Dior Diorling Vintage Extrait Review

Dior is a perfume house that I haven't spent a whole lot of time exploring. There are so many houses and perfumes out there and I can't get to them all, so there are going to be tons that fall through the cracks.

For a long time, I was focused on the original Miss Dior. The other Dior offerings didn't do it for me. Then came vintage Diorling. I don't know how I came about my first sample of vintage Diorling but I fell in love with Diorling. At that point, I was really falling in love with the classic chypre category.

The vintage Diorling extrait has a huge cut green pepper note that I have never noticed before when I tried the most current formulation or the vintage EDT. I have noticed that the leather was more of a butch leather and not the plush leather that I am used to smelling in Cuir de Russie. As much as I do love Diorling, she can be the type to wear me.

At the end of the day, Diorling is a difficult perfume to wear and not something that I wear often. I am still kicking myself by not getting a bottle of the current stuff when I had the chance since it's not available in the US anymore. I figure that if Dior can release all of these Miss Dior and J'Adore flankers, they can keep Diorling in production. It seems they have kept all of the Dior classics except Diorling.
 

Seeking the Familiar

Since I am still working with that strict budget, I have been seeking out some of the old, familiar perfumes. Perfumes that I had bought early in my perfume journey and wore the shit out of. So since I have been cleaning some things out, I've been finding a couple things.

Chanel no 5, no matter what the concentration is one of those old favorites and a soothing one at that. I have the EDT, EDP and parfum all on my vanity. And that reminded me to pull out my bottle of no 22 EDT. I haven't gotten around to trying out the EDP due to lack of funds and I don't need to be on E-Bay looking for decants. I don't need to get burned because people like to sell Chanel dupes.

I found a large decant of the current batch of Diorling, right before it was discontinued and a vintage bottle of it. I am still kicking myself for not getting a bottle or two when I had the chance. Even though the people at Dior told me that they have no intention of bringing back Diorling, one can hope and keep pestering them about it. If they can keep cranking out these J'adore flankers, they can bring Diorling back for a limited time for me to nab a couple of bottles.

An old favorite that is comforting is Mitsouko. It doesn't matter if it is vintage or current to me, I adore Mitsouko. I don't pull it out often enough and wear it and I did pull out a bottle of a newer version of the EDP and a vintage EDT. The EDP that I did pull out was from probably 10 plus years ago, so no honest to goodness oakmoss in that one. I have tons of the vintage EDT and I am still trying to get a stopper to come lose from my huge bottle of Mitsouko.

Lyric is another perpetual favorite for me. I love wearing Lyric in all of it's spicy, rosy goodness year round but I love it especially in the heat of summer. It took me a long time to actually get 1 bottle of Lyric but I am glad I did get that bottle and got the travel spray and a back up bottle. I have no clue with what is happening with Amouage. I can't find the Lyric or Epic bath product and there isn't any Ubar to be had anywhere. Let's hope it's a supply chain issue with the ingredients.
 

Dior La Collection Couturier Parfumeur Grand Bal Review

I will admit that I have never been the biggest Dior fan girl. Nothing has really moved me in terms of Dior. Diorissimo doesn't it for me, even in vintage form. Current released (Dior) kind of gross me out and annoy me. I will explain with Grand Bal.

I do have a liking for jasmine dominant perfumes with Sarrasins being my favorite. Jasmine can be a little difficult because under the wrong circumstances, jasmine is abhorrent. Overwhelming and cloying. Grand Bal has jasmine in spades, you can't miss it. At first, I thought that I was smelling tuberose, which is my arch nemesis in terms of perfume but it was the jasmine. The jasmine and tuberose thing reminded me of Nuda but even though tuberose isn't listed in the notes that I see, I'm pretty sure it's in there to add some creaminess. What got me was the whole watery thing in Grand Bal and I loathe things watery. I'm thinking that Dior used calone and won't fess up to using it. Yep, Grand Bal is this whole watery jasmine mess that just doesn't work. If it doesn't work in the EDP version of Diorissimo, it won't work in Grand Bal. Grand Bal was just a huge mess on my to where I can only smell a watery jasmine that was done horribly.

The lasting power of Grand Bal is 9 hours on my skin and that's 9 hours to long with some pretty hefty sillage. Good thing that I am not willing to part with $210 for this.

Vintage Dioressence Review

It's time for a review her folks. I haven't done tons of exploring when it comes down to the house of Dior. For some reason, Dior hasn't gotten a much of my attention or held a lot of my interest to really explore for some reason. But a few days ago, I was really looking for something else to wear. I think that sometimes I get tired of looking at the same old bottles that are on my dresser. I know that there is a huge bag of decants that I haven't worn or reviewed but my eyes always seem to gravitate to my full bottles. So let's get onto Dioressence.

I will admit that the two vintage Diors that I have tried before Dioressence were Miss Dior and Diorling. But I did try the current versions before going the vintage route. I have not tried the current version of Dioressence so I really can't compare the current and the vintage. I also broke one of my rules with this one. I tested this at work. I don't test anything new while I am at work. What if it sucks? I might have access to running water but it's a public bathroom and I don't have a back up perfume with me. So no matter what happened, I had to ride it out because going without perfume isn't exactly an option.

Dioressence takes off with aldehydes and I do love aldehydes. The aldehydes are fairly fizzy and somewhat soapy. The aldehydes do play a very important roll and I will explain why in a moment. About 10 minutes in, I smell lemons. Not freshly cut or squeezed lemons, lemons are overripe to the point of rotting, along with the ambergris that lends the skank. I find the rotting lemons and ambergris to be a little off putting and strange. The aldehydes keep the rotting lemons and the skank from getting out of control and scaring people away. As the wearing goes on, the more I can discern that Dioressence is a chypre and I do love chypres and this chypre is a green one. The lasting power on this vintage EDT is about 7 hours long. On my dry skin, that's impressive. I'm going to keep an eye out for a vintage bottle and will keep a decant on hand because I do like this one a lot. It's not quite love yet but I think it will be soon.

L'Artisan Fou d"Absinthe EDP Review

For the longest time, I have been mostly ignoring the whole L'Artisan line. The few that I did try early on I either didn't care for or I hated the fact that most of the line were EDT's. I'm not somebody who owns a lot of EDT's unless they are vintage. EDT's just don't last on my skin, I might get 2 or 3 hours worth of wear if I am lucky. The notable exception thus far has been Havana Vanille, which has sadly been discontinued. But every now and again I do buy sample sets from STC and there was an absinthe sampler set that had been sitting on my wish list for a while. While there was a pretty good sale, I had bought it. So last night and most of today, I have been wearing L'Artisan's Fou d'Absinthe.

While reading the history of absinthe, absinthe has gotten a really bad wrap and didn't deserve the ban that it did and it didn't deserve that long of a ban. Instead of blaming the people abusing alcohol, the temperance movement decided really go after the booze, especially absinthe. But nobody wants to hear a history lecture nor my views on booze.

While I was wearing this before bed, I was wondering where I had smelled this before. I did kind of remind me of Dior's Granville but Granville wasn't really hitting the mark. Then it hit me a two in the morning, it reminded me of the liquid Dial soap. The regular gold colored liquid Dial soap. I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't. But the more that I had wore it, the more that it became the Granville/Dial soap kind of thing. I definitely get the green and absolutely get the pine and fir basalm that gives that Granville feeling to my nose. I keep looking around and others are saying that it is a masculine perfume, I do have to disagree a little bit there. There is a sweetness in d'Absinthe that begs to differ. That sweetness keeps d'Absinthe from being a total masculine perfume. I just can't place the sweetness and what note is doing that but it is there. I would peg this as more of the masculine side of unisex. I find that this would be great for a summer scent but not exactly a winter scent unless I were by a roaring fire in a fireplace.

I am debating if this is worth the price of a full bottle for me since I have Granville on my list for a pine needle note that doesn't go into the Pine-Sol or car air freshener territory . But this is a definite large decant worthy perfume for me. Let's hope that L'Artisan keeps up with the making more things in EDP form because this lasted six hours on my skin.

Dior J'Adore EDP Review

I'm somewhat making good on my challenge on wearing and reviewing things from my bag that I haven't worn yet. Ever since I have started my perfume journey, I haven't been smelling a whole lot of mainstream perfumes. Many of my perfumes are either vintage, discontinued or niche. Yes mainstream does have the tendency to get the short end of the stick with me. Why? Because perfume coming from the mainstream doesn't smell very good to me. J'adore is no exception. After seeing so many commercials for it, I decided to spray my sample on to see what it smelled like.

When I first sprayed J'adore on my skin, I smelled nothing. After a minute, it came on, all at once, like a freight train. All I smelled was this sweet, watery, floral thing that was a little on the harsh side. After about a half an hour in, I was waiting for this to morph into something a little better. Lose that harshness and the aquatic note was what I was mainly looking for. Nope, that was never going to happen during the time I wore it. It just stayed there, for 10 hours and didn't do anything at all besides smell awful to my nose. It's linear to me and it seems to last forever to me. You know, I kind of expect a little better from Dior. Dior gave us the original Miss Dior, Diorling, Diorissimo and many other classics and I am thinking that they are cheapening themselves by making this garbage. I obviously will not be buying this.

Vintage Diorling EDT Review

The chypre family is one of those perfume families I just love. I love the bergamot, labdanum and oakmoss balance of them. Especially in vintage form because oakmoss is one of those ingredients that can only be used in the most minuscule amounts in today's world. In vintage form where else can I smell the inkyness of oakmoss? And this brings me to vintage Diorling.

I don't have a full bottle of the current version of Diorling but have a decant and I so wear it but I was always wanting to get my hands on a vintage version, and I have gotten my hands on some. Even in the current formulation, Diorling is not about flowers, even though they are in there. The vintage version is all about the leather and the whole chypre concept. But the leather in the vintage is amped up, the leather is not plush at all. I like leather but I lean to the plush side of leather, so it is a little difficult to wear Diorling. My note of fresh green peppers is still there but that bite isn't quite there. The oakmoss is not as inky as I thought it would be but it is there. I probably get 4 or 5 hours from the vintage version of Diorling, which is great on my perfume eating skin. Diorling, new or vintage, is worth seeking out.

*picture taken from etsy

Miss Dior Vintage EDC Review

For some odd reason, I have a few bottles of vintage Miss Dior waiting to be worn and reviewed. Now is the perfect time to be reviewing it. On one bottle I scored a pretty awesome deal for the version of Miss Dior. Got the vintage version of Miss Dior EDC and vintage Diorissimo along with it. Both in box and sealed. On both of the hounds tooth boxes, there is no bar code and the price tag says $6.50. That is how vintage my bottles are. They were made back in the day where perfume was a very expensive luxury and most didn't buy perfume let alone wear it. So the lucky few that were not millionaires, had only one bottle of perfume and wore it sparingly. I think that after WWII, when this was released, $6.50 on a bottle of perfume took a healthy chunk out of what most make in a week. Now, times have changed and perfume has become more affordable.

Now, onto Miss Dior. In the beginning of my perfume journey, I did have a bit of a hard time with chypres. I couldn't really understand them, let alone enjoy them but I was intrigued by them. Then Deneuve and Diorling came along and then I understood. It was the chypre structure that I really loved and learned to really love oakmoss. The beginning of Miss Dior is a little tough and I am thinking that it's because of the aldehydes are either too harsh for Miss Dior or they are starting to go off. Then the galbanum and jasmine come in with the oakmoss comes through. I smell the other notes but can't pick out what they are. What did surprise me is that there is a animalic note that hits right about 15 minutes into wearing. I do love a skank note in perfume but not quite sure if this example is something I like. A few more wearings will tell. I really liked that this was a vintage version of an EDC because I get at least 5 hours of wear on skin. With any modern EDC, I am lucky if I get an hour or two of wear. I do think that I might get another bottle of vintage to make sure I am stocked up a little bit.

Miss Dior Cherie Blooming Bouquet EDT Review

I have no idea what has happened to me come recently. But it seemed like Le Labo's Aldehyde 44 was a blatant ripoff of Chanel no. 22 and now it's Miss Dior Cherie Blooming Bouquet's turn. This is just riling me to no end.

Yes, I refuse to call Miss Dior Cherie by what Dior wants us to call it simply Miss Dior. Nope, Miss Dior came out in the 1947 not this current thing that masquerades around as Miss Dior. When I first applied Blooming, I couldn't help but think that it smelled familiar and couldn't place it. Then 5 minutes in, it hit me and I couldn't decide if it smelled just like Coco Mademoiselle or Badgley Mischka EDP. It leans a little closer to CM and maybe a little fruitier. Even though I did drain a bottle of CM, I didn't care for the fruity patchouli vein and in a lot of ways, I still don't. The biggest problem with Blooming is that it is in EDT form and it only lasts for two hours on skin and a half an hour on clothing. At this point, if this one appeals, go for CM or Badgley Mischka.

Diorissimo EDP review

Quite a while back, I had reviewed my decant of Diorissimo EDT and remembered enjoying it while deploring the length of time that it lasted on skin. Diorissimo in EDT seemed to last about 4 hours on my skin and I kind of like not to reapply throughout the day.

For a while, I did pretty much forget about Diorissimo until I came across my small decant of it and wore it for 3 days until I emptied the thing. Then it did become love and I couldn't exactly justify getting any sized bottle of the EDT form. Not really thinking that the EDP would be any different than the EDT, I had bought a bottle. Boy, was I wrong about the EDT and EDP being different.

Both variations smell like Diorissimo but there is a huge difference when the top notes wear off. In the EDT version, it's a green lily of the valley with very little jasmine and musk serving as an anchor. But the EDP version from the get go is jasmine. Not any kind of jasmine but a whopping dose of indolic jasmine. I love jasmine and the more indolic the better. The indolic jasmine in the EDP version did take me by surprise but somehow it works in the EDP version. After a while the Diorissimo that I've become familiar with in the EDT version comes into play but never quite loses the skanky jasmine. The lily of the valley seems to be a little creamier in the EDP version and I am thinking it is because of the jasmine. I enjoyed the lasting power of this version of Diorissimo and I am hoping that Diorling comes out in EDP form and maybe there isn't such a strong sliced green pepper note in the beginning.

Chanel Cristalle EDP review

Did you ever get some perfumes that smell almost identical to another perfume? Cristalle in EDP form smells almost exactly the same as Diorella. I'm not kidding. It's pretty much a copycat of Diorella. Just with more of an emphasis on the floral aspect. I'm in disbelief with it. I kind of do like Cristalle, it just doesn't suit me very well. I did notice that the citrus note wasn't as crisp in Cristalle as it seems to be in Diorella.

Dior Diorella EDT Review

Diorella is one of those perfumes that I am having a hell of a time describing for no apparent reason. Usually, I can describe most perfumes and my impressions but Diorella is different. I get a strong citrus note that gives the impression of sucking on lemons then the lemons seem to be half rotten. I don't much care for a dominant citrus note in any perfume. If citrus is blended in very well, then I don't much mind it but Diorella has a big citrus note that doesn't seem to be well blended into the rest of the perfume.

I do get a chypre vibe to Diorella but it's not enough for me to get past the marginal kind of like part. Citrus seems to override every aspect of the perfume and I just can't smell past the citrus.

Dior Diorissimo EDT Review

I've probably have got to be the oddest perfume nut. I have this huge, and I do mean huge pile of decants of various sizes that I haven't tried and reviewed and yet I keep getting more. How can I refuse 15%-20% off decants sales of Surrender to Chance's daily specials? After spending a small fortune on a carpet steam cleaner and spending a lot less than I thought in Cincinnati, I was able to get more than one small decant but Diorissimo was a decant that has been sitting in my enormous pile of decants that I have finally gotten around to trying and reviewing.

Diorissimo normally sold in EDT form but now I am seeing it in EDP form. Since both Surrender to Chance and The Perfumed Court only carry it in EDT form (I can't say if they won't ever have) that is what was available to me within my price range when I ordered a larger decant. The decant I have is not the current 2012 formulation but probably the one before that. I wouldn't call it vintage because my definition of vintage is before 1990.

For a while, Diorissimo smelled very familiar but I could not place it. It seemed like I had smelled this before and then I realized that it smelled a lot like the Easter lily that my parents always seem to get a couple days before Easter. My mother hates Easter lilies because it makes her sneeze and she is just not wild over the scent. Diorissimo does have a slight soapy feel but it adds to the overall feeling of the EDT without taking anything away. Diorissimo does have a slight green note that is kind of nice but I am not wild about for some reason. I really do like the EDT version but it doesn't last very long on skin. It lasts a little longer on skin and clothes than Diorling did. I might have to splurge, unsniffed, on a full bottle of Diorissimo EDP to get any king of lasting power.

Dior Diorling EDT Review

Earlier this summer, I had ordered a Dior sampler pack but never quite got around to testing any of them out. I've always been a little hesitant to try new (to me) perfumes during a heat wave but since the two/three month heat wave is over, I'm willing to try more perfumes.

I've been slowly working my way through testing as many classic perfumes as I can and came to Diorling. I have read that Diorling could be a difficult perfume for some. When I had first sprayed on Diorling, I had a huge blast of pepper that strongly reminded me of green peppers. After the 15 minutes of the green pepper note, Diorling changed. Diorling changed into a classic chypre scent. It had reminded me of Mitsouko without the whopping peach note. The flowers are not overpowering but they whisper and add a lot more to Diorling instead of taking away. What irks me is that the lasting power is very poor even with a thick moisturizer. I probably would get Diorling to last longer if sprayed on clothing. Would I get a bottle? Only if it lasted longer or it was being sold in EDP form. I would keep a decant of this though.

Dior Granville Review

I've been meaning to try and review this and don't know what was stopping me from doing this. I think that I got sidetracked with other perfumes. I haven't had any kind of experience wearing Dior perfumes nor any that are pine dominant. At the time, I was going through a phase were I was getting perfumes that are not available in the United States or the ones that you would have to travel half way across the US to get it. By reading the description on The Perfumed Court, I was intrigued and bought a 2.5ml decant of this. By reading review, I was even more intrigued. Pine needles, thyme, and rosemary is what comes to mind for masculine perfumes and not something you would think would be in something that is marketed to women. Upon first application, all I get is something akin to rubber and pine needles. I find it to be interesting even though I don't exactly like how huge the rubber note is. The rubber note fades somewhat but stays all throughout the wearing. After the larger than life rubber note calms down, the pine needles get a chance to shine. After a while, the rosemary and thyme come out to support the pine but they don't take over. The base notes of woods, and I'm guessing it is either velvetier or sandalwood that are the base that really come out but don't overtake the pine. No matter where I look, I cannot find out if this is an EDT or an EDP. If this is an EDP, the staying power is weak. If it is an EDT, the staying power is decent on my skin because I get about 5 or 6 hours of wear time on my skin. I do find this to be likable but I don't want this bad enough to drag myself halfway across the nation or the world to procure a bottle of this. One reason is the size of the bottles they are kind of like the Chanel Les Exlusifs line before they gave the option of either a 2.5 oz or 6.8 oz bottle. Another reason is that Granville gives off the vibe of Chanel's Sycomore which I already have the 6.8 monster bottle.