Chyprelia

Some gentle sprays on the inside of my forearms, back of my hands, and on my neck triggered an immediate thought: Habit Rouge? To my nose in those initial moments it was really darn close. A few more seconds and a few more sniffs and the differences are more apparent, but it still calls to mind Jean Paul Guerlain's masterpiece. The key difference is Habit Rouge's deeper, richer, and more leathery base. Chyprelia, well I guess it's no surprise from the name, goes into a chypre direction. What immediately sticks out is the aldehydic top notes of bergamot and lemon that is almost a plagiarization of Guerlain's favorite opening accord, except that with Chyprelia it takes on a fruitier and more tropical twist achieved by the very tastefully minimal addition of ylang-ylang. As with Habit Rouge, the heart is quite floral but here is where the two start to gently but noticeably diverge. The floral heart of Chyprelia is bolder, more prominent than Habit Rouge. Eliam Puente is not shy with the jasmine and rose, which isn't too far off Habit Rouge except its use of carnation and rose; in HR the florals are subdued and very quiet, but with Chyprelia they stand out like the difference of a photo taken with a 4K camera versus HR's 20th century technology: the florals are clearer, bolder, more saturated, and their lines better defined rather than blurred. Chyprelia adds one more distinct touch to the mix, that of juicy and ripe peach. The peach note, like the ylang-ylang is tasteful and understated; you could be forgiven for not noticing it's there. This is a chypre? With a fruity and aldehydic floral opening? With ylang-ylang and peach? Mitsouko, anyone? It's starting to feel that way. Maybe I had the wrong Guerlain with my initial sniffs of the opening. This thought certainly solidifies itself as Chyprelia approaches its lovely drydown of mosses, patchouli, vetiver, and sandalwood. All of the notes between Chyprelia's base and Mitsouko's base are there, save for sandalwood which isn't present in Mitsouko, but Mr. Puente - either by design or caution - doesn't blatantly carbon copy Mitsouko's base. This steers more towards smooth and aromatic vetiver and milky sandalwood than the mosses and patchouli of Mitsouko. For my final thoughts, of which there are two, I will start with this one: iffiness. Puente a is newer brand, started by the perfumer Eliam Puente. You can tell it is a new brand and new perfume house, and that Mr. Puente - while obviously a talented perfumer - has considerably fewer talents and experience in actually managing a business. This bottle of Chyprelia was not actually ready for bottling, therefore not ready for sale, when I bought it; it took two and a half months, being conservative, after placing the order to ship this single bottle of perfume and a handful of samples. This doesn't include time spent in transit, which was significant, because Spanish customs held the shipment due to not having the proper paperwork - ergo, Puente shipped the perfume overseas without fully knowing the process required to do so. I don't know that selling a product as finicky as perfume before it is ready, before you can assure timely production and consistent quality, is the best of ideas. When I finally received the Chyprelia it had no box and was wrapped in a single layer of bubble-wrap free-floating in the shipping box. Selling a perfume before it is ready, before quality checks are done? - Taking many, many weeks before finally shipping it out? Not knowing what is required to ship the perfume overseas? No box for a perfume that costs $225 for 50mL? Terrible, risky packaging? This sort of slapdash approach seriously makes me wonder if the next batch of Chyprelia, or indeed any batches in the near future, are going to smell like this one. This lack of confidence in the maison is unnerving. What will future customers’ experiences be like, I wonder? To last my last and final point, setting the first point aside to simply judge the perfume I have in my hand, I have to say that it is absolutely lovely. Mr. Puente clearly owes a big debt to the perfumes and perfumers of many-a-yesteryear with which he's taken his inspiration for Chyprelia. In my mind this should be named something synonymous with homage, or tribute - something that says: "This style is the love of my life as a perfumer, I owe a debt to those that came before me for this love and inspiration. This perfume is for them." Maybe it's not Mr. Puente's life-love, but it certainly feels that way. Chyprelia is so full of loving, swooning, joyous heartbreak of a bygone era that any perfume lover would be moved by it. As with the best homages/tributes it's not a copy, it's an original and modern interpretation of a style that has been with us for so long and deeply loved by many. This is a wonderful perfume, it's just such a shame that my experience has unnerved me to feeling much like how I feel about the glorious perfumes of the mid-20th century on which it is based: I might not be able to experience it again.

I had the same experience as Nathan 86, and wasn't too happy about it. While I don't think charging for a product before it is made is good business practice, I think it is okay if you are transparent in your communication. But promising shipment by a certain date, and then not shipping until several weeks later, with no communication, is not great. And also, given that the price for this special edition is so high, the same as for his regular perfumes, shipping with no box or pouch is really not acceptable. That said, this is one of the most lovely chypres I have ever smelled, and being a chypre girl that says a lot. Also, since I love chypre perfumes, and this one is so good, I have ordered from several batches (regardless of the high price, sloppy shipping and less than transparent communication) and they hold a uniformly high quality, and smells the same. Unfortunately, the lifespan of this perfume is short on skin, and the sillage is weak, so it requires many many sprays, which makes the price very high in relative terms. (In comparison, Iris Doux from the same brand requires far less sprays, has a much bigger sillage and stays for a long time.) But if you love chypres, this is a must. The best one out there in this day and age, when chypre perfumes have been treated so badly by the powers that be. To me it is most reminiscent of the great Diors of the 40s, and 50s, Miss Dior and Diorama, and also Diorella. Old world glamour, yet light and transparent. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

*Update as of 11/6/2025: (For context, my order was originally placed mid-August) On 10/16/25, I followed up on status because the UPS tracking info still showed that UPS was awaiting the info. No response... On 11/4/25, my earlier suspicion that the package had never gone out was correct. Eliam (the owner) emails me to ask if I received my order because apparently his system was incorrectly showing orders as having been fulfilled even though they hadn't. (So disorganized???) I pointed him to the tracking number he provided me which showed that the UPS never received it from him. And then I essentially insisted on a cancellation of the order, to which he agreed. This was going on for 3 months. Extremely poor communication, disorganized operation, and very little accountability. I've ordered from several other small brands and can appreciate that it's not an easy gig, but being kept in the dark and being fed one excuse after another for several months is NOT IT. I would steer clear of this brand until some major changes happen with their operation. -------------------------------------------- Unfortunately, I regret to report that I recently experienced similar shipping issues as Nathan86 and EmeraldDream. I reached out to Puente for a status update about 2 weeks after placing my order, and then 2 weeks again after that. I didn't get a response either time. I figured I would give it another 5 days to see if maybe he was just swamped and couldn't get to emails, but still nothing. It was honestly frustrating, and the feeling didn't sit right with me, so I sent an email to threaten a chargeback. Lo and behold, that's when I finally get a response! He apologized and said he would ship it out in one week if I cancel the chargeback. I agreed. After a week and a half, I checked in again on status of shipment. No response. 5 days later, I emailed to request that he go ahead and cancel the order. Unsurprisingly, he responds to that email to say that it finally shipped out and provides me with a tracking number. Today, 5 days after he had said the shipment went out, the tracking still shows that UPS is awaiting receipt of the item, so I suspect it probably hasn't gone out yet; he just prepared the label. The saga continues... Overall, my experience here has just been really unfortunate. I get that things can get in the way sometimes, but communication is key. Their fragrances have been praised by the online community, so I hate to see experiences like this cast a shadow on the brand. I hope they can pull it together someday.

Puente might make incredible perfumes, but I have no way of knowing, despite placing an order with the house in August. My order included the discovery set and Chyprelia. I messaged the house several times across multiple platforms, but got no response. The site now shows that Chyprelia is sold out. Many of the fragrances in the discovery set are also showing as sold out. I've had a similar experience to the other reviewers, but in my case, there's been no communication whatsoever. These fragrances are not cheap. As the house never issued a chargeback due to limited materials, I had to talk directly to my bank, which informed me that it can take up to 3 months to reverse a charge.

Caramelized, ambery, clean citruses and a fair amount of moss. It's very sweet and doesn't really change much throughout it's duration, tho after 2 hours it's nothing more than a skin scent on me anyway. Don't have anything bad to say, it's just a nice scent - not particularly better as a chypre than Femme Rochas or Mitsouko and the dozen smell-alikes (I'll have to revisit Chyprelia to make a more accurate comparison). Wouldn't mind smelling it on someone or wearing it myself.

I share the opinion that this house has poor communication despite having beautiful perfumes and would discourage any one to put any order as you may not be able to receive it on time ! I made an order in June and recieve it in October after sending threatening email to dispute the amount And then unfortunately attempted a second order in October and until now January didn’t recieve any confirmation on when to expect it I will contact my bank