Dior
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The Sicilian mandarin bursts through immediately, bright and aggressively juicy, accompanied by bergamot's characteristic bitter-sweet zest. Within moments, however, this citrus brightness begins to soften, almost dissolving into something sweeter—the orange note bridges the gap between the sharp top and the creamy heart waiting below.
Jasmine sambac takes centre stage with its indolic, almost animalic creaminess, while neroli attempts a herbal counterpoint that simply cannot compete with the gathering sweetness. The vanilla base begins rising through the composition, and the amber accord wraps everything in a warm, powdery embrace, transforming the fragrance into something decidedly gourmand and increasingly soft.
A predominantly vanilla-driven base emerges, its warmth bolstered by the amber's resinous sweetness and residual jasmine's creamy impression. The composition settles into an almost skin-scent territory—tender, powdery, and considerably less distinctive than its opening moments, offering little development beyond gentle, fading sweetness.
Hypnotic Poison Eau Secrète is a confection masquerading as sophistication—a fragrance that abandons the original's dark seduction in favour of something considerably more forthcoming and honeyed. François Demachy has crafted a composition where the Sicilian mandarin and Calabrian bergamot opening functions primarily as window dressing, a bright curtain-raiser that exists mainly to distract from the real narrative unfolding beneath. That narrative is resolutely gourmand, built on the cloying warmth of vanilla meeting jasmine sambac's creamy floral density, creating an effect rather like smelling expensive almond paste through a veil of powdered sugar.
The genius—or perhaps the calculated excess—lies in how those citrus notes refuse to cut through the sweetness; instead, they dissolve into it, their tartness becoming merely a memory within moments. Neroli attempts to provide some herbal resistance, that dry-green quality it's known for, but here it's simply absorbed into the amber accord's resinous embrace. What emerges is a scent of considerable softness, almost translucent in its powdery quality, lacking the architectural drama of its predecessor.
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3.9/5 (175)