Tendre Poison
Christian Dior (1994)

Poison ... ? It doesn’t merit the name!

But, being objective for a minute ... this freesia bouquet is a sweet, safe, and yes – tender feminine. Nothing like Fléchier's (?) meisterwerk - which caused so much ruckus in the eighties : the original Ice Queen - getting banned from restaurants and all ...

This is not bad itself - albeit anonymous.
And then - later on - it's like a thick sugary cloud of Infusion d’Iris - with a cool metallic charge.

Both banal, and bizarre, and finally ... not quite right.

She's the quintessential woman, loving and supportive and nurturing. She always does the right thing. She's a very great lady with a very great perfume. It smells like the warmth of sauna wood (think sandalwood but drier), the watness of a log after rain, the sweetness of maple syrop and the freshness of melting snow. This is simply gorgeous. A worthy girl of legendry queen poison.

TP is a magical connection of white floral embrace, mixing their citrusy, resinous scent with blackened vanilla pods, powdery heliotrope, faintly woody notes and a melody of spices, gives you feeling like laying your head on a velvet pillow as you drift away to dreamland on a cloud. Very surreal and fantasy like. The dry down is sweet, comforting vanilla with nuances of the spices and is utterly delicious.

What i love most about this scent is how fresh it is an unconventional way. It isn't overly soapy, powdery and white florals. Warm heat from a paramour's skin, a hot breath of delicious whispers of affection in your ear.a garden of magic. Timeless and bewitching. Very good sillage & longevity.

*This is a review of the vintage original formula.

Tendre Poison goes on with a very fresh, light rosewood and effervescent citric bergamot orange before moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the rosewood recedes as a dusty rose joins fresh, green freesia in support of the emerging tuberose that takes control of the composition with a dry honeyed undertone. During the late dry-down the honeyed tuberose vacates revealing the relatively dry vanilla and slightly animalic musky co-starring tandem with subtle, dry sandalwood and slightly lemony vetiver support through the finish. Projection is excellent to near outstanding and longevity excellent at over 12 hours on skin.

I am sure everyone reading this is sick of my constant praise for the great Edouard Flechier, but prepare yourself for more of it here. I must sound like a broken record when I say over and over again that this guy is the most consistently good living perfumer, but vintage Tendre Poison proves his winning streak continues. Unlike so many flankers that capitalize on prior successful masterpieces, only to prove nothing like them (and frequently are awful smelling), there is a definite link here to Flechier's masterpiece, vintage Poison. That said, the perfumer has taken the great Poison fragrance foundation and changed it, making vintage Tendre Poison more light, fresh and green than the original while maintaining all of its charms. Some, (not I), felt that vintage Poison was just too heavy and powerful for easy wear... My guess is those folks should be giving this one a sniff to see if it solves their issues with the original. No, vintage Tendre Poison doesn't wimp out and turn into Poison-lite, instead it freshens the composition through quite deft use of green freesia and a much less dense dry honeyed tuberose than one might expect. The end result is still quite potent, but a lot easier to wear daily. Even the musky dry vanilla focused late dry-down works extremely well with its hints of lemony vetiver and sandalwood peeping through from time-to-time to give it a bit of an edge. The composition from top-to-bottom is absolutely incredible smelling, and while I still prefer the original vintage Poison by a hair, vintage Tendre Poison has proved its near-equal, and that is saying something. I think it is safe to say I believe both compositions are mandatory additions to one's collection. The bottom line is the sadly discontinued vintage Tendre Poison sells for about $115 per 100ml bottle on the aftermarket and is worth every penny and then-some, earning a "near-masterpiece" rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 and an extremely strong recommendation to all. Bravo Mr. Flechier!

I absolutely love this perfume.... last year I had a 'Pure Poison' bought for me for christmas, and I dont like it at all.... its chucked in my drawer at work just in case I need a freshen up.
I would love to get my hands on some more Tendre, and if I find it I am gonna get the biggest bottle I can find...

EDIT
I ordered a dupe called Tendre Poizon from Perfume Parlour.......its AMAZING....

I know this scent and I know that this is a perfect dupe.... I am not normally into dupes, but as I love this scent so much.... needs must, so I got it and its perfect.....happy me!

A little too much of everything to be a standout I don't know the age of this sample, although I know the fragrance has been discontinued for a number of years.A few weeks ago I sampled vintage Poison and thought it was dreadful. Reluctant to punish my nasal passages so soon after that experiment, I delayed sampling this one for a few weeks. Although I prefer this to the original Poison, I can't really muster up any enthusiasm for it, either. It's slightly watery, slightly sour, slightly fruity, slightly sweet, and greenish. I guess I have to say that it tries to be many things but succeeds at being nothing special, at least to my nose. (My apologies to those who adore it.) Am I missing something?Sillage is huge, longevity seems good, but I scrubbed it off aftet 3 hours. This is a "fail" for me.Pros: Huge sillageCons: Unfocused. A 'grab-bag' of notes"

This is one of my favourites, i'm not really fond of florals, so was surprised by quite how much i adored this one, it just lifted me into a realm of Laura Ashley dresses, Parasols, and a stroll around a summer garden, in a big floppy hat.

But its not a soft romantic floral, its a big, gutsy, strong bouquet, thrust right in your face. Good sillage, and longevity. No shoving my neck at people with this one.

It was my signature perfume, and i bought 3 bottles of it, its just so beautifully feminine and greeny floral, then very warm at the base, lasts for ever, and has me smelling my wrists constantly.

Lately i've been equally obsessed by Hypnotic Poison, but having read that Tendre Poison is now discontinued, i have searched the net and found an online store selling the EDT for 34.09 (pounds sterling) for 100 ml, and i am very nervously awaiting its arrival, that seems ridiculously cheap, and i consider myself to have been robbed, with no parcel coming to the door. If i get a delivery, then I'll feel i got a bargain, and will post a link to the shop, as they ship worldwide.

Can't wait to wear it again