Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour joined La Collection Privée Christian Dior with the wave of new releases that came with its 2018 overhaul under the name Maison Christian Dior. François Demachy composed it. Dior files it among its fruity florals and describes it as a pear dessert: the roundness of the fruit, the freshness of rose accords, the velvet of a woody touch, and musky notes to soften it.

Brand: Christian Dior
Launch year: 2018
Perfumer: François Demachy
Gender: Unisex
Olfactory family: Floral
Secondary family: Fruity
Concentration: Eau de Parfum

Where to buy

Belle de Jour belongs to La Collection Privée Christian Dior, the line François Demachy composes as Dior Perfumer-Creator. Sortir à Paris counted it, in October 2017, among ten new releases that took the collection from twelve to twenty-two fragrances, on sale at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and in Dior boutiques.

The launch carried on into 2018. Prime Beauté announced it in February; in July, Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia described a collection rethought under the name Maison Christian Dior, extended to candles, soaps, creams and silk scarves to be perfumed, with no gender assignment.

A stolen kiss

Dior presents Belle de Jour as a charming wink, a stolen kiss: a seductive, sensual fragrance, coveted yet intimate and secret, worn as an asset of charm. The house associates it with the shades of yellow of a fruit ripening in the sun.

François Demachy sums up his idea in three materials: a juicy pear to be savored like a dessert, a rose, and a woody touch that keeps a hint of mystery. He credits it with a licentious, sexy and carnal charm.

Olfactory pyramid

Heart notesThe heart of the perfume
- Rose
- Pear
Base notesWhat lingers
- Woody notes
- Musk

Composition

Read the full composition

What critics say

Richard Goller (Fragroom, 2020) finds a fruity floral that is neither shrill nor syrupy, less “sexy” than Dior claims, but elegant in the true Dior manner.

Read what critics say