Calypso

There is SO much to say about this magnificent marvel that I'm going to have to make a disjointed review with a few facets! Firstly, it exists as a NEW GENRE - a chypre-rose-amber. Why? It possesses the austere somewhat chilly earthy understatement of the chypre (the patchouli is soft and discreet which does a good job of being rather 'oakmossy' rather than a stonking patchouli bomb). The rose is again gentle and merges beautifully with the geranium (which is not as peppery as usual, simply adds a freshness to the rose which stops it from cloying). These two aspects appear for about the first 30 mins making it initially a cool chypre. After 30 mins it 'warms up' and although the initial elements are still evident, a softening creeps in and it's heart reveals an amber with a little orris powderyness. It's not overly powdery though, retaining a freshness that is extremely natural and earthy. I'm used to smelling huge spicy oriental ambers which I adore but I am equally enamored with this 'spice-less amber', extraordinary. The dry down is a buttery rosey soft wood amber with very round edges and no corners. AS A VISUAL I am smelling an old fashioned sweet wild rose at night in a damp garden, complete with all the earthy soil, bitter foliage and sap aspects. It's a stunner! A NOTE ON PATCHOULI ROSES - Aren't they mostly disgusting? I'm thinking 'Rock and Rose, Avril Lavigne etc'.. terrible plasticky artificial stuff. I can't imagine anybody else ever creating a truly perfect one such as Calypso. A NOTE ON THE NAME - It has nothing to do with Calypso or any other Latin dance, somebody here mentioned it was more like a ballet, a great observation with which I agree. A NOTE ON THE PIGUET RANGE IN GENERAL - 2 Others have also really impressed me: VISA - Stunning oriental peachy gourmand JEUNESSE -Bright, sharp fizzy bubbling greenery and berries However, their great Icon - Fracas, for me is a vile brew of white flower putrification. Calypso has moved me greatly..

Put quite simply, Calypso is the most beautiful geranium fragrance I've ever encountered. Calypso is not the somewhat harsh fragrance of the common windowbox geranium as in the photo above. Not at all. Instead, Calypso is pure rose geranium, Pelargonium 'Graveolens', whose leaves you can rub between your fingers to transfer the essential oils to your skin. The orris root adds a mellow softness to the rose geranium, the mildest of patchouli adds a "chewy" texture (that I consider patchouli's most important contribution to any fragrance that includes it) and the suede notes create a buttery "taste" while citrus and amber combine in a way that's imperceptible to my nose except to add a certain sense of sunshine. I've worn my sample several times over the past few days and each wearing suggests a linear structure because, I suppose, it is so very well blended. While I'm disappointed in its 4-6 hour longevity and nearly non-existent sillage (it stays very, very close to my skin), I still deem it full bottle worthy because it is so incrediby beautiful. Speaking as a life-long gardener and life-long lover of fragrance, this goes to the top of my want list. Edit July 2013: It took me a year and half but I finally have my full bottle and I'm delighted to note that both longevity and sillage are much more impressive on warm skin in hot weather than in the dead of winter when I first sampled this beauty. Of course! While it was a breath of sunshine in winter, it makes sense that a sophisticated floral would smell best when its featured flower is blooming in its own season. Absolutely gorgeous!

The other day I looked up any fragrance which had the note suede as part of its overall aroma. Calypso was listed having some suede I just wasn't sure how much being a woman's frag. I remember seeing this fragrance at a sister store of TJMX, I was lucky and found a 100ml bottle EDP for only 40. Having a Robert Piguet EDP for that price was worth making the purchase regardless being a blind purchase or not! After spraying it on my skin, a blast of sweet aroma of floral notes with amber bring's it together beautifully with a warm vib. At first I thought it might be a bit sweet, after the fragrance settled the powdery scent with just a hint of suede gave it a really gorgeously islands aroma. Longevity and Silage are very high lasting at least 8hrs. My personal final throughs, I must admit that if someone told me that I would enjoy wearing a woman's fragrance, I would of told them that there @$*& crazy. Since I have been a member of this website, I have opened my mind to what's considered a "woman's" fragrance...men could enjoy it just as much if it's appealing. I now own Bandit which is much more of a herbal/spicy aroma with some leather notes perfect during the winter. Even Bandit has a real sweet appeal which makes you wonder how is it possible. Now that I own Calypso it is definitely a sweet/floral aromatic scent which is excellent. I'm glad I bought this fragrance and will enjoy using it throughout the summer/fall months. 9.5/10 :))

Hmhmhm, a fantasticly romantic new fragrance from Robert Piguet! I remember not liking reformulated Visa all that much, so I was not really enthousiastic about this one. I love suede and roses, but there are so many things that can go wrong in a fragrance that I was nto sure whether I would enjoy it. Calypso actually really surprised me. I don't know the original, but this reformulation really works for me. The fragrance is quite modern, but at the same time remained very classic. One thing I was afraid of was the the earthiness coming from patchouli and orris root- two notes that often overpower composition and spoil fragrances for me, but Calypso is not earthy at all. The fragrance is delightfully soft, slightly powdery, the rose mixes really nicely with the suede undertones. The flowery notes are not your usual boring flowers, the quality of ingredients is very fine as expected from such an established perfume house. It is one of very few fragrances where geranium really shines. A great advantage for me is that Calypso seems to suit so many different occasions, from a casual outing to an evening at the opera.

This perfume smells very special on my skin. Before reading here I didn't even notice that it is about rose geranium! It's a faint perfume at first, I can barely smell it on my wrist and it never gets loud, but it smells delicious nonetheless! There is a tad of powder but just a vague hint. Rose geranium, iris root, suede, patchouli? I have no idea. It smells none like the single notes smelled alone. It rather smells globally like a very elegant, subtle yet present feminine perfume, very attractive and almost relaxed in its beauty but knowing where it's going to! I could say it smells very "nice" but it doesn't render the right and complete idea. It also reminds me of something smelled in the '70s, a typical feminine smell, both tamed and elegant. Also addictive. If you expect a buttery tuberose bomb like Fracas, you're not on the right road! Calypso smells completely different and much less obvious to describe. It somehow escape definitions. In its tamed and subtle way it lasted for hours on my skin and I found myself smelling my wrist in delight until I decided to wash my hands!