La Belle de Russie

This is a beautiful scent that I love tenderly. I found it while searching for a replacement for Dior's Midnight Poison and it is the closest so far - at least, the closest to what I love about Midnight Poison, because judging by suggestions, fans of MP can appreciate polar opposite facets of this complex and contradictory perfume. I love the sweet and dewy rose in MP and appreciate less the evil edge it has with earthiness of patchouli. That evil edge is full-blown in YSL Elle and Perles de Lalique, but it's barely there in LBDR. A bit of earthiness is present, but it merely gives this beauty the ground to stand on, it's only the mud on the soles of her shoes, not the dirty hem of the dew-drenched gown like in Midnight Poison. As for the rose... La Belle de Russie doesn't have it in the pyramid, but I swear I can smell it. Could it be that carnation, apricots, and jasmine conjure up a believable impression of a fragrant, gentle peach-colored rose? And of course, amber and vanilla are there to give it more sweetness and depth. It sounds so similar to that note in the Midnight Poison I fell in love with. La Belle de Russie is very similar to MP, but cleaner, primer, more tender and well-behaved. I must say, I miss the confidence and power of the MP, but I enjoy the rest so much, I can live without the black magic of Midnight Poison and feed of the soft power LBDR gives me. I previously compared Midnight Poison, YSL Elle, and Perles de Lalique (two most popular suggested MP replacements) to various fairy-tale villains. La Belle de Russie isn't a villain. She is the good witch. She is the same enchantress that Midnight Poison is, yet she looks at you with her radiant eyes and smiles lovingly. Maybe she had an evil spell broken by her true love's first kiss, or maybe no one broke her heart just yet. When I smelled it for the first time, it reminded me so much of my late mother, although she never wore this scent, as far as I can tell. At least, I never saw it in her perfume cabinet where she would allow me to play and sniff the bottles. LBDR smells like her powdered rosy cold cheek that I kissed to greet her as she came home in winter, brushing my brow against her mink hat and sweeping away the tiny drops that were snowflakes just moments ago. I treasure my bottle of La Belle de Russie. Instead of consolation and replacement for Midnight Poison, it turned out to be another heartbreak. Novaya Zarya is a Russian brand and I live in Kyiv. I bought this bottle from the small Ukrainian seller located in one of the towns that's being shelled right now. I'm sure they needed my support more than my patriotic attitude to their old stock. Yet now LBDR is impossible to get, and even if it were, it wouldn't be ethical for me to repurchase from the new stock.

Every winter I remember that dark Cinderella fairytale ad featuring 'Midnight Poison'. Never had it, but always regret not having it, so I searched for something similar and this is supposed to be it. I got this from Russia and it's so so beautiful, it's all what I imagined Midnight Poison to be, of course I don't know for sure, but if I ever get a sample there will be an update to this. However, at this point I don't even care, because it's just as dark and fairytale-like. The scent is citrusy floral with a lot of warm wood underneath, but it has mystery and makes me feel very feminine, the name is perfection, because this is a real midnight Beauty. 💙✨💙✨💙✨💙✨💙✨💙✨ side by side test ✨💙✨💙✨💙✨💙✨💙✨💙 update 8. Mai 2021: after a long long journey I finally got a tester of Dior Midnight Poison Eau de Parfum ✨ I can't tell if it has aged well or if it slightly changed over time, it's still darn beautiful on my skin, so I think it hasn't turned. La Belle de Russie has been my signature scent all winter, so I know it well and I would say it's not an exact dupe of Midnight Poison for about half an hour after application, but close enough and it smells very much like it later on. Midnight Poison starts somehow colder and more citrusy, almost medical in the opening, stonecold poison as the name suggests (but that might be the age of the tester), it's also fruitier, the mandarin is much more noticable. While La Belle de Russie is slightly warmer, more rosy, less fruity (or just more tangy black currant than citrus fruits) and rounder, the Patchouli in La Belle de Russie is so much more intensive and it's sillage can fill the whole room if you are not lighthanded with the application. Someone mentioned an 'unpleasant dirty note', I guess that's the black currant/patchouli, it's supposed to smell a bit earthy and ammoniac, which might not work well on everyones skin, but it does on mine luckily. Longevity of La Belle de Russie is also better. However, both scents are almost identical after the dry down, so this IS the perfect potion for those who miss Midnight Poison.. it becomes the dupe after a while. And people around you won't notice any differences anyhow, since the different nuances are so minimal. ;) I prefer La Belle de Russie to Midnight Poison, because it starts bolder and performs better - who would have thought. :) And I hope they never change this amazing scent (I heard they already changed it 3 times over the decades and the black on midnight-blue packaging of the current version clearly shows that they are aware of the Midnight Poison resemblance and I applaud them for that) :)

Absolutely beautiful fragrance. Sweet fruits are warming up in the sunshine in the basket made of aromatic wood, I don't know, sandalwood maybe. Unusual, at the same time very very classy, natural, comforting and happy perfume. One spray is more than enough. You will not smell it on every corner of every town as it's in the case of horribly over-used and over-priced chemical Coco Mademoiselle. On Russian forum there are too many blind comparisons with Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, or Poison Midnight which doesn't make any sense to me at all. "La Belle De Russie" stands firmly in its own stunning beauty. Besides, it was created in 1980, long before Coco Mademoiselle and Poison Midnight came out. Attractive minimalistic package and very little price for divine smell. So what's not to like? I fell totally in love with Novaya Zarya classic fragrances, forever: "Or Des Scythes", "Kuznetsky Most", "Mystere" to name just a few are simply to die for, of course only if you appreciate classy, old school perfumes for mature people (I don't mean age) with evolved taste. I don't care for NZ modern fragrances though. Since I've discovered classic Novaya Zarya my Chanel and Rochas staples are heaving long break, maybe even retirement... OK, maybe not for Chanel 19 just yet :-)

I found this while reading through the reviews of Midnight Poison- which I have never had nor tried- and saw that this was a pretty accurate "dupe" I looked at the notes and loved it and its price. I went on the secondhand app mercarci and scored a full bottle of this for $18 dollars. I just received it today and after the first spitz it stayed on for about three hours...amazing for the price. On the opening you definitely pick up the patchouli, which I love. As it dried down it gets more powdery and "clean" almost with the soft sandalwood peaking behind along with more fruity notes. Obviously I am no perfume god but I love this so much. It is so mystically mature, I feel like a Russian femme fatale.

Wonderful fragrance. I've finally stopped mourning for Midnight Poison. I've now discovered a new love. And the price, wow! I haven't experienced the negatives that others on this review board have written about. I don't know if this is a niche product or not, and I don't care. It smells great and I've had several compliments on wearing it. It is a close MP replacement, close enough anyway. I place a call out on one of the forums for an MP replacement and this was one that was recommended. They were right. Thank you all so much. I love it.