The Chypre Family in Perfumery: History and Mystery
One can say of a perfume that it belongs to the chypre family, but where does this word come from? Who created the first chypre? Did you think like me that it was Coty? I have another way of seeing things. It is often said that it comes from the island of Cyprus which was at the center of the perfume trade of the East and was also renowned for its gloves scented with oakmoss.
Distant Origins and Cyprus Birds
In reality, the origin is not really known. The absence of very specific formulations of ancient chypre perfumes is explained by the limited number of recipes known about them. The available raw materials varied little until the 19th century and their field of use remained limited.
Powders for powdering hair, wigs, sachet powders, which bore chypre patronyms, have very similar formulations. They contain musks, civet, and amber, separately or together, with oakmoss, iris, and tiger nut.
The Cyprus Bird Recipe
There were also recipes for “Cyprus bird” (Oiselet de Chypre) which remain the only burning chypres brought to our knowledge. These are kinds of troches (cassolettes, perfumers) that are thrown into the fire to receive a pleasant smell and correct the malignity of the air and which, while burning, fly away little by little like birds.
Recipe for a Cyprus bird according to Lémery: Willow charcoal, gum tragacanth, rose water, labdanum, civet musk, ambergris, styrax, benzoin, Rhodes wood and essence, cinnamon, clove, and elemi. Dejean mentions, in the 18th century, that chypre water is distinguished from other waters by musk and amber.
Transitional Chypres (Before Coty)
They correspond to the period between the end of the Second Empire and the Great War, rich in great scientific, technological, and industrial progress. It is the arrival of organic synthesis which makes available to perfumers new molecules such as vanillin in 1874, coumarin in 1878, ionones (violet notes) around 1884, nitrated musks in 1888.
Numerous extracts named chypre were created, seeking to distinguish themselves from ancient chypres while preserving a vague basic accord.
Some chypre names from this period (Guerlain is very present):
- Eau de Chypre (Guerlain around 1850)
- Chypre de Tentation (Roger et Gallet 1893)
- Cyprisime (Guerlain 1894)
- Chypre (Lubin 1898)
- Chypre de Paris (Guerlain 1909)
The Coty Revolution (1917)
While perfumes remained elitist and with limited distribution until the Great War, Coty broke with tradition in 1917 with his Chypre, the first mass-market perfume with exceptional resonance. François Coty was the first to do marketing without knowing it!
He succeeded in making remarkable advertising for this perfume. And I think that is why we only remember him. Several dozen perfumes with the chypre patronym followed until around 1950, the beginning of contemporary perfumery.
The Chypre Accord: Classic vs Modern
The classic chypre accord consists of bergamot, jasmine, rose, patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum, and possibly animal notes.
Now, we have contemporary chypres on the market where oakmoss and cistus labdanum have been replaced by patchouli. Since oakmoss is banned by IFRA (allergenic), it is replaced at Guerlain by a natural tree moss; elsewhere it can be replaced by evernyl.
This term chypre is quite enigmatic for a customer. One can then speak of scents of undergrowth, wood, autumnal scents, stamped with mystery, charisma, magnetism, capable of being feminine or masculine. It is the most complex family; it is elegant, appreciated by “connoisseurs”, known for its refined contrast between citrus fruits and its mossy and earthy base.
Chypre Sub-Families
Classic and Green Chypres
- Green Chypre: Miss Dior by Christian Dior (1947)
- Recent Green Chypre: Synthetic Jungle F. Malle and Club Couture by Valentino
Fruity Chypres
- Mitsouko by Guerlain (1919) – First use of the C14 note in perfumery.
- Femme by Rochas (1944)
- Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel (2001) – New Chypre
- Miss Dior Chérie by Christian Dior (2005) – New Chypre
- Parure by Guerlain (now discontinued)
- Chypre Fatal in the Elixirs Charnels collection by Guerlain (exclusives)
- Pas ce soir by BDK
Floral Chypre
- Aromatics Elixir by Clinique (1972)
- Paloma by Paloma Picasso (1984)
- Eau du Soir by Sisley (1990)
- Idylle by Guerlain
- Chant d’Arômes by Guerlain
- Rose Barbare by Guerlain (exclusives)
- Earth by Jil Sander
Musky Chypre
- Narciso Rodriguez for Her (2006) – New chypre
Aromatic/Leathery Chypre
- Aramis by Aramis (1965)
- Antaeus by Chanel (1981)
- Songe d’un Bois d’Été by Guerlain 2012 (exclusives)
- Cabochard by Grès (1959)
Very Citrusy
- Eau Sauvage Extrême by Christian Dior (1984)
- Eau de Guerlain
- Monsieur by Chanel
- Hacivat by Nishane
- Cadenza by Sospiro
