Poison is a perfume for women introduced by

Parfums Christian Dior Parfums Christian Dior is the perfumery and cosmetics (makeup and skincare) line of the French fashion house, Christian Dior SE. However, the line belongs to the perfumes and cosmetics portfolio of the world's largest luxury group, the LVMH Group ...

in 1985. The popularity of the scent made it become a brand in its own right and resulted in the subsequent release of five

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

fragrances: Tendre Poison, Hypnotic Poison, Pure Poison, Midnight Poison, and Poison Girl.

Concept

By 1980,

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...

was enjoying robust product sales in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. At the time, the company was one of the top two cosmetics companies in the region. However, they were not able to achieve the same level of success in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

cosmetics market, as they were ranked as the twentieth best selling cosmetics company in United States. In order to close the gap between

's sales on both sides of the Atlantic, the company's president Maurice Roger commissioned a blockbuster fragrance that would dominate the American market. Dior invested heavily in meticulous research and development. Dior developed a savvy marketing strategy based on the controversial name of Yves Saint Laurent's top-selling fragrance,

Opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

. The company wanted a name for the new fragrance that would generate massive publicity and, in turn, sales. In 1983, Dior licensed the name Poison.

The scent

After testing approximately 800 scents created by independent perfumers,

selected a bombastic fragrance created by perfumier Edouard Flechier. It was a scent unlike any other with notes of wild berries, sandalwood, musk, jasmine, orange blossom, coriander,

vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to sorghum while sharing many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...

, pepper, cedar, cinnamon, rosewood, plum, heliotrope,

tuberose ''Agave amica'', formerly ''Polianthes tuberosa'', the tuberose, is a perennial plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, extracts of which are used as a Note (perfumery), note in perfumery. Now widely grown as an ornamental plant, ...

, vanilla, rose de mai absolute, cistus labdanum and opopanax.

Bottle design

The bottle was researched in depth. A unique bottle was crafted for Poison and designed to look like

forbidden fruit In Abrahamic religions, forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden that God commands mankind Taboo#In religion and mythology, not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the know ...

. The color of the apple shaped bottle is a deep shade of

amethyst Amethyst is a Violet (color), violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek from - , "not" and (Ancient Greek) / (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from Alcohol into ...

, and the neck is gold with a crystal stopper.

Marketing

On its 1985 release, the brand ambassador for the fragrance was French actor

Isabelle Adjani Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She has received various accolades, including five César Awards and a Lumière Award, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. ...

. She remained the face of the advertising campaign for several years.

Awards

Poison won a FiFi Award in 1987.

Variants of Poison

Tendre Poison

In 1994, Flechier created a follow-up fragrance called Tendre Poison which he designed for a more youthful demographic. The spokesmodels were Paul Sculfor and Laurence Vanhaeverbeke.

Hypnotic Poison

Hypnotic Poison was created launched in 1998. Created by perfumer Annick Menardo the fragrance is an oriental vanilla scent. The top notes are

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

with

jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...

and

lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' ), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

middle notes. The base notes are

musk Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ' ...

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...

and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

. Spokesmodels for the fragrance include actors

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model who began her career as a fashion model before working in Italian, American, and French films. She has an eclectic filmography in a range of genres and langua ...

and

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...

. Most recently French actor

Mélanie Laurent Mélanie Laurent (; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress and filmmaker. She has received two César Awards and a Lumière Award. Internationally, Laurent is known for her roles in ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009), '' Now You See Me'' (2013 ...

appeared in a commercial directed by

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

Pure Poison

Pure Poison was created by Carlos Benaim, Dominique Ropion and Olivier Polge in 2004. The fragrance is bergamot,

orange blossom The orange blossom is the fragrant flower of the orange (fruit), ''Citrus sinensis'' (orange tree). It is used in perfume making and has been written about as an aphrodisiac. Orange blossom Essential oil, essence is an important component in ...

white musk White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wavelen ...

and

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

. In 2006, Dior released ''Pure Poison Elixir'', an updated version of the fragrance, in a spray bulb

mother of pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

bottle. The scent became more nuanced with the addition of cocoa bean absolute. The spokesmodel was Letícia Birkheuer.

Midnight Poison

In 2007, with

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...

at the helm of the House of Dior, a fifth fragrance was added to the series. ''Midnight Poison'' was contained in a sapphire blue bottle. The scent was created by Jacques Cavallier, Olivier Cresp and François Demanchy. The top note are

and bergamot. The middle notes are

. The base notes are

patchouli Patchouli (also spelled patchouly or pachouli; ; '' Pogostemon cablin'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, commonly called the mint or deadnettle family. The plant grows as a bushy perennial herb, with erect stems reachin ...

and

. The spokesmodel for the fragrance is actor

Eva Green Eva Gaëlle Green (; ; born ) is a French British-based actress, known for appearing in blockbuster and independent films, in which she often portrays eccentric, villainous, and complex characters. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she ...

Poison Girl

In 2016, Dior released another variant of the original ''Poison'' perfume called Poison Girl. Created by perfumer François Demachy, the fragrance comes in a clear, pink bottle. It has a top note of bitter orange, a Grasse and Damascus Rose heart note, and a base note of Venezuelan tonka bean. The scent also has sandalwood, tolu balm, almond, and vanilla. The spokesmodel for the fragrance is

Camille Rowe Camille Chrystal Pourcheresse, known professionally as Camille Rowe, is a French-American model and actress. Early life Rowe was born in Paris, France to an American mother, who was a model and dancer at Le Lido club, and a French father, a pr ...

References

{{Parfums Christian Dior Dior perfumes 20th-century perfumes Products introduced in 1985 1985 in France