The story of a scent: Hermès perfumer unlocks the secrets of Barénia

“What is a chypre fragrance?”

That’s the first question I asked when I sat down with perfumer Christine Nagel.

Pronounced sheep-ra — the French word for Cyprus — the fragrance type is built around a set of key scent elements. But defining it, the Creative Director of Hermès Perfumes says, can be complicated.

“When somebody says ‘woody’ or ‘fruity’ it’s fairly straightforward. But when someone says ‘chypre’, they draw a blank,” Nagel says. “Chypre is very complicated, I must say. It is a mix of several things. It’s a composition, really.”

Providing the example of a Béarnaise sauce in cooking, where a set number of ingredients are required, Nagel said a chypre scent sees several elements go into the mix.

“In order for it to be a chypre, you need it to be fresh. It has to have a fresh head. And you need to have elements of rose and jasmine that are traditionally put into a chypre. You need oakwood, you need patchouli, and you need cistus,” she says. “This is the formula that you need in order to create a chypre.”

According to the Perfume Society, chypre fragrances are “warm and dry” with elements that overlap well-understood categories such as woody and floral.

It’s perhaps this complexity of formula that drew the perfumer to the fragrance type for her latest creation for the luxury French house.

Called Barénia ($115 for 30 mL), the yellow-hued eau de parfum is the first chypre fragrance to be released by Hermès. The launch sees additional self-care products such as bar soap and body lotion also featuring the new fragrance. 

“I wanted this to be a modern type of chypre,” says Nagel, speaking from a private home on Lake Muskoka where she presented the new perfume. “I wanted something contemporary. When you add all these elements together, you are presented with a chypre that is very classic, very traditional. And I wanted to do something a bit different. I wanted something elegant, and I wanted something that would be inspirational.”

That inspiration translates to a unique blend of butterfly lily, miracle berry, oakwood and patchouli. The warm, sensual fragrance opens with a green bergamot, sourced from Calabria exclusively for the house of Hermès.

“We actually harvest it while it’s still green. And that’s how we were able to obtain this scent. It’s a very clear, evident scent,” Nagel says.

Sourced from Madagascar, the butterfly lily provides a “sophisticated” allure to the Barénia elixir.

Rather than incorporate oak moss, a longtime fragrance ingredient that is restricted in perfume by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) due to allergy concerns, Nagel leaned in to oakwood as an alternative.

“I found it to be a very inviting scent. And I fell in love with it immediately,” Nagel says. “It’s like a rum, it’s very sensual. It’s soft and supple. It’s a little bit addictive, but woody and mysterious.

“It’s very important for this perfume,” Nagel adds.

Akigalawood, a biochemical compound made by Givaudan laboratories that’s derived from patchouli, rounds out the fragrance formula.

“It’s a very natural scent, a very organic smell that captures a person’s attention immediately,” Nagel says of oakwood.

Created by Philippe Mouquet, the refillable bottle features design elements inspired by the brand’s studded Collier de Chien bracelet.

The timing of the release of Barénia, also the name of a type of leather used by the house for its iconic handbags, coincides with Nagel’s 10-year anniversary with Hermès where she has created fragrances including Galop d’Hermès in 2016 and Twilly d’Hermès in 2017.

Her free-spirited approach to a classic fragrance category felt perfectly suited for the celebratory anniversary year with the luxury brand.

“To create a chypre, it’s necessary that I learn a lot to, hopefully, give a lot too,” Nagel says. “I have the best job in the world. And I work for the best house in the world. It comes with this liberty, this liberty of being able to do what I want creatively …

“I’m very blessed and very privileged to be in this kind of position.”

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