Voyages Imaginaires

samples from Bloom Part 1

Camille Goutal and Isabelle Doyen have been running Voyages Imaginaires, their own firm, since 2020. Goutal is, of course, Annick Goutal’s daughter and a perfumer in her own right. Doyen did many of Annick Goutal’s perfumes, e.g. the immortal Sables (1985)¹. I have met Doyen, and she struck me as an entirely BS-free perfumer with a very down-to-earth manner, and very much in love with her work.

Voyages Imaginaires released four all-natural perfumes in 2020 and one in 2023. Their website is remarkably literate by the standards of niche perfumery, though still heavy on the redundant “perfume is not merely perfume, it is also [insert overblown simile]” stuff.

The fragrances are oddly hybrid, with vivid, hippie top notes and surprisingly classical drydowns. The drydowns, incidentally, are of high quality, and Voyages Imaginaires should be commended for not front-loading their formulas to the detriment of the morning after. They are entirely pleasant and well-crafted but not all that original.