halfwhiteboy

I got this at the height of the pandemic in 2020, not knowing that it's been discontinued (or maybe it wasn't yet at the time). Since I love patchouli in fragrances, I never bothered looking it up and just jumped the gun. The irony is I never even opened it until recently. From the very first spray, patchouli barges in with all its woody and earthy glory, firmly establishing its dominance, as if making it clear that Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu is absolutely a patchouli-centric fragrance. What I love about this creation is how it's expertly layered with several different supporting notes—some obvious, others imperceptible to my nose. It's never one-dimensional. It's a composition with depth without stealing the patchouli's thunder—at least at the onset.

So we get another "Soleil" release from Tom Ford and every time, my wife and I end up nabbing a bottle. We probably must like each one enough for us to do so. Anyway, true to its name,  Soleil de Feu certainly has that summer vibe going on—and I'm all for it. 

I know Tom Ford fragrances are often criticized for being overpriced (more so now with Estee Lauder jacking prices up) and for no longer being as unique and creative as their earlier counterparts. However, when the house released a pair of Lost Cherry flankers earlier this year, I still got excited because in spite of what other people say, I do like Lost Cherry; so I got Cherry Smoke as soon as it became available locally. The other one, Electric Cherry , I have yet to try.

Tom Ford Oud Wood may be plagued by performance issues but I'm still a fan of how it smells. It's a beautiful scent that's been copied—or reinterpreted at least—several times over. So when the house introduced (although eventually discontinued) Oud Wood Intense , I thought the original's lack of projection and lasting power would be addressed. Well, not really, because Intense  turns out to be an entirely different scent. 

As I write this, summer is increasingly felt in this part of the world, so I went through our bottles looking for something light that I haven't worn for some time. The white bottle and silver box of Tom Ford's Soleil Neige caught my fancy. The sun shining on snow is the picture Mr Ford is selling here, and the presentation works to help push this narrative. I mean, who doesn't yearn for snow when you're sweating from temperatures in the high 30s?

Last month, Tom Ford released a trio of rose-centric fragrances dubbed the Tom Ford Private Rose Garden Collection . But knowing how it takes a while before any new release reaches our Third World shores ( heck, I haven't even smelled Ébène Fumé yet! ), I wasn't as excited. I did look the notes up but that was it—until I stumbled upon a chance to get Rose de Russie from abroad. I was giddy all of a sudden because of the three, Rose de Russie was what I was most interested about.

I almost forgot I have this but I consider myself lucky because somehow, I didn't get the memo that Tom Ford Noir Anthracite has already been discontinued. It's part of Tom Ford's Noir Series of fragrances that come in similarly designed squarish bottles with ribbed detailing. Anthracite's bottle, in particular, has this metallic sheen that causes a fuzzy reflection of anything in front of it. And I like it because I find that there's an understated elegance to its straightforward, boxy shape.

The one that started it all for Tom Ford 's eponymous fragrance brand, Black Orchid has become a modern classic, a scent adored by many, a scent so beautifully constructed it could have easily been sold under his pricier Private Blend line, considering many of the fragrances released under that label can't hold a candle to this masterpiece. But of course I'm not complaining. It's a fragrance that, although intended for women, has also found favor among the opposite sex—and I can see why. 

The metallic bottle sure is eye-catching, and it definitely helped pique my interest when Tom Ford Lavender Extrême was released some two years ago. What I didn't like was the designer marketing this in the upper tier of his Private Blend Collection . I always hate it when he does that, as if his offerings aren't expensive enough. Oh well, poor me. But thanks to a good deal, I got a bottle. 

One of the many flankers to Neroli Portofino , Tom Ford's Fleur de Portofino offers, as the name would suggest, a more floral take on the original. It follows the same translucent, bluish bottles from the line, albeit in a slightly different shade.

Tom Ford doesn't seem to add as many fragrances to his Signature Collection as much as he does to his pricier Private Blend Collection . So when Metallique came out in 2019, I was curious. The eye-catching bottle, with its perfect combination of metallic gold and silver, only fueled my interest. It's but fitting for a fragrance named as such. 

Tobacco Vanille was my very first Tom Ford Private Blend purchase. It was an instant love, so it wasn't really hard to choose from among several that I've tried shortly after Tom Ford first opened locally at Adora in Greenbelt 5. That bottle has since been followed by many more, enough to allow me to mount a " Tom Ford Private Blend Christmas Tree " last year (*wink wink*). I have never written about it, so I guess it's high time I do.

Tom Ford's Fougère d'Argent is yet another take on the fougere category of fragrances. Personally I can't get enough of fougeres and apparently neither does this house. They already have three so far, the other two being Fougère Platine and Beau de Jour , the latter pulled out from their Private Blend Collection and re-released under their Signature Collection .

Once upon a time, fruity fragrances to me universally meant those cheap, thin, childish, cloying, and synthetic-smelling kind, that I have pretty much shunned them altogether. But then my fragrance journey has widened my appreciation for different types of scents, including fruit-centric ones. I have since come to love the prominent apricot in Diptyque's Kimonanthe and the boozy and smoky treatment accorded plum in Tom Ford's Plum Japonais . Now we come to Lost Cherry , also from Ford.

Putting up that Tom Ford Private Blend Christmas tree last December made me realize that I've amassed quite a number of bottles from the line. And with that I've also realized that I haven't really been using most of them, so I've started with Plum Japonais and gave it a full wearing.

Released in 2019 under the Tom Ford Private Blend line, Beau de Jour was liked by many, if reviews and votes on Fragrantica were any indication. So it was rather perplexing that the house would yank it off from production only months later. I suspected that, like Italian Cypress , Rive d'Ambre , Bois Marocain , and a handful of other highly regarded fragrances that were unwittingly discontinued, it was going to be re-released under Ford's pricier Private Blend Reserve Collection —complete with engraved gold metal plate label.

I've long thought of doing this after seeing someone on Instagram create a mini-tower of his Tom Ford Private Blend bottles some months ago. The uniformity of their shapes and their flat, square caps proved conducive to stacking them up. I thought, a "Christmas tree" shouldn't be that far-fetched of an idea then.

The name says it all, and that's practically what you get in Tom Ford's Oud Wood . The oud is already evident from the beginning although it's not the strong and pungent kind. It's tempered, "Westernized," if you may, and has a slightly sweet and sour flavor to it that I like. It's very much like the oud in  Tobacco Oud ,  another Tom Ford Private Label release. The opening also carries a faint trace of spices but it doesn't last long.

Tobacco and oud can have pretty strong personalities, so I didn't know what to expect of Tom Ford's Tobacco Oud at first. In my mind I was bracing for an epic clash between these two power notes but on the contrary, it isn't the raging monster I imagined it to be. There may be some, of course, who would find it strong but personally I think it's fine, more so when control is exercised with the sprayer.

The intensifying heat of late had me reaching out more for freshies. Now it's one of those distinctly blue bottles from Tom Ford's Private Blend line . The hue alone stands apart from the predominantly dark-colored flacons of the house, evocative of something that clearly says fresh. Right off the bat Neroli Portofino reminds me of Nenuco , the baby cologne, only smoother and a little longer-lasting. But I love it, its purity and freshness that's such a mood lifter. Citruses dominate the opening and linger for several minutes before giving way to a very clean mix of white florals. It's a people-pleaser in its simplicity and I find it totally unisex.