Pure Poison was launched by Christian Dior in 2004, 6 years after Hypnotic Poison and nearly 20 years after the original Poison fragrance. It was created by perfumers Carlos Benaïm, Dominique Ropion and Olivier Polge, and has notes of jasmine, sweet orange, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, gardenia, sandalwood, musk and white amber.
Pure Poison attempts to appeal to modern sensibilities (and modern tastes in fragrance) while hanging on to the original conceit of Poison as the venom to catch your man:
Pure Poison — though very different from the original Poison, which launched in 1985 — is a modern spin on the same concept. It is designed to appeal to young women of the 21st century who are passionate, down to earth and able to turn their wildest dreams into reality, but lack the selfish front that characterised the 1980s. (via Cosmetics International; 7/9/2004)
It is rather a stretch conceptually: one might ask whether a down to earth, emotionally generous woman needs or wants a fragrance called Poison at all. For that matter, the fragrance itself cannot hope to live up to its name, for pure it might be, but there is nothing even remotely venomous about it. Such issues, of course, are entirely academic now that we have hundreds of new perfume launches each season; the concept hardly matters when nobody is listening. All the same, it is fun to imagine what Poison we'll get next. Ideas, anyone?
Pure Poison starts out strong and sweet, with hints of citrus, green notes and candied fruit fading into a fresh white floral. The sweetness calms as it dries down to a pale, almost-powdery blend of sandalwood, pale amber and lots of musk. It is not quite soapy, but it starts out clean and fresh and it stays that way, and to my nose, evokes some sort of scented body product; a body wash, perhaps, or hair conditioner. Like Tendre Poison, it is soft without being in the least delicate: it has impressive sillage, and the lasting power is excellent.
It is not to my taste, but all the same, it is a very wearable fragrance, perhaps more so even than Hypnotic Poison. But clean floral musks are easily found; of all of the Poisons, it strikes me as the least unusual.
A 30 ml bottle of Pure Poison is 31 at fragrancex.
Baby Poison, Clean Poison, Sparkling Poison, Glittering Poison…gosh, who knows what they will come up with next. Hopefully. Dior will create a new fragrance entirely, not connected to Poison at all. But if they decide to continue the Poison saga, I dare them to create Poison Extreme.
Or…Opium and Poison could merge and create a massive overdose.
I think it's time for them to create a whole collection all at once, as Gendarme did with Seven Sinful Scents: call them Arsenic, Strychnine, Cyanide, Thallium, Ricin….
Pure Poison is maybe the least interesting scent Dior ever, ever concocted: it certainly can't hold a candle to the brilliant, never-before, never-since Poison.
Hehe, I like Baby Poison! How about Posion Sport? Summer or Light Poison?
How about an oxymoron….Poison Antidote?
This would work for me, since the original fragrance did an ugly dance with my skin chemistry and produced something poisonous indeed!
And Addict could join in…
Perfect!!
LOL! You guys are on a roll today.
Rat Poison.
Of course
Waitaminnit … where's Poison for Him? Long overdue IMHO. Throw some leather in there.
I dislike the name too, and the ugly milky-white bottle. The juice is wearable. Despite its generic character, Pure Poison is one of the few department store florals I like.
Hey, very good point!
It is aptly named. BTW, is the ad a picture of a model or Prince?
A model.
Funny, I don't like the bottle in white either. Not sure why, I don't mind it in the other colors.
How about:
Poison Apple?
Poison Arrow?
a joint release with Brittany Spears, Toxic Poison?
LOL — Toxic Poison takes the prize!
Who is the model for the Dior Pure Poison advert?
I'm afraid I have no idea.
Leticia Birkheuer is the model!
7th richest person in Brazil too!!
Mmmmmm! NICE!
Thanks!
Hi! I'm new here… do you think pure poison qualifies as sexy. seductive? Malaysia doesnt have midnight poison, while tendre poison is too strong for me… i'm tryin to decide cos estee lauder intuition is quite nice too. i like sexy kind of smell.. poison seems to fall in dat group
Hi and welcome! You know, Pure Poison doesn't strike me as sexy, but that is such a personal thing. If you find it sexy and it makes you feel sexy wearing it, that is what matters. You might also like this article about sexy perfumes:
http://tinyurl.com/yvjvfl
Thanks! I'll read it later cos I'm only dropping by for awhile ;D
Hello all, just signed up! I recently bought the original Poison at Boscov's Dept. store. Was VERY disappointed that it did NOT smell the same as I remembered. Has it been reformulated? Smells like its been mixed with an old perfume my grandmother used to wear called Emerude. Does anyone know where I can get the original formulation & where- if at all? Any help would be greatly appreceiated! I LOVE perfumes.
Hi and welcome! Nearly everything has been reformulated to some extent, so it is unlikely that Poison hasn't. You could try looking for vintage bottles on ebay, but I don't know how well Poison holds up over time so that is risky.
It is possible you'd be happier with the Esprit de Parfum. I don't think they export that to the US anymore, but again, perhaps you'll get lucky on ebay, or if you're really desperate, you could have it shipped from France.
My favorite one of the Poison series. I have of the series the original Poison, Hypnotic Poison and just recently got Midnight Poison. Tendre Poison I will probably get as well. I love Christian Dior perfumes. I also have Jadore (a favorite of my boyfriend's on me), Miss Dior Cherie and both Addicts (love them equally depending on mood-sexy or carefree) .
The other Poisons you have to be careful applying because they are so strong but with Pure Poison that is not a problem. I like its simplicity-it's hard to break down what is in it exactly but it's sharp without being overpowering like the other Poisons.
Jenny
We are opposites then: it is probably my least favorite of the bunch. At the moment, Hypnotic is my favorite, Midnight is second.
I'm an avid devotee of both Poison and Hypnotic Poison. But I've always hated Pure Poison. It smells like Toilet Freshener. As Robin said… clean floral musk. Toilet Freshener.
I do love thewhite bottle though, it's purdy.
And for what it's worth I've always hated the name Poison, and I wear the juice in spite of its unfortunate nomenclature.
The bottle is pretty in white, agree!
This is magic! It is soft and sweet, but not to sweet. The lasting power is great. I love this one!
Glad you like it
Poor Pure Poison-it is a white zinfandel in a room of aged cabernets. I just bought it. I deliberately did not read any reviews on it so I wouldn't be influenced. I liked the sample I got from Sephora.
I am hurt most perfumistas are so disenchanted.
Pure Poison is like Cruel Gardenia, not just in character but in name. Rather than being Oxymoronic, I think they are perfect. Poison has to entice for anyone to take the bait, and once it does, by it's white purity and harmless facade, you have been smitten, it is more dangerous then it first appeared.
The bottle isn't milky white, it is opalescent.
It is damned hard to make a white floral that isn't cloying or overtly sweet.
It is simple, so what if it doesn't have absinthe or blackened dead roses or essence of Russian black caviar from specially bred sturgeons raised on a diet of sauteed scallops and four leaf clovers?
My date told me he could smell my skin all night. Now that's the kind of praise I want, (can't say the same for the guy).
Cruel Gardenia-$230
Pure Poison-$70
Most consumer feedback is positive, that probably makes Dior happy.
The worse thing is, now I smell it and hear criticism about my taste and I want to be a good little perfumista. I'm generally sweet, kind, and pretty, just like P.P.
The only thing wanting in my purchase is a little more snap, just like I sometimes have.
But I really do like ya'll, I have to become less sensitive-la de da la de da.
Becca
Becca, you have to become WAY less sensitive. I like tons of things that don't qualify as masterpieces and/or that other perfumistas might turn their nose up at. Who cares? Wear what you like.
https://nstperfume.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/10/3567031.html
wow, where do you get your toilet freshener?
Thank you! I feel so much better.What a truly well written and great no nonsense article. It should be a prerequisite to posting on this blog.
In all honesty, it wasn't you I was ticked by, nor was it just Pure Poison. So many bloggers put down so many mainstream fragrances, that my little tirade had been building up. You'll describe a fragrance and I'll think of how pretty it sounds, and then along with the curious, the vultures will descend. I think a few people won't post for the same reason you wrote about-fear of feeling so green or having, GASP, horrible taste. I admire the people who comment anyway.
By the way, just to make me feel extra better, what is one of your favorite so not snobby pleasures? I almost said “guilty” but that would ruin the whole point wouldn't it?
All smiles, :-)))))
Becca
Becca, so many mainstream fragrances seem uninspired & derivative — it's hard not to put them down sometimes. I'm guilty of that too. But seriously, I don't think it matters if you love something. Everything doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Kai is no masterpiece, and I wear it, and I always bring up Body Time's Egyptian Musk, which I love, and really there are probably too many for me to mention here. It's impossible to blog about fragrance and never offend anybody, I think.
If all fragrances were masterpieces there would be no need for a blog. It is fun to poke at the ridiculous, which I admit there are and I have. Some comments make me lol plenty. And who doesn't need humor?
I bought some cheap Brittany Spears Curious the other day and mixed it with a drop of Youth Dew, and I actually liked it. Weird and Funny gets you by.
Thanks : D
Becca
if toilet freshener smelt like this i would buy it by the crate load .This is my favourite fragrance, whats wrong with liking fruity florals anyway? not that this is exactly. It smells exactly like my childhood christmasses, fir trees and candles and orange zest with a hint or christmas pudding. The bottle is great too, pearly. Best fragrance i’ve ever come across, but i’m heavily biased against honking musky sandalwood fragrances that assault your nasal passages like a punch.
There’s nothing at all wrong with liking fruity florals, although for some time the industry has just been producing more of them than I think the world needs…but PP is not a fruity floral, not that that matters either. Glad you love it in any case!
Robin, do you know of anything that would make a die hard Pure Poison fan happy? I mean my aunt hasn’t worn anything else but Pure since it was released and I want to get her something right up the same alley. I stink at the moment and can’t think of anything. Her bday is Sunday so I have to think of something quick. Thanks so much for any help! : )
If she is a die hard Pure Poison fan, I wouldn’t give her anything else. How about the body lotion, or the Pure Poison Elixir? This also looks nice:
http://www.beautyencounter.com/3348900747708.html
Oh thanks so much Robin! Great suggestion! Yeah I’m kinda afraid she’d kill me if I try to get her something else. LOL! : )
My best friend loved pure poison and recommended it to me. I ended up buying it at a perfume shop in my neighborhood and instantly fell in love it was a deep slightly old-fashioned fragrant floral the enveloped all my senses. A few days after that we wandered into a local sephora and the tester smelled completely different it smelled fresh more fruity and gave me a headache. I came to a conclusion that maybe i bought an old bottle. Does anyone know if it may have been reformulated since it’s debut??
I don’t know, but nearly everything else on earth has, so probably.
It tempted me this winter, funny thing, because I am such a dark fragrances fan. Still, I am afraid to buy it because when I tested it I realised it smells so much like everything else on the market. And I am not particularly sure I want to smell like every second lady in the underground. I admit Middnight Poison has been in my perfume collection for some time because it had something incredibly naughty on my skin and I used to use it for emotional boosting. Hahah
But original “Poison” said “No” to me and the amount of Vanila in “Hypnotic” one made my head spin a bit.
I like both Midnight & Hypnotic Poison. Pure never did grow on me, and you’re right, it’s not all that unusual at this point.