Poison & Dune – Two Classics from Christian Dior

Rich delights from many moons before. Outdated? Perhaps. But who cares? If you love them, you rock them. In this post, we are talking about Christian Dior. Over the years, Dior has released some amazing hits. Most of my favs are from the Maison Dior line, which is their more expensive and exclusive line, but their regular line has come out with some fine classics over the years, wouldn’t you agree? And in my opinion, the one that started it all for Dior, at least for me, was Poison, which was released – oh lordy, lordy – close to 40 years ago. It was a different formulation from the juice in this bottle I own, but it does smell as I remember it when I first stiffed it all those years ago. But in very different perfume times, I’ll admit. Reformulations are never as good, but that said, my bottle is probably at least a decade or even 15 years old. It’s been in my collection a long while and is on its last leg.

POISON

Perfumer Edouard Fléchier created this masterpiece in 1985, along with some input, I believe, from Maurice Roger. I must have been rocking my bleached blond crew-cut hair in the style of Annie Lenox at the time. “Sweet dreams are made of these [perfumes].” Everybody’s looking for something, and it could very well have been this stunning olfactory concoction – dark, seductive, boozy berries and the sweet incense, a few white florals, and bitter tuberose. It’s an unrivaled, intoxicating magical witch’s brew of spicy, plummy, woody goodness that captivates and mesmerizes the senses. It won a FiFi award in ’87 (from the Fragrance Foundation). Since then, there’ve been a handful of successful flankers, including  Pure Poison, Tendre Poison, Hypnotic Poison, Poison Girl, and more – all of which I believe do stray into different territories – not very flanker-esk behavior. I don’t think the spin-offs hold a candle to the original. The OG is pretty hard to top, even through its depressing reformulations over the years.

There are a lot of notes:

• plum, wild berries, coriander, anise, Brazilian rosewood,
• tuberose, Incense, white honey, cinnamon, opoponax, carnation, jasmine, African orange flower, rose,
• vanille, amber, sandalwood, heliotrope, musk, vetiver, Virginia cedar

Poison is a very complex, masterfully blended powerhouse. Although I have read differently regarding recent formulations, this one I have is not soapy and has excellent sillage and longevity. If you’re a GenXer or older, it’s likely a nostalgic piece of art to you as well. The 100 ml version of the bottle mimics the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden – mostly appropriate. This is not something I would wear every day, though. Even back in the day, I found it could often wear me if I wasn’t too careful. I think I was probably too young for it at the time, too – it’s a mature fragrance – in any era. But I didn’t care. I probably wanted to seem older, sexier, and more sophisticated. But I don’t think it helped me pick up guys at that time. I was probably a little too young yet, and I think I’d moved on to another fragrance by the time I became fascinated with men.

Anyway, I remember that there was quite a fiasco when this was released, essentially because it was/ still is such a beast-mode fragrance. People were blown away, some almost literally poisoned, and I’m sure there were no doubt one or two people wearing a drop too much of it in places like restaurants where people are more likely wanting to smell their food. Poison is not friendly or flirty, and it is unapologetic. That might be offputting to some – the tuberose can be oily, heady, bitter, and cloying. I remember smelling it in malls – in large doses. Of course, it predates the arguably more revolutionary, and also loud and proud Angel by Mugler by several years, but this was also extremely avant-garde in its own right. It was a major departure from the chypre florals and light green fragrances that were popular. But yes, it’s polarizing. It’ll have you rolling your eyes back in ecstasy or recalling a repressed childhood trauma caused by chainsmoking trashy parents. Those are not my words. I quote other reviewers.

But when I wear this I feel luxurious and exquisite. I want to wear dark lipstick, velour slippers, and anything made of silk. But I am also hesitant to go out in public with it. I feel like I’ve transformed into a femme fatale – a black widow spider who is on the hunt to mate with, kill, and then eat her prey – even if unintentionally. Poison is a nighttime, cool weather, special occasion scent. Do not wear it in small rooms where there is no escape. You might kill someone with this thick, smoky, meaty, opulent monster. Do, though, wear it with leather and lace, and maybe a cigarette. Or a vape stick in this age. Underwear is optional. If you prefer to be a wallflower, avoid this altogether. And you know, much as I have always dreamed of this as a very feminine fragrance, I honestly feel guys can wear this. These days, they might suit it even more.

Now, much as Poison is a fantastic perfume (it’s an EDT if you can believe that) that’s still relevant today thanks to it being an oriental fragrance, I do think that it’s dated. It reflects the boldness and creativity of 80s perfumery, which you can certainly contrast with the safer, more conservative trends in contemporary fragrance, for better or worse. Poison doesn’t hesitate to remind me of my age when I slather it on. For that reason, I think someone younger than me might be better suited to it – like how young women can look sleek and sophisticated carrying a Hermes Birkin bag, while if I do it as an older woman, I feel “the frump.”

DUNE

However, the second classic from Dior I want to share today with you does not make me feel old, even though this, too, is a complex fragrance from a few years back.

Unlike Poison, I have been through several bottles of Dune in my lifetime. They’ve gone again and reformulated this sometime after the turn of the millennium, too, sadly. The new one has aldehydes. Thankfully I don’t readily perceive them so easily in my bottle. If you read my channel no. 5 review, you’ll know I don’t particularly care for aldehydes. Like Poison, Dune is a performance queen, even though it’s also an EDT.

While Poison is an ambery floral, this one is an amber woody scent – completely my preferred style of perfumery. It was created by Jean-Louis Sieuzac, Nejla Barbir, and Dominique Ropion and released in 1991. Here are the notes:

• Brazilian rosewood, aldehydes, Mandarin orange, bergamot, peony,
• lily, ylang-ylang, wallflower, jasmine, rose,
• amber, sandalwood, benzoin, oakmoss, vanilla, patchouli, musk

It doesn’t have quite as long a note list as Poison, and it is much woodier. This fragrance does all the things Poison does for me, nostalgically speaking, but I like it more. This one also has incredibly seamless blending, is best for cooler weather, lasts a long time, and is very sophisticated and dignified – not a girly or playful scent. Dune still garners compliments and is a fragrance that men can enjoy wearing. It is sweet and strong, though, so it won’t be for everyone, but I don’t think it is quite as polarizing as Poison.

Someone on Fragrantica wrote that Proenza Schouler’s Arizona fragrance smells like the older formulation of Dune, with the addition of cactus. I’m not sure I agree with that, though I recognize a rationale for comparison. She also said it reminded her of the ocean and the dirt alongside it. Well, that I can agree with. Dune never came to mind when I was reviewing Arizona. There is something oddly seaweed-like in that scent, or something minerally or ozonic in it that I do not like and that Dune thankfully does not have, at least to me. However, what Dune does remind me of, in this probably slightly older formulation at least, is Penhaligan’s LP No. 9, which I have sadly used up.

Imagine yourself on a fall or winter beach, depending on the hemisphere. It’s warm enough to walk barefoot and enjoy the cold, salty water lapping a little at your feet as you walk along the coast. The beach is deserted. It’s overcast, it’s windy. There is driftwood further up towards the grassy banks which are undulating like waves in the wind. The air is Indian-summer-like – not cool, but the wind has cautioned you to bring a sweater which I imagine matches the color of the sand beneath your feet and clasp it around you as you walk. Your skin is a little damp, but your sweater and that warm, sweet, slightly spicy Dune perfume you are wearing is so bright and soulful and it just melts away the brash wind and bitter sky and takes your mind back to a place and time of longing – like, for example, your first kiss, the birth of a child, or that time when so and so surprised you by showing up for Christmas. That is Dune.

Both Poison and Dune strike up nostalgia, but also melancholy in me. They are somehow both joyful and beautiful, yet also bleak, foreboding, and serious. They both serve up a lot all at once. This is not superficial perfumery, my friends. Hunt down a vintage bottle or two is my advice.