Miss Dior (2012)

April Update: I love this. I don't think it's as easily appealing as the original Cherie...but over time I've found it addictive. Kon-nos91 over at the Miss Dior Eau de Toilette review page called the EdT "caramelized patchouli", but I would use that to describe the EdP (I used to own that EdT as well and prefer the EdP.) The Mandarin - Jasmine - Patchouli/sandalwood combo creates a caramelized, gourmand effect without being overly vanillic or obviously dessertlike. I truly wish Dior had kept Cherie EDP as well as this version (call it Miss Dior Sensuelle? Miss Dior Jasmine?) over all the other versions and flankers they created. Specifically the 2012-2013 version of this one. ------- I recently acquired, from a small local perfume shop, this version. Batch code 3N01 (2013), formulation code 5615/A. [This formula was around even in 2011 "Miss Dior Cherie" bottles; only starting January 2012 did the labels drop 'Cherie' from the name. It is possible though that non-listed ingredients did change from 2011 to 2012/2013.] This perfume is strictly for a woods & patchouli lover--if you don't love them, stay clear! Don't blind buy. I seek out these older, modern Miss Diors specifically because they aren't filled to the brim with vanilla. I love vanilla in short, small bursts--a vanilla bean dessert; or a hug from a vanilla-perfumed friend. However, I cannot stand heavy vanilla in MY perfumes following me around all day. This is the last of the modern Miss Diors to not suffocate with vanilla. I should have loved Miss Dior EdP from 2017, but it was saturated with vanilla, and curiously NOT advertised as one of the major notes. I mention this because I smell notes here that are likewise not officially listed. For instance, I smell woodiness, and something slightly smoky and tobacco-like in the drydown...could be this particular patchouli...but maybe Dior quietly kept in some of the vetiver from the 2011 listed notes and just didn't want to mention it for 2012. There is also a barely-there trace of something vanillic or tonka in the late drydown...but thankfully not a dominant note at all. Onto the fragrance. Miss Dior 2012 to me starts off like Coco Mademoiselle but the drydown is quite woody, warm, and masculine. It gives me similar "handsome patchouli-musk" vibes as Angel EdP! Something reminiscent of the body scent of a beautiful, masculine man. Yes, Angel the outrageous gourmand had a tryst with Coco Mlle, and Miss Dior 2012 is the daughter. The sweetness that starts with the mandarin-floral top and middle gives way to an androgynous, woody drydown. Shout-out to these heavy glass bottles with the frosted houndstooth bottom. For a mass-produced entry-level luxury house perfume, they are one of the prettiest ever. They sit elegantly in one's hand while admiring the play of light and texture along with the metallic bow. I was sad when Dior removed the frosted bottom, too. MD 2012 is not the sweet, sparkling strawberry champagne from 2005-2009 MDC, but it's still very nice and shows a much clearer 3-phase development from beginning to end.

Boy oh boy! Yesterday I had a quite nice day in contrast with what we're living at the moment, the era of stupidity. I never thought I will find easily a bottle of my signature scent. Also, I thought of adding this review in the 'new' Miss Dior's page so that people will see the main differences and get a clearer view, or get jealous. Who would ever check a page of Miss Dior EDP named as 2012 edition in 2020? I better let my review here to keep this perfume as a secret for the few ones of us out there. Dior used to be my favorite in perfumerie. I could hardly find a not interested perfume of Francois Demachy. The bad news is that I found it out late. I promised to myself and I still keep my promise not to spend again any $ for Dior's perfumes, I mean perfumed waters. Yes, I am not experienced with the private line nor I say there aren't good creations of them in the stores, but many years ago they used to be #1. So, I've got a bottle of 2015, exposed to the light, from a guy who probably didn't know what he was selling. I had low expectations but after spraying it..oh...sweet memories came immediately on my mind. After so many years and the perfume not only is durable and still the same, but it reminds me how boring and 'colorless' are most of the new releases. We're talking about absolute concentrations of oils and not essences! That caramelized and 'dirty' patchouli in a hug of an orange that never stops radiating, that fizzy champagne that most of you describe, the hidden rose that's not a classic feminine one, the jasmine spicing up the mix, the musk as a last trace of memory, a modern twist of the very first Miss Dior, watching the word from a prism of crystal colored in ambery/orange/gold tones. Even the ad of it captures correctly the feeling. I just can't say how this perfume made me love chypres when I was a gourmande lover. It taught me what quality and class means. This perfume in 2 words is: love & freedom, exactly what I need. p.s: You don't want me to comment on lasting power & sillage, right? Spraying myself yesterday early in the evening and after 14+ hours it still radiates without being headache inducer.

I recently rediscovered this gem in my collection. Christmas 2011, and I had Miss Dior Cherie on my wishlist. My darling fiance spent hours trying to track it down, but everywhere he went in our smallish city was out of stock. Finally, just a few days before Christmas, I happened to be browsing the counters in Myer, and there was Miss Dior -- minus the Cherie, but she looked much the same. And so she ended up under the Christmas tree for me that year. But of course, this wasn't the elegant strawberry/caramel gourmand I remembered. I didn't have the heart to tell my darling that it wasn't The One. And honestly, it was too -- heavy? intense? mature? -- for me, and the beautiful Miss Dior was relegated to a lingerie drawer, coming out only for anniversaries and birthdays. Fast forward to now. That darling fiance died almost three years ago. I couldn't touch any of my perfumes for two years because the olfactory memories were so terribly intense. But in recent months I've returned to my little collection and am rediscovering the treasures within. Miss Dior sat calmly, quietly, waiting her turn. And she *is* a treasure. I can't quite believe how much my impression of her has altered. I get the most gorgeous bright citrus -- crushed leaves and stems and peel, smoothing out into the sweeter, softer mandarin, hugged by quiet rose. She's intense, yes, but not heavy. Mature, but only in so far as to be elegant is to possess a certain level of maturity. I don't get the jasmine. For me, this is complex mandarin, with a whisper of rose, and secured by very green patchouli. It's a still life arrangement in a glass bowl, in an ivory-toned drawing room. I tend to gravitate towards garden-y, domestic scents, so this reads as sophisticated and elegant for me, in the best possible way. For reference, my batch is 1Z01 -- December 2011. Judging by Miss Dior's absence from the shops and sudden reappearance, I believe this is one of the very first bottles of the 2012 reformulation. I'm looking forward to testing some of the later versions!

The first nice designer perfume I ever bought myself. My mom brought me sample of this from the perfume counter because she knew I was recently really getting into perfumes. I fell in love immediately with the tingling mandarin note. When I received a $50 eBay gift card, I knew I wanted either this perfume or Coco Mademoiselle, to have my first special occasion young woman perfume. I knew Coco Mademoiselle was the more popular choice, but I had always just loved Miss Dior better. The ads with Natalie Portman, the bow and houndstooth bottle, the more floral nature of the perfume - it felt more girly than Coco Mad. I went ahead and bought this one for myself, and I've been so pleased to wear it for the 10+ years since. This is one of my signature perfumes - it has never let me down, from lasting through formal occasions to just making me happy in quiet moments with my loved ones. It's a true perfume, if you know what I mean. It smells like perfume, in the best way. There are scents like this but nothing exactly like this, in my opinion. Opens with that fizzy citrus that I love so dearly. Heart of the purest sweet jasmine and rose, so seamlessly intertwined that they are indistinguishable. I would recognize it anywhere as the floral accord of my beloved Miss Dior. Enough patchouli to give it a backbone, not too much to make it a harsh sporty fragrance, like Coco Mad in some iterations can be. I love it. I've used my 50 mL to the last drop, and I will miss it, as I didn't realize when I bought it that this fragrance would undergo a million versions and reformulations. This perfume saw me through the years when I turned from Miss to Mrs - it feels like a dear girl friend. A girly perfume, but not for a little girl - for a little lady. Now that I've finished my bottle, I may try the new Miss Dior releases that come out every year - I have never paid attention to them because I always had this one waiting for me at home. Who knows, maybe one day one of them will stand next to this one in my heart.

Hold everything. Just hold everything for one second. WHERE HAVE I BEEN??? How can this miracle have existed since 2012... and not been mine?! Because of HATERS. I really wish more people assessed this fragrance on its own merit, and not always as compared to this, that or the other. All the Coco Mad comparisons had me turning my nose up at this gem, when really it is a completely different animal. Now, the folks over at Dior need to get their act together and figure out what they want to do with this "Miss Dior (Cherie)" line/collection/fiasco and STICK.TO.IT but my goodness, if this isn't a truly gorgeous perfume then my name is Bob! (It's not.) I picked it up off the shelf at the store, prepared to sniff and sneer at it from atop my Fragrantica-Perfumista high horse, but Miss Dior knocked me right off the saddle. I am FLOORED. The stuff sparkles. Not like glitter, but like diamonds! I didn't know patchouli could be this glamorous and refined! That Egyptian jasmine? That's the stuff all the perfumers should be using. Rich and decadent and opulent... but not heavy at all! What kind of sorcery is this?! The jasmine picks the patchouli up out of the dirt, cleans it up, puts it in a (creamy musk) gown, sticks a diamond pin in its hair and gives it a champagne flute to hold, pinky out. Ugh I've never experienced patchouli like this, WHERE HAVE I BEEN? I think the scent pyramid is incomplete. It needs to be expanded to include Vanilla, Drugs and Witchcraft. There is a vanilla-citrusy something in there, and I get glimpses of pink roses, but that jasmine... My stars, that jasmine is the magic that made the patchouli beautiful. Like somebody said below, the comparisons to Coco Mad are a compliment to Coco Mad - Miss Dior (new) is a far superior being. Ok, ok, so we lost a beautiful thing in the original Miss Dior Cherie (2005) but some of you need to put your big girl panties on and get over it before you lose out on this gem. Bravissimo, Dior. (Now quit messing with us.)