Chypre: 72 posts

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

A woman who wears Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum is most certainly not a wallflower. Even the first impression of this fragrance banishes any thoughts to the contrary. The lemony brightness of hedione and the green richness of the floral accord do not hide the animalic warmth and honeyed patchouli foiling the heart of this distinctive composition. The Paloma Picasso woman is not a delicate waif nor is she an inaccessible ice queen. Mon Parfum is a smoldering beauty, with its masculine touches evoking the olfactory equivalent of a perfectly tailored tuxedo suit rather than a skintight dress. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

The melancholy aura and retro elegance of Chanel 31, rue Cambon are fascinating, given its decidedly modern interpretation. Experiencing it is like flipping through the pages of an old family album, glancing at the photographs of people in Edwardian outfits and flapper dresses only to notice a striking resemblance between their features and your own. While 31, rue Cambon is a chypre (a fragrance based on the interplay of citrusy, floral, woody, mossy, ambery/musky notes à la Guerlain Mitsouko and Rochas Femme), this chypre possesses a certain delicate and serene quality. 31, rue Cambon is not a fragrance that seduces, but rather it enchants softly. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Who is Miss Dior? She is half Anna Karenina, half Brett Ashley. Created for Christian Dior Parfums, Miss Dior appears to be lady-like and soigné, and yet it hints at the worn darkness of leather saddles and the smoke of slender cigarettes. Although one can enjoy Miss Dior for what it is—a gorgeous classical chypre with a unique green freshness, I find that understanding its context heightens my appreciation for its heartbreaking beauty. Born in 1947, the fragrance carries connotations of the hunger for glamour, the austerity of war and the hopes for future. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Perles de Lalique is packaged in a stunning bottle. When François Coty made his famous statement, “Give a woman the best product you can make, present it in a perfect flacon with beautiful simplicity and impeccable taste, ask her to pay a reasonable price, and that will be the birth of a business such as the world has never seen,” Lalique flacon is what he meant. Although the fragrance division is not the main focus of the Lalique business, both beautiful bottles and interesting fragrances have appeared in the line, from Lalique pour Homme (Lion) by Maurice Roucel to Lalique Le Parfum by Dominique Ropion.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

If one were to take the English translation of Soir de Lune literally, a fragrance capturing a moonlit night could only be mysterious and dark. Indeed, Dominique Ropion who created the fragrance for Sisley worked on the classical chypre theme, setting the radiant floral heart in the voluptuous duskiness of oakmoss and patchouli. Its smoldering form is shrouded in enough floral sweetness to temper the sensuality of spicy, woody notes. Soir de Lune will seduce, yet it will not lend a clichéd sexy image to its wearer, and this is one of its most appealing qualities. Among the bubbly girly fragrances expected this fall, Soir de Lune, with its alluring womanly aura, comes as a pleasant surprise. …

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