I think Dior Homme has changed ...

Recently I was browsing through Sephora aisles and I noticed the bottle of Dior Homme (regular, not Intense, nor Sport) has changed. The ring near the nozzle is no longer alu grey but black, a silver ring is embossed in the cap and the "straw" that hide the spray tube is no longer silver either but black.

Usually, a change in the design means a change in the scent. And with Dior you're never sure of anything (LVMH oblige!). Big big warnings for me.

A few spray on a blotter and sure enough, I can notice differences, subtle yes but that's not my Dior Homme anymore. But I might be mistaken.

So I ask the SA to make me a decant, then at home I test. A full wearing of my Dior Homme bottle on me (bought in early 2009 - absolutely perfect condition), another spray on the right wrist. No difference, and actually, almost nothing from the wrist which is perfectly fine with me as I wear the scent on myself. On the left wrist, a good dab of my decant of the "new" Dior Homme.

And there's actually some big differences. You not longer get that big plushy/dry cloud of iris. Now you're left with some iris, flatter, leaner and frankly just enough to say there's iris in it. 5 mn into the new one, the slightly buttery notes you would experience after an hour with the old one is here and way to much in the foreground. What is noticeable too is a huge dusty green and acidic lavender which was much more tamed in the previous one. The odd meaty quality that you could experience in the heart of the perfume is not really there in the new one.

I haven't deciphered all the differences but these are the major ones I noticed.

I really don't understand why it has been already reformulated.

Quel dommage!

@hypr : this is unlikely because the tester was fairly full and this is a huge sephora in the suburbs of Paris that is packed with people everyday, and Dior Homme being quite popular here, I guess testers stands no more than a few day on the shelves (a SA told me they were changing PR 1 million testers twice a day because it was so popular)

@calero : it may have been reformulated to cut corners on the price of the formula, though iris has been fairly cheap ever since Biolandes labs found a way to age iris roots faster. My guess is that Dior head perfurmer likes to fiddle with every perfume he hasn't composed. Evidences ? J'adore which changed a few years back, Fahrenheit (another reformulation just after the second one, this ref. made the new distantly related to the previous one), Eau Sauvage Extrême discontinued and reissued as a "new" scent and a few days ago, Miss Dior Chérie (see 1000fragrances blog for the full story). Add Dior Homme to the pile. This very subject about Dior and reformulations in general might end up in another thread because there's a lot to say.

@Jack Hunter : I'll check every shop I can think of for backups, hoarding on the way ^^

The main difference between the two one, apart from the bottle which is obvious, is the list of ingredients on the bottom of the box, and their order in the listing. Hope this helps.

Indeed, this shows very poor consideration for customers. Ha!

I will cook up something with pics and "recipes" as soon as i can lay hands on my bottle back at home. Meanwhile, I'll take pictures of the new one during lunch break.