Surprise! Rihanna Is the New Face of This Super-Iconic 1999 Dior Fragrance

When we think of Rihanna, we think of her multi-hyphenate status. She's a singer-songwriter. She's a businesswoman. (do Fenty Beauty, Fenty Hair, and Savage X Fenty ring a bell?) She's also a certified pop culture icon. Now, she has another role to add to her résumé. She's the new face of a super-iconic perfume that first hit the market in 1999—Dior's J'adore Eau de Parfum.
If you're like us, you associate J'adore with the perfume's longtime muse, Charlize Theron, and that's for good reason. Theron was the face of the fragrance for 20 years. We can see the iconic commercial now. Theron, dripping in a slinky gold gown, saunters toward the camera…
Rihanna stepped into the role with a new ad campaign that's just as sumptuous and resplendent as any that came before it. There's radiant makeup (seen in the image above), a golden gown, and a palatial setting. Keep scrolling to see Rihanna's first ad campaign and learn more about this iconic fragrance.
The Campaign Video
In the campaign video, Rihanna sashays through Versailles—yes, really. She enters through the golden gates before changing into a necklace and gown, both designed by Dior Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri. She struts through the famous Hall of Mirrors and down the Grand Canal. The association isn't lost on us. Rihanna, a queen, has been coronated as the face of this iconic fragrance.
The Original
Notes: ylang-ylang, damascena rose, jasmine sambac, Grasse jasmine
The original J'adore is a sophisticated floral fragrance. It opens with a creamy note of ylang-ylang before settling into a classic combination of rose and jasmine. Reviewers describe it as sexy yet delicate and fit for a boss. Need we say more?
The New J'adore l'Or
Notes: orange blossom, jasmine grandiflorum, centifolia rose
This ad campaign also features a new version of J'adore called the J'adore l'Or Eau de Parfum. (L'or is French for gold.) It was created by Francis Kurkdjian, the creative director of Parfums Dior, whose name you might recognize from his eponymous fragrance house Maison Francis Kurkdjian. This new version of J'adore pays homage to the original and is heightened with a bright, sun-kissed note of orange blossom.
"This perfume is to die for," says one reviewer. "Listen, whenever I wear this perfume, I feel expensive. I feel successful. It's such an 'old money' scent that … will never feel out of place or out of season when you wear it. The bottle is so pretty, and it's very well designed, so you won't have to worry about it spilling or wasting."
Shop 5 More Dior Beauty Products We Love
Kaitlyn McLintock is a Beauty Editor at Who What Wear. She has 10 years of experience in the editorial industry, having previously written for other industry-leading publications, like Byrdie, InStyle, The Zoe Report, Bustle, and others. She covers all things beauty and wellness-related, but she has a special passion for creating skincare content (whether that's writing about an innovative in-office treatment, researching the benefits of a certain ingredient, or testing the latest and greatest at-home skin device). Having lived in Los Angeles, California, and Austin, Texas, she has since relocated back to her home state, Michigan. When she's not writing, researching, or testing beauty products, she's working through an ever-growing book collection or swimming in the Great Lakes.
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