Tag: maison christian dior

Sniffing Adventures in New York

May 18, 2019

My trip to New York was a lot of fun, although it was slightly hampered by the weather. It was unseasonably cold for May (temperatures in the 40s) and it rained non-stop for two days! I’d forgotten just how tough the city can be when the weather is miserable. I didn’t get around to doing as much sniffing as I had planned, simply because I spent more time indoors and at the hotel than I had planned.

However, I did still get the chance to sample a couple of designer releases that I was really curious about!

Holy Peony by Maison Christian Dior: I love a pretty peony scent, especially for spring. Acqua di Parma’s Peonia Nobile doesn’t quite work for me. There is something in the base that doesn’t quite agree with my skin. Holy Peony does work for me, and, I have to say, it’s very pretty. It’s not a photo-realistic peony. It actually comes across more like a pink rose blended with a fresh green accord, and sitting on a base of soft musk. I’d love to buy this one, but I don’t truly need it in my collection. I already have Belle de Jour, which I love. Holy Peony would have to be seriously special to out-perform Belle de Jour for me. Still, it’s very pretty and worth sniffing. I’m sure this will be a successful release for Dior.

I have to give a shout-out to the Dior Sales Associate at Saks. She guided my friend Sarah and I through the entire Maison Christian Dior collection (the new Dior Privee) at length! She made samples for us and let us take our time sniffing everything. She was extremely knowledgeable, and it really speaks to the training and education program at Dior. Even when I worked at Sephora, our Dior rep was by far one of the most knowledgeable brand reps we had. I may not love each and every Dior fragrance, but they are taking the time to educate their staff, which reflects well on the brand as a whole.

1957 Chanel Les Exclusifs: I did not expect to like 1957 at all. None of the marketing copy put out by Chanel appealed to me. Still, it’s an Exclusif. I have to at least test it, right? My sister & I had lunch at Bergdorf’s to get out of the rain. We weren’t in a rush to go back outside, so we took a stroll around the Bergdorf’s beauty level. Lo and behold, the Chanel counter had 1957 and I spritzed it right on the skin. My first reaction was: Just as I thought, it’s not for me. But then, I couldn’t stop sniffing my wrist. And I noticed the fragrance persisted. It lasted all afternoon and well into the evening. I could smell traces of it even after taking a shower. I went back to Bergdorf’s the next day to test it again!

I have to admit, I love 1957. It starts as a burst of citrus (A zesty lime to my nose, although I don’t know the official note.) It moves into an orange blossom, soapy but pretty and not astringently clean. It then moves into an orris, with the earthy aspect of orris root just barely held in check by a gauzy musk. It’s like a cloud but, at the same, feels very grounded and rooted because of the orris. It’s surprisingly lovely. It lasts for ages on my skin, easily over 8 hours. If I’m still thinking about 1957 come June, I may spring for a bottle as a birthday gift to myself. However, if I’ve moved on to other shiny fragrance releases, then I know it’s not a need in my collection. I really urge everyone to test 1957 though. The performance and longevity are fabulous.

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The photos in the post were all taken by me.

Fève Délicieuse by Maison Christian Dior

November 28, 2018

Notes: lavender, mint, bergamot, cherry, freesia, jasmin, tonka, benzoin, caramel, cedar, dark chocolate, coconut, leather, sandalwood, and Madagascar vanilla.

Fève Délicieuse was originally released in 2015 as one of the Dior Privée fragrances. It is now part of the Maison Christian Dior line. I tested this current version a few months ago at Saks (when I bought Belle de Jour). I knew it was one of the older Dior Privée scents that had been grandfathered into the new exclusive Maison line. I was curious about the older/original release and so I ordered a small decant from Surrender to Chance. Fève Délicieuse is a tonka-centered composition, so it’s definitely a gourmand. I also get cedar and incense notes on my skin, which add dimension and make this not purely a gourmand for me. However, if you’re truly not a gourmand fan, you can likely skip this one altogether!

The notes here don’t develop for me in a traditional pyramid fashion. And yet, the development isn’t linear either. Fève Délicieuse is a bit of a wildcard on my skin. The most prominent note I get in the opening is a deep cedar wood from the base. I also get a cloud of milky coconut hanging over everything, like someone has just grated coconut over top of the rest of the composition. I wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint bergamot if I hadn’t read the list of notes. but there’s a hint of zesty citrus. I don’t get any mint or lavender, so I don’t know what happened there. Fève Délicieuse then settles into my skin as a creamy, toasted vanilla, which is the type of scent profile that I associate most often with tonka bean.

As it develops, Fève Délicieuse reminds me of Jeux de Peau from Serge Lutens, in that it is a bit of a game. As I said, this composition is focused on tonka. François Démachy’s game here is to bring out as many facets of tonka as possible. I already got the creamy toasted vanilla facet quite early on in wear time. After a little over an hour, I also get a sweet praline mixed with cherry soda. It’s very odd, but this is the cherry note. This is not a fresh fruit kind of cherry. It has just a hint of the cherry cola vibe from L’Artisan’s Mon Numéro 10. I can still smell the cedar going strong here, and it makes for a surprisingly yummy blend of flavors. This is the festive side of tonka. This cherry praline would fit right in as one of the Starbucks holiday drinks.

It’s not until several hours into wear time that I get probably my favorite aspect of Fève Délicieuse: the resinous part. This isn’t something that I associate with tonka, but it really clicked with me here. Fève Délicieuse has great longevity and sillage. But, as it starts to quiet down, an incense vibe shines through. It’s a little bit sweet and there’s a little more of that toasted vanilla note. But there’s also that contemplative benzoin resinous current running through everything. It’s really lovely and I appreciate this more understated aspect, especially in such a powerful gourmand composition.

Sadly, I don’t get the dark chocolate note at all, but maybe it’s still waiting for the right time to come through on my skin. The very last bits of Fève Délicieuse are a surprisingly dry leather smell. I love the way this fragrance seems to develop into something more dry as it wears. Some fragrances start out woody and dry, and then develop into rich base notes. Fève Délicieuse is almost the opposite. I really like this composition and I think it’s surprisingly interesting and thought-provoking for a gourmand.

However, I wouldn’t touch this in hot weather. It would be way too much and overbearing. For that reason, I’m sticking with my decant for now. Maybe I’ll do another decant in time for next Fall/Winter. But, just considering the price point and how often I’d wear this, I can’t justify purchasing a full bottle. It has fantastic longevity (9 hours easily) and smells of high quality materials (i.e. not reformulated to death with cheaper ingredients). Fève Délicieuse is well worth testing and purchasing. And it’s a must if tonka is one of your favorite notes.

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Fève Délicieuse is available directly from Dior and in store at Saks Fifth Avenue. I ordered my decant from Surrender to Chance.

The info on notes is from Fragrantica. It’s worth noting that the only note Dior officially lists is tonka.

The photo of my little decant was taken by me.

Belle de Jour by Christian Dior

September 26, 2018

Notes: pear, rose, woody notes.

Belle de Jour is named after the Luis Buñuel film starring Catherine Deneuve. One of the Dior SAs kept mentioning the film as I was purchasing this. This fragrance doesn’t evoke the film for me, however I’m sure Dior executives want people to imagine themselves as Catherine Deneuve circa 1967 while wearing this. Belle de Jour is one of the newer releases in the Maison Chistian Dior line, formerly La Collection Couturier, formerly the Dior Privée line. Let’s hope Dior will stick with this Maison Christian Dior title! To make it more confusing, some Maison fragrances are the original Privée scents, but relaunched. (For example, Gris Montaigne is now Gris Dior.) Belle de Jour is one of the entirely new compositions.

I tried Belle de Jour on a rainy New York September day, just as the weather was turning to Autumn. I spritzed this on at Saks, and then wandered around midtown in the rain, passing Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, The Palace Hotel, and crossing over to Lexington. The city was grey and chilly from the rain, but I felt contented because Belle de Jour was radiating a pleasant warmth around me. I get some lovely sillage out of this. It’s not a beast, but more like a very pleasant and fragrant cloud.

Belle de Jour opens with a pear note. It’s not necessarily juicy, but it’s fresh and very easy to identify as a pear note. Fragrantica, for some reason, lists the opening note as peach, but it’s clearly pear. The fruit blends right into the rose note. I normally don’t fall for rose scents, but it’s extremely smooth and easy to wear in this composition. The rose here reminds me of Liaisons Dangereuses from Kilian. That one from Kilian does contain peach blended with rose, and it’s much more carnal. Belle de Jour is sensual, but I don’t find it to be carnal or sexy (which is kind of funny, considering the Buñuel film).

The Dior SA also told me that the dry down is musk and woods. I couldn’t get anything more specific out of her. There are all different types of woody notes, but Dior remains vague about this. The dry down here reminds me of the musk in Tocca’s Margaux, which I love, and I don’t always love musk! Belle de Jour’s dry down is a warm, rich musk. It feels decadent without being over the top. Thankfully, it doesn’t smell overly synthetic either. Again, the rose blends seamlessly into this dry down before the last floral traces fade away.

In fact, the striking thing about Belle de Jour is that it’s an exceptionally seamless and smooth composition from start to finish. There are no rough edges here, nothing odd peaking out between the seams of the composition. Sometimes I enjoy a scent that has a strangeness to it, something that makes me think. In this case, I enjoy Belle de Jour precisely because it’s so beautiful in an effortless way. It feels pretty and luxurious without trying too hard. As I walked around rainy midtown Manhattan, not even caring about the weather because I felt at peace while wearing this scent, I knew Belle de Jour had earned its place in my collection. Reader, I went back to Saks later that afternoon and bought it.

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Maison Christian Dior fragrances are available from Dior and from Saks in store. I purchased my 125 ml bottle from Saks.

Photo taken by me.

List of notes taken from Fragrantica and from Dior.