The Makeup Box

Liquid Gold: Dior J’adore L’or Essence de Parfum

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Ah…. gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous… This is like a concentrated distillation of a million flowers’ souls. 

I’ve never been big fan of the original J’adore because it was like Estee Lauders Pleasures or Clinique Happy to me. Very nice and very popular, with nothing in it that was jarring, strong, or atypical enough to rock my world. 

I took a break from the fragrance game the past few years so I’ve been a little “out of it” and never even knew Dior had released a new Eau de Parfum version of J’adore, as well as the much more beautiful Essence de Parfum in 2010.

Developed by François Demachy, this fragrance is composed of only a few high-quality notes: May Rose and Jasmine from Grasse, and Vanilla absolute from Tahiti. The other notes are Tonka Bean, Patchouli, and Labdanum, but these are almost not noticeable for the most part. They merely bolstering the warmth and depth of the main stars, the jasmine and the rose, lending a golden, honeyed richness to the flowers, which can otherwise just come across as sweet, sweet, sweet.

The scent itself is quite linear. There isn’t a top-note, heart-note, dry-down. This fragrance is ALL warm, bodacious, and big floral heart.

The presentation is exquisite (and it should be considering the price), and this would make a fantastic gift for an important woman in your life. The bottle is accompanied by a little enveloped card detailing the source of the flowers and how every one was assembled by hand. It’s all wrapped in thin gift paper, nestled on a white bed in an embossed Christian Dior box, which is then slipped into a matching white and gold sleeve. 

I couldn’t resist taking it out to take some pictures for you, but I’m keeping this hidden in my closet as a gift for my mother, since she’s always been a fan of the original J’adore but could never bring herself to buy a bottle since she was mainly attracted to the bottle instead of the juice.

J’adore L’or retails for over US$100 in most countries (it’s over SG$200; ridiculous and painful compared to the US price, but oh well…) but you can always keep an eye out on sites such as Escentual.com or Fragrancex.com for good deals from time to time.

The Scent To Buy Him (And Steal From Him)

If Dior Homme was a man, he would be the perfect modern gentleman; strong without needing to raise his voice, accommodating to the ladies but confident in himself, pleasant and polite without being boring. 

I blame Guy Ritchie for putting ideas in my head. Watch the Dior Homme campaign video, starring Jude Law.

See if you, like me, instead of visualizing Jude Law, begin to associate the scent with a gorgeous, slightly-dangerous woman; perfect red lips, a black hat cocked low, long bare legs, and a black coat that flaps provocatively open in the wind.

The other half I blame on Dior Homme’s very intriguing and atypical “sandwich” (male-female-male) of notes which makes it at once arresting, yet comforting to wear:

• Top - lavender, sage, bergamot (the “male” aspect of the scent comes from these typical cologne notes; I’m not a fan of lavender but I can tolerate it here)
• Middle - Iris, amber, cacao, cardamom (very much more typical of women’s perfumes)
• Base - Vetiver, patchouli, leather (I’d say these are “unisex” notes)

I bought the EDT (eau de toilette) version, which has a more effervescent and less sugary finish compared to the eau de parfum concentration. After the sparkling citrus-herb top notes die down, the main thing you will detect throughout the day would be the delicious powdery-sweet iris-cacao mix with a slight musky buzz at the base from the vetiver, leather and patchouli in the background. (Anything with a cacao note is worth a spritz to me.)

It’s not a sticky gourmand like Angel or Lolita Lempicka (which I admire but cannot wear, because they are so strong in this heat that they wear me instead). There’s always a vein of freshness running through it at the same time.

I also love that the lavender here is a good team player and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb here. Plus, it lasts through the balmy humid heat without giving me a headache.

If you haven’t smelt it because you’ve always passed it off as a “guy’s cologne”, here’s why you should stop at the counter the next time. If this scent could talk, it would be a person who is:

• intelligent but easy to get along with
• tenacious but not cloying
• light-hearted and charming, but with real depth
• groomed but doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty
• knows how to enjoy himself/herself (chocolate!), but is not excessively self-indulgent

In the West, this is a top-seller, and gets high notes from the male reviewers on basenotes.com, AS WELL as female reviewers on Makeupalley.com

If you’re in Asia like me, and standing in a crowd of men is like being bathed in a sea of forgettable “boyish” citrus-woods and chypres (all boring copies of yesterday’s Tommys, Polos and cKs), Dior Homme stands out like a breath of fresh air.

And if they’re not going to wear it, I’m going to.