Eau de Chypre

This one seems amazing ! Hopefully we still have perfumers like Michael Salazar, who doesn't leave the real Chypre style to die. will try it soon when is in stock.

This is so amazing, such a massive chypre.

Sampling Aromas de Salazar Eau de Chypre, a bold chypre that harkens back to classics while feeling updated and smoothed out, very strong and insistent, with a great deal of oakmoss, rose, patchouli, and resins, but freshened and sharpened with citruses and orris. It strikes me as a classic unisex expression with some modern sensibilities, not too overbearing or sharp while still being a fairly loud announcement, though neither animalic nor pungently floral, which I think makes this a fairly accessible option for most in that it does not conform to certain stereotypes. That said, it’s not as daring or as innovative as, say, Blueberry Chypre or Cola Oud, but is rather more of a connected to other chypres, though it’s not my favorite genre and I don’t consider myself well-versed in it. Overall, I like this creation a lot. Eau de Chypre is sold only on the house website, priced at $175 for 50ml, in the middle of the catalogue’s pricing, reasonable for a creative expression with great performance, in my opinion. 7 out of 10

This is an excellent representation of a Chypre fragance. The peach and bergamot make their appearance first but then fade as the powdery rose takes over. It is not very animalic for those that would hesitate on seeing the base notes. The oakmoss, Tonka, vanilla, and other base notes start to announce themselves about an hour into the wearing. This is my second Parfum that I am trying from Michael Salazar and extremely pleased with both. He is a talented perfumer.

I appreciate this for what it is, but it’s not for me. Seems very high quality.

I told Michael I'd share my thoughts on this one. I paid for a 10ml with my own money, and there isn't a perfumer alive who could get me to shill a fragrance unless I personally love it. The presentation is really nice. Minimalist. No label. Just a generous piece of oakmoss in the bottle - so unique, it might as well be the label. (It's real evernia oakmoss, not some other lichen!). My batch is quite red - which we'll get into, because I think it's important to note. Eau de Chypre opens up with a bright, sharp, trebley pop of citric brightness. There's absolutely lemon here, and to my nose, it comes across a bit like lemon disinfectant or floor cleaner. Thankfully, this lasts about one minute before burning off to a soft lemon oil, making room for the most BEAUTIFUL peach accord I've ever smelled in a perfume. Forget Antiquity, the peach aldehydes used here are so fruity, jammy, and absolutely photorealistic, you'd swear it was a dripping peach. Less thankfully, this stunning peach accord, too, burns off a bit, leaving a nice, but more expected chypre-like peachy top note in its wake. Playing into the sharp, bright and of things, is a bold rose. It's real rose, no question, but it's a particular spicy, zesty, fresh rose. If you've tried Rostracto from Rogue, it's a similar rose note. Big, pink, and peppery-woody, and I suspect osmanthus is really giving it much of that spicy floral kick. The rose-osmanthus edge is tempered by an obvious dose of oakmoss, which, in this instance, has a very unique character. It's a damp, spongy, almost rubbery oakmoss. Wet leaves, wet bark, earth, soil, and a very distinct "rubbery" note. Imagine freshly rain-soaked treemoss, with its damp, musty, waterlogged leathery aroma, and turn it up to 11. It's definitely showcasing more of the leathery facets of oakmoss, rather than the zingy green character. As we dry down, that leather character becomes more and more bolstered by labdanum, and a rather fresh labdanum as well. This isn't a deep, dark, resinous, smouldering dark amber, but more of a jammy sticky rock rose, with a fruity leathery backbone. The composition never goes dark, due to that bright zesty rose, the peach, which has now darkened and sweetened up, forming a halo around everything, and the prominent powdery softness, which helps push this into vintage-adjacent territory. It doesn't strike me as a cold and tart rooty orris, but rather an almost cosmetic, makeup compact orris - soft and powdery, with a subtle sheen. Arriving at the mid-stage, we find a vintage-esque chypre, that favours sweet peach, osmanthus, spicy-citric rose,powdery orris, rubbery oakmoss, and a hint of leather, over a bright, zingy, dewy green, mossy, floral, powder-soft Chypre. What's "missing" here, that really separates this from a predictable take on vintage "Mitsouku" is the conspicuous lack of a coumarin overdose. Typically, that Chypre powder would be heavily bolstered by a good dose of powdery vanillic coumarin. While I can spot it, in the form of tonka bean, it's really, REALLY buried, and that allows the brighter notes to stay bright, and not get washed out by vintage powder. I think that, along with the rose, the heavy use of osmanthus here is really what sets this apart, and it's actually kind of genius. Osmanthus can lend fruity peachy notes to the peach, spicy floral character to the rose, fruit leather elements to the labdanum, and a big of herbaceousness to the moss. It works well here, for obvious reasons. This is not your vintage Mitsouko, it's not your Coty Chypre or Chypre Siam, and it's definitely not your Diaghilev... It somehow manages to convey a familiar vintage outline, with a pretty unique DNA and signature. It's vintage-esque, but it smells so heavily natural-leaning, you get that timelessness that naturals tend to give. The quality of the composition and materials is absurdly apparent from start to finish, and while it feels indie and handmade, it doesn't feel rough whatsoever. My one knock would be for the longevity of the wear. It starts strong, and opens quite bold, with those top notes burning off and throwing this a country mile for a couple minutes, but it quickly settles, and wears as a skin scent for the majority of its life. It'll stick to the skin for a good long while, but without projection. Even still, the projection you do get, is worth it. *Edit (1 year later): Zero performance issues. It's easy to go anosmic to this one, and it was skewing my judgement. I've let others wear this, and it bombs out all day. Fills a room. Complaining about longevity/sillage is silly with this one. Potent stuff. Don't huff up close or you'll burn out your nose. I'd LOVE to see this base used in more ways - without the rose, with more animalics, greened up a bit, or with oud, which Salazar has done with his "Chypre Oud". As a flagship Chypre, though, this is a lovely little number, and it's certainly noteworthy among my growing collection of vintage-inspired Chypres. Note: my bottle is quite red, and has a prominent rose note. In speaking with others, it seems older bottles may not be as rose-forward. I enjoy the rose here, but it's enough to potentially turn off hardcore rose haters. Just something to note*

In direct contrast to alpha irone, perfumery is as much a craft as any art, and as such is allowed to be freely labelled as warranted by the seller. A critique to the critiques, your approach is holier than thou, and frankly a blockage to the advancement of an art, telling someone to return to basics when success has already been reached IS out of malice, and i do not hesitate to say your opinion is lacking in substance. You are stuck in a segmented reality where everything must be black and white, and frankly your advice isn't based on the fragrance at hand, and has little use or application of knowledge i would expect from your collection. The fragrance starts leather heavy, likely from the labdanum, and progressed to more of an open air waft. It isn't an incredible powerhouse off of a single spray, but it does slowly transition and diffuse as time goes on, giving it a certain vintage quality. While I would not classify as a classic chypre by my own definition, it is good for the price, and the quality is certainly there. I would suggest a sample before purchase.

It smells familiar and vintage. I am one of those people that is in the “hate” category of classic vintage style perfumes however, I believe in giving everything a smell, and this perfume though not my style would probably smell great on a guy, but I’m starting to realize that I cannot wear oakmoss in fragrance. It simply does not jive with my skin chemistry. It always turns astringent and sharp. My boyfriend said I smelled like grandma which is not what I’m going for so it’s a big no for me, but I’d still say that if you appreciate a good classic fragrance, this is a very well balanced vintage style perfume.

My favorite from the house, and I like a lot of things Mr Salazar is making. This is absolutely a classic chypre, with real, glorious, oak moss, deep and complex. It’s reminiscent of the all time great Mitsouko without being redundant or derivative...beautiful stuff, and anyone who loves the genre should pick up a bottle of this