The Chypre family is versatile, inclusive, tolerant and embraces many different nuances and variations on the chypre theme. It is, perhaps, the very loose and laid-back attitude of Chypre that is working against them now in the prolonged and painful process of extinction, as the Chypre family adopts bastard chypre-wannabes that do not contain even a drop of oakmoss!
More about that in the future article “The Dawn of Pink Chypres”. This is a sad story… But before we start weeping, let’s see what are the different sub-categories of the large and beautiful Chypre Family!

CHYPRE FRUITY
Heavy with a peach-like fruitiness. Often combine notes of peach, plum and apricot – which highly complement the dark earthy notes and the sparkling citrus notes of Chypre. This division of the family includes trendsetting classics such as Femme and Mitsouko, and also more modern scents such as Y (YSL) and my very own Autumn perfume, which is in fact an Homage to Femme, using natural essences only.

CHYPRE FLORAL ANIMALIC
The most innovative and of all the Chypre family, Chypre Animalic Florals sometime have a leathery, dry effect that may suggest masculinity. Dzing! (l’Artisan Parfumeur) is one extreme example, also bordering on the leather; Agent Provocateur reeks with indole, musk and aldehydic florals; and there is also the classic Miss Dior, originally underlined with sizzling-hot civet base (review of different versions and concentrations of Miss Dior will be posted here very soon), and similar to it is also Ma Griffe. My personal addition to this sub-category is one of my most avant-guarde creations – Schizm, which pairs intense tuberose, orange blossom, jasmine and pepper over a base of oakmoss, cedar and wild mushrooms (which lend the animalic quality).

CHYPRE FLORAL
Originally, these were gardenia infused Chypre. Chypre Florals now contain many other florals as well – such as rose, jasmine, tuberose. Patchouli is added to the base, for emphasizing the floral notes. Here you will find Soft classics such as Le Dix (Belanciaga), the bold American Knowing (Estee Lauder), aldehydic princesses such as Parure (Guerlain) and fragile florals such as Chant d’Aromes (also by Guerlain).

CHYPRE FRESH
Though extremely long lasting, these Chypre feel fresh and radiant and usually have pronounced citrus notes. The sparkling hedionic jasmine and citrus infused Eau Sauvage, Diorella and Le Parfum de Therese (all by genius perfumer Edmond Roudniska) are the beacon after which everybody else followed – including, for instance, Annick Goutal’s most successful and delicate Eau d’Hadrien, Chanel’s brilliant and sparkling Cristalle, and my very own ArbitRary. This category, for the most part, tends to be unisex oriented.

CHYPRE GREEN
These are often the lightest chypre – usually with a leafy-green, at times herbaceous and coniferous notes. Galbanum is one of the most popular additions to green Chypres. These are often border-line with green florals.
These are usually extremely elegant and clean-cut composition, including No. 19 (Chanel), a masterpiece of galbanum, citrus, jasmine, rose, orris, woods, oakmoss and a hint of leather; Ivoire (Balmain), a refined dry composition of roses, greens, moss, and a hint of leather sweetened with raspberry; Private Collection (Estee Lauder) juxtaposing galbanum, orange blossom, rose, jasmine and oakmoss; Chamade (Guerlain), which is also an unusual cross between green chypre and aldehydic floral, with notes of galbanum, hyacinth, ylang ylang, oakmoss and vanilla; Ayalitta, which is an earthy-green Chyprey; and my recent Spring release newest version of Grin, in which the green of galbanum announces the presence of green dewy florals such as freesia, boronia and rose, underlined with oakmoss, vetiver and precious woods.

CHYPRE WOODY
Prominent base notes of sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver add a dry, clean edge to those Chypre compositions – usually (but not always) these are very masculine. Somehow I went almost completely blank trying to find examples for Chypre woody perfumes besides Mitsouko, even though it's not particularly masculine strictly speaking; Agent Provocateur, an unusal Chypre as it is not truly mossy but achieved the diffusive mossy effect by using massive amounts of vetiver and aldehydes; and my own Democracy, which is masculine and somewhat ambery-animalic, and Megumi, which rather feminine and floral. If you have any suggestions, please post your comments...

CHYPRE LEATHERY
Dry, smoky compositions those are dark and masculine. These include the Cuir de Russie pungent-dry leather compositions (Chanel, Piver, Creed, etc.), Jolie Madame (Balmain) which interestingly uses sweet violets as well as generous amounts of moss; Bandit (Piguet), Miss Balmain (Balmain), Yatagan (Caron), Bel Ami, and Caron’s legendary Tabac Blond.

CHYPRE CONIFEROUS
With an outdoorsy scent – these are sporty and refreshing, and usually masculine in nature. Pino Silvestre and Rainforest are the best examples I can come up with at the moment (if you know of other suggestions, please comment!).

Chypre is one of the most esteemed fragrance families and many of the most fascinating perfumes belong to the Chypre family. The term is somewhat of a mystery to the layman and the everyday perfume consumers, and even perfume sales people will often be puzzled by it (and now neither its meaning nor how to pronounce it).

Contrary to the common knowledge, the legendary Francois Coty did not invent the concept of Chypre perfumes. What he did do was modernize these composition with the use of contrasting citrus top notes as well as several synthetics; and also, he has created a solid foundation of popular demand for this magical perfume family with his witty marketing, that has lasted for many years to come.

So when did Chypre perfumes really originate? In the island of Cyprus, of course, and many cenruries earlier. We know about chypre scents being made on the island as early as the 12^th century. They made primarily of labdanum resin and mixed with other local aromatics from herbs and flowers. Later on, pastilles or little Oyselets de Chypre (Chypre Birds) were formed from a paste of labdanum, styrax and calamus, mixed with tragacanth. The perfumes in those old days were burned as incense and the birds decorated and scented rooms. It wasn’t until the 14^th century that oakmoss was added to these pastilles. A book from 1777 provides perfume formulas for two chypre compositions that included oamoss as well as civet, ambergris, musk and various resins and plant aromatics, including rose and orange blossom.

Image credit: Goat2, originally uploaded by Mareea

P.s. In case you wonder what the goats are all about - not only are they from Cyprus, but also, it was originally from the goats' hair that labdanum resin was combed and that is how it was traditionally collected.

Chypre compositions are based on the juxtaposition of earthy notes of oakmoss and other supporting notes with the fresh notes of bergamot, citrus or other highly aldehydic notes. The contrast creates a surprisingly smooth result, where extreme blurring of the notes occurs, and all the notes are blended into each other while none stands out in particular. This is one of the most unique things about Chypre, and along with their versatility and endless possibilities for originality they are often perfumer’s favourite group to work with.

Chypre perfumes are often described as mossy, earthy, warm, spicy and nature-smelling. The scent of a basic chypre base accord is reminiscent of the forest floor in autumn, of crushed leaves and foliage. This is perhaps one of the reasons Chypres are traditionally considered “Fall Fragrances”.

Image credit: Tree Lichen, Originally uploaded by DSutherland