This morning I’m having one of “those” (clear-liquid diet prep) medical procedures done, my first ever, so today’s post will be shorter and sweeter than usual.
I know, TMI (too much information) this A.M., but there you have it. It’s one of those necessary evils of life, but ultimately for your own good. Many of you have been there (or will be one day). So let’s move on to a far more pleasant subject, shall we?
What is your favorite chypre? Or perhaps you have several.
One of my top scents (albeit tagged a “modern chypre”) has got to be Roja Dove’s Unspoken. I only have a decant of the EDP but would love to get my hands on a dab o’ the pure parfum one day just to try it. If this should entail a trip across the pond to London and the Haute Parfumerie in Harrod’s one day, well, so much the better.
Other favorites of mine include Liz Zorn’s Centennial (hugs to Musette for turning us on to this one); Roja Dove again with Diaghilev, elusive beauty that it is (they should have made vats of the EDP — VATS, I say! Now all I see on the RD site is the uber-pricey parfum). Also, Andy Tauer’s Une Rose Chypree; MDCI’s Chypre Palatin; and the original Chanel Cristalle.
Alas, I cannot wear several of the classic, big-gun scents such as Guerlain’s Mitsouko, Robert Piguet’s Bandit and Gres’ Cabochard. I’m happy for you fortunate souls out there with whom Mitsy and Bandit play nicely. But that’s OK. Not everyone can wear and love everything, right?
Anyway, I would love for you to share what chypres make you happy.
I’m thinking a nice one on each wrist will help get me over the most aggravating hours of this partially lost weekend.
And please forgive me if I’m not up to commenting later today. Of course, I will if I can, as I do love chatting with all you wonderful Posse folks.
Thanks, everyone, and have a great Monday!
I love Roja Dove, but to me Unspoken is dense and confused, totally heavy-handed.
I also don’t understand what modern chypres are meant to be, but Unspoken to me is definitely not a chypre. You have to get past at least 5 hours of heavy oriental before even considering any other nature it might have.
Diaghilev, from memory is very much like Mitsouko. Only better in my opinion. But definitely very similar, I think it weird that one could find the one a fit and not the other.
I find Mitsouko just okay but I’m eager to track a vintage version down just to see what all the raving is about.
What is definitely a chypre from Roja Dove is Vetiver Extrait. A fantastic one too. I’m undecided still but this one might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever smelt.
Btw, I read recently that Roja Dove will be opening a counter in the US soon, so might not have to wait long to get access to any parfum.
Only smelt Une Rose Chypree once and thought it disgusting :). Funnily enough I’m now eager to give it another go.
I don’t know what the original Chanel Cristalle is meant to be like, but what is on shelves now is weak and forgettable.
I respect Bandit, but oddly never seek my sample.
Only just received a sample of Gres’ Cabochard from a generous fairy, so looking forward to more time with that one.
Never tried Chypre Palatin but would like to.
I think a chypre should have a recognisable bitter green vein running through it. I got some Givenchy III from an ultra generous fairy and I think that’s a good baseline chypre to get familiar with the chypre family traits.
My current favourite chypre which I have a little juice to actually use is Pour Lui by Oscar de la Renta. I think it’s a refined leather chypre that is very wearable.
Love Sisley’s Eau de Soir – it has green claws, which I love in a chypre, and reminds me of my long lost love pre-reformulation Paloma Picasso – the new version just doesn’t have that same kick. Also in love with Chanel No 19 parfum – can’t seem to get it in the USA so I get it when I am in Canada or Europe, well worth the trouble since the parfum has more depth than the EDP or EDT. Oh, and also love both 31 Rue Cambon and Mitsouko, which don’t have green claws but are marvelous chypres anyways. Somehow I just can’t do Bandit or Cristalle, not sure why but they smell terrible on me.
haven’t smelled this in years, but i used to love miss dior, the original, before all the confusing modern iterations. a friend bought it for me when i was a college student. i’m sure i didn’t really carry it off well, but it was a glorious, sophisticated scent.
Jubilation, Onda, Parfum de Therese and Unspoken are my favorites. Ann, if you are still looking for a sample of that RD parfum, email me.
Oh, thanks so much, Tara! I’ll be in touch.
Hope you’re feeling better today, Ann!
I cannot do fruity chypres at ALL, just can’t. Jub 25, Femme, AdP Profumo, So Pretty… gah. horrid. nauseating, at least on me – though they’re often nice on other people. Can’t do the big green skeery fierce ones like Bandit, either, and Crepe de Chine was almost fierce – OR the citrus ones like Cristalle! My chypre window is quite narrow.
I like the floral ones. Knowing would be great if I didn’t have that personal issue with the Lauder base. L’Arte di Gucci, Deneuve, Centennial, Leonard de Leonard, and the older version of Coty Chypre parfum is TO DIEEE FOR – on me, very floral (though that’s possibly due to age).
I love incense in summer! Nu used to be my signature summer fragrance, before they discontinued it. 🙁
Hey Ann, hope all goes well for you. I am also a fan of Jubilation 25, plus the vintage EDT version of Vent Vert (oddly, the parfum seems a bit too vegetal for my liking), plus the original Rochas Femme in any strength for a fruity chypre. And if you haven’t tried the lovely Dawn Spencer hurwitz Le Smoking, i highly recommend it.
It was chypres that got me hooked on perfume-Mitsouko that is! Current favorites are Mitsouko, Bandit, Scherrer EDP, Soir de Lune, Tauer URC. I wonder if Amouage Memoir and Interlude would count as chypres-love them anyway!
I wear my Mitsouko proudly and when people say What is THAT? I just smile and smile!
I’m even later than rosarita – I’m hoping your procedure is only a dim memory! Chypres? Well, I can’t manage to wear Mitsouko, and I’m with the rest who don’t really have a handle on the chypre category. I do have SL Chypre Rouge, which I like a lot, because it’s got this crazy celery note that somehow works very well within the composition.
Late to the party today so I hope your procedure went well and that it’s all over. Favorite chypres of mine include some Estee Lauders: Private Collection, Azuree and Aliage. I only wear the first one. Tauer Une Rose Chypree is fabulous and my little hoarded sample is going all too quickly. And while I’m not sure what constitutes a modern chypre, I’ve heard Chanel 31 Rue Cambon called one and I love it, so there ya go. 🙂
Hope all goes perfectly for your grand opening, been there, did that. And for a summer chypre which goes away too quickly, Lubin’s Gin Fizz.
Hi, sweet Ann!. Hope your procedure goes well. I have a hard time thinking of it as a chypre, because its base has an oriental sensibility to me, but since it is so named, Chypre Palatin is my favorite chypre. Right behind it is Jubilation 25. I also think of the glorious Le Parfum de Therese as a fruity-chypre and place it very high on my list.
Wearing Le Parfum de Therese today.
You smell mahvelous, Farouche!
Acqua di Parma Profumo is one of the very best chypres I’ve ever tried. Fabulous. It’s a bit “milder’ than Mitsouko so maybe you would like it more. Good luck, I’ve been through it and it wasn’t fun but went fast.
My favorite, too! Plus all of the above. Love those chypres…
Hello….Crepe de Chine of course. Classic
Crepe de Chine is wonderful! It was my grandma’s favorite and I sniff it once in awhile as a remembrance.
Best wishes on your procedure!
I haven’t tried many chypres, but I am one of tose fortunate few on whom Mitsouko and Bandit work, and I love both of them.
Another that I haven’t seen mentioned yet that my mom loves is Aromatics Elixir.
Hi, Connie. I know Aromatics Elixir divides opinion, but I have always enjoyed wearing it. The Sisley Eau du Soir that I mentioned above very much reminds me of AE, although AE is not bitter like the EduS (which is AE’s austere cousin), and has a rosy mellow richness which gets deeper the older the bottle is.
Hi again jiLLiecat,
Don’t you thinl Soir de Lune (Sisley) recalls much more Aromatics Elixir than Eau du Soir?
All the Best,
Sara
Hiya Sara! I have never smelt Soir de Lune, so I have just ordered a sample as you have tempted me….
Wishing you well, sweetie! xoxoxoA
ps. you and the Posse have already named all my fave chypres so I have nothing to add…carry on! xoxox
Chypre seems to encompass so many scents, I find it confusing to try to isolate fragrances in this category. Looking at my collection I have Mitsouko, Givenchy III and does anyone remember Mystere de Rochas?
And my mother wore Cabochard Gres, is it chypre…
So, detox is the trendy new word…you are doing the ultimate!
Get ready to feel light and thin, but drink lots of water beforehand.
I love Jovoy’s Chypre, but recently I’ve noticed that I’m starting to get tired of one note in it (perhaps because of the warmer weather? it develops a bit sourish note I am not happy with). Other than that it is a wonderful perfume, close to Soir de Lune but a bit more approachable and more roses and peonies than Knowing. Anyways I’m looking for alternatives since I am a big lover of chypres. I quite liked Montale’s Chypre – Fruite (it has a jolly vibe), and Givenchy III, a much drier affair, but so elegant and easy to wear (It is chypre I assume). Mitsouko I respect but it is simply not me!
Jubilation 25, Femme, Yvresse for the true chypres and Solange Cosmic or 31 Rue Cambon for the “new” chypres;
So sorry you are having to go through this and hope it is as quick and painless as possible,
I’m also never quite sure what constitutes a chypre but Jubilation 25 is my favorite sexy chypre, and Party in Manhattan, which I am kicking myself I never bought a FB of, is my favorite elegant chypre (Mitsouko of course is just The Queen, but I seldom wear her.)
Ann, good luck on your procedure and I hope you feel better soon. Sounds like no fun. My favorite chypres are Mitsouko, Femme and Niki de Saint Phalle. I also really like Chanel No. 19… I think that one’s a chypre (?). And Chypre Palatin is gorgeous.. but so scary for the bank account.
I’m like Portia and a few others and a bit confused by chypres sometimes. Most of the old classics like Mitsouko and Bandit don’t work for me. Femme does though. There are a few newer scents that call themselves chypre but whether they are or not is debated on the blogs sometimes so I don’t know what to think. I tend to not even try to figure out what a chypre is supposed to smell like anymore. I just know what I like when I smell it and if it is or isn’t a chypre that’s fine.
Hope you feel better soon. Test preps are so not fun.
Hiya Ann,
My fingers are crossed for you and I’m telling the people in charge to get you well.
About Chypres. I’m never sure if it’s a Chypre, even when they say it is. I understand the supposed order of story and wear quite a few of them but the Chypre-ness of them eludes me.
Mitsouko in any formulation, from any year I love. Aedes de Venustas is really delicious, Greenwitch by Roxana Illuminated Perfume is so unusual, YSL Pour Homme and MKK are all in my collection and I adore them but not for their Chypre-ness, though they must have that. They said Mary Greenwell’s Plum was a Chypre?
Dazed and confused by Chypres,
Portia xx
Laughing through the loo visits at your “dazed and confused by chypres”!! Me, too! So many of them dubbed ‘chypre’ have me scratching my head and thinking, “Hmmm … I don’t really think so.” Lucky you to be able to wear Mitsy (she does NOT like me at all). Haven’t tried the Aedes or the Greenwitch, so will do. And thanks for putting in a good word for me and for your kind thoughts.
I love that Plum, Portia! But to me, it’s essentially a white floral decorated on the top with a bit of tangy fruit and undergirded with a very, very thin slice of chypre base (more patchouli-wood than moss, and I can’t pick up much labdanum or amber in it).
Best wishes – hope your results will be good and that you will soon be bouncing around.
My current chypre is a love/hate I think: Sisley’s Eau du Soir. It’s the total opposite of current releases with its bitterness and greeny yellow goodness. It begins by giving me a headache, but settles down and lasts a looooong time (again, so very different to most offerings these days). I just can’t imagine it being popular, but it’s good to think that something like this is still being produced.
Hi, Jillie, and thanks! I need to get out the sample a friend sent me and try it again; think my schnozz was off when I first sampled it because I don’t remember it much. I kind of like bitter, too!
To answer jiLLiecat and Ann
I’m writing from Spain, Eau du Soir is extremely popular here mainly because it is Queen Sophia’s perfume. So many women wear it, a very particular strong green chypre scent.
As far as I am concerned I prefer old vintage Eau de Campagne a green fresh chypre which starts green and remains green, green, green.
Ann, I hope your results will be the best ones.
Sara
I really admire vintage Deneuve, but can’t wear it (headache). Also, I like Moss Gown by Providence Perfumes. And, just for reference, I have samples of vintage Coty Chypre in all three strengths. When I VERY occasionally wear one of those, I am reminded of how many of us were perfumed in the good ole 60s and 70s.
Hello, Martha! I, too, admire Deneuve, but cannot wear it either (something in it, either heavy civet or cumin? did not sit well with me). I’m dying to try the Moss Gown; glad you like it.
So many! Knowing by Estée Lauder, Fete by Molyneux, Hermes Amazone, and YSL Yvresse, all vintage, because their newest incarnations are not what they used to be (or in the case of Fete are long discontinued). Obviously Mitsouko, fairly recent (maybe five years ago? not more than ten) and EDT but still excellent. And lots of other hybrids, chypre-orientals like Parfum d’Hermes and animalic chypres like Montana Parfum de Peau. I love chypres hopelessly and endlessly.
Robert, you listed some nice ones there. And I was excited to see the Montana — used to wear that and love it but haven’t thought of it or sniffed it in ages! Hope it’s still available. Thanks!
I will admit that I probably haven’t tried too many chypres. The one that I wear most often is Mitsouko in EDP form. Diorling can be nice but I can’t often make it through the green pepper opening. Deneuve is listed as a floral chypre and I love it. Sadly, Deneuve is discontinued so I don’t wear it a lot because the prices on ebay can be scarey.
I hear you on the Deneuve — so many people loved that one. They really should re-release it. I can’t do Mitsy but need to re-try Diorling at some point.
Deneuve is some gorgeous stuff.
Diva is a nice rose chypre-good luck on your procedure. The prep is the worst part-try and think good thoughts while you’re drinking the stuff
Claudia, thanks! I’ve already done the first batch and just had to hold my nose, drink it and — as you said — think good thoughts. But now I will have to get up at 3:30 a.m. to take the second batch, which is annoying, but what can you do?
Is the Diva you mention by Ungaro? If so, I tried it a few years back and liked it, so think I need to dig some up and re-try. Thanks!
I hope your procedure is brief, painless, and quickly forgotten!
I love Jubilation 25, Rochas Femme, and (especially vintage) Mitsouko, and Puredistance M… oh, and Agent Provocateur as well! I especially love old fashioned fruity chypres with real oakmoss and am a little confused by many modern chypres, but I keep trying them anyhow. Looking forward to trying the Tauer’s Une Rose Chypree sometime soon!
Thanks for your good wishes. It’s already not as bad as I feared. 🙂 I’d forgotten about Jubilation — that’s a great one, too. They call so many newish fragrances “chypre,” but I’m doubtful. I’ve smelled several claiming to be such, and thought to myself, “If that’s any kind of a chypre, then I’m a supermodel!”
YOU FORGOT ABOUT JUBILATION? ooooh! I’m telllllllinnnn’ 😀
xxoxoA
Just calm down there, missy! 😉 I really can’t wear the Jub 25 juice so well but do love the body cream that you turned me on to, therefore I wasn’t thinking about it as a chypre — if that makes any sense.
I agree with the confusing modern chypre thing. I just don’t know what criteria are used to assign something to that category!
Hi Posse folks: Just letting you all know that my procedure went swimmingly — got a clean bill of health and don’t have to go back and do the “c-oscopy” thing for seven years. I am still pretty woozy this evening and am fading fast, so think I’ll head to bed early. But thank you, everyone, for your kind wishes and good thoughts (and your lovely chypre offerings) — you all are just the best!!