Diorella by Christian Dior c1972

Diorella by Christian Dior: created by Edmond Roudnitska, was launched in 1972. The name combining Dior's name was most probably inspired by Cinderella.

Nicole Depeyre, Christian Dior's public relations director for Asia and the pacific in 1975 said that "The trend is a return to nature. Our newest scent called 'Diorella', for example, was created to give women the feeling of freshness in spring. The content is filled with a mixture of Sicilian lemon, basil, Moroccan jasmine, honeysuckle, plum-tree, evernia, patchouli and a touch of amber. Women should also remember to reserve perfume for evenings only, and for daytime, use cologne."

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? This perfume is classified as a fresh, green floral chypre for women. It starts off with a light, cool, fresh top, followed by a radiant, cool floral heart, resting o a mossy base.

• Top notes: aldehydes, melon, green leaf note, estragon, lavender, Sicilian lime, Sicilian lemon, verbena, Italian bergamot, basil
• Middle notes: orange blossom,  lily, carnation, cyclamen, hyacinth, honeysuckle, peach, European rose, Moroccan jasmine
• Base notes: fern, sandalwood, tonka bean, amber, vetiver, oakmoss, patchouli, musk

Perfumery: Practice and Principles, 1994:

"Many of these materials were again used in the creation of Diorella (Dior 1972), a unique and brilliantly conceived perfume, built around the accord between patchouli, Hedione, Helional, and eugenol. The top note of Diorella is again dominated by lemon, verbena, bergamot, linalool, and linalyl acetate, with lavender and estragon. Apart from a small amount of rose, the floral side of the perfume consists mainly of an intense jasmin note including Hedione (10%), cis-Jasmone (2%), hexyl cinnamic aldehyde, benzyl acetate, and indol, with aldehyde C14 providing the fruity aspect. As in Eau  Sauvage, Helional (5%) and eugenol make an accord with the Hedione, carrying the essential character into the heart of the perfume in combination with the patchouli (6%), methyl ionone, vetiver, and a colorless oakmoss.. The richness of the perfume comes from the use of jasmin absolute and trace amounts of other natural products. Petitgrain citronnier and cardamom both work well in an olfactory reconstruction of the perfume. The “watery” character of Helional which plays an important part in the character of both au Sauvage and Diorella has subsequently been used in both the creation of cool fruity notes such as Calyx, and in modern “marine” notes based on Calone, such as New West and Escape."

The Leader-Post, 1973:

"Christian Dior announces a new perfume fragrance, Diorella, and calls it an echo of the times, "a coolly elegant understatement." The fragrance is said to be distinguished from others by possessing the freshness of toilet water yet having the lasting power of a perfume. Essential ingredients are bergamot, vetiver, Sicilian lemon, Moroccan jasmine, oakmoss, honeysuckle and patchouli. Diorella will be available in both perfumes and eau de toilette a year after the perfume. the later will come in a modern art-form bottle edged in steel and the toilette will be available in a bottle bearing a navy blue houndstooth pattern."

It was available in parfum an eau de toilette.

Soap, 1973:

"Described as a "sparkling green" fragrance, newly introduced "Diorella," Christian Dior Perfumes Corp., New York, is being made available both as perfume and eau de toilette. In either concentration, it is blended from vetiver, Sicilian bergamot, oak musk, fern, honeysuckle, jasmine, patchouli, and others. Touted as "a true modern perfume", Diorella is expected to appeal to both traditional users of concentrated scents and those desiring "the fresh clean smells of nature."

Vogue, 1973:

"A great new dazzler now is Diorella from Christian Dior, their latest fragrance that gets right to the heart of the modern woman. Breezy. Unaffected. Elegant, but relaxed about it. Deliciously feminine, but not shouting the obvious... However you take it, it's light, sparkling, dashed with the woodsiness of vetiver, fern, patchouli "

Mademoiselle, 1973:

"Scent Scene ON THE AIR: GOOD NEWS Does the idea of drifting about in cool shady forests scented with vetiver, jasmine and patchouli appeal to you? Then dip into a fresh, brand new perfume called Diorella Perfume Classic from Christian Dior."

Happyhome, 1976:

"Diorella — the new one from Dior. Expensive smelling, lighting and very good dressing table fodder. "

Bottles:

To open the classic Dior crystal flacon, use the following tip provided by Parfums Christian Dior themselves in 1963:

Should warm water on the bottle neck fail, tap the stopper gently with a knife handle; or try rubbing face cream or vaseline around neck of stopper.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Diorella, was still being sold in 1991, but was later discontinued for many years. But it was reformulated with modern ingredients and relaunched as a fruity floral fragrance for women in 2009 as part of Dior’s collection Les Creations de Monsieur Dior.

The new version's composition:

• Top notes: melon, Italian bergamot, Sicilian lemon, basil, and green leaves
• Heart notes: orange, peach, honeysuckle, rose, cyclamen, Moroccan jasmine, carnation
• Base notes: moss, patchouli, musk and Bourbon vetiver

Les Creations de Monsieur Dior Diorella is available as:

• 50ml eau de toilette
• 100ml eau de toilette