Many people recoil at a whiff of an old school chypre. A chypre’s citrus-oakmoss-labdanum-patchouli signature doesn’t pander and can be downright off-putting for the inexperienced. Grand chypres are so old fashioned. They rarely seduce you with mouthwatering berries and Orange Crush-like fruit. They don’t flaunt their sexiness with blatant oriental notes. They waft fusty oak moss. I get it. I understand all the repugnance. And I love old school chypres just the same.
When I say “old school chypre,” I mean a big chypre, a chypre that doesn’t hide its identity under woody musk. Some of the classic old school chypres, besides Rochas Femme and Guerlain Mitsouko (perhaps the benchmarks), are Christian Dior Miss Dior (now called Miss Dior Classic), Acqua di Parma Profumo, Chanel Cristalle, Hermès Calèche, Niki de Saint Phalle, Nina Ricci Fille d’Eve and Balmain Miss Balmain, to name a few. As different as they are from each other, smell a few of these fragrances side by side, and you’ll understand their connection.
Also, a handful of new perfumes qualify in my mind as old school chypres, too. Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chéri par Camille, Aedes + Molinard Histoire de Chypre, Vero Profumo Onda and Hiram Green Shangri La all fly the grand old chypre flag proudly.
I adore these fragrances for many reasons. First, they don’t try to make you love them. They’re jolie laide perfumes that don’t need to be pretty, because they’re all-get-out chic. I think of the interchange in the movie Get Shorty (sorry, I should know if this is in the Elmore Leonard novel that inspired the film), where John Travolta’s character, a mobster named Chili, buys a Prius. One of the other gangsters sneers and says, “A Prius. Aren’t they slow?” Chili responds, “I guess they’ll just have to wait for me.” That attitude is pure chypre.
Also, to me chypres signal glamour. I know this is more in my head than in my nose, but isn’t that part of perfume’s attraction? When I think of a chypre, I picture Marlene Dietrich stubbing out a cigarette in a black and white movie. Chypres smell of an era when Lauren Bacall whistled and spies didn’t use smart phones. Things were simple, and yet complicated. This might be a personal weakness, though — I love me a 1930s crystal cocktail glass and a tattered dressing gown.
Chypres challenge me. Most fragrances today aim to please immediately with juicy top notes. “Buy me!” they say. “Don’t I make your mouth water?” The flip side of these floozy scents is that they bore within half an hour. A chypre doesn’t play that game. A chypre gives you something to ponder all day long — at least, the good ones do — as they unfurl and tap at your imagination.
An old school chypre likely smells mossy and piquant at a distance, but chewy and woody and full of heart up close. It’s complex. Now, with years of smelling perfume behind me, I appreciate a chypre’s complexity, just as experience has engendered a love of oysters, Wagner and crazy tartan mixes. Sure, the first time I smelled Miss Dior it baffled me. How could this fragrance still be on the market? Now I have enough vintage Miss Dior stashed away to poach eggs in it all month.
Do you like old school chypres? If you do, which are your favorites?
Note: top image shows Cyprus (and in the insert, Lemnos) from the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Abraham Ortelius, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lady, I’m with you. Let me loose with a purse sprayer of Cabochard or Crêpe de Chine and I’m a happy woman. 🙂
And you smell divine! You can sit next to me on the bus any day.
Oh! Crepe de Chine!
Isn’t it great? So complex, so not-of-this-time.
I loved Crepe de Chine…haven’t smelled it in decades but I can still smell it if you know what I mean.
I dab it on when I really want to feel I’ve entered another era. It’s lovely.
Cabochard! Love it.
Me too!
Niki de saint phalle! haven’t thought about that one in years! I LOVED it! (and I am quite old so I grew up on chypres……..probably why I love the smell of oakmoss, patch and labdanum…….) would Rein constitute a modern chypre?
Rien certainly has a little everything big in it, including (if I remember right) moss and patchouli. I wish I had some here to pass the Old School Chypre sniff test!
I did not answer the question and I misspelled Rien (F grade for me-LOL!) chypres I loved and wore in my youth (all vintage) Aliage, Private Collection, No 19, Cristalle, Aromatics Elixir, Clinique Wrappings, Miss Dior and of course Nikki! I am sure that I am leaving many, many out but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment…..
Spelling is my own bete noire, so don’t worry about it! Those chypres all sound wonderful.
Oh! Aromatics Elixir! Cristalle! Wore that on my wedding day…
Memories!
I had a sample of Nikki, loved No. 19, and Cristalle (which I don’t care for now, I think I had a previous formulation). i’ll have to try some of those others….
Chasing down old chypres is a fun way to pass the time, if you ask me…
Niki de Saint Phalle is a dream. I don’t wear it often but I love having it. I found a sweet 30ml botlle for $25 at a perfume outlet.
It really is one of the great underestimated perfumes. It isn’t always easy to wear, but if it suits you, it’s a dream.
I am also ‘quite old so I grew up on chypres’ – and classic greens and aldehydic fragrances. My favorite, even as a young girl who never heard the word ‘perfumista,’ is the classic Miss Dior, I still love to wear it in vintage form. Others are YSL Y, Carven Ma Griffe, Wrappings (still wear), YSL Rive Gauche, Paco Rabanne Calandre.
A definite yes to chypres and glamour! It’s usually a chypre that I wear to our local Classic Film Series (albeit in small amounts so as not to offend).
It sounds like you really love the crisper chypres–wonderful! I’d think they’d go fabulously with black and white films.
Everyone smells so good today…
Can you imagine a room full of old school chypre wearing women? And the tremendous personalities that would go with them?
Bring it on, Baby! I own and wear Niki de St Phalle and Rochas Femme. I enjoy some of their more modern children like the original Halston, Paloma Picasso, and EL Knowing. I love marigolds, one of my favorite notes in perfumery and only to be found in a handful of chypres.
I love marigold, too! Have you tried Montana Parfum de Peau? It’s a big chypre with a healthy marigold note.
I do love old school chypres too, although I’ve come to grow into them more over the years. Originally, I was really an oriental gal. But now, oh! I do love oakmoss! IMHO fragrances *used* to have to stand up to a lot more pressure than they do now: people didn’t have modern deodorants, shampoos, or everyday showers, or even the kind of easy laundry we do now, which is likely why these older fragrances had to be so uncompromising! Fragrance had a real, serious purpose and not just an amuse bouche for the nose.
My fav chypre is the first one I really liked best: Mitsouko. And I am lucky to have some older edp and older extrait (both from the chevron boxes). But my total fav chypre is Chanel No 19 as anyone who reads this blog knows! My other newly “discovered” chypre that I’ve just made friends with is Clinique’s Aromatics Elixir, but we are the kind of friends who only air kiss.
Now, that’s an interesting theory, and it makes sense! Plus, those old chypres often smell good next to cigarette smoke-laden clothing–something else more popular decades ago.
No. 19 is wonderful, and spring–to me, No. 19’s home territory–is just around the corner.
I know – I’m getting all my pretty green chypres lined up and ready for spring! GIII, vintage Amazone, Safari, No 19, Cristalle….
I can smell the hyacinths and spring rain already!
I always wondered about finding a perfume to complement if one was a smoker … Especially when I watch Mad Men and wonder what perfume Betty wears 😉
Fracas! Don’t you think she’d be great in Fracas?
I can see Betty wearing Arpege also.
Agree on the Arpege, the vintage one. It’s a lot more delicate than Fracas, too.
I see Betty wearing Joy, only b/c it was the best and costliest.
Good point on the Joy!
Many of my favorite chypres have already been mentioned, but I would add Agent Provocateur, Apercu, and Ungaro Diva. Also Amouage Jubilation 25, which may be as much an oriental as a chypre but in any case smells fabulous.
And Tauer’s Une Rose Chyprée, which could also be classified as an oriental/chypre.
Une Rose Chypree is wonderful, but to me it smells more oriental than blatantly chypre. Terrific all the same.
Nice additions! I especially love Jub 25.
oh, agree about Ungaro Diva–it’s a beauty, and vintage is still cheap & cheerful!
Every perfume wardrobe should have a good rose chypre…
yep, discovered vintage Diorama on eBay, and now have enough to last through an apocalypse and then some. I love some, but not all of the old-school chypres–Miss Dior is more challenging for me and am not wild about Eau de Soir. Mitsouko & Shangri-La were no-gos for me (suspect peach + chypre element just don’t fly on my skin). Do enjoy Profumo and JL Scherrer, and I think of 31 RC as a modern chypre. Thanks for reminding me to keep wearing that Diorama–it needs to get used, and it’s fab!
Yes, definitely wear the Diorama! It would be a mortal sin to let it spoil. It wants skin.
Miss Dior is not an easy scent, but once you truly get it, it’s indispensable. (To me, anyway.)
I have a nearly gone bottle of newish Mitsouko EdP that I’ve rekindled with about a week ago. Like wearing a power suit! I would love to try the parfum again. I lost my sample after one try about 5 years ago. I’ve heard the new batch is especially nice.
I also love Miss Dior (Classic :/ ), and have bit of parfum and EdT. The parfum is really tantalizing. It makes you want to sit up straight! It brings to mind what Luca Turin said about Chamade: fragrances made you wait. That bitter green start of Miss Dior (Classic :/ ) lasts and lasts until your own soft sillage startles you. Heaven!
I also have a bottle of Aromatics Elixir that I enjoy but I don’t wear it often unless I’ll be dining alone. I get compliments on it from passers-by, but not from my dinner companions. (By the way, does Let Labo’s Ylang remind anyone of AE? I tried it the other day and it was all I could think of. Must try them side by side.)
(I feel like I should mention that I’m a man and that I love a good chypre.)
I love a good chypre on a man, so we’d get along just fine.
I’ll have to try the Ylang next to Aromatics Elixir. I admit that I don’t think of them as similar, but I’ve been surprised so many times by trying things next to each other that I shouldn’t even speculate!
I’m a man, too, and nothing but nothing can grab me like an old-school chypre. I started seriously buying fragrances in the eighties so I got my hands on many great ones from that era: Knowing extrait, Mon Parfum by Paloma Picasso, Ungaro Diva, Parfum de Peau by Montana, Aromatics Elixir, Parfum d’Hermes extrait… I missed so many more but I’m thankful I got to know chypres before they were destroyed forever by bureaucracy.
As you mention your fragrances, it makes me think of an expression my younger sister used many years ago, in reference to her boyfriend and Drakkar Noir: it is a “wool sweater” fragrance. Meaning deep, super warm, sensual, “hoping-to-be-embraced-by”, etc. All those deep rose chypres definitely fit that!
A sexy wool sweater, at that.
Oh, I’d almost forgotten about Parfum d’Hermes! It’s such a beauty–so soft and elegant.
As a new college grad in the mid eighties, the first four on your list were my workday staples. Those plus Coco were my first true loves. Still hanging onto a few precious drops of each!
It’s amazing how scents you used long ago can bring back memories, too!
I got my husband to put on a dab of Aromatics Elixir the other day (I did it for him and on the back of the neck so it wouldn’t “get in his way), and it smelled great on him!
AnnS, get the husband a bottle of the men’s scent Aramis (the original, as there may be flankers). It was created by the perfumer responsible for AE, Bernard Chant. Aramis absolutely shares a great portion of AE’s dna but it’s not quite as radiant.
Aramis is a classic–maybe “the” classic men’s fragrance as far as I’m concerned.
My dad used to wear Aramis back in the day!
Your dad was a classy dude.
I know – he also wore Dunhill and then later the men’s gorgeous Balanciaga that has been long discontinued.
Nice move!
I like and frequently wear both AE and LL Ylang… I think it is the vetiver + oakmoss + patchouli they share that gives them a similar vibe. But funnily enuf, I don ‘t think of the Ylang as a chypre…. But that may say more about my lack of expertise than anything else!
I just ransacked my sample bowl trying to find my Ylang sample so I could give it a sniff, but I came up dry. I’ll keep looking, but in the meantime I do remember the Ylang playing some of the chypre tricks of smelling different at different distances from skin. I don’t remember that unmistakeable old school chypre wallop, though.
Courmarin, I also would add Timbuktu and even Ubar to that list of scent cousins, AE and Ylang. Next to each other the differences are very apparent, but to someone in a rush, with a cold, there are common strains…
Interesting! On the face of it, I’d never think of it, but I’ve been surprised by perfumes that are surprise cousins more than once.
Hi A, if you any combination of the four, I am so curious whether you too find strong similarities or whether it is just a subjective trick of my olfactory equipment. Smell, like taste or color, is impossible to determine if many people are experiencing it the same way. That kind of makes me crazy! I do not have the spirit of a philosopher, or an astrophysicist.
Ahhh… But a good device for a mystery where two people smell the same thing, but their different descriptions of what they smelled creates a puzzle that only falls into place in the last chapter…. I know. I know. If I think I have an idea, I should write it! (I do NOT) have your talent!!!
I’ll let you know if I get around to the Grand Experiment. But I love your idea about having what looks like two opposing pieces of evidence turn out to be the same thing!
I first smelled Cristalle in a magazine insert in my teens (this was probably around the early 90s relaunch) and I thought it was wonderful. Still love it to this day.
Other scents in the chypre vein I enjoy are Jacomo Silences, Estee Lauder Private Collection, and Jil Sander Scent 79.
It sounds like you love your green chypres!
My mom once had a bottle of Cristalle edp which My dad accidentally bought for her at a duty free shop. He had intended to purchase the usual No. 5 and I suppose one Chanel box looks much like another. She hated Cristalle. I thought it smelled great though and I snuck a spritz every now and then. I really ought to seek out the original edt.
I have only one perfume that I think qualifies as a chypre of any description although certainly not ‘old school’. That is Atelier Cologne Grand Néroli. It actually reminds me somewhat of that Cristalle EDP.
Cristalle in EdT carries more of the old school chypre hit to me than the EdP does. They’re both lovely, though!
I like me a good chypre too. When I was first coming into perfumista-hood, chypres were one of the first genres that I fell in love with, which is interesting to me, considering that they’re frequently described as “difficult”, “stand-off-ish”, or “unapproachable”.
The first Guerlain I really loved was Mitsouko, and I’m a big fan of Niki de Saint Phalle. And speaking of which, I need to get more. I used up my mini, and I had kind of forgotten about it for a while. Last I checked the EDT was still in production and not very expensive.
Also, the first Chanel I really loved was No.19, if that counts.
You’re a chypre natural! No. 19 is so great. For another Chanel chypre, I love love love Cuir de Russie. (Am wearing some right now, in fact.)
I’ve actually never tried Cuir de Russie. I need to remedy that.
It’s mossy and leathery with a hint of iris and the classic Chanel feel and I’m sure it’s exactly what Marlene Dietrich smelled like.
I need to try it too, especially given Angela’s description above.
Niki de St Phalle is definitely a good deal for its price. I’m probably more of a Femme girl than a Mitsouko girl, but that doesn’t stop me from wearing Mitsouko regularly!
Today I needed a chypre, so I’m in Azemour led Orangers. My old -school love from first sniff (about a year ago) is Mitsouko.
*les. Autocorrect is awfully insistent on English.
Autocorrect is too bossy for my taste.
Azemour les Orangers! I love that one. I was wearing it once and a homeless guy shouted out from his shopping cart how he loved how I smelled.
Now that is a compliment!
I know! I don’t recall how he’d smelled, however.
Hah!
I adore chypre fragrances. Profumo, Miss Dior, Calèche, Knowing…list goes on.
While some may find it a little “distant”, I feel very comfortable when I wear it. It makes me feel elegant, beautiful and more “classy” (in my mind at least 😉 ) and most importantly, happy. It makes me feel that just being “my pace” is alright and enough.
Well, that’s the best recommendation for a chypre that I’ve heard! Perfect.
Love, love, love this post! I adore chypres : Nikki de Ste. Phalle, Chanel No. 19, Azuree, Jacomo Silences, Agent Provocateur, Ungaro Diva, Mitsouko, Aromatics Elixir… scent heaven.
I just discovered another: original Trussardi in the white textured bottle. Unfortunately it has been reformulated.
I haven’t tried Trussardi, old or new. Thanks for the recommendation!
I actually passed out the first time I tried Mitsy. It totally overwhelmed my senses, in an amazing way. Full-on perfumistahood followed that experience.
You had an attack of beauty–the Stendahl Syndrome! (Be sure to read about it if you don’t know about it already. It’s fascinating.)
Yes, that’s it! But the articles don’t mention olfactory works of art as a cause, and they sure can be. I read that in both Florence and Jerusalem they have special hospital units for tourists who are overcome by the cultural/artistic works they experience. I wonder how many perfumistas have had attacks of Stendahl Syndrome? That would be an interesting poll.
I love that detail about the special hospital units! I’m going to guess that full blown unconsciousness from Stendhal Syndrome among perfumistas is rare, but we’ve all had a little swooning.
I did actually get dizzy in the Vatican museum. Had to sit down for ten minutes.
Such a great reason to get dizzy…
I love Rochas Femme, Cristalle EDT and no 19. Is Yvresse a chypre? If so that’s my fave of the genre. Also I like Y. And Eau de Rochas (is it?..) I’m surely forgetting some.
Yvresse is definitely a chypre and a lovely one at that! Now that you’ve reminded me of it, I’ll put it in the line-up to wear tomorrow.
Thanks Angela! Thought it was. It has a lot else going on and yet it’s so perfect and distinct.
And so soft! I love it.
Now that I see you name names Chyrpes might very well be my favorite. Femme, Mitsouko, Cabochard, No 19, Agent Provocateur, Knowing, Mon Parfum Cheri are all devastatingly beautiful to me. They feel more authentic than any other fragrance.
How could I forget to mention my all time love- Aromatics Elixir!
It’s getting a lot of love here today!
Oh, now, that’s interesting–“authentic” is a thought-provoking word to use for an old school chypre. Thanks!
Thank you! I love this article/piece : )
Me too!
Devastatingly beautiful is the perfect description for a chypre!
How fitting, then, that we love them! They complement us so well…
Although I’ve been reading nst for a while now, this is my first comment. Couldn’t resist a post on chypres. One that I particularly love is Knowing.
Welcome! A lot of people have mentioned Knowing today. I’m not sure if we’ve ever reviewed that one, either. If not, I’ll remedy that!
Thanks for the great article! I’m enjoying reading what other chypre lovers wear 🙂
Chypres always smell a little off putting at first, but then I can keep my wrist away from my nose and they become favorites. I love Cristalle EDT to pieces, especially in the summer. I also love No 19, Chanel Cuir de Russie, Rochas Femme, and Lancome Climat. I’m still getting to know Ballets Rouges, a lovely rosy chypre by Olympic Orchids. Lots of oakmoss in that one. I’m not sure about is Miss Dior and Mitsuoko, but I tried them early on in my perfumista-hood and I’d like to revisit since I realized how amazing chypres are!
Climat is very pretty!
Agreed! Another wonderful spring chypre.
I’ve never tried Ballets Rouges, but I’m marking it on my “must sample” list, thanks!
Ellen Covey’s Ballets Rouges is just drop dead gorgeous!
I must smell it soon!
What a beautiful essay on chypre’s! I am also a big fan of Niki de St. Phalle and own every one of her astrology collection, including the fantasy animals like her Sun God bird. My earliest perfume was Cristalle. Glorious. These days, real oak moss is pretty well scrubbed from new releases, ditto labdanum and bergamot, so I make my own chypre’s with real oakmoss, labdanum, ambrette, and bergamot, with various additions according to my whim. My world would be significantly diminished without real chypre’s to smell….
How terrific that you make your own! I made do with vintage bottles, mostly, and the occasional release, like Azemour les Orangers, that still smells mossy to me.
Azemour is sooooo beautiful. Just stunning. With all that moss, I’m sure it’s illegal and one day the Perfume Police are gonna bust him!
We’ll have to storm the Bastille and wrench him from jail, then!
Just the other day, I was wondering what most people would say was THE reference chypre. Probably Mitsouko, though to me Mitsy has a lot going on that is “flourish and gracenotes” and not necessarily chypre. And I don’t get on with her, either. I really, really struggle with fruit notes in chypres; they make me nauseated. Which knocks me out of loving things like Yvresse and So Pretty and AdP Profumo, and Jub 25 and Mitsy and Femme. I did *get* Mitsouko once… some ’80s parfum, worn in the autumn, and it was really nice. It hasn’t behaved itself [herself?] since then, though.
I think Miss Dior, which I came to know through a tiny decant of 1970s parfum, is what I think of as The Quintessential Chypre – and I have to be careful with her, lest she take a notion to icepick me when I’m not looking. But that drydown, it’s really lovely.
I really do best with the floral ones like Soivohle Centennial (Shangri-La reminds me quite a bit of Centennial and it’s wonderful too) and OO Ballets Rouges. In fact, generally I do very well with rose chypres like L’Arte di Gucci and Diva. Knowing has that Lauder base that starts making me feel queasy two hours in, but the first two hours are absolutely glorious. And AE smells like pee on a rose hedge to me up top – after six hours, that stuff is really beautiful.
For some reason the green-floral-chypres like No. 19 and Silences and Safari don’t smell very chypre to me. I love them. I mean, I really really love them. But they just don’t seem to get over the chypre bar in my opinion.
Great comment! (I now I will make sure my ice pick is locked far away from my Miss Dior.)
I know what you mean about No. 19 and some of the green-floral chypres. They might be chypre-ish, but don’t have that heavy old school must about them. I love them, too, though.
My 2 cents: reference chypre has to be Coty Chypre! And it was not fruity. Or sweet.
And it’s definitely old school!
That thing was flipping ELEMENTAL. So gorgeous, and so almost dangerous too.
But honestly? Not much else smells like it, which is why I hesitate to say it’s The Quintessential.
Chanel Pour Monsieur does, and it is apparently closer to the real Coty Chypre than anything else on the market today. ( According to Luca Turin in The Guide)
Loved the post by the way, and agree with most of the choices. AE is a firm favourite of mine as well.
Fascinating about Pour Monsieur! Now I need to smell it again.
That one I’ve never managed to smell – the Pour Monsieur, I mean. Must remedy.
Mind you I got my bottle around 2009, and the review in the guide must be at least a year older.
Be careful as well not to try the concentrée. It’s not very good.
I’ve been lucky enough to once smell coty chypre. It’s one stunning fragrance and could easily be sold today. It didn’t feel dated at all.
Such a lot of scents to revisit – and try for the first time. Thanks, everyone!
I agree!
I have enjoyed reading this great post, and the comments, too. I am a chypre fan, especially green chypres. While Knowing has been mentioned, the Estee Lauder chypres I remember best were Azuree and Aliage. My mom wore the milder, sportier Aliage, but her hard bitten, hard living sister (my favorite aunt) wore Azuree and it was hard to know where the cigarettes and bourbon left off and the Azuree began. Have you tried En Voyage Zelda, Angela? It has the same feel of an old school chypre, very green and rich.
I love “it was hard to know where the cigarettes and bourbon left off and the Azuree began”! No, I haven’t tried En Voyage Zelda, but you make it sound great.
I love this! I wear vintage Miss Balmain,vintage Norell and vintage Azzaro the one in the round black bottle. All are wonderful! Great post Angela!
Oh, all those are so nice!
Don’t forget the late lamented Rochas Audace! The top notes didn’t age well (think: wet concrete), but wait for the drydown and you’ll find the most gorgeous delicate oakmoss wafting from your skin like a breath of heaven.
I tried Bogue Maai recently and it’s pretty much the opposite of the elegant Audace – a blast of heavy, jagged woodsy-earthy notes that round out into a lovely rich blanket of oakmoss. Stunning, but not for office wear. 🙂
Wish I’d been around for Chypre de Coty in its heyday!
You’re talking to a confirmed Audace lover! I adore that perfume. It’s subtle, full of character, and elegant. Love love love. Love.
Late-ish to the party but… I’m in.
At 19, my very first loves, perfume wise, were Niki and Montana Eau de Peau, this at a time when men were only supposed to wear Polo or Drakkar Noir.
At the time, I didn’t even know that they were chypre fragrances. I always loved them and I still wear them regularly. Sure I get the odd comment about how they smell like bug spray! (mostly the Montana LOL)
I love my Diva, Paloma, Coriandre, Aromatics Elixir, Silences, No19, my Safari, Fendi and Armani (the original ones), my Sous le vent and, even my Avon Timeless. I also really love-love-love Balmain de Balmain and my Borsalino for men.
God I love my chypres… even the ones actually made for men! LOL
Your list of chypres makes my heart beat faster! Honestly! An aside note: isn’t it sad that the original Armani disappeared? What I’d give to smell that one again.
I know! Armani was a masterpiece. Fendi, however, is the one that always made my heart skip a beat. Unfortunately I am down to my last drop of both, otherwise I would gladly have sent you some.
I appreciate the sentiment! I’ll keep my eyes peeled at Goodwill. I’ve had luck with Fendi, at least.
Oh! and I almost forgot Teatro alla Scala and Ivoire! LOL
There are so many fabulous chypres!
I adore Bandit, a leather chypre and my signature scent. I love all chypres in general, really there just isn’t one yet I didn’t like though some I don’t like as well as others. I find it unfortunate that they are now out of style as it makes them difficult to find. I did manage to score a sample bottle of a vintage Balmain’s Jolie Madam and I fell desperately in love with it, I wear it drop by drop and on the day when I eventually use it up I will mourn. Thank you for this wonderful post, I love to talk about chypres and it’s given me such a terrific list of other scents to sample and track down in the estate store.
It sounds like you love your leather chypres! There are so many wonderful leather chypres, too. Maybe chypres aren’t in style now, but chic is timeless, no?
chic is always in style 😀
Absolutely!
Sing it, Sistah!
I was all set to say it would be easier to list the chypres I don’t like – but I can’t think of any! I appreciate all of the ones mentioned above (aside from a couple that I haven’t tried yet). Nonetheless, I’ll spotlight a few favorites that haven’t already been noted so far: Rochas Mystere (absolute classic), Lancome Magie Noire (there are few better matches between name and perfume), Balenciaga Cialenga (which you reviewed so well), Jil Sander Woman III (a startling feminine with masculine notes) and Amouage Beloved (the archetype).
Beloved reminds me of many vintage chypres, perfected, and I think it may be the last great chypre. It’s out of stock on Bergdorf Goodman, and they’ve now released the two Roja Dove exclusives, so I wonder if Beloved is discontinued now. And speaking of Roja Dove already – Diaghilev certainly smells fantastic – but, eeesh, those big, blingy bottles and prices. 🙁
You know, I’ve always thought of Beloved as a romantic floral, but not really a classic chypre. And now I can see I need to revisit it!
I know what you mean about Diaghilev. Why do they do that to us?
Diaghilev in the edp was wonderful too… shame it morphed into the way-pricey extrait only.
I didn’t know that–perhaps I was afraid to know.
I’m not sure which one my decant is. You’re right, it wasn’t quite as expensive at first, but it was only at Selfridges then, I think. Roja, baby, I’m so over you. Gonna hang with Deneuve tonight – spring is in the air!
Angela, definitely revisit Beloved while it is still available on the discount sites.
I had no idea it was at discount sites! I’ll be burning up the internet tonight finding it.
Bandit, AE, Knowing, Caleche, Miss Dior, Private Collection. My hit parade!
What about Norell? Fabulous!
The three they can throw in before they close the box are Parure, Deneuve and 1000. I will go in style!
Chypres are so womanly. They don’t just perfume, they brew on your skin.
So happy to read your piece and everyone’s comments. Thanks, Angela!
I love how you write they “brew on your skin.” That’s so true! So true.
Yes, ‘brew on your skin’ is perfect.
DENEUVE!
So beautiful. That’s one of the green florals that I believe *does* tip over into chypre territory.
Absolutely!
I’m not sure I’m a chypre lover, but I’ve worn Niki, Aromatics Elixir, and a whole bunch of Fendi. (I’m so sad I may never smell it again. Ah well.) My favorite modern chypre-ish thing is Gucci Rush. I love it!! It is so radiant and just makes me happy happy when I wear it.
You must love chypres at least a little! Some of the grander old chypres might present more of a challenge, but anyone who embraces Niki de Saint Phalle stands a good chance of eventually loving the most irascible of them.
Hi Angela,
Old school chypres are my favorite! I first fell in love with Chanel’s Cristalle eau de toilette and Amazone in HS. Then it was down the rabbit hole with Gucci III, Knowing, Private Collection, Niki de st Phalle, Deneauve, Coriandre, Aromatics Elixir and Safari in college.
I came from a family of smokers and very strong women, I needed something strong to hold up under those circumstances! 🙂
You started young with some hardcore chypres! You trained your nose very well…
I love the old chypres, particulsrly the green ones. In my stash is Coty Chypre, Eau de Soir, C #19, Ma Griffe, and Crepe de Chine, and a few others I dont like as much because I dont like leather.I hoard bottles of Fleurs de La Foret by Jo Malone. If I smell Paco Rabanne on a man, im on my back waiting. They all make me feel “not afraid to be sexy” “kick ass and take names later, and s rich bitch st thr same time.
Nice choices! I wish I could have smelled Ma Griffe back in the day.
La Perla classic!!
In edt, most people only know it in edp reading revieuws.
just found five 100 ml vintage bottles. The reformulation is not THAT bad but…you know. One of my most complimented scents.
Beside eau du soir , Knowing, bottega veneta and Beloved. Someone mentioned it might be discontinued??? I really pray it’s not!
I don’t think I’ve smelled La Perla! I know and love the others, though. I know Beloved is hard to find, but I haven’t heard (yet) of it being discontinued. I’ll cross my fingers it’s not.
That was a nice one – the La Perla, I mean. A bit oriental in the base, but haughty-sexy rather than cozy-sexy.
What a fabulous post, and discussion! I feel we are a sisterhood – the Chypre Sisters (with apologies to the men who have commented … ).
Now, Badgley Mischka. I know the purists may not accept it as a chypre but as a chypre lover for several decades – I’ve tried most of the perfumes mentioned today and own a lot of them – I’m happy to declare I adore the stuff. And not just the glorious opening but the dry-down, which clings and floats like silk. I do admit that it while it has its depths and shadows, BM does not whisper mystery like the drydown of Mitsouko or Femme. Yes, I will concede that.
It’s still devastating though. I had to be top of my game at work today so I wore Badgley Mischka with a red top and red lipstick (Revlon’s Wine With Everything). Perfect match.
‘Do NOT mess with me, people!’.
Oh, and Paco Rabanne’s La Nuit! Has anyone mentioned that? It’s astounding. Too much for me really, probably too much for most people. It lumbers along like a nuclear submarine: slow, heavy, and very dangerous.
But I keep some for reference and dab it in the evening sometimes when I’m by myself.
I have a mini of La Nuit, and that mini should last me the rest of my life–but I’m glad I have it!
Like a nuclear submarine! What a recommendation – I have to try this one.
Make sure to stay away from cats in heat when you do…
Whoa! There’s an important warning. Would you say the same of any other scents?
La Nuit is on its own that way, I think.
Oh, I never would have thought of Badgley Mischka! Now I’m going to have to hit up a department store at lunch for a thorough dousing of it.
Don’t. It’s d/c. And getting hard to find online because it was on the market for a fairly short time, less than 10 years. I’ve hoarded about 30mls in various decant and minis. Sigh ..
There are a couple of flankers that may still be on the market.
I’ll keep my eyes open at Goodwill, then. You never know…
Cristalle and Mitsouko is two stunning cypres I have been wearing on and off for years, but I think that one of my faves is Y by YSL..such a glorious cypres! It’s the one I pick for people who wants their first serious grown up perfume and I haven’t heard one complain about it 🙂
Chypres* (Sorry for the miss spell 😛
The sheer gauziness of Y make it unusual for a chypre, but it comes at the cost of its longevity, which is rather poor (on me at least). I know tenacity isn’t everything, but Y does disappoint me, lovely though it is. Great in summer.
Just another excuse to switch perfumes midday! (Of course, that’s not always convenient, I realize.)
Y is a good one for just about any situation, too.
Absolutely and for me it is a great cosy and comfort scent..it truly makes me smile…and I afore the bottle 🙂
It sounds like you and Y were made for each other!
Lovely and informative post. I coincedentally wore AE yesterday, love it but don’t wear it often enough, and found on NTS an earlier review where someone suggested the EdT as an office friendly option. I think about ordering it, in Europe it is easily and cheaply available. I love chypres it turns out after reading this post, Cristalle, no 19, AE and Beloved (reminds me of AE). I adore Cuir de Lancome which is a soft leather chypre I suppose. And more suggestions to try!
I’ve been surprised at the amount of love for Aromatics Elixir–but then again, not surprised, I guess. It’s difficult, but so easy to get, and super beautiful.
I love so many of these scents already mentioned (Chanel 19, Chanel Cuir de Russie, Paloma Picasso, Niki de Saint Phalle, Lancôme Magie Noire, L’Arte di Gucci, Montana). I also find some of them terrific, but something for which I have to be in a certain mood (Mitsouko, ELdO Rien, Coty Chypre, Aramis). I look forward to the pleasure of eventually smelling more of the vintage and other fragrances I’ve yet to experience that have been mentioned above!
What about Annick Goutal Heure Exquise, does that count? I think that one is amazing, although research reveals that its chypre qualification is debatable. One modern chypre that is gorgeous is MDCI Chypre Palatin; don’t think that one has been mentioned. I’ve also enjoyed a sample of another debatable chypre that a NSTer sent me: Le Labo x Anthropologie Belle du Soir. By the way, I ordered a sample of Rien Intense and so far it is so intense from outside of the sample that I’ve been too scared to open it! Ha ha.
I forgot about Chypre Palatin! I love that one. My sample of it is long gone, but I kept the empty vial on my desk for a long time just so I could smell its ghost.
I’m not sure Heure Exquise would count as a chypre, but it’s definitely a beautiful perfume.
Day late/dollar short to mention Scherrer, the original. And Metal!
Scherrer is amazing. Thanks for bringing it up!
A day late to your post, but as it happens I’m wearing no 19, one of my top favorite scents. Thanks for reminding me of many others that I need to try. Let me put in a vote, too, for Folie de Rose as a lovely chypre, especially in cold weather.
Oh, we could do a whole other post on rose chypres…
Just reading your wonderful posts about my favourite scents makes me happy! Every single one of these fabulous perfumes stood on their own, as unique and fascinating as fingerprints–you could never mistake one for any other. Wearing chypres makes you stand up straighter and look people in the eye. Nowadays… May I humbly add 1000 de Jean Patou, the original black-bottle Azzaro, and an early 1980s Gucci EDP that I received as a gift and never saw again? Bless you, chypristas!
Additions duly noted, and I love “chypristas”!
Here’s a question: What is the main difference between a chypre and a floral aldehyde? I find that for some fragrances the line is very blurred. Is it just a technical thing with the list of ingredients?
Jean-Louis Scherrer,Scherrer II, Wrappings, Vega, K de Krizia all seem to be toeing that line…
Maybe what partially confuses it is that there can be floral aldehydic chypres, like Crepe de Chine and Scherrer. Vega I’d call simply an aldehydic floral, because I don’t get the chypre feel from it.
… and then, there’s Creation by Lapidus (another one that I ♥) that was a Fruity Floral and, after reformulation, is now classified as a Chypre Floral?!
Fruity chypres, green chypres, floral chypres, leather chypres…the list goes on. So many of them don’t really have the “old school” punch to them, though.
I haven’t tried Creation, and will put it on the list!
Oh, dear, oh, dear! Where is the mention of the best of them all- Armani´s original Le Parfum for women? The golden liquid in the art deco bottle- the most beautiful creation ever made! Green, woody, minty, warm YET cold it´s probably the sexiest and at the same time the classiest perfume ever. How it manages to combine all those notes and evoke all those feelings is beyond me, but it certainly is a masterpiece!
I haven’t smelled that fragrance for ages, and I’m so glad you brought it up! It’s one of the few perfumes I distinctly remember loving when I first smelled it in the 1980s. I never did own a bottle, though (*sob*).
I realize this is a very old thread, but I had to mention my favorite old time chypre scent; Maja by Myrugia . I wore it like second skin for over 20 years. Alas, discontinued, and the bottles I’ve scrounged are mostly oxidized to a shadow of their former glory. Sigh.
I had a fabulous old bottle of this a few years ago and gave it away, dang it! I remember it as a light, floral chypre, if that sounds right.
Hi,
‘CHYPRE’, my fave perfume classification, for me to choose but one, Rafael’s vintage *Replique* will do it every time, it’s just so verdantly lush while containing high levels of oakmoss, patchouli and Egyptian jasmine, I have been hoarding this beauty for many years, that inevitable rainy day syndrome 🙂 They certainly don’t make them like this anymore!
PS. Balenciaga’s Cialenga & La Fuite des Heures are two glorious chypres although now both long discontinued examples of the perfumers art…
Greetings from ‘Oz’
Late to the party but a question for Angela:
What IS the difference between a floral aldehyde and a floral chypre? For example, Paco Rabanne Calandre, is that classified as a floral aldehyde and not a floral chypre and if so, why? Calandre has citrus in the top notes and oakmoss and musk in the base which is what designates a chypre isn’t it? Does a chypre have to contain labdanum as well to be labelled a chypre?
Thanks.
I’m certainly not an expert, but to me Calandre is a floral aldehydic chypre! There were lots of them back in the day: Madame Rochas and Crepe de Chine come to mind, for instance.
I think the technical definition of a chypre is that it has bergamot up top, some kind of lovely middle, and oak moss, patchouli, and labdanum in the base.
Ok thank you but Calandre doesn’t have labdanum in its composition does it?
The reason I’m asking is because I think I read on another blog, maybe Perfume Shrine? that many people mistake Calandre for a chypre but it’s not chypre based? I think Calandre has oakmoss but not labdanum?
I’m so confused, lol.
I’m not sure exactly what Calandre has in it. To me, it smells like a chypre, and that’s what I’m basing it on. It’s confusing!
It can be confusing! 🙂
Thank you.
My perfume was Femme from the time I was 18 until, decades later, the scent changed. It’s not what it was. Just found Mitsouko–that will definitely do.
You’ve found a worthy replacement!