Christian Dior Gris Montaigne Perfume Review

First, winners of last week’s giveaway of a Tom Ford Shanghai Lily sample – Murai, Aubrey, Fearsmice, Tiara, wefadetogray and CC.  Click on the Drop Us a Note clear at the top or e-mail  me at patty at perfumeposse dawtcom (spooged to avoid spambots), and send me your address and remind me what you’ve won, and I’ll give you a quick confirm e-mail so you know it didn’t get lost, and then I’ll get it e-mailed out.

Hey, this fall is starting out great with fragrances.  Yeah, I know it’s not quite fall, but close enough for me to pretend, so hush!  I’m going to Pitti in Florence, Italy, next month, so I’m pretty darn cheery at this point just thinking about it.  Neela Vermeire Ashoka, Tom Ford Shanghai Lily are perfection. Now add Dior Gris Montaigne to that list as it becomes part of Collection Privee.

Notes of bergamot, rose, patchouli, amber, cedarwood, sandalwood and oakmoss make up Dior Gris Montaigne.  Christian Dior loved pink and grey, the combination was his favorite, and it permeated his showroom, home, and his design, and Demachy wanted to interpret that color.  Dior Gris Montaigne feels very much like a grey-encased rose. I mean that in the best possible way.  

When I was in Sikkim in India, the place we were staying had this amazing view – everyone told me about it ahead of time, you have to see the pink Himalayas, it ie exquisite.  Got there, ran to the roof to look. and it was cloudy and rainy and cold. Stayed that way the whole time we were there, until the last day.  We woke up that morning and went up to the roof, and you could see a bit of white and pink. We sorta gasped as we realized that it was the Himalayas! Those clouds kept lifting, and the beautiful pink Himalayan mountains emerged slowly from the gray clouds above and dark gray mist below. This is the apex of our view, but it was spreading out on both sides, and it literally brought tears to my eyes because it really was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.  We snapped pictures and sat and stared for the 20 minutes we had with them.  This is just one small picture, and it starts my very strong yearning to go back  India felt like home from the minute I stepped into that clanging, noisy, sensory assaulting land, and nothing has changed that.

Oh, yeah, Dior Gris Montaigne.  The pink rose shrouded in patchouli, amber and sandalwood.  It’s that sort of beautiful too, contrasts that aren’t sharp, they  just seem to go together. The patchouli and sandalwood isn’t too strong, but it’s got enough firepower to pull down the over sweetness you usually get with rose – for those of you that hate rose fragrances, you ought to try this one.  It starts out all rosy, but then I’d be hard pressed, if I didn’t know it was the main note, to think of this as a rose perfume.  Beautiful, elegant, it’s the Dior pink ball gown floomped in the corner after one too many glass of champagne, but you’re not quite ready to go home yet.

I’m a huge fan, and it’s now joined the Tom Ford Shanghai Lily on my August perfume rotation, and that reminds me I need to throw some Grand Bal and Le Labo Ylang  in there just so I don’t get tired of any of my favorite little beauties!  Christian Dior Gris Montaigne is available at Dior boutiques, and I’ll plug my favorite Dior person to order from, Massiel at Dior Boutique in Las Vegas – 702-734-1102. She’s awesome and will fix you right up if you want some.

Of course we have a giveaway!  We’ll do six winners from comments.  Of the Collection Privee, which are your favorites, or have you tried any yet?  Grand Bal, Gris Montaigne and Bois d’Argent are my absolute favorites out of all of them.  And Eau Noire too!  Okay, my top four.