Diorissimo

I've got a vintage esprit de Parfum from 1988 and it's just gorgeous... I will not hesitate to seek out a vintage extrait to experience that!! This is revolutionary as LOTV (as most of you likely know already) cannot be extracted and had to be developed synthetically using hydroxycitronellal (among others) but I truly feel Diorissimo does it better than anything that came after it (imho)...

Lily of the valley and lilac shine in competition, jasmine (pure and innocent) joins in. Bright and wonderful. Fantastically beautiful. Also very lilac-like. ... Ohh lilac is so beautiful 💜

Terrible, ho ricevuto in regalo una miniatura Diorissimo e per me è lo stesso odore che può avere un'anziana signora, ben curata s'intende! Preferisco fragranze più moderne, è vintage e si sente.. Ha l'odore di una vecchia saponetta al mughetto e gelsomino, note che da sé al naturale apprezzo molto ma qui in chiave vintage diventano davvero pesanti.. Ultimo ma non per importanza, Zibetto, che non mi piace.. Aiuterà anche a far durare a lungo i profumi ma al mio naso risulta pesante e vecchio stile. (e boicotto le case che lo utilizzano ancora per etica)

The vibe this perfume gives is an elegant lady, wearing a lace white dress sitting at her vanity. She’s doing her makeup surrounded by white floral flowers. It’s spring, fresh flowers are blooming outside. She opens the door and is met by birds singing, the sun beaming on her face. She walks through her garden, softly touching the honeysuckle bushes. 10/10. It’s floral, green, I get some sweetness from it. Addictive scent that I can’t get enough of.

Diorissimo is a minimalist masterpiece by Roudnitska. It is a fragrance of striking beauty, centered on the Lily of the Valley. On my skin, its simplicity manifests as linearity, with a certain lack of depth - yet this is by no means negative. This linearity does not imply an absence of texture: the Lily of the Valley reveals different facets throughout the olfactory journey. From the start, green notes open the fragrance, but the Lily of the Valley quickly asserts itself. It begins with a slightly citrusy nuance, then blends with other flowers like jasmine and ylang-ylang. Towards the end, it mingles with woods, notably sandalwood. I do not detect civet, which is likely synthetic in current formulations. On my skin, Diorissimo remains simple and linear, but I think it is precisely this constancy that gives it its beauty. I am not an absolute devotee of Lily of the Valley, yet I recognize this fragrance as a true Roudnitska masterpiece. Roudnitska always believed that less is more, and he was a master of minimal compositions, where each note speaks subtly. Diorissimo is a very beautiful olfactory journey for those who appreciate a perfume that is elegant, delicate, and restrained, yet full of subtle charm.

@scentasart; do you not sense any richness from civet? I’m wondering because I also have a couple of 70’s bottles and there is civet and sandalwood (both real) in it. Until the late 80’s/early 90’s, Diorissimo was beautiful (and faithful to Edmonds first batches) as were the rest of the classics. Try it in spring; if there ever was a quintessential spring perfume, it’s Diorissimo!

Reviewing a vintage EDC splash 60ml bottle from around ?1975-85 (REF 9402). Diorissimo was launched in 1956. Diorissimo is for those who are obsessed with Lily of the Valley as much as Christian Dior was. My bottle is vintage but still far from the original as it has no apparent civet and I doubt the sandalwood is from Mysore. Nevertheless, the Muguet accord is just as Edmond Roudnistska created when he imagined a new modern floral in 1956. The bergamot opening is now faint, softened with age. It has very good projection and longevity while remaining fresh and perfectly balanced.The soft base perfectly supports the florals without overwhelming them with harsh aromachemicals. It does not smell sweet, soapy or synthetic just pure clear Lily of the Valley dewy and fresh. Quality- 4.5/5 excellent Feminine Performance -4/5 very good for an EDC The vintage Diorissimo is spring in a bottle. Definitely worth searching for. The current 2020's versions are harsh, synthetic with poor performance. If the original cannot be replicated it is perhaps best for Dior to just discontinue it rather than diminish this once beautiful gem. The closest current fragrance that I have found capable of replicating realistic Muguet is Cavatina by Dusita. 9/10 (1975 version) * Thanks to Mel_Nocturnum I am editing this to "no obvious animalics" rather than no civet. This is an EDC after all and quality civet which is a soft animalic may be hard to detect in small amounts. It would be great to hear back from someone in the industry who might know if civet was used in EDT/EDC versions as well as EDP in the 70's and 80's.

maybe i could appreciate this better if i had grown up in an era where you didn't smell this at a funeral service.

Absolutely loved the vintage one. Haven't tried the newer version.

Feels like a realistic lily of the valley/ylang ylang bouquet but in a very carnal way. Reminds me of this Italian book I read about a royal Sicilian family in the 1860s during the decline of their power, they're using mismatching fine china and finding dead bodies in their garden. The Prince at one point describes walking through his garden and the smell of one flower as being intimate and ripe like the inner thigh of a ballerina, or something pervy like that. Very italian stuff. It is green but also there is something roundly creamy in this floral that drives me crazy. Can and should be worn in hot weather for effect. Wore this for 3 months in mexico by myself lounging around a warm pool in a semi abandoned condo complex. This isn't dated unless you're a 0 on the Kinsey scale.

Beautiful i'm glad i have it in my collection. My mom wore it in her your younger years and it was one of her signature scents. Comes from another era, so don't expect modernity, it's a feminine classic. Elegance and "aura" of a refined woman. My bottle is full and so old it became dark brown, I don't dare knowing how many years it has !

One of my all time favourites,

I can't decide if I prefer Diorissimo or Olene from Diptyque, both are really similar to me. Ultra feminine and classic scent. It doesn't last too long but I love it anyway.

I tried both the modern EDT and the vintage one in long bottle with white cap. The modern formulation is like a fresh lily of the valley, while the vintage smells a bit denser with strong indolic smell which is almost like an acetone in the opening. My vintage bottle does not smell green or inviting at the opening at all. Given the note of lily of the valley’s core structure is made from synthetic molecule. It is understandable that it does not age very well. I agree with @Jasonx. Not all vintage perfume are better than today formulation. Dior Diorissimo is one and CK Obsession EDP is another that does not age very well from what I know.

A word of warning if you want to purchase a vintage / or a couple of years old bottle of Diorissimo, except for the EDC, all bottles of other concentraitions such as EDT, extrait, etc I've smelled (more than 20 bottles) have already been spoiled (including brand new in box bottles) with very rancid topnotes. This is from my own experience while try hunting the scent down from various sellers. The scent is very very fragile & doesn't age well so shopping with causion.

Pure, unadulterated bouquet of heady white flowers, green leaves, and stems right in your face. This elixir is beast mode on my skin. She projects, trails, lasts and lasts. I find her unabashed beauty too forward for my shy, moody personality, but I still love this timeless green floral goddess from afar. *edit* my bottle is circa 1980's so I cannot speak on reformulations.

I totally agree with @rene.saller: Diorissimo is one of the rare vintage fragrances that you can easily wear on hot weather, I mean, I'm Brazilian and right now the weather here looks like that every single person has a private sun over ours heads lmao. Diorissimo's lily-of-the-valley is so green, fresh, cool and clean, sparkling clean like a white soap accompanied with cool water. A must have for sure!

Very prominent lily of the valley, everything unfolds around it. This is the epitome of a spring perfume: fresh, green, delicate, and full of light. It feels vintage (mid-century), think crisp elegance, not dusty nostalgia. At the same time, it still holds up beautifully as something you could wear today without it feeling out of place. It's quite straightforward, but there’s more beneath the surface. The note mix has a weight and complexity that makes it feel like a refined simpleton, in the good way. Very graceful. If you're a white floral lover, this will be a good possession to have. Uncomplicated, lovely, and beautifully composed.

It is brutally hot today, and Diorissimo EDT is just the thing. I have a travel sprayer, and I might need to invest in a full bottle someday, because smelling clean and green is just the thing when it is 110 degrees Fahrenheit with 99% humidity. I find myself actively repelled by sweet gourmands in weather like this; your tolerance and tastes might be different, especially if you spend a lot of time in airconditioned environments, and if that is the case, spray your milky marshmallow cupcake perfumes with abandon. I just can't handle anything that doesn't have a distinctly green or soapy aspect right now.

This was created in 1956 and is still beautiful today! White florals abound in this timeless classic scent! I adore lily of the valley and it is definitely apparent in this! If you love white florals, this needs to be in your collection! It’s a classic yet will never be dated! It’s incredibly feminine and perfect for spring and summer!

I used to love this one before I got pregnant, afterwards my bottles of Diorissimo and Joy had to be consigned to gifting out as I was repulsed by a certain chemical note in there. Absolutely shattered! Its been a decade now so I'd like to see if the magic will return.

Diorissimo smells like a walk through a fresh spring garden. The scent is built around lily of the valley, soft and green, like morning air after rain. It feels clean, light, and full of life. There are touches of jasmine, lilac, and a little bit of citrus that make it sparkle. It’s not sweet or heavy, just a pure floral with a green heart. It reminds you of sunshine and open fields. A classic and elegant scent that still feels special today.

Will love Diorissimo forever. It's my mom's signature perfume. Elegant and beautiful like my mom.

Maybe it was good enough back in the 50s but now it's really outdated, wearable only for aesthetic reason but not suitable nowadays.

Smelling the pre-1970 versions of Diorissimo is said to be an unforgettable experience... if it's in good condition, as the top notes of this eau de toilette are particularly fragile. My review concerns a 1994 bottle in pretty good shape. Roudnitska developed this fragrance in 1953, starting with a lily-of-the-valley accord (no essence can be extracted from this flower, at least not at a viable cost). Legend has it that he spent a lot of time on his hands and knees sniffing the blooming lilies of the valley in his garden to fully understand their scent. The scent of this flower is fresh, airy, watery, floral (with a slight hint of jasmine), and crisp green with hints of lemon and melon. It is reconstructed using various natural and synthetic ingredients, such as hydroxycitonellal (now highly regulated), lilial, and terpinol. At the same time, according to Micheal Edwards, Roudnitska decided to work against the trend of the time. Perfumers were using a very large number of molecules in their compositions. They used several synthetic materials introduced into their palette at the end of the 19th century, some of which had a relative harshness. To soften this harshness, they used sweet notes of vanilla, fruit, and other flavors. According to Roudnitska, this “gustative” tangent went too far, and he decided to return to the scents of nature and to simplification, stylization, and transparency, without denying synthetic molecules. In 1955, he succeeded in creating a convincing lily-of-the-valley accord, which he presented to Dior, for whom this flower was a fetish. Dior asked Roudnitska to make it his house's next fragrance, making this the third collaboration between the two designers. It is said that Diorissimo is the only soliflore in the history of perfumery to have survived to this day. If it has reached us, it is undoubtedly due to the richness and sophistication of its orchestration. It is indeed more than a lily of the valley soliflore—and incidentally one of the most successful ever made. And according to Roudnitska, this success is due to the fact that he achieved a "stylization"of lily-of-the-valley. Lilly-of-the-valley is present in all stages of the perfume (especially when sprayed on fabric), but the fragrance evolves quite a bit during this olfactive journey. It ends up in a beautiful base composed of jasmine, sandalwood and civet. But civet is absent from recent reformulations and, in my opinion, it is this animal material which is (was) the most interesting in Diorissimo: it created an opposition between the fresh, the pure, the airy vs the warm, the sensual and the carnal. Thomas Dunckley, a perfume critic, summed up the difference well: “Diorissimo in its current formulation is pleasant and pretty, but somewhat unmoving. Vintage Diorissimohowever, well that’s another story. Vintage Diorissimo is utterly mind-blowing.” And it's this final accord that languidly clings to the skin that makes me addicted to the 90's version I got my hands on.

This was Princess Diana’s. Signature perfume.

Diorissimo is famous for being the perfect lily-of-the-valley, an angelic green floral for 1950′s brides. So I expected “cold and prim and like a florist’s shop” and was shocked to get a nose full of L I L A C S. Warm, heavenly, swooning, exactly like a lilac bush in June. Pure nectar. There’s also, very faint, a bit of the Roudnitska signature base I know from Diorella. What Tania Sanchez called “Vietnamese beef salad” – the combination of cool watery green and something just a touch savory/meaty. The muguet is in the drydown, and it’s more rounded than the usual “lily of the valley” accord you get in soaps and most of the soliflores I’ve smelled. It smells like the floral air on a mild day in May or June as you pass by a lush garden. It radiates; I smell it better away from my skin than up close. It smells like the feeling of triumph, of processions crowned with flowers, that I used to get around May or June when I was a teenager (that was AP season and finals season and the season for state competitions and I always ended the year with a bunch of medals). Lilac-time, cottonwood-time, apple-blossom time. The time for happy endings, for things turning out better than you could have hoped. Alexander Nevsky marching into Pskov with flower petals raining on his head. “After the final no there comes a yes and on that yes the future world depends.”

My mom is always waxing poetic about how this is the greatest perfume of all time, but she can't stand the reformulation. I bought her a 80s/90s decant recently, and after smelling it I completely understand what she means. I'm not usually a fan of vintage florals - they typically strike me as either too powdery/saccharine or pissy/funky - but this one comes across as timeless, genuinely fresh, "natural," classy, wearable yet unique. Not stuffy or old-fashioned in the slightest. While I realize the lily-of-the-valley note was created in a lab, nothing about this screams synthetic. It really does smell like burying your nose in a flower, and there's a lovely herbal tea-like note as well (at first I thought it must be vetiver.) Too bad the reformulation sucks so bad!

Diorissimo, created by the legendary perfumer Edmond Roudnitska in 1956 for Christian Dior, is a fragrance that embodies the pure beauty and elegance of nature. A true classic in the world of perfumery, Diorissimo captures the delicate, fresh, and green essence of lily of the valley, making it one of the most iconic floral fragrances in history. The opening of Diorissimo is a breath of fresh air, as it immediately introduces the sparkling and crisp lily of the valley note, which takes center stage throughout the fragrance. This note is wonderfully radiant and dewy, evoking the sensation of walking through a spring garden in full bloom. It is not overpowering, but rather soft and elegant, creating an impression of purity and innocence. As the fragrance develops, the heart reveals a more complex composition, with subtle layers of jasmine, ylang-ylang, and muguet (a variant of lily of the valley) that add depth and richness to the floral bouquet. These notes harmonize beautifully, allowing the lily of the valley to remain the dominant theme while offering a sense of sophistication and refinement. The base of Diorissimo is grounded with delicate, soft musk, sandalwood, and a hint of amber, providing a light, powdery finish that adds an air of warmth and comfort without detracting from the freshness of the florals. These base notes ensure that the fragrance has remarkable longevity, allowing it to linger on the skin with an elegant and soft sillage. Diorissimo is the epitome of a floral fragrance, capturing the essence of spring with a timeless grace. Its light and airy nature make it perfect for daytime wear, especially during warmer months. The fragrance is uplifting, joyful, and effortless, yet still retains a sophisticated air that makes it appropriate for more formal occasions or any time you want to evoke a sense of refined femininity. Though it has been a staple in the Dior collection for decades, Diorissimo remains as relevant and beloved today as it was when it was first launched. Its combination of simplicity and complexity, freshness and depth, makes it a fragrance that will continue to captivate and enchant perfume lovers for generations to come.

@fiou hilarious lol