Dior Homme Original EDT review

A men’s fragrance review written by a woman? Yup! I was looking for an alternative to one of my favorite perfumes which has sadly been discontinued (Love, Chloé). While this fragrance is nothing like the one I was looking to replace, I do feel this one gives me a similar vibe. And that’s why I bought myself a nicely large bottle of a men’s perfume. In this review I will explain to you my journey of finding that replacement, why I choose this one and I will of course also explain to you all about this fragrance in particular.

Review: Dior Homme Original EDT

So before we get into the nitty gritty of why I thought this perfume was perfect for me, let’s talk price point. I went for the larger 100 ml bottle. I hardly ever do this, unless a fragrance is truly love at first sight. So you knew I feel head over heels for this one. It retails for €106 at full price, but I bought it on a discount of 25% and with a gift voucher that I had. So I paid nearly half for this. That’s how I buy most of my fragrances by the way: I always tend to wait for sales provided it’s a fragrance that goes on sale, because some brands try to stay exclusive and therefore never go on sale. This one luckily did.

What are the fragrance notes of this perfume?

The fragrance Dior Homme comes in two different renditions. First there is the original Dior Homme from 2011 and then there is the rebranded 2020 edition. I bought the Original, meaning this is the fragrance that was launched in 2011. Both fragrances have a very different scent profile and I thought originally that I was going to go for the 2020 edition. However, I sampled both in store and the 2020 edition smelled like air freshner on me, whereas the Original 2011 was exactly what I was looking for.

So what’s the difference between the two? The 2020 edition includes the following fragrance notes:

• Top notes: Bergamot, Pink Pepper, elemi
• Middle notes: Cashmere Wood, Atlas Cedar, Patchouli
• Base notes: Iso E Super, Haitian Vetiver, White Musk

The 2011 Original edition includes the following fragrance notes:

• Top notes: Lavender, Bergamot, Sage
• Middle notes: Iris, Cacao, Amber
• Base notes: Leather, Vetiver, Patchouli

As you can see these two are pretty much a completely different fragrance. On paper, the 2020 version sounded better to me. However, I ended up buying the 2011 version.

So why did I decide to look into this fragrance?

I started this blog post by explaining I was looking for a worthy replacement of a discontinued fragrance that I love. And finding this as a replacement for that is a bit of an accident. The Love, Chloé fragrance is known for how powdery it is. It is one of my favorites, but my bottle is almost out and I can no longer buy it. So for years now I have been trying to find out which of the notes in Love, Chloé is what makes me like it so much. Through trial and error, I find out that one scent note I love is pink pepper. And so I have been Googling and then sampling fragrances with pink pepper in for years in an attempt to find something I love.

Now that doesn’t mean that I love every fragrance with Pink Pepper! After trying and sampling many fragrances for women with that scent note in, I just hadn’t found what I was looking for. I had a few options, but after trying them they didn’t last on me, or they developed into a scent I didn’t love. That’s when I decided to expand the search and to include men’s fragrances. So when I found that the 2020 edition has Pink Pepper in, I thought at first I would want to try that. But then I read the comments on Fragrantica and found out most people love the 2011 version and prefer it over the new formulation.

Why did I decide to buy Dior Homme Original?

When it came to choosing which one would be right for me, I went into a store, spritzed both editions onto each of my wrists and went home. The 2020 edition lasted just a few hours and ended up smelling like air freshner as my body chemistry really picked up on the vetiver and that never smells quite right on me. The 2011 lasted until the next morning and smelled divine: it starts leathery and quite masculine at first, but once this develops and ‘dries down’ it smells powdery and quite feminine. It really reminds me of what that favorite Love, Chloé fragrance does for me and I think it’s the combination of the leather, lavender and iris in all layers of the fragrance mixed in with the warmth of the cacao, amber and patchouli that works well with my body chemistry.

My final thoughts

I hope taking you along my little journey of discovery was helpful. What I am trying to make clear here is that we shouldn’t just discredit products based on who they are marketed to. While this fragrance may be made and marketed for men, the way fragrance works for an individual doesn’t just depend on the formulation and what the bottle looks like. For some reason my body chemistry plays really well with this fragrance and that’s what matters to me. If you try this, you may hate it. But just because this is a ‘manly’ fragrance with for instance leather as a base note, I would say this is quite unisex. If you are looking for a fragrance that not everyone will wear, go beyond what is ‘right for you’, make up your own mind and just wear what you love.

Would I recommend Dior Homme Original EDT?

Not this fragrance per se, but any fragrance I think you can only buy after you try it. So if you have a fragrance you are interested in, always go to a store and sample it. Either by asking for a sample or by simply using the tester in stores to see what it smells like on your skin. That would always be my first step. However, after trying this men’s fragrance, I wanted to try more. So yes, I already bought another one since buying this and I am looking into my next one. When it comes to this fragrance I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a warm, powdery fragrance that feels like a long hug.

Have you ever tried a men’s perfume?