Calyx

Calyx was created in 1986 by Clinique under the Estée Lauder Companies umbrella, with the fragrance composed by Sophia Grojsman—one of the most consequential perfumers of the late twentieth century. The scent was groundbreaking at its release: a sharply bright, transparent floral-fruit composition built around grapefruit and tropical florals that departed dramatically from the opulent orientals dominating the 1980s market. Grojsman's construction gave the fragrance an almost photographic crispness, with a transparent white-floral heart supported by minimal warm base notes. Calyx anticipated the clean, fresh aesthetic that would come to define the 1990s fragrance landscape, influencing a generation of launches that followed its structural vocabulary. Despite never being aggressively promoted, the fragrance has remained in production and in print for nearly four decades, sustained by a devoted following who regard it as one of the defining fresh compositions of its era.