Dior Mitzah

The recent 10 additions to Dior’s exclusive range have been met with lukewarm reviews at best.  Each fragrance in Dior La Collection could easily be called “good” but what most perfume enthusiasts are reacting to is that fact that the exclusive range should, by definition, be a step above mainstream releases.

If Dior Mitzah was instead a new mainstream release from Dior, available at every Sephora worldwide, which is to say easy to find, and available in smaller less expensive bottles, I would think many perfume enthusiasts and bloggers would have sung its praises.   

I’m going to put aside expectations of what a fragrance in Dior’s exclusive range should smell like and instead evaluate Mitzah as ‘any old’ perfume released in 2010.  Here’s the thing: Dior Mitzah is a beautiful amber.  It isn’t particularly unique and I’d classify it as a functional fragrance, but it’s one helluvah gorgeous and wearable amber oriental.

I’ve noticed myself leaning towards functional fragrances over the past year.  In an effort to pare down my collection (somewhat) I’ve begun pinpointing those fragrances I love and readily wear from within each fragrance category.  I have a lot of amber orientals.  Over the years, amber orientals have been my truest love.  Recently, a great number of my favorite amber fragrances suddenly smelled too sweet, a little cloying and very, very, musty-dusty to me.  I can’t explain this change and believe me it was a pretty sad realization at first.  What I’ve come to find is that I now require a very specific sort of amber fragrance.  Ambers I love lately need to be fairly dry, slightly herbal, and not too heavy, with some spice and incense.  The ambers I’ve been happy with this fall are Alahine, Histoires de Parfums Ambre 114, Agent Provocateur Strip, Calvin Klein Obsession and maybe one or two others I’m forgetting.   

Dior Mitzah hits the spot perfectly.  While it doesn’t break especially new ground, what it does for me is fix every other amber out there that’s either “too sweet” or “too heavy” or “too musty-dusty” or “too-foodie” and instead nails the perfect balance of what I think an amber oriental should be.  Mitzah wears like a sheer veil instead of a blanket; it’s present yet light.  Mitzah has touches of sweetness but it never reaches foodie realm.  Mitzah avoids the musty-dusty aspect many ambers fall prey to (this might be due to “Ambre 83,” discussed more in two blogs listed below) .  Mitzah is not a spice-fest like Ambre Sultan or Arabie, it’s much much (much) smoother.  I’m telling you what it isn’t, but I should also tell that it is a velvety, dry, softly spicy herbaceous amber that is dreamy.  I wasn’t blown away by Mitzah the first time I tried it because it’s quite similar to so many other ambers out there.  Once you’ve smelled a few ambers, you pretty much get the idea, and everything that starts off like a typical amber seems a bit generic.  Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan might stick out from the pack because they are so bold.  Mitzah isn’t bold; it’s tame, functional and effortlessly wearable.   I think it's gorgeous.

Notes include:  coriander, cinnamon, amber, rose, patchouli, incense, vanilla, and honey

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