Edit: It also has quite a cyber animalic quality to it rendered by the accord which I believe might have come from cumin. Disclaimer: There is no affiliation to any perfume brand or manufacturer, this list is based on opinion only*

The edt of Diorella (vintage) is utterly beautiful. In 1981 I sprayed it liberally, on my skin, clothes, bed-clothes, as an air freshener – I just could not get enough of the stuff. I have never been without a bottle of Diorella since that day. I have tried the reform – it’s good but the memories that my old stash evokes remains with me – I even have some pure perfume which I snagged by chance and without realising it was the pure perfume which appeared on the market (I understand) briefly in the early 1980’s.In this case I have commented the current version of Diorella, unfortunately I do not know the vintage version (yet). This one was certainly richer in all points, especially concerning oakmoss. But we don't have to discuss the idle topic of reformulations now. It was made in accordance with the aldehyde trend, but it was too late, and it was only released in 1976. Diorella is a funny name isn't it? I thought it was Dior playing around with the name Cinderella LOL But this is definitely something even Cinderella would wear to the Ball. This is a gorgeous spring floral fragrance, created with a lot of love. It has a charm and magic that draws you into it's aroma. In the end it's so sensual and so ravishing that even if it might upset others, I'm going to douse myself with this shower of scents. ESSENCE OF SICILIAN LEMON: The fresh notes of Sicilian lemon are extracted by cold expression of the peel. Sicilian lemon is the invigorating and spontaneous top note of Diorella. There is an almost unmanageable selection of chypre scents, whereby I personally like the classic structure with the fresh hesperidic start, the flowery heart and the tart oakmoss base best. Decorative accessories such as a touch of animalism (but only a touch, please), patchouli to earth, vetiver or sandalwood are also very welcome.

It amazes and amuses me greatly reading about Diorella smelling "funky" to say the least and "rotten" in other cases. Diorella has been debittered and cheered up, so to speak, and you notice that right from the start. Where Eau Sauvage starts off rather tart, Diorella starts off sunnier and friendlier, missing the tangy and spicy ingredients, which were replaced by undefined green notes and a touch of melon. In it's heart Diorella is a beautiful bouquet. There's jasmine and rose, cyclamen; though it's mostly roses and jasmines. This is a rather heady floral heart with as sweetness that was heightened by the fruit. In the warm air the perfume smelled so good. My husband at the time was always complimenting me on this perfume. It was rare for me to smell of fruit. Diorella was youth-oriented. I don't know if the name Diorella was meant to sound like Cinderella and the florals are feminine and lovely like roses and jasmine bushes. Green notes are also present smelling like a garden with bushes and shrubs. Patchouli leaves, herbs, moss and vetiver provide this scent with that green theme so prevalent in the 70's. A lovely green garden, a summer retreat with fruit trees and flowers. But this must first give way to the ripe, juicy peaches: their sweet fruitiness only completes this sunlit garden impression.I bought a bottle just before I left and still have the empty bottle in its box. It ranks as my most favourite perfume ever perhaps along with Chamade by Guerlain which is another story. Great memories of my young days!!! Towards the base, Diorella also shows his tart and mossy nature, but is in no way strict or dismissive, which I have always felt with Eau Sauvage. Then my swap perfume arrived. Not from 2007, but from 2006, so well before the disastrous reforms in 2009. And NOW I get it! Gosh, this perfume is outrageously good! It is all what it is said to be and more! Sweet and savoury, fresh and musky, juicy and dry, clean and lived-in, fascinating, exciting, a multitudes of facets intertwining and playing in different lights like a sparkling gemstone. The recent one is nothing like this. It is nice, but boring. A picture so pixelated that you can just guess what it looked like once. I am sure that the 2006 version differs from the original one, too, but gosh, this is alive and shimmering with Life! Go for it if you can find a bottle! The souk makes it possible - and the old version of Diorella recently moved in with me. But those who are now afraid of moaning according to the motto: In former times summers were hotter and in winter there were meters and meters of snow, are wrong. The not-so-large cyclamen in their leafy nests, slightly hidden among the bushes, don't want to bloom in obscurity. So they send their special fragrance and also immediately a first hint of earth: and thus become a harbinger of vetiver.

Diorella has a radiantly fresh opening, with dewy green-herbal notes and bright citrus notes evident at initial spray. The melon note follows, initially green but becoming increasingly ripe as it progresses, dominating the opening for a while. Peach adds sweetness, rounding out the fruitiness of the opening. This funky-flower & fruit accord gives way over the course of an hour to a stunningly refined jasmine/rose heart. This main Diorella heart accord reminds me a bit of Parure by Gurelain, it is drenched in harmony and longing - the longing to lean in closer, to inhale deeply, to be completely surrounded by and immersed in the unique beauty that you are experiencing in Roudnitzka's proudest creation. Finally, the fragrance winds down to the subtle whisper of its fixatives: oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli...and again, perhaps something animalic in earlier versions. I’m giving this full marks as I can’t find fault in it. It is the prettiest chypre that I’ve smelt. DIORELLA gives the impression of a summer day in a green meadow, especially a day spent around a pond, with its olfactory qualities of cool water, algae, water plants, and even of rotting pond scum. DIORELLA is famous for its fruit notes which smell so ripe, they almost smell rotten... but always leavened with crisp clean notes of lemon, lime and fresh grassy notes. Roudnitska's perfume seems to say, "In the midst of life, there is also decay".Despite its age Diorella (not too many indeed but its historical contest signed the other frags of that time) keeps on being a 'forever green', still a 'young' fragrance; officially put on the market during the 70es it is a true historical masterpiece, a fragrance with a great and innovative structure so that it probably opened the door to a modern way to think and to do perfumery. Only the genius behind it and one of the most important Nose of last century - even here - could not betray the customer's expectations. Ed. Roudnitska created a work that keeps on charming a large part of today market (the other one probably has not already met it!); Diorella makes me obviously think to 'Le parfum de Therese' (a frag created during the 50es) having both these 2 much in common, but the latter was a bespoke perfume, a 'privilege' only created for his wife Therese. Although I love 'Le p. de T'. so much (for me, one of the best in Malle's family) I believe that Diorella has a better and easier 'wearability': 'Therese' is a grown up woman while 'Diorella' is still a young one. The opening to Diorella is a combination of citrus and green notes. It smells like Emeraude as it begins with sparkling fresh citrus courtesy of bergamot orange and lemon lime. It's lemony and invigorating, fresh, cool, and delicious. A melon note is there too right from the start. Smells like sweet fruit. A peach begins to emerge as the scent begins to enter into it's second stage and the middle notes. The scent doesn't improve much on drydown. It mellows out just a bit, but not enough to redeem itself. Dior-Dior with autumn charm has the most distinct salty fragrance in Diorella, the top notes are lost due to the aging of the liquid, leaving only a nostalgic bottom note. Ive fallen in love with Dior Diorella, after our dear fragrance friend, kindly gave me a very generous sample.

True, Diorella is no longer what it used to be, but to my uncultivated nose it smells as beautiful as it smelled when I was 16 and expected Great Expectations from life.Maybe I could wear it for my husband, or have him wearing it, to see if it has any effect as a love potion LOL The first spritz is aldehydes and nothing but. So if you are comfortable wearing aldehydes and like it, this is an old time aldehyde opening. Fresh and sharp, without any citrus, just pure aroma chemical of alcoholic perfumery. It is very old fashioned like a Chanel No. 5 without the neroli or citrus notes, and more like Joy by Patou. The floral notes appear early on. A lilac and perhaps a violet, definitely a purple floral with a tart taste. Then jasmine embraces the subsequent white florals: narcissus and lily of the valley. The lily of the valley is the dominant floral note. This is not the same lily of the valley as the more well known Diorissimo which fans of Dior vintages would have liked, or even fans of the formulas of Roudnitska but there is a slight nod to Diorissimo because it's essentially a green floral lily garden scent. But whereas Diorissimo was the spring, Dior Dior is the fall. Easily unisex and very highly recommended. The house of Dior has been very good at keeping their old classics in production, and their modern versions smell excellent, despite recent proscriptions issued by the European body IFRA, which has declared a number of important traditional scenting essential oils to be dangerously irritating.