There are many ways to begin this journey. The Afternoon of a Faun from Etat Libre d’Orange is a clear chypre expression, emphasised of its bitterness with inclusions of immortelle and myrrh. Its scent is undoubtedly saturnine and autumnal: the sizzle and fizz of bergamot and rose against the driest surface, as woodlands become indistinguishable from the waxed timber floors of the ballet stage framed with velvet curtains. Mousse Illuminee (Rouge Perfumery) moves deeper into the forest, which hints at the enchanted. A sylvan glade where lichen climbs up mighty trees and creeps onto the dusty floor, its haunting glow is the result of cool and camphoraceous bay leaf, and an expansive burst of frankincense, wrapped up in herbaceous touches and heavy notes of pine and fir. A masculine-coded chypre adored by many.
For a firm return to the retro, Chypre Siam (Rogue Perfumery) is inspired by original (and the first) Chypre by Coty - which then ventures to Thailand, adding to its classical and animalic body all the right accompaniments. Its bright top is an ingenious blend of lime leaf and Thai basil, while a rich jasmine heart gains a humid and sunny accentuation with ylang-ylang. Its rich oakmoss base is fluffed up with civet, and the most impressive recreation of a nitromusk accord we’ve encountered. Lost in Heaven by Francesca Bianchi moves further into the territory of the grand amber chypre, it is luscious and sweeping with a sophisticated melange of beeswax, cumin, castoreum, opoponax and orange blossom - altogether lending the fragrance a sultry impact. A mature sweetness plays off of deep animalics, lending the scent a gorgeously dense shape that melts off the skin of the wearer.
MAAI by Bogue Profumo sits in two realms at once; it is innovative and contemporary, but retains its essential classical point of reference. It is unmistakably built from florals, a symphony of tuberose, jasmine, and rose that rises high with aldehydes with an essential chypre anchor. Oakmoss and sandalwood become the frame to support a decadent mixture of civet, castoreum, and hyraceum. There are no empty space in this fragrance - all is filled generously with material. Chypre 21 by Heeley is the most contemporary fragrance of the lot, its name a reference to the new century. It behaves like a chypre, with surprising materials such as violet leaf, saffron-tinted leather, rose, and neroli that achieves the same quality of impact and brilliance - a sublime tension that becomes a forcefield of smell. Its difference is a certain polish and legibility - it is an elegance for the modern age.
