“There are strong perfumes for which all matter Is porous. One would say they go through glass.” One might think that this is how Charles Baudelaire in his poem “Le Flacon”, imagined that Christian Dior’s Poison would be the elixir to the house Dior’s excellence. As if the aroma of flowers and the smell of spices had bewitched Christian Dior, creator and designer, enabling the imaginary and imagined, to be swept away by the world from the notes of the heart, head, and background. 1985 marks the year of plunging into the universe of the olfactory that is so complex. By perfumer Edouard Fléchier, Poison is a perfume that is bold and has spices.
In the 80s, the essence of boldness, in some restaurants in New York, it was just as much forbidden to smoke than to wear the famous poison you stick to your skin. Alfred de Musset once stated “the bottle does not matter as much as the drunkenness” is not the opinion of Christian Dior who will create a single vial and singular leaves, once again, placed in various interpretations. Is this the poisoned apple from the tale of Snow White or the Apple of the book of Genesis? Temptation, seduction, and thirst for escape make Poison by Dior a delicate and sophisticated elixir.
The success of this fragrance is such that Christian Dior declines. The new bottles can now read Tendre Poison in 1994, Hypnotic Poison in 1998, Pure Poison in 2004, and Midnight Poison in 2007. Designed by François Demachy, Dior House’s perfume tester and creator of Escales (Escale à Portofino, Escale à Pondichéry and Escale aux Marquises) since 2006, the various Poisons became beyond perfumes, of novels with real environments of black romantic tales and fantasy stories. Christian Dior maintains this mysterious and enchanting atmosphere that surrounds his creations. Wearing a sapphire Cinderella dress, Eva Green with piercing eyes and blood red lips, became the face of Christian Dior Midnight Poison in 2007. More recently, the actress Mélanie Laurent plays the muse, for Hypnotic Poison.
A slight variation has been known since January 2013 of Hypnotic Poison. Its name is Hypnotic Poison Eau Secrète, a subtle blend of fruits and flowers, among jasmine and citrus which gives it a pronounced Eastern freshness, but still mysterious. Sensuous vanilla remains pervasive to the olfactory signature line. Far from the idea of wanting to create an artificial paradise, Christian Dior wanted to compose perfume jewelry that can be worn as perceived and real pieces of Haute Couture. Revealing the emotional character almost impertinent to those who swear by Poison, Christian Dior, the Couturier won his bet as a Parfumeur.
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