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Looking for modern chypres!

Looking for modern chypres! 10 years ago 1
Are any worthwhile? Much has been said about the IFRA regulations butchering basically all the classics in this genre. What I want to know is are there any fragrances out there that could fill in the gaps and take the genre to the 21st Century?
10 years ago
If you're looking for something recent out of the mainstream houses, good luck! Seriously, the only thing that comes to mind is "Miss Dior Original," which is essentially a diluted version of a 1947 release. "Chypre" in the current mainstream parlance usually translates to a patchouli perfume containing no oakmoss whatsoever.

On the other hand, the niche houses have many lovely offerings. "Chypre Palatin" by Duchaufour, Andy Tauer's "Une Rose Chyprée" is excellent and Serge Lutens has a few good ones ("Rose de Nuit," "Chypre Rouge," etc.) "Noir Epices" is beautiful, and so is "Hermessence Poivre Samarcande." The problem is, oakmoss is de rigueur for a good chypre and an attempt to ban it outright is currently afoot in Europe. If that succeeds, chypre lovers will probably be forced to turn to the natural perfumers for their chypre needs. I'm still in the process of testing a slew of naturals, but hopefully will have a few to recommend down the line.
10 years ago
Are you looking for contemporary chypres or are you looking for fragrances that have survived the regulations in a good way?
10 years ago
A lot of people compliment "Histoire D'Amour" as a woody chypre. It's incredibly inexpensive, but very, very good.
10 years ago
Sleuth:
Are you looking for contemporary chypres or are you looking for fragrances that have survived the regulations in a good way?

Both! Thanks to those who have already given their suggestions Smile
10 years ago
Cryptic:
If you're looking for something recent out of the mainstream houses, good luck! Seriously, the only thing that comes to mind is "Miss Dior Original," which is essentially a diluted version of a 1947 release. "Chypre" in the current mainstream parlance usually translates to a patchouli perfume containing no oakmoss whatsoever.

On the other hand, the niche houses have many lovely offerings. "Chypre Palatin" by Duchaufour, Andy Tauer's "Une Rose Chyprée" is excellent and Serge Lutens has a few good ones ("Rose de Nuit," "Chypre Rouge," etc.) "Noir Epices" is beautiful, and so is "Hermessence Poivre Samarcande." The problem is, oakmoss is de rigueur for a good chypre and an attempt to ban it outright is currently afoot in Europe. If that succeeds, chypre lovers will probably be forced to turn to the natural perfumers for their chypre needs. I'm still in the process of testing a slew of naturals, but hopefully will have a few to recommend down the line.

I really should have gotten some of the old Miss Diors that were being cleared out of the way of the renamed stock a while ago in a cosmetics shop I visited. It is still a good scent, and I didn't rly mind it being diluted... Thank you so much for the niche recommendations! I have been meaning to try some more Tauers but the rose in the name has kept me from checking out Une Rose Chyprée -- I'll just have to get over that Very Happy
10 years ago
- Relatively new release: "Soir de Lune"
- Old and worth checking: "Knowing" and "Miss Dior Original"
- Chypre structure without moss: "Le Parfum de Therese", "Colonia Assoluta" (a mature and not-so-light cologne)

I'm sure there's 21st century avant garde chypre stuff, but don't ask me!
10 years ago
Sleuth:
- Relatively new release: "Soir de Lune"
- Old and worth checking: "Knowing" and "Miss Dior Original"
- Chypre structure without moss: "Le Parfum de Therese", "Colonia Assoluta" (a mature and not-so-light cologne)

I'm sure there's 21st century avant garde chypre stuff, but don't ask me!

Thanks - I've been looking at "Knowing" as it's relatively easily available across the board. Smile The closest thing to 21st century avant garde chypre I can think of is "31 Rue Cambon", the chypre that isn't really a chypre. "Disco Diva" is a nice fruity chypre, and I love those both as well as contemporary (!) "Mitsouko".
10 years ago
Chypre is my favourite genre. There are still good ones to be had, often cheaply, amongst the reformulations of classics from the 70's and 80's.
Along with the aforementioned "Knowing" and "Miss Dior Original", I would also suggest the following: "Paloma Picasso / Mon Parfum", "Jean-Louis Scherrer", EL's "Private Collection", "Caleche" (the current EDT is supposedly closer to the original formula than the SDP, which is a simplified version), Patou's "1000", "Balmain de Balmain", "Miss Balmain", Paco Rabanne "La Nuit" - actually the list goes on. If you haven't smelled the originals you may not be so disappointed with the reformulations.
Cryptic is right about the 'modern' chypres. It seems that anything with a vetiver/patchouli base is now labelled a chypre, though some of these do smell great in their own right like "Lumiere Noire pour femme".
Two recent chypres that actually smell like they have oakmoss bases are "Bottega Veneta" (designer) and "Tarantella" by Tommi Sooni (niche). The latter is a gorgeously smooth green chypre that I would love to own if it weren't so pricey and had a tad more oomph.
10 years ago
I sampled "Chypre Mousse (2013)" a few days ago and can highly recommend to check it out. I is distinctive and probably not to everyone's liking but I for one, love it.
10 years ago
Thank you Triffid and Mia! As it happens I have a sample of "Chypre Mousse" and found I didn't like the honeyed notes (they made the perfume a tad cloying and suffocating), but if there are any others looking for gorgeous chypres, I can second the recommendations - do check it out Smile
10 years ago
Hi! I just bought her a bottle of Lubin`s Nuit de Longchamp, recent version, which is fantastic. It`s old-fashioned dark-floral powdery woods and smells like a vintage scent in every single accord. Got myself a small bottle of Bandit Extrait, also recent version, that`s peppery green jasmine & smoky-amber in perfection. Both have chypre structures that seem undamaged through reformulation, to my nose. A perfume that they often call a chypre is Carillon pour un Ange by Andy Tauer. This one is a love/hate thing and certainly HUGE, an almost nuclear muguet/lilac on a naturalistic, mushroom-ey forest-floor impression with a salty ambergris-like base.
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