Dior Homme: thoughts & fragrance review on a milestone

 It doesn't matter that Dior Homme is everywhere, either in one of its -many- versions, or in some copy of it from another brand. It remains one of the most interesting men's releases of the last twenty years, because the formula brings a more unusual note of iris root, halfway between dry retro face powder or old lipstick along with dusty dried flowers, to an otherwise standard formula for a mainstream men's fragrance, making it revolutionary. It doesn't surprise me that many women love it and love wearing it themselves. It is the most affordable of the lot of Dior men's fragrances. 

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 Attention: the original, "authentic" Dior Homme is the one from 2005, by Olivier Polge, which was removed only to be removed by Demachy later in the completely unrecognizable 2020 version of the same name, when the Polge son was now permanent at Chanel . Yes, yes, I know, typing Dior Homme gives you 883045 versions on Google, how the hell do you know which is which, you go to the first one in the drop down menu. Well, let's pay attention to it a little since you are involved in the aficion.

 

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The 2011 version is still very good, despite the credit to Demachy, as it does not alter Polge's original recipe and retains its special characteristics. The iris in Dior Homme alternately takes aspects of soft aftershave powder like that used in trendy hipster haircuts, cocoa powder and amber starch. It's a smooth, glossy, no edge scent, feminine, but retains a hint of freshness, which I find a very alluring and essential ingredient in fragrance in general. You don't want to be completely smothered in a cotton cocoon after all, when you're on a social or romantic date, you want to be able to breathe and appreciate the (hopefully beautiful) view. :)

 

NB. The 2020 version is a completely different fragrance making for a LOT of confusion since it bears the same name, Dior Homme.  The prior to 2020 editions from a few years ago bear the bee emblem, the older formulations have no bee but the box has minor differences and the original 2005 formula has a silver tube sprayer in the jus instead of black, as after the Demachy transition.

Luxury and the Hermessences: Fragrant Musings

Hermès has always seemed to me the height of luxury: not just a status symbol to carry around, but a brand organically grown out of that most aristocratic accoutrement, horse riding and its paraphernalia. As saddlers, Hermès have distinguished themselves in the axiom of "beauty serving functionality", a sort of van der Rohe "less is more" philosophy where every touch is truly meaningful, truly essential. Their fragrances are a reflection of this effortless luxury, diverting from bourgeois spick-and-span, and speaks of old money, not new. 

 

The fact that Réna Dumas (née Gregoriadès), architect and mother of Pierre Alexis Dumas, was of Greek extraction, alongside her pushing a Hellenic aesthetic to the brand through collaborations with artists and illustrators, has solidified this classical approach in my mind. She detested pomposity, she embraced serenity and douceur de vivre.

 

This fusion of functionality and douceur (softness) is what is also reflected in Jean Claude Ellena's work for Hermès, especially in the Hermessences, their boutique-only line of fragrances which are simple like haikus, harmonious like the Parthenon, but never simplistic, nor unnecessarily imposing. They retain a human closeness, a sort of philosophical proximity with the culture of light, a message read on the pure blue skies of a life bathed in inherent goodness.

 

The Hermessences line, essences by Hermès literally, is comprised of laconic names, often with a double entendre, focusing on unexpected facets of a given material, rather than trying to highlight its stereotypical olfactory profile. They do not rely on in-your-face exclusivity or luxury, like other designer lines, but rather a desire to explore new pathways to pleasure.

After all these years, I'm still taken with their subtlety, their grace, their effortless nod to luxury, a suspension of time.