Le Parfum de Thérèse was created by Edmond Roudnitska for his wife during the 1960s, and was not made available publicly until after his death, when Frederic Malle procured the formula for his line. It is an aldehydic floral with notes of mandarin, melon, jasmine, pepper, violet, rose, plum, nutmeg, cedar, vetiver, and leather…
Continuing with what has apparently turned out to be Edmond Roudnitska week, today I am wearing Christian Dior Diorella, said to be Roudnitska’s personal favorite among his own creations. It was released in 1972 and features lemon, greens, basil, bergamot, melon, jasmine, rose, carnation, cyclamen, oakmoss, vetiver, musk, patchouli.
Diorella is often called the “sister scent” of Eau Sauvage, but Roudnitska disagreed. Diorella, he said, was descended from Eau Fraîche de Dior (1952), although both Eau Sauvage and Diorella could also be called the grandchildren of Diorissimo (see Michael Edwards, Perfume Legends, p. 160). It is not for mere mortals such as I to argue with genius, and I have never smelled Eau Fraîche de Dior, but Diorella smells very much like the feminine version of Eau Sauvage…
Christian Dior Eau Sauvage, the classic men’s fragrance by perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, was launched in 1966. Like Diorissimo, it was inspired by Roudnitska’s desire to simplify his approach to perfumery. Eau Sauvage is classified as a citrus chypre, and has notes of lemon, rosemary, petitgrain, basil, jasmine, rose, iris, oakmoss, vetiver, and musk.
Eau Sauvage is, to my mind, the quintessential masculine citrus fragrance. The top notes are a bit perfume-y, but it quickly resolves into a wonderful blend of citrus, jasmine, oakmoss and vetiver. The basil and rosemary are muted, but lend a aromatic touch, and it has a wonderful earthy-grassy smell over very sheer florals and a light, dry, woody chypre base. It is clean, crisp, and elegant, and personally, I find it very sexy…
Christian Dior Diorissimo was created by perfumer Edmond Roudnitska and released in 1956. According to Michael Edwards in Perfume Legends, Roudnitska was disturbed by the trend towards the heavier use of gourmand & sweet notes in perfumery, which resulted from efforts to balance out the new, sometimes harsh synthetics:
Not only were we pushing perfumes in the direction of food, but we were also putting too many ingredients into them. It made them too complicated and muddled. (quoted in Perfume Legends, p. 111)
Roudnitska was determined to simplify his approach; Diorissimo was the result…