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What the hell, Dior?!

post #1 of 42
6/23/12 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
So I was fortunate to find a vintage 50ml Dior Homme from 2008 for 50 bucks at a kiosk in the Florida Mall. I was cautious, but they really didn't appear to have any counterfeit fragrances there at all, and in fact had tons of rare vintage stuff that I'm positive was not counterfeit. Nonetheless, I made the lady open the box before I would buy it. The botle was flawless; no glass impurities, matching batch codes, nothing crooked or cheap looking, nice engraving/screenprinting, the sprayer worked, and it smells divine. It's a little bit weak after a few hours, but I think I have some anosmia from Lush. Happy with my purchase, I leave. Later, I open the box again and see this underneath the cardboard(which was made the same as the cardboard inside my other dior fragrances):



It looks ripped up and cheaply made. This made me feel like it may be vaguely possible that I have a counterfeit. Would Dior really make their packaging this crappy?

I also noticed that a few people mentioned that the tops of their sprayers are engraved with CD (though none of my other dior fragrances are) and mine isn't.



More photos:

Nice glass, nice engraving on tube:


Legible engraving on bottom of bottle:


Bottom of box:


What do you guys think? Have you ever seen packaging quality like this on an authentic fragrance? I have no reason to doubt its authenticity except for the packaging and the dealer from which I bought it.
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post #2 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:04pm
Looks fine to me.
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post #3 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:13pm
Per checkcosmetic, it's a January 2008 production.
Looks legit
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post #4 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:15pm
Thread Starter 
I'm not really thinking it's counterfeit because of how familiar I am with the fragrance through decants. I'm just wondering how quality could be so low on the box.
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post #5 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:17pm
Who cares about the inside of the box? Looks like you're looking to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (vintage DH).
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post #6 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameron View Post

Who cares about the inside of the box? Looks like you're looking to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (vintage DH).

Hahahaha! I guess you're right!
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post #7 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:23pm
Shame on Dior for their imperfect fragrance boxes (especially, the inner part where people never really see).
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post #8 of 42
6/23/12 at 9:32pm
LOL - I'm with cameron. Looks like you made a great kiosk buy. Just don't get complacent. The doggy bone of true kiosk defeat is always waiting to be snatched from the bored jaws of repeated vintage victory (er... or something like that).

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHaarlem View Post

Shame on Dior for their imperfect fragrance boxes (especially, the inner part where people never really see).

Makes me wonder where they're stamping the boxes.....
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post #9 of 42
6/23/12 at 10:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redneck Perfumisto View Post


Makes me wonder where they're stamping the boxes.....

I'll bet it starts with a "C" and ends with an "A."
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post #10 of 42
6/23/12 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

I'll bet it starts with a "C" and ends with an "A."

LOL

Christiandior Heavy Industries of Northeast Asia! I knew it!
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post #11 of 42
6/24/12 at 12:42am
How is the sprayer on your bottle? If it isn't just short of an open fire hydrant, then you might need to be worried.
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post #12 of 42
6/24/12 at 1:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

I'll bet it starts with a "C" and ends with an "A."

Canada? Yes, yes! BLAME CANADA!!!

I wish I could find Dior Homme Intense, even at full price. I know it's easy to find online, but sheesh, I'd like the chance to smell it first.
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post #13 of 42
6/24/12 at 3:45am
Shabby box but the bottle looks fine. Good thing about the vintage DH is the high quality ingredients especially that iris blast up front.
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post #14 of 42
6/24/12 at 4:43am
Another day...another DHI thread, and this time it's about a box


Yawn.
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post #15 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:17am
It has Arabic writing on it.
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post #16 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tropics View Post

Another day...another DHI thread, and this time it's about a box


Yawn.

LOL! at least it wasnt about reformulation!!!!!!!

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Quote:
Originally Posted by swix View Post

Canada? Yes, yes! BLAME CANADA!!!

I wish I could find Dior Homme Intense, even at full price. I know it's easy to find online, but sheesh, I'd like the chance to smell it first.

You can get decants from folks here and on Crystal Flacon.
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post #17 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameron View Post

LOL! at least it wasnt about reformulation!!!!!!!

- - - Updated - - -



You can get decants from folks here and on Crystal Flacon.

Dior Homme was reformulated??? Why weren't there any threads posted about this blasphemy? I hope they don't reformulate DHI too!
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post #18 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:46am
deleted
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post #19 of 42
6/24/12 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mesaboogie View Post

How is the sprayer on your bottle? If it isn't just short of an open fire hydrant, then you might need to be worried.

It's something like Creed's atomizers but it works smoother. It also doesn't seem to want to pop off. I think I'm okay - this is the nicest atomizer I've used and the fragrance is wonderful.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tropics View Post

Another day...another DHI thread, and this time it's about a box


Yawn.

Hey! This one is about the EDT, not intense. Intense(and the reformulated EDT) is way too sweet for me.

Plus, I'm allowed. I've never started a thread about Creed or A*Men Pure anything. I should get an award.

Quote:
Originally Posted by swix View Post

Canada? Yes, yes! BLAME CANADA!!!

I wish I could find Dior Homme Intense, even at full price. I know it's easy to find online, but sheesh, I'd like the chance to smell it first.

I'm sure somebody has already PMed you about sending you a sample of it by now, cause that's the way basenotes works, but if not, you can always order a sample from the perfumed court.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Hunter View Post

Shabby box but the bottle looks fine. Good thing about the vintage DH is the high quality ingredients especially that iris blast up front.

I know. There's really no way in hell this is fake juice unless it's just diluted, in which case I don't think it would last as long as my sample.
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post #20 of 42
6/24/12 at 8:06am
In my opinion: looks legit to me too.
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post #21 of 42
6/24/12 at 8:12am
Looks legit...
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post #22 of 42
6/24/12 at 8:24am
You're fine enjoy the juice.
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post #23 of 42
6/24/12 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swix View Post

Canada? Yes, yes! BLAME CANADA!!!

LOL

Now, now. Love thy neighbor.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jojo Lapin X View Post

It has Arabic writing on it.

I knew it! Made in Çaudiarabia!

Quote:
Originally Posted by mesaboogie View Post

Dior Homme was reformulated??? Why weren't there any threads posted about this blasphemy? I hope they don't reformulate DHI too!

LMAO

Quote:
Originally Posted by neal View Post

deleted

LOL (& seconded)!

Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

Hey! This one is about the EDT, not intense. Intense(and the reformulated EDT) is way too sweet for me.

Plus, I'm allowed. I've never started a thread about Creed or A*Men Pure anything. I should get a fucking award.

*gasping with laughter*

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post #24 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:23pm
I would go back to that kiosk and raise hell about this!!!
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post #25 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by heperd View Post

I would go back to that kiosk and raise hell about this!!!

LOL

I would pay to see the video of that!
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post #26 of 42
6/24/12 at 5:41pm
Don't blame Dior, blame the kiosk. I've never been seriously screwed by a kiosk vendor (other than the time I paid almost $80 for a bottle of Dali), but I suspect that at the end of each day they repackage the stuff they've opened trying to make a sale. Just a couple of spritzes lost, no big deal, they rationalize to themselves.I can't think of a possible explanation for shoddy packaging leaving the Dior factory floor, other than astronomically long odds.
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post #27 of 42
6/24/12 at 8:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snafoo View Post

Don't blame Dior, blame the kiosk. I've never been seriously screwed by a kiosk vendor (other than the time I paid almost $80 for a bottle of Dali), but I suspect that at the end of each day they repackage the stuff they've opened trying to make a sale. Just a couple of spritzes lost, no big deal, they rationalize to themselves.I can't think of a possible explanation for shoddy packaging leaving the Dior factory floor, other than astronomically long odds.

It appeared factory sealed with the CD sticker when I was fondling it on the shelf, but the bottom bit was a bit loose. She still had to pretty much rip it for me to verify it was authentic and there was no juice in the tube (she had to spray it a few times to get it to start coming out).

I knew it was real the second the juice hit the card, though.
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post #28 of 42
6/24/12 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

I knew it was real the second the juice hit the card, though.

Wise words - I wish I could frame these for every person who has ever wondered if they had a fake.

The bottom line is that an experienced nose is damn hard to fool, and if you either know the scent by heart, or have access to the real McCoy for a side-by-side, you can tell if something isn't right. Nine plus times out of ten, it's the real thing.

Industry perfumers can actually tell when the technicians make a concentration error mixing up the juice. Most of the time, when the perfumer suspects an error, the perfumer turns out to be right.
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post #29 of 42
6/25/12 at 12:01am
I have a vintage M7 that came in a box far dodgier than that, and I have no questions about its authenticity...just that the box is weird. Maybe it was the end of a batch or something. It happens.
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post #30 of 42
6/25/12 at 1:06am
So, Dior sometimes use cheap glue for their boxes. Oh the shame, how could they. I would like to state, I own the original release and my box is okay, no doubt proper vintage glue.






Only joking. LOL
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post #31 of 42
6/25/12 at 4:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redneck Perfumisto View Post

Wise words - I wish I could frame these for every person who has ever wondered if they had a fake.

The bottom line is that an experienced nose is damn hard to fool, and if you either know the scent by heart, or have access to the real McCoy for a side-by-side, you can tell if something isn't right. Nine plus times out of ten, it's the real thing.

Industry perfumers can actually tell when the technicians make a concentration error mixing up the juice. Most of the time, when the perfumer suspects an error, the perfumer turns out to be right.

You know, I've been theorizing that many of the fragrances at closeout stores are accidentally ruined batches of fragrance. I really liked Buberry Brit limited edition once when I tried it in a Dillard's somewhere, then bought it from Ross some time later. It was incredibly unbalanced and soapy, so I returned it. Smelled it at Dillard's again - Christmas. The same thing happened to me with Dirty English, too.
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post #32 of 42
6/25/12 at 4:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

You know, I've been theorizing that many of the fragrances at closeout stores are accidentally ruined batches of fragrance. I really liked Buberry Brit limited edition once when I tried it in a Dillard's somewhere, then bought it from Ross some time later. It was incredibly unbalanced and soapy, so I returned it. Smelled it at Dillard's again - Christmas. The same thing happened to me with Dirty English, too.

I've wondered the same. I remember when I was younger, stores like Marshalls would carry name brand stuff but it had an "imperfection" such as a mis-stitch that made it unsellable at retail...so it was sold with markdown at a place like Marshalls.

I wonder if some of these some of these perfumarama and perfumania stocked frags have similar imperfections such as the box issue described above.
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post #33 of 42
6/25/12 at 4:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameron View Post

I've wondered the same. I remember when I was younger, stores like Marshalls would carry name brand stuff but it had an "imperfection" such as a mis-stitch that made it unsellable at retail...so it was sold with markdown at a place like Marshalls.

I wonder if some of these some of these perfumarama and perfumania stocked frags have similar imperfections such as the box issue described above.

The thing is, a company like Dior takes itself seriously as a luxury brand and would not want poor renditions of their products out there. Chandler Burr's book The Perfect Scent goes into this topic quite well.
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post #34 of 42
6/25/12 at 4:31pm
That's a very good point Surfacing. I just think of the gray market stuff that's out there...
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post #35 of 42
6/25/12 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameron View Post

That's a very good point Surfacing. I just think of the gray market stuff that's out there...

Oh, yes, I get what you were saying now. There are alot of other brands out there and yeah......it does make you wonder.

I don't consider TJ Maxx and Marshalls ( ...etc) to be grey market, however. Is F-Net and others sites grey market ? I am not sure. But I do consider all those power sellers on eBay to be grey market for sure. And I have in the past recieved some bad or "off" juice from them.
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post #36 of 42
6/25/12 at 4:45pm
I don't know the true definition of grey market, and can't speak for Dior's practices, but I've thought sometimes certain employees can "go into business for themselves" by taking some extra batches and selling grey market.

Fragrances executives living in penthouses: "destroy those 10,000 bottles of ____ the box has an imperfection"
Factory manager: "really? the juice in there is still good" "ok I will destroy all the bottles if you insist"
Factory manager on phone to ____.com "Yeah these retail for $100 but I can sell to you for $30 each"

Profit of $300,000 for factory manager (or other non-exec)
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post #37 of 42
6/25/12 at 6:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

You know, I've been theorizing that many of the fragrances at closeout stores are accidentally ruined batches of fragrance. I really liked Buberry Brit limited edition once when I tried it in a Dillard's somewhere, then bought it from Ross some time later. It was incredibly unbalanced and soapy, so I returned it. Smelled it at Dillard's again - Christmas. The same thing happened to me with Dirty English, too.

It could very well be. I also think that there could be a problem with stuff that is hitting expiration/return dates, winding up with discounters. On gift sets with expiration dates on the body products, I will often find that they appeared on the discounter's shelf right around the expiration date. Whether that is happening with or without the knowledge of the maker - I don't know.

I also suspect that there could be a problem with counterfeits being returned in place of originals, since introducing one more layer of uncertainty makes it an easier crime to pull of than selling a counterfeit directly to a knowledgeable consumer. The bad bottle then gets sold to an unsuspecting customer, who wonders where the quality has gone.
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post #38 of 42
6/26/12 at 1:31am
People really need to stop worrying as much about Dior Homme.
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post #39 of 42
6/26/12 at 4:12pm
Yes. Definitely.
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post #40 of 42
6/26/12 at 5:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovingthealien View Post

I'll bet it starts with a "C" and ends with an "A."

Blame Canada!

My only question: does she have any more?

- - - Updated - - -

I now see I'm a little late to the Blame Canada party
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post #41 of 42
6/26/12 at 8:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fragranceman88 View Post

People really need to stop worrying as much about Dior Homme.

LOL

But I miss Dior Homme mania so much. It's the only fragrance to ever have a "versus" thread with itself!
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post #42 of 42
9/8/12 at 5:28am
Counterfeit products are no laughing matter.
The bottle looks fine.
// By the way, the old DHI juice contains impurities and particles of dust.
If I ended up with such a box, and I made sure it's genuine, I would NEVER buy a Dior product again. I am not even kidding.
Chanel's products are always impeccable, beautifully done to the last detail.
I expect the same from Dior.
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