Fragrance is personal. What smells good on one person will not necessarily suit another, we already know this. So what sets some fragrances apart from others?
Fine fragrances use expensive non-synthetic ingredients. For example, it takes about 10,000 pounds of rose petals to extract a pound of rose oil, so you know that an inexpensive bottle of scent claiming to contain rose oil is most probably using a synthetic version of that oil or it includes a very diluted version. They could also be using substitutes. And there is nothing wrong with that. If a scent works for you, that is what’s important.
Other expensive ingredients are musk, jasmine, ambergris and orris. Tom Ford Beauty fragrances are some of the most coveted and also most expensive in the world. Tom Ford is considered the gold standard as far as fragrances are concerned. Why is this so?
Tom Ford fragrances stay on the skin even after a long sweaty day. Even when you sweat, you’ll still smell good. The scents linger in a good way and you’ll always be asked, “What are you wearing?”
Most Tom Ford fragrances don’t smell like other perfumes. They even smell very different from each other. Tom Ford fragrances can be worn by all sexes.
Tom Ford Oud Wood perfume, for instance, uses Oud from a wild tropical tree called agar, which needs to be infected with a mold to produce it. Oud is called “liquid gold” because it is so expensive (said to be $5,000 per pound).
The key notes of Tom Ford Oud Wood are exotic rosewood, cardamom, oud wood, sandalwood, vetiver, tonka bean and amber.
Like many Tom Ford fragrances, Oud Wood is a scent that unfolds throughout the day like it’s telling a story. Described as an “amber woody” and an “Oriental spicy,” it opens softly and dries down to a sandalwood and vetiver.
Another popular Oriental-inspired Tom Ford scent is called F(*)cking Fabulous, which has spices and a warm and sweet mix of gourmands. Its key notes are fresh lavender, bitter almond, vanilla, orris root, irris flower, tonka bean, leather and blond woods.
Noir de Noir is very much a Tom Ford fragrance in that it’s a floral that has black truffle, vanilla, patchouli and Oud wood. It’s a “dark” fragrance because it evokes mystery and has floral notes but they’re not the usual flowery scents that people are used to. The vanilla and rose notes of Noir de Noir are quite strong but the patchouli and Oud wood give it a comforting feel.
Neroli Portofino is probably Tom Ford’s most mainstream fragrance but it is still very unique. This contains notes of neroli, jasmine, amber, Italian bergamot, orange flower and lavender, and has often been described as an expensive baby cologne with longevity. It starts off as a breezy citrus but dries down to a powdery and slightly musky floral.
Over the weekend came the big news that Tom Ford Beauty has appointed Korean actor Hyun Bin as its first regional Fragrance Attaché. Hyun Bin will make his debut in a campaign featuring the new Tom Ford Private Blend Soleil Brûlant fragrance.
Soleil Brûlant is described as an amber floral summer fragrance that combines “high shine solar brilliance with the intense freshness of mandarin and bergamot.”
Hyun Bin played the dashing North Korean officer in Crash Landing on You who captured the heart of Filipino audiences. He first gained international recognition for his role in the 2005 TV romantic comedy My Name is Kim Sam-soon.
Soleil Brûlant will be available in August at Tom Ford counters in the Philippines.