Olfactory Labels

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Fougere is defined as a fragrance that opens with lavender and has oakmoss and coumarin as basenotes. However, not all that have those notes are called fougeres and not all fragrances classified as fougeres have those exact notes. For example, vanilla may replace coumarin, etc.

Chypre ia a fragrance that has a citric opening, often bergamot, but not necessarily (it could be lemon, orange etc..), and the basenotes are composed of oakmoss with some animalic component (civet, ambergris, castoreum etc.) while the heart is usually floral (sometimes fruity). Again, not all chypre scent follow strictly those rules and not al that follow the definition are called chypre either.

Now, if you have a fragrance with a citric/lavander opening and somewhat floral heart followed by oakmoss with some animalic components, is it a chypre?, is it a fougere? See the confusion this may create?

To compound the confusion, there are aromatic fougeres, floral chypres, fruity chypres, oriental fougeres, etc... etc.

Kouros has no lavender, and that to me means that it can't be a fougere by any means, on top of that it has vanilla instead of coumarin, and it has the chypre required bergamot opening and oakmoss and civet in the basenotes, so if you ask me, i'll call it a chypre, but never/ever a fougere.

A good example of this confusion is Furyo by Bogart. It opens with lavander and bergamot to a floral heart (carnation/jasmine) and the drydown is oakmoss with civet and vanilla (instead of coumarin) and guess what? It is not classified as a fougere, neither as a chypre but as a woody oriental!!!!
If you are confused, do not despair, we are all confused.

At the end what counts is how you percieve it, if to you it smells like a fougere, call it a fougere. On the other hand if it smell to you as a chypre, call it chypre, regarless what others may think.

Luca Turin calls Kouros one of the greatest Aromatic Fougeres ever. Confusing indeed