Dioressence

My review pertains to the 1979 release, the re-orchestration by Max Gavarry, and not the original 1969 formula by Guy Robert, which is said to be far more animalic. Either way, my 1979 bottle of Dioressence is, to me, one of the very best Dior creations and one of the most beautiful fragrances in general! Dioressence is an intensely animalic green oriental. It seems weird but if you take the spices of Youth Dew, add a lick of animal notes and envelop everything in aromatic green herbal notes, this is what you get. It smells so perfect that I’ve never had the urge to pursue the harder to find and far more expensive first version; there’s simply no need for me. The opening is powdered geraniums and carnations, laced with bright and sparkling bergamot. The richness of the citrus is unparalleled and together with the aromatic notes of geranium, it smells like the most sensual powder; it’s bright, soothing, floral and dry, giving the feel of moist greenness. There’s a touch of cinnamon and orange but instead of going all ‘pomander territory’ it manages to convey the same hot spiciness of Youth Dew or Opium. The mid floral heart, which is so expertly blended that no flower stands out takes it more to chypre territory, leaving some of the spices behind. I can still sense the cinnamon and the geranium, the two notes that stand out more on my skin, but now I smell the connection to Miss Dior; the same elegance, the same class, but somehow wilder. Hair down, a print kaftan and a chaise longue. Le Parfum Barbare comes alive! All through the lifespan of Dioressence (hours on end on skin, with more than big sillage) there’s a briny and salty feel, which I’m sensing as ambergris. It doesn’t make it dirty per se, but adds the barbaric element of naughtiness. The drydown brings forth the heavier musks and animalic notes, adds a final spin of the spice rack and envelops everything in dark patchouli, powdered herbal notes and the floral facet of geranium. Rose becomes more apparent but other than that, the rest of the flowers are invisibly blended to provide the overall smoothness. Oakmoss, spices, some resins...this is everything without trying, without falling apart. It’s hard to decipher it and I won’t, because it smells so fu*king good that I just want to savor it. It feels so 70’s, yet so 80’s Studio54, that I wonder if my version is still the Guy Robert formula or the Gavarry vision, because it’s a masterpiece. I’ve no idea, I’m guessing that each perfumer emphasized a different side of the same coin and Dioressence feels at home in any version, be it a 1969 chateau or a 1979 disco. Transcending like no other and never feeling or smelling dated. 10/10 from me!

(Review of the EdT, my bottle c. 1985) Long live Dioressence! Not the current version, though. The current perfume being sold as Dioressence has nothing in common with the one I’m wearing now, bottled around 1985. The current version is an absolute mess. This though.... This is one of the best fruity floral chypres ever created. Full stop. The end. No other arguments accepted. I go into a lot more detail on Dioressence, what it smells like, and its very sad history in my review of the extrait, which you can find here: https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Dior/Dioressence-Parfum-33768.html?ccid=2625217#focus-zone So, I will simply notate some differences between this and the extrait. First is that, obviously, the EdT moves through the note pyramid significantly faster than the extrait and arrives at its skin scent in about three to four hours weather-dependent. That’s as a classic EdT should. The fruit notes at the top are quite a bit shorter lived as well, no surprise, but they are also a bit less moldy-funky. The floral heart is virtually the same: spicy floral with an emphasis on carnations and roses that is absolutely gorgeous. The oakmoss, patchouli, woody vetiver, and highly animalic musky base is also intact. Where you’ll find the differences other than durability/longevity is with the lightness and breathability. Every note of the EdT that you can, and will, find in the extrait is made more spacious, lighter, like gentle mists rolling across a breeze as compared to the heavier and dense rain shower of the extrait. In this lighter, easier-going concentration Dioressence’s personality is also easier-going. The extrait is quite a handful in the best way; it’s a very complicated character, though one you are very happy to spend a lot of quality time getting to know. The original EdT is like a phone call with Dioressence: you still get the complicated and complex person, but in a brief, easy, yet nonetheless very satisfying conversation. This is one of my favorite perfumes of all time, and I will always mourn that it is no longer with us. I cherish my vintage bottles, clutching them like the hand of someone you dearly love. Long live Dioressence.

Dioressence is Gold topped with oakmoss. Guy Robert's work is highly recognizable. Compared with YSL's Y, which is slender and easy to fold, clean and bright, Dioressence is a huge and dark fragrance. A sturdy chypre—a dark green as deep as ink, Dioressence is the earth beneath my feet. Although it's not very polite. It is said that the people of Dior asked Guy Robert to make a savage, animal perfume (bath oil) to match the bespoke collection of the time. Guy Robert's work is as he said: "The most important thing about perfume is to smell good." Dioressence details are clear and the various elements are arranged in an orderly manner. Guy Robert's complex and beautiful, not as poetic and romantic as Guerlain. Guerlain has the common perception of French perfume and is the most faithful face of French perfume. And Guy Robert, after smelling his Dioressence, you will understand why Amouage chose him to make Gold. Guy Robert's approach to perfumery is unlike any other perfumer I know. Straightforward and bold, with a strong style. This pure ambergris! This oakmoss! Cinnamon and pale orris root are oriental to Youth-Dew by Guy Robert. He processes silver-grey ambergris. I didn't have time to record the rose-headed floral scent, and the heavy oakmoss took all my attention. The salty notes of ambergris combine with patchouli resin, musk, and eugenol (carnation) for a warmer and more unique blend of ambergris. Vintage parfum is rich and intoxicating, and its durability is far better than that of EDT. Obviously, it is prepared with the best raw materials. I smell daffodils, but it's not written on the notes. Dioressence's floral fragrance is transparent and bright, with three distinct fragrance notes, full and rich. Natural stacking and depth, reproducing Gold's symphonic form. Dioressence has stood at the pinnacle of fragrance art. Dioressence, a calm and qualified fragrance for women, needs to have the corresponding age, wisdom, and temperament. I'm not sure if my Dioressence was made in 1982 or 1992. No matter what the answer is, the charm of Dioressence will never be lost. I just want to witness the glory of Dior before its decline.

Summary: holy, holy, holy dirty, dark, classy, leathery oakmoss. Complex and full of notes that come and go in harmony. This is just AMAZING in the formulation I own. I am speechless. Beautiful to the point of almost making me cry in awe, velvety, well-rounded, meditative but as if inner strength had a scent. Very good. Very long lasting (at least 13 hours and still going strong and beautiful). In later hours goes more resinous and incense-y, reminding me of old style Opium, though much darker, more meditative. ---- I received this in a generous giveaway and Oh My God! I am so lucky :) I had been recommended this fragrance several times, and those people were ABSOLUTELY right. I love this. From the address on the bottle, this one is from before 1990-91. And it's beautiful! The formulation I own starts sharp, pungent, almost a mixture of green, oakmoss, leather and animalic, almost vaguely fecal notes (in a good way). Amazing and not at all anything I can find in current fragrances. Reminds me of Niki de Saint Phalle, but even sharper, darker. It quickly goes very well-rounded, elegant and classy, but still strong. Balsamic, warm, full of strong oakmoss but also a lovely orchestra of notes that come and go. Sometimes cinnamon, sometimes something I read as leather, sometimes a rich sweet-ish patchouly, sometimes dry and masculine notes, sometimes almost powdery but in a deeply sensual way and not at all like violets, more as a powdery woody scent. Sometimes almost almost oriental but not quite. As it dries down it reminds me of the dark resinous incense of Opium (old formulation), but where Opium is carnal and spicy and juicy in a reddish orange dark way, this one is meditative, incense-y, bewitching, dark green mixed with blue-black incense smoke. I don't find it too old-fashioned to be worn comfortably, but it does not match in any way the current scents. I am lucky that in this formulation the aldehydes do not predominate and instead other notes I love have the opportunity to shine. It makes me feel strong but warm, ready to take over the world but feeling comforted all the same. I really love it and want to try it at Winter.

Oh Dioressence how much I love and how much I hate you sometimes! I don’t know what have you done to my heart...It is so weird cause today I simply find it the most original scent ever and in few hours I consider it strange and unpleasant. I have a bottle of the “good” Dioressence before they reformulated it. The opening is so dusty and dirty that reminds me of my attic and my basement in the same time. It is earthy and humid... The main notes that obsess me all day long while wearing it are the patchouli, the geranium, the benzoin, the cinnamon, the dry roses and the styrax. Every time I open the door from my basement a soapy, powdery and dusty Dioressence smell punches me in the face and invades my lungs. My basement that brings me so many memories from my childhood where I used to hide so many times. It is a cold perfume with an Orthodox church smell where they burn all day long incense and styrax. As those around me know it very well, I love heavy fragrances like Dioressence. It is the most classic perfume from all the perfumes in the world. It is hard living with Dioressence but even harder living without it. Even though usually people considers the reformulations worse than the originals or pale shadows of what the original smell was, I have to admit that the reformulated one it is wonderful. I think that both mister Guy Robert and mister Francois Demachy done a great job with this one. The second version it is more bearable and has the same strange beauty as the first one. I make a strange couple with Dioressence, and sometimes just like a wife, it drives me crazy but I am so conscious that I just couldn’t live without her! My all time favourite fragrance and the best Chypre ever!