Chypre Caramel

Trying to review a Chypre is never an easy task as they are never as straightforward as one may think. I know Chypre's are Miguel's favorite fragrance family, and Chypre Caramel is the only true blue Chypre surviving in his current collection. We at least share the same love for chypre's and I'll try to make Chypre Caramel justice with some words. Chypre Caramel is kind of mind boggling, because it seems linear and chameleonic at the same time. It opens with a sharp spicy, green and fruity wall of fragrance, it's bold and unapologetically sharp. The fruits here are non-descriptive, the idea of mango? maybe. It has a somewhat tropical tinge given perhaps by a mixture of the very noticeable galbanum like bitter green raw materials and an overdose of iso-amyl-acetate, a banana like material that Miguel likes to use in some of his creations (see Jungle Jezebel for Sarah Baker or Fado Jasmin or Summer Oud), that can give a tropical vibe without being necessarily a specific fruit. Keep in mind I'm not trying to be overly technical here (which I'm certainly not), I'm just playing a guessing game based on Miguel's composition style. The spices and florals are also non-descriptive, starting to see a connection here? This is the beauty of a well blended fragrance, a sum of its parts. The spices are warm, a blend of cumin and cardamom and maybe some peppery materials, give to the fragrance this very sharp and spicy vibe that makes it definitely an acquired taste. The floral support is maybe given by a mixture of lily-of-the-valley raw materials that can also give a non-descriptive floral tinge. After a few minutes into this opening concoction, I get a creamy, lactonic, somewhat rooty and powdery Iris vibe that's very present and prolongs itself for the majority of the life of the fragrance, and it seems to keep everything together. Now for the real stuff, where's the Caramel and where's the Chypre, right? Some people say this is more gourmand than chypre, errr...I tend to disagree. The caramel accord is there from start to finish, yes, but it always runs on the verge of gourmand because it's not sweet at all, well maybe a little, at the end of the day it's caramel, but it's more on the toffee side, and what keeps it from being full on gourmand it's the green bitterness and full on spicy sharpness, it's a great contrast to my nose, because it's always on the verge of falling to the other side. Now, what supports all this madness is a classic and recognizable Chypre base, all the good the stuff that makes our hair stand to attention. Oakmoss and Patchouli make a very specific marriage that one can not ignore, dry, earthy, moist, sharp, woody and probably a generous dose of IBQ and labdanum that adds this leathery greeness we're all used to love in leather chypre's. Do I love it? YES! This is a state of mind, a specific demeanor but not uptight, it's playful and chic and elegant at the same time, it's not perfect, it's how I like my perfumes, not perfect, because we're not perfect as humans, and the symbiotic connection between imperfection makes somewhat something perfect? Who knows.

Chypre Caramel by Miguel Matos 6/10 A bit weird. The chypre note is really strong, and I was expecting it to lean more gourmand. It’s still sweet, but the chypre kind of takes over and pulls it in a different direction. Not bad, just not what I was hoping for.

Quite nice, but the caramel note dominates too clearly for me. More Chypre & less Gourmand and I would start to rave. Nevertheless, a beautiful fragrance!

In the first few minutes I sighed as I caught a beautiful whiff of caramel, buttery cardamom and patchouli cocoa. Then began a merry-go-round full of contrasts,spicy,sweaty, prankster, feminine and young among citrus fruits, lily of the valley, bitter galbanum, caramelized roses, cocoa butter, mango candies, semi-plastic leather and lots of cumin. This bittersweet carousel revolves over an amber base of sandalwood, sugared almonds and oak moss in a limbo between cosmetic and alcoholic gourmand. Quite feminine, I am a man and I prefer it when it dries completely in a powdery confetti and caramel dry on the skin, but most of the time, even if the wheel turns smoothly, I find it ... hardly digestible. Sweet, feminine, not offensive but in any case ... abnormal!

I was curious how this combination of warm brown gourmand and classic chypre accord would work, especially as we've seen a similar concept utilised with warm brown gourmand mixed with a classic fougere accord with Armani's Stronger With You line. Personally for me this doesn't work sadly. Green and bitter florals mixed with a warm caramel accord. It sort of reminds me of Chypre Shot by Olfactive Studio actually. Very similar idea and outcome. The image that I cannot shake when I smell this, is that smells as if someone has sprayed a lily of the valley air freshener in an attempt to mask the smell of someone making hot fresh caramel. It goes from smelling edible to smelling like someone is trying to get rid of the smell of food and failing.