Jo's Scent Notes: Floral Street Chypre Sublime

It cannot have escaped your notice that there are a lot of fragrances out there nowadays that will set you back, oh, around £240 and up. Now, I know that nobody’s going to starve their kids in order to splash that kind of cash on a bottle of perfume, but I honestly don’t know how someone below millionaire status builds a ‘wardrobe’ of fragrances at that price.

Yes, there are birthdays and Christmas presents, when you could try putting something that pricy on a gift wishlist. And sometimes, we have ‘Community Chest moments.’ So… I’m probably still occasionally going to write about fragrances that are stratospherically expensive, but honestly, you should never feel deprived if they’re beyond your budget – because there are some fabulous, less expensive scents out there. And Floral Street’s are a case in point.

I’ve known Floral Street’s dynamic founder, Michelle Feeney, for several decades (she helped build M.A.C. and Bumble & bumble for Estée Lauder), and from first sniff of her scent brand, five years ago, I knew she was on to something. These are fine fragrances, created by one of the leading ‘noses’ on the planet, New York-based Jérôme Épinette – who has composed scents for BYREDO, Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels – but sensibly-priced.

They are also stunningly packaged, looking unlike anything else on the market, each bottle backed by a stunning, exuberant flower photograph by Matthew Donaldson (who I also happened to know rather well when he was a handsome teenage oarsman at Henley Regatta - but that’s definitely a story for another day…)

One particular fragrance made me fall in love at first sniff, and I’ve worn it consistently ever since: Chypre Sublime. I am a Chypre-lover, although it’s a completely bonkers name for a fragrance family and I reckon if you stopped 999 people out of 1,000 on the street and asked them to explain what it means, they’d look at you very blankly.

So here’s the gen, beginning with how to say it: ‘sheep-ra’ – from the French for Cyprus – not, as is often suggested, the cypress tree.

It was named after the island birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love – hence the slightly baffling category name; a lot of the aromatic plants which feature in Chypre scents flourish on that island. Though they may smell floral – as this one does, with armfuls of roses – there’s a signature to most Chypre fragrances, an almost damp, mossy-scented accord that features bergamot, oakmoss, patchouli and labdanum (a resin-y ingredient from the cistus, or ‘rock rose’, plant).

There are suggestions that Chypre fragrance construction dates back to Roman times, and ‘chypre’ as the name for an accord is mentioned in 18th Century perfume manuals. Whatever the back-story, I am consistently drawn to Chypre fragrances, as are many of my fragrance writer friends, and this is one of my all-time favourites.

There’s a sort of damp, florist’s shop vibe to Chypre Sublime. You can make out the roses – bunch, not bouquet – and there’s a touch of face-powdery violet in there, too. Patchouli – that classic Chypre signature – features, in quite a generous dose (always pushing my button), while the fragrance also has more than a whisper of geranium, probably my favourite scented plant, all underpinned with a little frankincense.

It reminds me very much of another masterful Chypre, Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady, which I now also have in my fragrance wardrobe. I have, indeed, been known to describe Chypre Sublime as ‘the poor man’s Portrait of a Lady’ – which isn’t a criticism; it’s a plus-point, because POAL (as it’s sometimes referred to by perfume biz people) is, yikes, I just checked, now £200 for just 50ml, and to apply it as lavishly as I do Chypre Sublime, I’d have to live on gruel. And I get just as many ‘Gosh, what’s that gorgeous perfume?’ compliments with this as any fragrance I’ve ever worn.

I’m delighted to say that Floral Street just landed at M&S beauty halls, which makes the range much easier to sniff out for yourself. But if you love rose scents, a 10ml atomiser will set you back just £28, so you can take a punt and buy online, before progressing to a full size.

£28. That’s more like it, eh?

Chypre Sublime/£28 for 10ml – buy here

£68 for 50ml – buy here