I spotted this fragrance coming back from Berlin, i regretted not buying it at the airport as i was unable to buy this anywhere in the UK it seems. I was over the moon to find that my boyfriend found it and treated me, what a hero!
I find that within the first 10 minutes the fragrance is pretty strong and has a very classic dior scent, i worried that the base notes are too strong, however once it settles it becomes beautifully fresh and uplifting. I love that it turns into quite a clean soapy smell, it's as it's as though i've just stepped straight out the shower and into freshly laundered clothes which lasts all day!
It's a very classy smell and is perfect for summer!

Beautiful- lovely - uplifting. It evokes a happy feeling for me. The citrus keeps it cheerful. Pleasantly harmonious. I do think the lasting power ought to be better, but nothing wonderful lasts forever. Edit- lol- Dh was like you smell like ketchup, have u been eating ketchup? Turns out the faded version of this smells exactly like ketchup on me!

I've loved this fragrance for years.... haven't worn it in a while but I will again. I started wearing it when I was in 19, in Scotland as an exchange students. It is a feminine version of Eau Sauvage; that's part of what I love about it. A crisp, but feminine, summery scent. Perfect with crisp white blouses and black cropped slacks....simple and elegant.

This is one of my favourites, I wore it in the 80s, and where I live it was not available until very recently. My daughter, who buys me a surprise scent from a range of several of my old faves every Christmas (which I pay for as she is still young) knew that this meant a lot to me, so when it became available again, she chose it for me. I am so happy to have it. It smells beautiful on me once it settles. It certainly has an aura of "old elegance" which to me is a good thing. It cheers me up every time I wear it.

I recently sprang for the whole bottle after appreciating a little sample of DIORELLA. I'm glad I did, I love it. It must be pointed out that DIORELLA is fine, Midcentury French perfumery, and that ALONE places it head and shoulders above nearly any department store fragrance being debuted today. DIORELLA was the proudest creation in 1972, of its creator, Edmond Roudnitska. I'd call it a Green-Hesperidic-Chypre. At present, only the EDT formula is manufactured, and is available only from the online DIOR boutique. Inasmuch as DIORELLA is all about brilliant, top-heavy freshness, perhaps it is well-suited to an EDT formulation.

Opening spray of DIORELLA yields a blindingly sparkling impression of aldehydes, bitter-green galbanum and lemon zest. Basil confers a soupcon of mintiness. It is mingled with notes which greatly suggest "cool wetness", including a vaguely shampoo-like note which gives that "rinsed" smell, like BRECK used to do. Subtly juicy peach and melon give their Midcentury qualities. Then a most curious accord emerges: an almost savory musk, almost protein-like quality, touched with a not-there whisper of cumin. It is this quality which some have likened to "fresh meat". Indeed it is a delicate and reassuring animal-like smell, which gives a concrete tether to all the sparkling effervescence in DIORELLA, and makes the scent sit so welcomely on warm human skin. We humans instinctively look for animal nuances in every complex scent.

Behind this protein-like platform emerges the essential chypre base of this fragrance: the amalgam of bergamot, oakmoss, patchouly, tonka, vetiver. The chypre base is most delicate... never is it chunky or smoky or sweet or obvious... it's just that very French "haute-couture" underpinning that bestows so much character and neutralizes any kind of sweetness.

In far drydown, we get a very subtle "orange/melon/spice" signature--- it's this gamely sportive "grin" that makes us think of EAU SAUVAGE and of late-60's/early-70's gender sensibilities: when women were calling for a less-girly, more sportive vibe to match the gender politics in the air. Indeed, even with the delicate floral notes here (a green, vernal honeysuckle peers frillily over the musk midtones; a rose/cyclamen alto joins the happy paean to summertime), there is no reason at all why a man couldn't wear DIORELLA.


DIORELLA, despite its period associations, is still an amazing, refreshing, nuanced, elegant scent, eminently suited to late spring to high summer. At times, it makes me think of a pond, with its smells of sparkling, cooling wetness, and the not-unpleasant melange of fresh green grass... and the slightly foetid, mulching grasses, too. To appreciate life, we must be subliminally aware of death... and this is the beauty of a great French classic like DIORELLA. True Perfumisti will appreciate this classic for what it is, and will find themselves quickly forgetting whatever period associations it may evoke.


Five lippies for a timeless French classic.

I totally agree with the reviewer who said the melon note kills this otherwise gorgeous fragrance. It's also the very note that dates it so badly. I've worn it a few days in a row from a decant and while there is something irresistable about it, I can't shake the 1970s vibe. Melon always smells fusty and sour to me, and here the melon lays over the fragrance like a mildewing blanket. I don't feel clean at all but rather damp and on the verge of fermenting. Sorry, I want to love this for everything else going on behind that melon but I just can't.

I sometimes wonder if my chemistry is off when I encounter so many positive reviews for a fragrance that was a "thanks, but no thanks" for me. Keeping in mind scent is subjective I thought I would add another point of view for this fragrance. I bought a decant rather than full bottle for one which turned out to be a good thing in the end. With the following notes and such glowing reviews, how could one go wrong:
Lemon, basil, bergamot, melon, green note
Peach, honeysuckle, jasmine, rose, cyclamen
Oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli, musk
Unfortunately, this did not give me the timeless and effortless frag I have been so searching for. It is a time capsule frag on me and a scrubber as I just can not stand the "old fashioned hairspray" essence that lingers behind this scent. I could imagine an older, well kept auntie wearing this as a signature scent. Just not my thing at the end of the day.

This is my favorite "classic" Christian Dior scent. It is a nice lemony scent, reminds me of Eau Savage a bit. Top notes are Sicilian lime and basil; honeysuckle and peach are in perfume’s heart, while vetiver and oak moss are in the base.

At first when I got a big bottle of this I was disappointed that it is different from the way it used to be in the 70's. I remember a much more potent lemon blast at first, holding that glorious fresh green and lemon scent much longer.
Now it is much quieter and more reserved. The lemon is more subtle.
There is a hay scent which I love. But over the lemons and hay is pure elegance. I imagine a crystal chandelier at the fabulous estate Viscaya in Florida. This is totally different from any other scent out there and is very complex, with so much more than lemons going on.
It is grassy and fresh and summery but also incredibly classy and French smelling. It took me a couple of days to get used to it, the way certain men who are not classicaly handsome take a couple of days to grow on me until I finally see that they are so much more adorable and interesting than if they had ordinary good looks.
This is simply wonderful, and the changes that have been made over the years have not hurt this at all. Give it time and you will love it.
If only it came in Eau de Parfum, so it lasted longer.....

Way too lemony for me. Slighly less sharp than Eau Savage, but very similar at first. Eau Savage does not seem to develop. This does, but it takes too long. I can't bear an hour or more of citrus OD before I finally get to something interesting. And, not interesting enough, at that.