Rues de Paris, Diptyque Eau Capitale

I’ve been to Paris a few times last year but if someone asked me to tell them how Paris smells I think I wouldn’t be able to answer. Paris is huge, each arrondisement is different. The area I’ve been walking through smells of espresso & buttery croissants, of warm baguette at boulangerie, of traffic fumes and dirty soapy water poured on the streets by shop owners who mopped the floor before opening their boutiques. Not a perfect image, eh? But Diptyque came up with a much appealing interpretation of the city that is home for the brand. It’s a chypre… because chypre is chic?

Eau Capitale starts with and old-school bergamot note which feels citric-bitterish, very zesty yet a little bit dried up at the same time. After a couple of minutes this bergamot peel becomes a tad dirty, developing some sort of a charred effect. Just few moments later a thick cloud of pink pepper bursts right in your face, unapologetically overtaking the scent for the time being. Its spiciness, fizzy and shimmering dominates and fills the nose with its fragrance. There’s a bit of metallic quality as well.

This lasts for some time but unlike Jessica, I noticed zero cumin in this part of Eau Capitale. The smell of pink peppercorns gradually kept fading away and when it moved to the 2nd plan, the rose accord emerged in the front row. I find the rose aspect of the new Diptyque to be quite aromatic at first, with an accent put particularly on geranium (with inflections of cold mint). Then rose becomes rose, of a lipstick color but a little faded away and dusty. It has a charming retro vibe that I like.

Despite dustiness that I’m mentioning above, rose of Diptyque Eau Capitale is not dark. Actually thanks to the presence of ylang in the composition the perfume gains some shiny threads of luminous creaminess that adds a nice mellowness. When smelling Eau Capitale I think of a rose scented potpourri one would place inside a wardrobe with their favourite clothes. After some time its scent would impregnate the wooden frame of the furniture and permeate the garments.

Eau Capitale later moves to a contemporary chypre territory. Scent of dried rose petals entwine with cleanlified patchouli, which does have an earthy and plum-like facet but it’s much cleaner your standard patchouli. Modern oakmoss adds some structured aromatics to the composition. Eventually all of these things become more quiet and transparent, which in the end leads to an ambery-woody base composed of Givaudan specialty ingredients they patented – Akigalawood and Georgywood.

They both have a warm, soft, rounded profile with some golden ambery hues. I also found cinnamon mentioned among the notes but while it didn’t make a statement, it probably contributed to the warmth of the base. Eau Capitale by Diptyque is the 1st chypre from the brand (can you believe?) It’s not a heavy-hitter chypre from the past but it surely does make a statement. This new creation by Olivier Pescheux goes well along with my taste and I see myself wearing it on regular basis.