to a skin amber, like amber on your skin making it clean and soft, not powdery, not soapy, just like your skin but better. Warm, rich, fragrant, feminine and even sexy. I feel so sorry for that poor fashion model but at least she smelled terrific. Maybe she caught someone else’s attention. She certainly has mine.
olejik13 – :
It goes on pretty light, like a light fizzy wine-y rose, but dries down hours later to heavier rose scent with a strong honey note.
It reminds me a lot of Joy by Patou, which also has that honey note.
In fact, for a minute, I almost thought I had put on Joy rather than Ce Soir Ou Jamais!
onlinedrugswwwa – :
One of my favorite perfumes, a beautiful floral with sweet. Like roses mixed with the sweetness of honey. One of the nicest things I have ever smelled.
Rust – :
Pick lots of fresh garden roses, crush the petals in a big glass bowl, add sugar , pour some red wine, mix it well, leave it for an hour – you get Annick Goutal Ce Soir Ou Jamais. This is my impression of Ce Soir Ou Jamais – sweetened, winey red roses.
jonnyroot – :
“Jamais Is The Answer” *
In this case I’ll concur on Tania Sanchez verdict.
All seems wrong to me in this perfume: a flopped chypre made of rotten flowers.
The kind of perfume I never like.
My first deception coming from Annick Goutal: I love Songes, one of the best florals I experienced. My bad, as the name of the perfume was challenging.
menedger28 – :
Simple. Sophisticated. Intimate. Mysterious. I always feel beautiful wearing Ce Soir Ou Jamais. This perfume is something that I would wear on a balmy spring or summer’s evening, or on a cool day during autumn.
Evocative of romance, Tonight Or Never has an old-fashioned elegance, that’s been updated with the modern hibiscus flower, which prevents it from smelling dated. On my skin, there’s a wonderful hibiscus-rose scent that has an almost sticky velvet-like sweetness. As it dries down, it becomes softer, cleaner and rosier, and develops into a more vintage-smelling rose. The amber gives a lovely warmth here.
The perfume has soft to moderate sillage and a lovely sweet rosy projection which surrounds me in a little bubble. Longevity is about 7-8 hours, which is excellent for an AG perfume. One of my favourites.
njs374InsuffBooni – :
A little tearose in the opening notes.
A lot of disapointment to follow. 🙁
Sweetish floral powder – dirty powder – in the later notes.
Thick, musty, warm. And only for the winter.
Moderate sillage and lasting a couple of hours on the skin.
I think I am done with Goutal – the notes all sound right, yet the ‘fumes never work for me.
addidasf – :
I recently got a sample of this, and think I will be ordering a fb soon. I like it much more than Rose Splendide which smells like marshmallows mixed with a bit of rosewater on me. This opens with some citrus, then I get the rose, turning musky as it dries down. I’m not a really big fan of rose fragrances but I want at least one in my collection – think this will do very well!
EDIT: I did get a fb of this, but don’t like it as much as the sample – this is the 2nd time this has happened with an AG fragrance. Its nice enough, and I will wear it but probably not very often. The citrus seems to be more pronounced, and I get an underlying sourness from start to finish that doesn’t mix well with the other notes.
dkzafgl038 – :
Ah, how I wish I could love this one. The name, the story…so romantic and melancholy.
I get the delicate poignancy at first application, but within moments I can’t get past a certain sharpness. These roses are on the verge of drying, wilting, sweetness is giving way to citric sharpness. Darkening red roses in a vase of still water. The citrus accord just doesn’t translate to brightness to me.
On my skin, it just ends up being too sharp, as did Petite Cherie. It stays behind, stinging in my nostrils and leaves a bitter taste in the back of my throat. It’s bittersweet…and almost ammonic.
But maybe that’s what it is. The last evening of a rose’s beauty. Romantic and melancholy it is, then. Just not the kind of beauty I was expecting.
demaTeams83 – :
I was intrigued by the description of “boozy roses” that someone posted on here. When presented with the opportunity of purchasising a bottle of the EDT AND the EDP (in the lucious glass bag-shaped flacon), I had to take advantage! Between the two, I prefer the EDP as it has a slight edge to its longevity over the EDT. To me, this is a very rich scent that reminds me of pears poached in mulled wine surrounded by my favorite rose (Chrystler Imperial). I have started a collection of rose perfumes, and while I only bring this one out on occasion, I would have to say that it is my best “diva” perfume. It is impossible for me to feel less than glamourous in this scent.
777spaun777 – :
Such a beautiful perfume! “Ce Soir Ou Jamais” is one of the best rose fragrances I have ever come across.
It makes me think of a beautiful white rose blooming gloriously in the sun; I can also detect a hint of citrus and pear.
Very elegant and feminine, a must have for rose lovers.
Meywr427bedyWelty – :
Ce Soir Ou Jamais is absolutely beautiful. I love rose fragrances, and this is one of the best I have found. It has a richness and depth to it, a warmth and intensity that is completely intoxicating. I LOVE it. I have most of the Annick Goutal perfumes, and I had a very hard time finding a bottle of this treasure. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is so beautiful it’s now my one of my top five perfumes of all time. What a find. It’s like romance in a bottle!
Makayla_fromAF – :
This rose is alive and fresh, she sits in this beautiful garden and..but wait! Someone sprayed some stuff against mosquitos in here!! Quel dommage!
…
Still a great rose scent, worth the deal
Gradus254 – :
I understand that so many people love this, and I love it too! But the images I am feeling are very different! I don’t get lady-like or soap or tea-time linen at all. To me, this is a magical medieval rose in a secret garden full of snarly vines and tangly branches, hidden and glowing behind the wine-berries — a mystical rose that is like a jewel that has sprung from the earth.
The boozy opening sets a surreal atmosphere, like the slow thick languid movements in a dream. Then the rose emerges in a clearing, sparkling and glistening like a pink ruby, and contrasted with the wine, it is rendered very fresh and bright. I find that the perfume shifts and hides and reveals the rose again and again, as if I see it gleaming behind the vines and branches as I walk towards it…
If you’ve ever seen the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters in New York, you’d understand — it’s as if those tapestries have come to life and the elements are moving and have taken on the bright colors of shiny, newly-dyed, living thread. Absolutely spell-binding, and one of my top three roses ever.
jie239InsuffBooni – :
Candied rose petals with very ripe pear, a hint of apple and sweet wine. It’s so delicious but not in your face food kind of smell. Very coy and romantic. I just can’t get enough.
Entineamn – :
One of the most beautiful rose fragrances imo. Heightens the Turkish rose and takes it to another level. Very elegant and feminine and full of depth. If you love quality rose fragrances this one is a gold standard.
pycijaselu – :
We had perfect smelling Turkish roses in our garden.
The first 40 seconds there was a fresh pear coming by. She disappeared and the Turkish rose appeared. I smell the sweet rose from my fathers garden, Early summer, deep aroma, sweet yet green.
Every 5 minutes this fragrance is changing; from sweet to green-fresh. Great composed!!
pzf363speagoessenda – :
At first I thought the sample I got somehow had gotten Petite Cherie in it instead of Ce Soir – by the notes this was not the smell I expected. I have a serum with Turkish rose oil. From the serum I know that the rose is very sweet, but it’s still clearly rose-smelling. What I get from this is honey and overly ripe pear – my brain is able to categorize it as being rose only after I smell something that definitely doesn’t contain rose. When I was in high school, we made esters in chemistry class. This smells like the ester that smelt pear… fragantica MUST have forgotten to list it as an ingredient! Although this fragrance is quite sweet, it’s also quite fresh. After a little while, the smell gets a little animalic and a little bit salty. This saltiness kinda reminds me of…pee. I’m not a big fan of this fragrance – it’s not quite what I prefer, but it’s… interesting. Especially in that the rose smell projects further than the honey-pear-like smell. I can’t actually smell the rose unless I’m a certain distance away from the source of the smell. Interesting.
What I like to do with this perfume is mixing it with Annick Goutal’s Rose Splendide, which is a very green rose fragrance. The result is very natural, tea-party-in-a-rose-garden: fancy ladies drinking tea with honney, sunny day, the gardener is cutting roses. I would suggest trying to mix the two perfumes some time – I like the result and you might too.
augis2007 – :
Hmmm…I have a love affair with roses. But I do like my roses to be complex (sorry, Chloe by Chloe!). Jamais is feminine, old-fashioned romance bottled up. This is definitely roses picked from the church garden and dragged through the church incense then steeped in a little red wine or cognac. The rose in this is “pink” and more tea-rose like in smell, and takes on a jammy, sweet mystique as if infused and bathed in red wine and honey then sprinkled in musk to give it depth. It’s funny as fragrantica only lists 4 notes, yet the official description hints at a vast number of other “secret ingredients” in the composition. What they are, who knows? As I smell mostly tea rose, musk, incense and a dash of one or two other ingredients. Sadly, like with some others of the Goutal line, lasting power is not fantastic, so reapplying can get tiresome.
yan-3334 – :
Beloved Rosaphiles I forgot to mention the spice ( nutmeg- cumin?) at the end dry down which is also sugared. Also- please note A.G fragrances are meant to be used quickly- not kept in the cellar to age like wine- this perfume in particular will decline if not used and enjoyed with in 1-3 years of production.
Longevity is fickle-some nights it’s forever – others it’s just an hour or two- I guess it’s called tonight or never because it really is an evening POTION:)
alexkul – :
oh comment j’aime! Oh how I live this wonderful perfume!
This is a rose-Phil’s dream!! Like all Annick Goutal perfumes it begins with an exploration of flowers:
Roses to be exact. But these are the vivid dream roses we can only inhale while asleep.
It’s such a romantic and nostalgic rose with all of its red thorns and mint green leaves.
It’s a spellbinding rose covered in confectioners sugar, antique lace, the dust of old gilded books and a a tea cup filled with with storm rain. There is also smoke.
Then comes the dry down- ah… Slowing it turns from rose to other floral with a dash of vintage leather. The greens peek out. Lemongrass stalks and lemon verbena, splashes of citrus wedges make my mouth water. Then comes the final movement- linens and fresh soap. The hibiscus and rosehips are more like a white bloming emperial tea that you drink from a glass tea cup rather than a bouquet.
Tiny hits of lavender subdue the Lucious Rose which ooze sexy
The first moment of savagely seduction and lust eventually fades into gentle romance and later into a formal greeting-
Love this so mush I would wore it everyday for about 1 year- I could not get enough.
I use the EDP and it is wonderful but nowhere near the the magnificence of the parfum.
Silage is perfect- just the right amount of attaction and attention.
This is more of a date night fragrance- romantic nostalgic and carnal with a lovely clean lady finish- all soapy and covered with suds after a wild time.
I might try the EDT- I don’t like to layer this with anything- it’s too perfect on its own.
bkd982speagoessenda – :
“Chameleon” is the best word to describe this. christianne1 was spot on when she said, “I think the complexity is what makes it so hard for people to decide how they feel about it.”
First, I adored the initial spray. It smelled like a beautiful rose in full bloom.
The amazing thing I love is that the beautiful rose is *always* in the background. What I hate is that something changes every time I sniff my wrist.
Example:
1st sniff = Rose + something nice
2nd = Rose + something I don’t like
3rd = Rose + something nice
4th = Rose + something nice
5th = Rose + something I don’t like
There is no rhyme or reason. It could smell nice twice in a row or something I don’t like three times in a row then back to nice again.
The ability to do that is both amazing and off-putting to me. I have to love a perfume from beginning to end. It is not “the one” for me, but bravo Annick Goutal.
petrpro25 – :
One of the most complex rose soliflores I have ever smelled or probably ever WILL smell. I think the complexity is what makes it so hard for people to decide how they feel about it. Because you are never quite sure what you are smelling. It is like a olfactory grab bag the entire time you are wearing it.
This is the last fragrance created by Annick Goutal before her death and it has been said it was 10 years in the making and contains over 160 notes. And almost every one of them were kept a secret. This is a mysterious fragrance and if you enjoy solving puzzles you will enjoy playing “find those notes” with this.
I have worn this off and on for years and still can’t decide how I feel about it. I have a love/hate relationship with it at times. But that pretty much describes passion…a thin line between love and hate. Annick Goutal bottled that feeling and doused it with rose.
ukt – :
I find this to be a very intriguing perfume. Ce Soir Ou Jamais has contradicting characters. Coy and seductive, youthful and mature, fresh and deep, foreign and familiar..Interesting how I smell pear/apple ish note yet its not shown on the notes. Very interesting interpretation of rose.
Mishared23 – :
The bottle is very attractive, but that’s about it for me. I got a sample of this after trying in store so that i can give it a proper judgment. And my proper judgment is pretty much my initial one; no.
To my nose this was pleasant but like freshly cleaned powder room pleasant, a spa’s powder room if you well. I wouldn’t wanna walk around smelling like that. passing.
BEESEEWROSE – :
This is my absolute bargain of the century find. 100ml for AUD$20 inc. postage from eBay, slightly used with no lid, blind purchase.
And, it’s lovely! I’m not usually one for florals,
I only need 2 sprays max. of this, but it is just so uncomplicated and honest. Rose from start to finish with a delicious wine & pear note in the beginning.
Like being served a wine poached pear, garnished with rose petals, on fine bone china and crushing the velvety petals between your fingers. The scent is intoxicating and you raise your fingers to your lips.
Later, like reclining among bruised petals on fine white cotton sheets with a friend not yet your lover but could be. Tonight, or never!
Wear it in spring, wear it to weddings, wear it with wild and romantic abandon.
Just need to find a lid!
Лотар – :
Sparkling, lively and feminine. This is not your grandma’s rose.
I was also introduced to it by way of a Sephora sample; it fast became my go-to evening scent for spring and summer.
Oh, and the object the silhouhetted Annick Goutal is holding on the sample card is a blotter clip. Perfumers use it to smell different notes
roman grit – :
This was one of my first gateway perfumes, a chance freebie from Sephora. (Thank you nameless sales associate, wherever you are!)The promotional card it came on featured a lady’s silouette holding some esoteric contraption, which to this day, I have no clue as to its purpose. I strongly suspect it was selected to mess with people.
Marketing aside, as others have noted, Ce Soir Ou Jamais is a lovely rose-centric scent. This is doubly true for the EDP version, which I bought. The rose is front and center, juicy, and in full bloom tucked next to a pear poached in sweet red wine. The EDT is lighter, the rose is fresher, and to my nose the perfume shifts much more noticiably through its various notes. The EDP is much more stable, which is pleasant, but I miss the shimmery dream-like quality of the EDT. Staying power on the EDP is longer, as might be expected, and longer still if sprayed on clothing or hair.
All in all, it’s hard to find fault with this fragrance unless you simply don’t like roses front and center. It doesn’t demand much from the wearer, and is far from a simple soliflore. Tonight or never? It’s all the same. This rose blooms when she sees fit.
Edit: I forgot to add the one and only thing I don’t care for: the packaging. I do not have the lovely crystal bag bottle pictured. I have the standard Annick Goutal bottle. For some reason this scent comes with a gold lame bag wrapped around it. It is really quite odd and doesn’t fit the feel of the perfume at all. Like a solid gold dancer at ballet recital. Annick Goutal is my favorite perfume house, and while I like the quaint and romantic ribbed bottles, I do wish they would do a little updating.
PriereeGekdus – :
Sharp, true GREEN rose. Shrieking, biting, yeeesh.
Aerohopleneriglo – :
It smells like sweet and strong black tea served with rose petals jam and some hibiscus. A warm fragrance, which doesn’t develop much (at least on me). Delightful, but somewhat boring.
Great for autumn evenings by the fireplace, with a cup of tea and a good book. Or a person to snuggle with.
deda777 – :
There is a distinct pearish/apple scent in this.It is difficult to tell where the apple(?)ends and rose begins sometimes.It is not that I don’t like apple and rose together. Apples are memebers if the rose family so they blend very welk together. It is a bit too rich.It is a very deep rose. Not delicate but not abrasive. It is very warm and sweet. If you want a unique deep rose scent then perhaps you would like it. There is nothing sparkly or airy, it is wet and sticky.
Altogether, I do like it. It brings the image of sweet red lipstick kisses to my mind. Since I associate scents w colors, this is what I would wear with a burgundy dress or other deep colors. Very romantic.
However I don’t like the opening, or some of the dry down, I like the last bits of it where the sweetness is more subdued and the wonderful muskyness comes out. It is a definitely a “skin scent”.
It is a very true rose.
komvitalij – :
It is a lovely, velvety and rich rose scent.
From the bottle it almost smell like rose petals dipped in red wine, rich and grape-y.
It is distinctively different from the other rose scents I own. It is definitely not fruity, like that of D&G Rose the One or the sweet tarteness from Serge Lutens’ Sa Majeste la Rose. I like that it doesn’t have patchouli in it, so that it’s not overly dark or complicated.
There is something very intriguing and elegant about this perfume. It is warm, pure and inviting. I think it is a great choice for romantic occasions, or wear lightly as an office scent.
darkness-lit – :
This one of my favourite Annick Goutal fragrances. To me its not just a simple rose scent, it actually smells like the roses in my garden, kind of green like grass but not overpoweringly so. Its not too sweet like most rose scents, it smells nothing like rose turkish delight which i often think is the case. Once ive had it on for a while it becomes more balmy and earthy like rain in summer. Defiiately my favourite rose fragrance ever!
rauf – :
Is THIS the beautiful red rose from Goutal?! I’m so glad I got a sample from a fellow fragrantican. Very disapoinnting and unbalanced. The Molinard Rose is way better, it’s everything CSOJ is trying to be, and so much cheaper.
Спик – :
This fragrance is amazing ..I reccommend the edp because sadly the edt doesn’t stay on very long.
Арий_ТУР – :
I have to agree with Starlight Angel! Ce Soir ou Jamais opens in such a sharp and unattractive burst that it is almost disgusting….like a synthetic essence of pear! After about fifteen minutes it begins to soften into a honeyed rose which is lovely and lasting but is it worth suffering through such a nasty start for a little bit of rose and honey? I think not.
l.v.m – :
I am a great fan of Annick Goutal fragrances, but Ce Soir Ou Jamais is one that I have a love/hate relationship with.
The fact is that I LOVE the drydown but I HATE the opening.
CSOJ opens with a very boisterous, exuberant fresh rose. For my tastes it’s TOO strong, and while it captures the scent of garden roses very well, it’s almost bitter.
It doesn’t help that I get a burst of a very sour fruity note in the opening too. I prefer my rose sweet and delicate, and I don’t find that in the opening of this scent.
However, as it dries down, the rose seems to sweeten, it becomes a lot less sharp and a lot more powdery. I still detect that sourness but it’s not so prominent and a lot more pleasant.
It was basically the dry down that sold this scent to me, even though it’s not the most long lasting, and doesn’t offer much in terms of sillage.
However, overall, it’s rose done well, and definitely one for lovers of fresh roses.
camaro1957 – :
This opens with a very heady rose, large and voluptuous, at the peak of it’s fragrance. As it dries down it softens into a powdery rose with the hibiscus making a brief and tangy note during the heart of this perfume, but that fades away all to quickly in my opinion. After the hibiscus leaves there is a bit of something sweet that mixes with the rose but nothing much to remark on with my chemistry, it becomes a very vintage scent on me. Though it is a pretty rose, it is to old fashioned for my taste.
kp0k – :
Modern and old-fashioned infusion.
The opening is the modern part of the scent, lively rose aroma with pear and hibiscus. Unusual but pleasant opening with the impressions of freshly picked rose smell. This bright moments are runs away and the modern rose scent turns into a nostalgic, a bit bitter, musky- ambergis oriental rose attar scent. Truly turkish delight aroma with a pale lemon nuance.
I think it’s easy to overdose, so maybe better if you use it just with light hand..
tavaExparry – :
Mmmmmm….. have to agree with two previous reviews the top note does seem to include pear! And I also found just a scant whiff of liquorice on the top opening. The hibiscus hit my nose quite pungently and this is where I needed patience! Soonish after came the warmth of a tea rose – sublime, reminiscent of sitting in the garden on a warm summer afternoon and every so often getting a scent of the roses close by!
For me this is a day into evening perfume! But I can see people only using this for the evening!
I did notice that when I had thought it had gone for the evening and I was sitting around I would suddenly experience another whiff of rose – quite unusual….!!
This is a wrist sniffer