Diorissimo
Eau de Toilette, Christian Dior (1956)

This review is of the vintage houndstooth EDT.

This just might be my favourite Roudnitska so far (I've tried about half of his creations at the time of writing this), but unlike Henri Robert's green, realistic muguet which feels quite unisex to me, Diorissimo seems to slightly incline feminine. Opens with green notes, bergamot and the first hints of a slightly indolic jasmine, with a lovely touch of transparent, bright peachiness. This introduction feels like a less challenging, artistic version of Roudnitska's peculiar fruity accord in Diorella and Ocean Rain, but it's certainly a far more wearable one! There's a lot of wonderful floral complexity in the heart, with a perfect paring of muguet and lilac becoming dominant. Later, the Lily-of-the-Valley almost seems to ascend above the rest of the notes in the dry down, but the lilac, now very leafy green notes and a bit of fruitiness remain present. There's also a gentle, soft sandalwood in there adding a little weight and just a hint of civet.

A delightfully delicate, nuanced composition!

The verdant exuberance of Diorissimo can only be appreciated much the same way as putting your nose to lily of the valley or lilac in bloom in May and having the desire to hold this experience a bit closer and longer around you. It starts dewy and green with the muguet fading into view, and lilac soon to follow. It reminds me of visits to the Acton Arboretum here in Massachusetts, where the lily of the valley grows underneath the lilac bushes and the two converge. The jasmine serves more as an undertone, just somewhat indolic, fleshing the florals out through its heart. It isn't until the very last stages of development that Diorissimo reveals more surreptitious animalic shades, with echoes of the green and white florals lingering.

I have my tiny 90s bottle, a 10ml atomizer, as a reference, to wear for myself on my hands and wrist. Yes, it is a 90s version following the LVMH acquisition of Dior, yet Luca Turin does still give it 4 stars, stating "today's Diorissimo is unquestionably different from the older version although still a thing of great beauty." I opted for this version as it is a high risk to spring for a vintage of Diorissimo, as the very components that make it beautiful are highly volatile and vintages are often sadly diminished in their vitality and freshness. Having this little baby atomizer has helped me gain an even deeper appreciation for Edmond Roudnitska and inspires me to learn more about his life, pursuits, inspirations. Diorissimo's impressionistic quality foreshadows subsequent classics Eau Sauvage and Diorella, and continues to inspire perfumers decades later.

Spring in a bottle, It's the kind of tiresome cliche I roll my eyes three times in it's socket anytime I hear it... But I don't care, here it is, the cliche and the scent.
Maitre Roudnitska

Lily of the valley, jasmine, lilac, all stand out in this. A bit strong on me so i use it sparingly

(For the extrait/parfum, a 1980 bottling)

This strikes me as a stripped-down floral done to near perfection with high quality materials. The opening is almost tropically floral without leaning into fruit punch territory (no surprise to see ylang listed). Rich, lush, deep - all without feeling heavy or cloying. In fact, it's alarmingly light and airy at the same time. I find it hard to describe this contradiction.

It prominently features a full-bodied lily of the valley note which is also not cloying, as it sometimes can seem to me. This lends a beautiful, crisp, dewy white/green vibe without feeling too stuffy. I found the tropical ylang to burn off fairly quickly, at which time the LotV pretty much takes over. There is a woody backbone to this that brings to mind sandalwood, not as a featured note but rather part of the matrix, providing attachment points for the florals.

Beautiful stuff. While very floral-forward and feminine (as far as my tastes go), if I had a craving for a LotV scent, I'd have no problem breaking this out and dabbing some on while I'm out and about on a spring day. It is also very much a time-machine scent. We had a large patch of LotV in my front yard growing up. My mom was a flower/gardening nut, as well as a wearer of this perfume oil called Rain from a local apothecary (funny enough was called Lily's of the Alley) which was primarily a LotV soliflore, but way more heady/rubbery than this. It takes me back.

I smelled this on a colleague. It's not very interesting, the only thing that projected with lilly of the valley. It smells good, though.