Top Notes 
Aldehydes
Hyacinth
Bergamot
Neroli
Peach
Heart Notes 
Lily of the valley
Orange blossom
Carnation
Narcissus
Iris
Jasmine
Rose
Tuberose
Orchid
Base Notes 
Civet
Moss
Musk
Ambergris
Leather
Sandalwood
Styrax
Vanilla
Vetiver
06/19/2014
jtd
484 Reviews
jtd
Top Review
9
lost chypre
Discovering a chypre from the early 1980s that you've never tried is dicey. While it's new to me, it's by no means a new perfume, and has lived, loved and likely been reformulated a number of times, probably fatally. Hand a new fumie a current bottle of Diorella, she'll sniff and then look at you and say, "This is the shit you've all been talking about?" And she'd be right to ask. The current stuff isn't anything to rave about, or really even discuss.
There's a whole generation of fumies for whom the the tragedy of reformulation means that their Miss Dior Chérie (or whatever it's called at this point) has been tampered with and their Badgely Mischka has been unceremoniously discontinued.
IFRA (International Fragrance Association) regulations diminish the perfumer’s palette. However you come down on the ethics, evidence and outcomes of their restrictions, the IFRA hinders perfumers and takes perfumes away from those who relish them.
The fun for all of us, though, is finding what slips through the cracks.
K de Krizia (perfumer, Maurice Roucel) starts and remains beautiful. There's a bit of a dry fruit feeling upfront, and an appropriate amount of Amber in the far dry down, but all the way along this baby is a soaring floral chypre. What seem like aldehydes provide the lift off, but once at altitude it's the cold flowers that give buoyancy. I don't know the ratio of oakmoss to treemoss to [insert mossy analogue], and god only knows what has been done to modulate the other toxic aromachemicals like bergamot, labdanum, but K de Krizia passes all the functional tests of a chypre. It's dry like a good martini, it's florals are buttery yet sharp in tone, and it makes me want to take it in like a long drag on a cigarette. Now THAT to me is a chypre.
K reminds me quite a bit of Miss Dior. Or at least the reformulation circa 2005 that I have. God knows how many variations of Miss Dior are out there. The floral tone to the two is similar. The petals aren't so much dried as freeze dried and the effect makes them bite back a bit when you sniff your wrists.
Your gift at the end of the day of a wearing of K is a starched soapy climax that seems as thought it might be hissing at you. If you like chypres and like the floral tone that Ivoire de Balmain strikes, try K de Krizia. I found a 100 ml bottle of edp for the price of one snort of an overpriced niche perfume.
One for any list of under-appreciated, inexpensive darlings like Ivoire, Rochas Tocade, Bal à Versailles, Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel and EL Azurée.
There's a whole generation of fumies for whom the the tragedy of reformulation means that their Miss Dior Chérie (or whatever it's called at this point) has been tampered with and their Badgely Mischka has been unceremoniously discontinued.
IFRA (International Fragrance Association) regulations diminish the perfumer’s palette. However you come down on the ethics, evidence and outcomes of their restrictions, the IFRA hinders perfumers and takes perfumes away from those who relish them.
The fun for all of us, though, is finding what slips through the cracks.
K de Krizia (perfumer, Maurice Roucel) starts and remains beautiful. There's a bit of a dry fruit feeling upfront, and an appropriate amount of Amber in the far dry down, but all the way along this baby is a soaring floral chypre. What seem like aldehydes provide the lift off, but once at altitude it's the cold flowers that give buoyancy. I don't know the ratio of oakmoss to treemoss to [insert mossy analogue], and god only knows what has been done to modulate the other toxic aromachemicals like bergamot, labdanum, but K de Krizia passes all the functional tests of a chypre. It's dry like a good martini, it's florals are buttery yet sharp in tone, and it makes me want to take it in like a long drag on a cigarette. Now THAT to me is a chypre.
K reminds me quite a bit of Miss Dior. Or at least the reformulation circa 2005 that I have. God knows how many variations of Miss Dior are out there. The floral tone to the two is similar. The petals aren't so much dried as freeze dried and the effect makes them bite back a bit when you sniff your wrists.
Your gift at the end of the day of a wearing of K is a starched soapy climax that seems as thought it might be hissing at you. If you like chypres and like the floral tone that Ivoire de Balmain strikes, try K de Krizia. I found a 100 ml bottle of edp for the price of one snort of an overpriced niche perfume.
One for any list of under-appreciated, inexpensive darlings like Ivoire, Rochas Tocade, Bal à Versailles, Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel and EL Azurée.
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