Poison:TheEvolutionofaFamily ofFragrances

Withthanksto ChristianDior

TheLineup Poison (theOriginal) Introduced1985 TendrePoison 1994 HypnoticPoison 1998 PurePoison 2004 MidnightPoison 2007

Le parfum est le poison du coeur (Paul Valry) {Perfume is the poison of the heart}

Note the Skull

Poison:An80sPhenomenon
In1985,MauriceRoger,ChairmanofChristianDiorParfums,was determinedtopulloutallthestops.HedemandedaFragrance,aBottle, aName andaboveall,hedemandedareturntopurecreativity.Forthe fragrance,hecommissionedEdouardFlchier,anativeofGrasse,the traditionalcapitalofperfumery,whohadalreadyscoredaseriesofbig hits.Poison wouldreflectthestrong,generouspersonalityofitscreator. EdouardFlchier'sambitionwasto"composeacounterintuitiveoriental withveryfruitynotes,toplayoncontrastandexcesstoproducea provocative,daring,disturbingfragrance".Theamethystbottlewasthe perfectphialforthisnewessenceofseduction,themusthaveaccessory ofthe1980s.

HasanyfragranceeverunleashedsuchpassionsasPoison?Givenits extraordinaryappeal,itwasonlynaturalthatPoison wouldbecomealong andfascinatingsaga,withthelaunchesofitsprogenyTendrePoison, HypnoticPoison,PurePoisonandMidnightPoison.

PerfumeandNotes
Top(Head)Notes Thescentsperceivedupon application.Small,lightmoleculesthatevaporate quickly. Middle(Heart)Notes Scentsemergingasthetop notesvanish. BaseNotes Thelastscentsemanating,usually30 orsominutesafterapplication.

PoisonNotes
Top :Coriander,Plum,Pimento,Anise, Rosewood Heart:Rose,Tuberose,Wildberries,Carnation, Honey,Cinnamon,OrangeBlossom,Jasmine Base:Sandalwood,Cedarwood,Vetiver, Heliotrope,Opopanax,Vanilla,Musk

CreatedbyPerfumerEdouardFlchier

Today,Idonotthinkitwouldbepossibletogoasfaraswe didwithPoison.Thenewperfumesaretamebycomparison.I thinkthat'swhyPoisonhasbecomeaclassic,becauseallthe classicshaveanextremedosageofsomecomponent. ConsiderChanelno.5 (1921),forexample,withitsoverdose ofaldehydes;VentVert (1947)withitsjoltofgalbanum;or Shalimar (1925)withitssignatureofethylvanillin.(quotedin PerfumeLegends byMichaelEdwards,p.227)

Times,andIngredients,Change

newtestsalsorevealthatperfumesandcolognesdontneed tohavehighlevelsofphthalates.Poison perfumeby ChristianDior whichin2002wasthemostcontaminated productwithfourphthalates(DBP,DEHP,BBPandDEP) had nodetectablelevelsofphthalatesinthreeofthefourbottles testedin2008,andlowlevelsofDEPinthefourthbottle. A LittlePrettier(areportfromtheCampaignforSafe Cosmetics;November2008;BreastCancerFundand Commonweal;followupto2002NottooPrettyreport)

Hall of Fame Recipient

Poison, Christian Diors dramatic floral perfume, was added to the Fragrance Hall of Fame this week during the Fragrance Foundations annual FiFi award ceremonies in New York. The perfume, which took three years to develop and $15 million to create and launch, debuted in Europe in 1985 at a lavish Poison Ball. For the next two weeks, Dior has said, a bottle was sold in Paris every 50 seconds. (Los Angeles Times, June 09, 2000) {Note: The FiFi is awarded by the fragrance industry to outstanding fragrances 15 or more years old.}

Flankers
Flanker Fromtheworldofcommercialperfumery:Whenaparticularfragrance,masculine orfeminine,hasbeenahugesuccess,itsmakerswilloftentrytocapitalizeonitssuccessby creating"spinoff"fragrances.These"spinoffs",calledflankers,mightbesimilartothe originalolfactorily,butwithadifferentspinorvariationput onit."Light"versions,"sport" versions,"veil"versionsarecommontypesofflanker.(fromthe UrbanDictionary)

MidnightPoison:TheNewestFlanker
MidnightPoison,themagicalspellofamoderndayCinderella DiorreinventsthetaleofCinderella,transformingtheheroineintoanenchantingseductress. ThemagnetismofactressEvaGreenbewitchinglyincarnatesthismoderndayCinderella.Amysterious auraemanatesfromhervenomousbeauty.Hergown,afantasticblackrosecreatedbyJohnGalliano, blossomsunderthesilveryhaloofthemoon.Atthestrokeofmidnight,thedreamisdisturbedfree spiritedCinderellarebelsinaswirlofdeepbluepirouettes. Assheflees,thescentofabewitchingaccompliceremainsMidnightPoison.Thesuppleandfreshtop notesofbergamotandmandarinorangearefollowedbyafragrant symphonythatopenswiththree chords.Thecarnalandenchantingroseisalmostdangerousunder thewoodyinfluenceofpatchouliand thesensualityofamber. Thepreciousopusisencasedinabottleinspiredbythesweepingfoldsoftheheroinsdress,the shimmeringreflectionsofsatinmoir evokinganenigmaticelusiveness.Symbolizingdreams,itsblue whirlsininfinitehues,witharandomtransformationcreatedby addingadropofcolortothemolten glass.Likeahautecouturegown,eachbottleistrulyunique. MidnightPoisonistheperfumeofanunsettlinglyenchantingwoman,ambiguousliketheimageofablack rosewithitssharpthornsbothbeautifulanddangerous. (PublishedinLVMHMagazine,October10th,2007,http://www.lvmh.com/)

AnAcademicInvestigation
WhenIfirstsawanadvertisementforPoisonabouttenyearsago,Iimmediately askedmyself:Whatwomanwouldwanttobeconsideredinanywaytoxic?In searchofananswertothisquestion,Ifollowedapaththatleadmeintothe depthsoffolkloreandculturalhistory.Now,adecadelater,I believethatafigure thathascometobeknownasthe poisonousdamselbelongstothelesserknown, moredeeplyembeddedimagesofwomenthatcombinebeautywithpassivity, danger,sexuality,andultimately,death. LyndaHoffmanJeep(Plottinga MisogynisticPathtoChristianDiorsPoisoninWesternFolklore,55(Fall,1996): 28196