giovedì 2 gennaio 2014

DIOR HOMME INTENSE 2007-2013 : 9 BATCHES BlindTest.




(UPDATE: in this article you will read the "years 2007-2013" review: if you are interested in the "year 2014" updated review, then go HERE )

Dior Homme Intense is not a perfume, it's a rollercoaster ride. After the mid-year 2011 reformulation, we saw a U-turn back to origins, during year 2013. A pleasant news, since in 2013 it appeared exactly as in 2007. That's all right? Unfortunately not.
Suddenly, during last months of 2013, the scent appeared to be reformulated again, with a change in color, less intense, less "ambery", and almost "transparent". Another change in formula?
Let's go and see what happened.
(about batch numbers, you can read here: "how to recognize Christian Dior perfumes")
For this blind test we got nine different batches: in some case samples are bottles already used during previous test  ( here ), plus new bottles, and a 1ml sample, mostly provided by generous friends.

Here is the complete list of "players" (batch number):
7H01
8V01
9Y02
0V01
2N01
2U01 ( it's a 1ml sample)
3V01
3X02
3Y01

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A very early bottle produced in 2007 (left, batch 7H01),
confronting a year 2008 bottle.
First bottles missed the word "vaporisateur" on the front side.

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Four "Vintage" bottles.
All bottles sport the same "doors design" on the front of the box.

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a small sample batched 2U01 = July 2012

        Raiders of the Lost Scent
Confronting old and new design:
9Y02 = November 2009
3V01 = August 2013


Dior Homme vintage
8V01 = August 2008
2N01 = January 2012



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Dior Homme Intense (batch 3X02, on left),
confronting with a DH bottle (on right)
note the color, very light and pale


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DH (left) batch 3R01, DHI (right) batch 3X02
again, note the color, very light and pale


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DHI on left, DH on right


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DHI latest bottle available, 3Y01= November 2013


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RESULTS: 
Batches from 2007 to 2010 are really identical each other, with a crisp and beautiful vanilla-iris-chocolate accord, along with the best DHI tradition.
Batches 2N01 and 2U01 are different from others: the chocolate seems less solid, so the iris take the advantage. Thes batches appears more Iris-centered. It's a paradox: if you love mainly the Iris note, you should seek year 2012 batches. Rarely I found a strongest Iris note. However, it's still DHI, although reformulated: no doubt. It could be considered almost a DHI "flanker".
Year 2013:  this is the pivotal point. The strangest thing is that.... all three batches smell the same, and all three are pretty similar, if not identical, to the "Vintage" ones. Nonetheless, if you look at the juice of the last two batches (3X02 and 3Y01), it's appear almost "transparent".  Apparently, another reformulation occurred during last months of year 2013, but it seems not to have changed -luckily- the smell. Until now. 


CONCLUSION:
All "year 2013" DHI batches are solid. If you like DHI, buy any year 2013 batch: juice color apart, you will be not disappointed. 
But the question is : how long? It seems Dior is going on a rollercoaster ride, in an attempt to preserve DHI integrity.
I would add a personal anecdote: some time ago, I smelled two old bottles of "Eau Sauvage" by Christian Dior, dated, respectively, mid Seventies and Nineties.Well, smell was identical. During good, old times -after an almost 15 years span- perfumes were still identical. Of course, reformulations occurred in old ages, too; but perfumes remained the same.
Now, we have to test batches every 3-4 months to verify "reformulations". It's pure absurdity.
Two years ago DHI formula changed; today DHI color changes ...and tomorrow?
I'm glad to see Dior to have maintained intact DHI until now, but, I repeat: how long? 

23 commenti:

  1. ho un flacone 3x01 ma il colore è più ambrato non pallido sarebbe del 2013 ?

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. 3X01 è ottobre 2013, il flacone che è nelle foto era praticamente trasparente e l'ho fotografato accanto al Dior Homme tradizionale.. Non saprei spiegare il perchè, ma almeno l'aroma era lo stesso dei batches precedenti.

      Elimina
  2. Questo commento è stato eliminato dall'autore.

    RispondiElimina
  3. ottobre 2013 mi sembra che abbia ancora tutto il suo antico splendore almeno io non ho notato alcuna differenza con quello che avevo in passato

    RispondiElimina
  4. I have one from august 2013 -> 3V02
    Damn it is weak!! Need so many sprays for it too project good. My 2011 bottle is much stronger.

    RispondiElimina
  5. May i know which are really the newer batches in 2013 which is very close to the vintage ones . Anything 2013 or at a specific time / batch code in 2013? Because i have seen 3S01 & 3T02 but the juice colour is as dark as year 2012's 2N01 and not as light as 3X02 &
    3Y01. Are all the 2013 batches irrespective of colours all the same ? meaning smell very close to the vintage ones?

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Personally I did not find significant differences in all 2013 batches, apart the color.
      I would buy any 2013 batch without worrying. Smell like the vintage ones.
      In my opinion, there are REAL differences with batches from year 2012.

      Elimina
    2. Andre, have you tested any 2014 batch? I'm about to get one bottle from 4N03... ciao from Brazil

      Elimina
  6. I just bought one bottle of DHI 50 ml with the batch nr.4002, serial F047922709 and under the ingredients No 05443/A, made in France, is it legit or a fake?

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. probably you mean 4Q02, not 4002; and it means April, 2014.

      Elimina
  7. I have the 1X01 version - 2011
    Do you have any thoughts on this batch and how it varies from the vintage formulation?
    Thanks

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. It should be one of the batches characterized by a lot of iris/vanilla, and a small cocoa note..

      Elimina
  8. A bought it and the batch were covered or etched off from the box and bottle but I managed to look at it from the back of where it's meant to be and it looks like 4s01 . Could be fake ?

    RispondiElimina
  9. Hi, I saw a bottle for sale that is from 2008. Is it worth getting since its 7 years old? Check cosmetics says 3 year shelf life. It has not been opened. Is this the silver collar version? Let me know your thoughts. Also, would it be considered a fake if it comes with a cardboard slip around the box? It slides over the box. I never see those in stores... Thanks

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. Hi Bmore,
      usually fragrances are good for at least 50-60 years if properly stored. Therefore, a bottle from 2008 is perfectly worth of buying. You should check it before buying since Dior perfumes are often counterfeited.
      regards,
      Laura

      Elimina
  10. Hello ANDRE

    I saw about this site from BN. Can you direct me to someone , or perhaps yourself, that I would be able could buy a 100ml 2007 bottle from? I am willing to pay a premium , after all I've owned a vintage and the new 2014 formula and while the ladder is beautiful in its own right, and a lot closer to the vintage then any 2011 batchs it lacks that coco umph in the dry down I get from the vintage. I'm sure everyone asks for one , hopefully I'll be lucky enough that you'll have an extra aside.

    RispondiElimina
  11. Risposte
    1. hi,
      there are a lot of discussions about "vintage" bottles at the end of 2010/beginning of 2011. *apparently* all year 2010 bottles are vintage, despite of their collar.
      Laura

      Elimina
  12. I bought 3U02,and I like it a lot ;)

    RispondiElimina

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