For better and for worse, Clive Christian has become synonymous with the phrase “the most expensive perfume in the world” (see the pic below). Following its recent arrival in South Africa, Clive Christian Noble XXI Cypress is the first fragrance I’ve tried from the British luxury brand. With all the hype surrounding this company, I was almost determined not to like this release from 2018. Just to be contrary. Sometimes I can be like that.
Pic: clivechristian.com.
However, Clive Christian Noble XXI Cypress is an exquisite fragrance from top to bottom. Slightly bitter petitgrain and bergamot announce themselves in the opening. They are wrapped in a finely fresh take on cypress and a perfectly balanced spicy trio of clove, nutmeg and ginger. Amber, so over-used in recent male fragrances, is elevated to the most sophisticated resinous powderiness, with support from cedar and oakwood.
It’s a long time since I’ve come across such a seamless scent. I can believe the blurb on the website about it being a 25% pure perfume concentration that’s made from the finest ingredients.
Apparently, the brand is flying off the shelves at its South African retailer. Even though prices range from R2 800 for refill vials to R14 800 for Clive Christian Jump Up And Kiss Me Hedonistic. (At the time of writing this post, Clive Christian Noble XXI Cypress costs R9 900 / £395 / $550 for 50ml.)
DISTURBIA
And this is where this post ventures into troubled territory. In a country with 
one of the highest levels of inequality in the world, an unemployment rate of 30%+, and an increasingly bleak national mood exacerbated by Covid-19, I’m disturbed that such amounts can be spent so freely on a fragrance. I type these words, and I feel judgemental and naïve and hypocritical at the same time. After all, haven’t I spent small fortunes on whatever gives me pleasure? So I will leave things there. For now.
Clive Christian fragrances are available in South Africa at Skins Cosmetics.
Great pics and review, Rich. Cypress was my favourite in this collection, a very expensive collection, especially those blue bottles.
Thank you, Daniel. Expensive indeed. It’s reassuring that they smell expensive, too.
I would love to smell this. But for that price, they could have tried to come up with a half decent bottle.
Hello Neil, it’s well worth sniffing out. Is Clive Christian available in Japan? I don’t love the bottle, but it definitely goes with the brand’s story.
Many years ago Clive Christian’s prices were dubbed “aspirational” and criticized for that. Since then many other niche, boutique and high-end mainstream brands raised their prices so much that now Clive Christian’s prices do not seem that exorbitant any longer.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried any of their perfumes even though I saw them at a store – not sure why, probably that general Perfumeland attitude toward them rubbed off.
Perfume is a luxury. Nobody really needs it – whether it costs $5 or $500. So, if to follow your train of thought, buying any perfume, as well as make-up, jewelry, etc. is immoral taking into account that there are people in the World who do not have enough food. I suggest we do not go there.
$500+ for a bottle of even greatest perfume is a lot. But I just paid more than half of this sum for a 15-minutes visit to a regular doctor – and this is in addition to money I and my employer pay monthly for a healthcare insurance. So, compared to that, a bottle of perfume that a regular person (not a crazy perfumista) might use for a year… Maybe, it’s not that scary.
Hello Undina, and thank you for your comprehensive and insightful comment. Yes, a lot of the things you say are absolutely spot on, I know these things and yet, I just can’t help feeling disturbed. South Africa is a country of extremes and this post reflects that.