Chypres and cheerful - Dior's latest scent sensations
Crone is beside herself with joy. Not one, but three cheeky chypres landed on her desk recently - and she can’t decide which she loves most. All are from Christian Dior, the fashion house which celebrates it’s 65th this month and in Crone’s opinion is the One To Watch for scents right now. For they’ve pulled off that everso tricky coup - launching heritage-style scents with both a retro vibe and exciting on-trend credentials.
Witness the rebirth of Miss Dior, the Couture house’s first fragrance launched in 1947. At the time, the trend was for obviously pretty, powdery perfumes. Well, there’d been a war on, and girls were understandably into being girly for their guys. So was this woody, mossy and tantalisingly green newcomer the first real feminist scent? The almost knicker-wrenchingly hormonal combo of rose, patchouli and oakmoss have earned chypres (after Cyprus, home of oakmoss) the reputation of sorting the women from the girls. Miss D certainly defined a new and sophisticated era of chic - or at least that’s what Crone felt when she first caught up with it at the start of the stroppy ‘70s. Out went the Aqua Manda (anyone else remember those Radio Caroline ads? And who was Christopher Collins?) In came the saucy dab between the braless cleavage under the brown silk Biba blouse. God, but Crone felt so up herself with elegant aloofness…
So crackling the cellophane around her brand new bottle of Miss Dior Eau de Toilette Originale felt like a reunion long overdue. Now let’s be realistic. Good old scents like Miss Dior have undergone various edits along the way as key ingredients either become too costly, unethical or unsustainable. The chypre family have recently fallen foul of the infamous ‘IFRA list ‘ - the ever-burgeoning number of ingredients which scent watchdog, the International Fragrance Association consider should be limited or banned. Apparently oak moss - the defining soul of chypres - is an allergen, so must be restricted lest someone in Seattle sneezes. (If they start buggering around with patchouli Crone will be forced to book the one-way Swiss ticket….) So right, the current Miss Dior doesn’t have quite the bite (more lemon, less green galbanum too) as the version she remembers, but under the auspices of talented Dior perfumer François Demachy, the old girl still has some of her own teeth.
Demachy has also worked minor miracles with new Miss Dior Eau Fraiche - a healthy dose of patchouli gives it welly without overwhelming its bergamot freshness, while the hint of gardenia in the background gives it polish. spritz? But star of the trio for Crone is the divine Diorling. First launched in 1962, it’s incisively green, wickedly leathery and drenched in patchouli with the merest hint of sexy, creamy jasmine. A scent to make you feel it’s all still possible? Respect to Dior for introducing proper grown up scent to a fresh new generation - and reminding this old Crone that whereas it may not get her laid, chypre really does make her feel cheerful. Happy Valentine’s!
Miss Dior Eau Fraïche, from £49, 50ml, Harrods then nationwide from 5th March. Miss Dior Original EDT from £35.60 30m; and Diorling, £69.50, 100ml EDT from Christian Dior counters nationwide.
Mm, the prose style has a certain familiarity....
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