Heeley Chypre 21 Extrait de Parfum

Fragrance Family:
Mossy Woods

Main Notes:
Italian Bergamot, Rosemary, Petitgrain, Neroli, Bulgarian Rose, Saffron, Musk, Oakmoss, Patchouli, Sandalwood

Concentration:
Extrait de Parfum

Occasion:
If Chypre 21 were a garment, it would be a made to measure, super 150s, grey flannel suit. Perfectly proportioned, Chypre 21 is an aromatic complement to the most diverse of occasions.

Made in France

Volumes can be said about the chypre in perfumery – or at least, what it was. The sleek olfactory silhouette that defined an era is transported to the twenty-first century with Chypre 21. The resulting feel is remarkably unisex and undoubtedly familiar. Its feeling is desiccated and napped, true to the mossy category, against a bracing top that appears to soar up to the highest heights of this fragrance. The total effect is harmonic – a pleat of grippy bergamot is rounded with petitgrain, and freshened with the cool raspy qualities of rosemary. Underneath this is the faint leathery smoulder of saffron, which favours a metallic sheen other than sweetness.

Such a gorgeous ascent climbs to the most dizzyingly high parts of the atmosphere, until it dives into a shadowy coddle of Bulgarian rose, oakmoss, musk, patchouli and sandalwood. These notes pulsate; they sing with a lucidity and crispness that feels resolutely contemporary. This is Chypre 21’s imprint: it redoes the firm and upright silhouette of the category without causing it to slacken. Its structure is crystalline, like a tough lattice of notes that hold onto each other. Equally, there’s enough space between the lattice structure to let the light in; to do away with the retro dust. The chypre is an enduring idea, and Heeley realises it without neglecting the fragrances of yesteryear, whilst projecting onwards, forward with a new sensibility.

This new extrait concentration deepens the original formula, strengthening the scent’s leathery grip, all while compacting its notes into a richer sphere of scent. Gone is the overt radiance of hesperidic notes up top, but what remains is the certain tang and bitterness of its rind, which smoothly melds with the heart of the scent.