Chypre
Encyclopedia
Chypre, ʃipʁ or ʃipχ, is the name of a family (or concept) of perfume
s that are characterised by an accord composed of citrus top-note
s, a floral middle, and a mossy-animalic base-note derived from oak moss and musk
s. Chypre perfumes may be modified by other notes such as patchouli
(most often), vetiver
, labdanum
, ambergris
and sandalwood
oil.
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. The chypre concept is characterised by the contrast between the fresh citrus accord and the woody-oakmoss fond; often patchouli
is considered an indispensable element as well. Other main fragrance families besides chypres are fougère
s, orientals, gourmands, and florals. The chypre accord is used in both male and female perfumery.
A notable literary reference to chypre is contained in the novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (Knopf, 1929), in which the character Joel Cairo is described as carrying a chypre-scented handkerchief as part of his homosexual persona.
The composition is usually enhanced with a floral component through rose
and jasmine
oil.
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.
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
s that are characterised by an accord composed of citrus top-note
Note (perfumery)
Notes in perfumery are descriptors of scents that can be sensed upon the application of a perfume. Notes are separated into three classes; top/head notes, middle/heart notes, and base notes; which denote groups of smells that can be sensed with respect to the time after the application of a perfume...
s, a floral middle, and a mossy-animalic base-note derived from oak moss and musk
Musk
Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. Musk was a name originally given to a substance with a...
s. Chypre perfumes may be modified by other notes such as patchouli
Patchouli
Patchouli is a species from the genus Pogostemon and a bushy herb of the mint family, with erect stems, reaching two or three feet in height and bearing small, pale pink-white flowers...
(most often), vetiver
Vetiver
Chrysopogon zizanioides, commonly known as vetiver , is a perennial grass of the Poaceae family, native to India. In western and northern India, it is popularly known as khus. Vetiver can grow up to 1.5 metres high and form clumps as wide. The stems are tall and the leaves are long, thin, and...
, labdanum
Labdanum
Labdanum is a sticky brown resin obtained from the shrubs Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus , species of rockrose. It has a long history of use in herbal medicine and as a perfume ingredient.-History:...
, ambergris
Ambergris
Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated or secreted by sperm whales....
and sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
oil.
History
The term chypre is FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, and goes back to François Coty
François Coty
François Coty was a French perfume manufacturer, newspaper publisher, and founder of the fascist league Solidarité Française...
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. The chypre concept is characterised by the contrast between the fresh citrus accord and the woody-oakmoss fond; often patchouli
Patchouli
Patchouli is a species from the genus Pogostemon and a bushy herb of the mint family, with erect stems, reaching two or three feet in height and bearing small, pale pink-white flowers...
is considered an indispensable element as well. Other main fragrance families besides chypres are fougère
Fougère
Fougère, , meaning "fern-like", is one of the main families into which modern perfumes are classified, with the name derived from the perfume Fougère Royale for Houbigant formulated by the perfumer Paul Parquet. The class of fragrances have the basic accord with a top-note of lavender and...
s, orientals, gourmands, and florals. The chypre accord is used in both male and female perfumery.
A notable literary reference to chypre is contained in the novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (Knopf, 1929), in which the character Joel Cairo is described as carrying a chypre-scented handkerchief as part of his homosexual persona.
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-down. The accord consists of:- Citrus: singular or blends of BergamotBergamot orangeCitrus bergamia, the Bergamot orange, is a fragrant fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow colour similar to a lemon. Genetic research into the ancestral origins of extant citrus cultivars recently matched the bergamot as a likely hybrid of Citrus limetta and Citrus aurantium...
, OrangeOrange (fruit)An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
, LemonLemonThe lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
or NeroliNeroliNeroli oil is a plant oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree . Its scent is sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic, whereas bergamot, being rich in linalool , has more of an aromatic, soft, floralcy.- Production :The blossoms are gathered, usually by hand, in late April to... - Oak moss: mossy and woody
- Patchouli: camphoraceous and woody
- MuskMuskMusk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. Musk was a name originally given to a substance with a...
: sweet, powdery, and animalic. Usually syntheticSynthetic muskSynthetic musks, known as white musks in the perfume industry, are a class of synthetic aromachemicals created by chemist and fragrance companies to emulate the scent of deer musk or other natural musk...
in modern times.
The composition is usually enhanced with a floral component through rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
and jasmine
Jasmine
Jasminum , commonly known as jasmines, is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family . It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...
oil.
Animalic notes such as civet
Civet
The family Viverridae is made up of around 30 species of medium-sized mammal, including all of the genets, the binturong, most of the civets, and the two African linsangs....
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
Patchouli
Patchouli is a species from the genus Pogostemon and a bushy herb of the mint family, with erect stems, reaching two or three feet in height and bearing small, pale pink-white flowers...
, bergamot
Bergamot
Bergamot may refer to:*The Bergamot orange*Monarda, genus of herbs of similar odor to the Bergamot orange; in particular**Monarda didyma, called Bergamot, Scarlet Beebalm, Scarlet Monarda, Oswego Tea, or Crimson Beebalm...
, vetiver
Vetiver
Chrysopogon zizanioides, commonly known as vetiver , is a perennial grass of the Poaceae family, native to India. In western and northern India, it is popularly known as khus. Vetiver can grow up to 1.5 metres high and form clumps as wide. The stems are tall and the leaves are long, thin, and...
, ambergris
Ambergris
Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated or secreted by sperm whales....
, sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
and labdanum resin.
Sub-families of chypre
- Animalic chypres, such as ‘Cabochard’ by Grés, 1959.
- Floral chypres, such as ‘Knowing’ by Estée LauderEstée Lauder CompaniesEstée Lauder Companies, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The company has its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
, 1988. - Fruity chypres, such as ‘Femme’ by RochasRochasRochas is a fashion, beauty, and perfume house founded in 1925 by french designer Marcel Rochas, born in 1902 and died in 1955, first designer of 2/3-length coats and skirts with pockets...
, 1944, ‘Mitsouko’ by GuerlainGuerlainGuerlain is a French perfume house, among the oldest in the world. It has a large and loyal customer following, and is held in high esteem in the perfume industry...
, 1917, and ‘Y’ by Yves Saint Laurent, 1964. - Green chypres, such as ‘Aliage’ by Estée LauderEstée Lauder CompaniesEstée Lauder Companies, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The company has its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...
, 1972 and ‘Cuvée Spéciale’ by Charvet. - Woody-aromatic chypres, such as ‘Aromatics Elixir’ by CliniqueCliniqueClinique is a manufacturer of skincare, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances, owned by the Estée Lauder Corporation.- History :In 1967, American Vogue magazine published an article called “Can Great Skin Be Created?”, written by beauty editor Carol Phillips with Dr. Norman Orentreich, discussing...
, 1972. - Leathery-animalic chypre, such as ‘Cuir de Russie’ by ChanelChanelChanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, 1924. - Fresh-citric chypres, such as ‘CK One’ by Calvin KleinCalvin KleinCalvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
, 1994.