Chypre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chypre is the name of a family (or concept) of perfumes that are characterized by a hesperidic top note of citrus notes such as bergamot, orange, lemon or neroli, a floral middle note usually with rose and jasmine oil, and a mossy-woody-animalic base note derived from oak moss and musks. Chypre notes may be modified by other notes such as patchouli (most often), vetiver, ambergris and sandalwood oil.[1]
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[edit] History
The term chypre is French for Cyprus, and goes back to François Coty who created in 1917 a perfume of the same name from fragrance materials that came predominantly from Mediterranean countries. Coty's ‘Chypre’ became the most typical representative of a whole family of related fragrances, albeit perfumes of similar style had already been created throughout the 19th century.[2] The chypre concept is characterized by the contrast between the fresh citrus accord and the woody-oakmoss fond, often patchouli is considered an indispensable element as well,[3] and with the allergenicity issues of oak moss, patchouli oil levels increased. Other main fragrance families besides chypres are fougères, orientals, gourmands, and florals. Chypres exist both in male and female perfumery, which makes them a prime family for unisex fragrances.
[edit] Style
Modern chypre perfumes have various connotations such as floral, fruity, green, woody-aromatic, leathery, and animalic notes, but can easily be recognized by their "warm" and "mossy-woody" fond which contrasts the fresh citrus top, and a certain bitterness in the dry-dwon. The base accord consists of:
- Citrus notes
- Oak moss
- Woody notes
- Musks
Animalic notes such as civet can be added to this accord to provide it richness, but are less popular in modern perfumery. The most common modifiers to this basic accord include patchouli, bergamot, vetiver, ambergris,sandalwood and labdanum resin.[4]
[edit] Sub-families of chypre
- Animalic chypres, such as ‘Cabochard’ by Grés, 1959.
- Floral chypres, such as ‘Knowing’ by Estée Lauder, 1988.
- Fruity chypres, such as ‘Femme’ by Rochas, 1944, ‘Mitsouko’ by Guerlain, 1917, and ‘Y’ by Yves Saint Laurent, 1964.
- Green chypres, such as ‘Aliage’ by Estée Lauder, 1972.
- Woody-aromatic chypres, such as ‘Aromatics Elixir’ by Clinique, 1972.
- Leathery-animalic chypre, such as ‘Cuir de Russie’ by Chanel, 1924.
- Fresh-citric chypres, such as ‘CK One’ by Calvin Klein, 1994.
[edit] References
- ^ "Chypre" Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, 2006
- ^ See Musées de Grasse, the International Perfume Museum
- ^ H&R Fragrance Guide/Duftatlas/Atlas Olfactif, Quensen & Oudras Verlag, Lamspringe, 2000, p. 14, ISBN 3-922805-69-8
- ^ Definition of the chypre family from Musées de Grasse
