Cypress

The cypress is the tree that stands still in the Mediterranean landscape while everything else moves. Dark, narrow and upright, it lines roads and gardens and holds its scent all year. Its oil smells the way the tree looks: composed, green and quietly resinous.

What cypress is

Cypress oil is steam distilled from the branches and foliage of Cupressus sempervirens, the Mediterranean cypress. The oil is rich in alpha pinene and carene, the same fresh terpenes found in pine, but it is smoother and drier, with a woody resinous body and a faint sweetness. It sits between the conifers and the woods and lends a composition an evergreen structure without the rawness of pine.

Where our cypress comes from

Ours comes from Spain, where cypress grows across the warm eastern and southern regions and has been planted along Mediterranean roads and cemeteries for centuries. The dry Spanish summers give foliage that is rich in resin, and the oil distilled from it has a fuller, woodier profile than cypress from wetter climates. It smells of the tree in the heat of the afternoon, when the resin is warm and the shade beneath it is cool.

How cypress smells

Woody and resinous, with a fresh green top that fades into a smooth, dry, slightly smoky body. It is cleaner than pine and softer than juniper, with a composure that makes it easy to wear.

Cypress in our chapter

• IIParadis de BleuThe Leaves · in the heart

  In Paradis de Bleu it stands in the heart among the flowers, the dark green column that gives the leaves chapter its vertical line.

A note from the atelier

Every garden needs a tree that stands still. In Paradis de Bleu the cypress is that tree, the shape around which the herbs and the flowers are arranged.

Questions about cypress