All About Christian Dior and Some of His Most Popular Scents

Christian Dior was both an innovative fashion designer and a fragrance pioneer. Here we have a quick look at his life and a detailed look at the notes of his perfumes.

Christian Dior was born in France in 1905 and moved to Paris when he was five years old. In 1928 he opened an art gallery. In 1935, following the death of his mother and brother and financial ruin of his family and partner in the art gallery, Dior began sketching fashion designs and selling the sketches.

His first collection was released in 1947 following the war and the full soft feminine designs were in stark contrast to the harsh shabby rationed clothes of the war. This quickly and famously led to his line being labelled the New Look. Women loved the New Look despite many governments encouraging a boycott of it (thehy felt it wasteful and extravagant because of the swathes of material used in each piece). In 1957 Christian Dior died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack. The heir to his throne as artistic director of Dior was his assistant Yves St Laurent.

Christian Dior’s first perfume was released in 1947 and named Miss Dior. One of Dior’s most popular perfumes is Poison. It was so popular that it inspired a whole series of scents. In 1985, Dior launched Poison. Then in 1994 Tendre Poison. 1998 brought Hypnotic Poison and 2004 brought Pure Poison. The most recent release is Midnight Poison.

The Scents of Dior

• Dior Addict has top notes of mandarin leaf and silk tree flower. Middle notes of night queen flower, Bulgarian rose and orange blossom. Base notes of bourbon absolute, mysore sandalwood and tonka bean.
• J’Adore has notes of mandarin, champaca flowers, ivy, African orchid, rose, violet, damascus plum, amaranth wood and blackberry musk
• Miss Dior has top notes of sage, gardenia and galbanum. Heart notes of rose, neroli and jasmine. Base notes of oakmoss, patchouli and cistus labdanum.
• Miss Dior Cherie has top notes of green tangerine, strawberry leaves. Middle notes of pink jasmine, carmel popcorn, strawberry sorbet. Base notes of fresh patchouli and crystalline musk
• Diorella has top notes of sicilian lemon and basil. Middle notes of honeysuckle and peach. Base note of vetiver.
• Dioressence has notes of rosebud, violet, geranium, cinnamon and patchouli.
• Diorissimo has notes of lily of the valley, ylang-ylang, amaryllis, boronia and jasmine
• Dune has top notes of lys and broom. Heart notes of wallflower and peony. Base notes of amber and lichen.
• Dolce Vita has top notes of magnolia and rose. Middle notes of apricot, peach and cinnamon. Base notes of sandalwood, heliotropin and vanilla
• Poison has top notes of coriander. Middle notes of wildberries, orange honey and tuberose. Base notes of opopanar.
• Hypnotic Poison has top notes of almond and caraway. Middle notes of jasmine, sambac, moss and jara canda wood. Base notes of vanilla and musk.
• Tendre Poison has top notes of mandarin and galbanium. Middle notes of freesia, orange and blossom. Base notes of sandalwood and vanilla.
• Pure Poison has top notes of sweet orange, Calabrean bergamot, and Sicilian mandarin. Middle notes of orange flower, jasmine samac, and hydroponic living gardenia. Base notes of sandalwood, white amber and musk
• Midnight Poison has top notes of patchouli. Middle notes of rose. Base notes of Amber.