Review (4/5): Sweet, lovely, smells just like the name
I am not an impulse buyer. So before I spend $$$ on a parfum, I did some extensive research. First, I knew I wanted to have a Tom Ford because of his reputation in making parfum. Then I narrowed down the choices to the 5 most preferred private blends by online reviewers. Then I bought .5ml sample for each. After trying them one by one, my husband made the choice for me: Noir de Noir, but my favorite is Amber Absolute.
Vanilla Tobacco is really sweet and nice, with straight forward vanilla tabacco notes. Vanilla is sweet and yummy. The tabacco smells like Turkish tobacco: sweet and sexy. I can imagine that whoever wears this could be quite irresistible. This is one of my favorite. However, compared to Noir de Noir, I feel that it lacks a bit complexity. It is a bit straight forward Vanilla and tobacco.
From my research and trial, I find that parfum is very personal, and you have to try it in person. It is better to try it at home and wear it once or twice before you buy it at a store. The 5 scents I tried:
- Noir de Noir: complex, sweet, lovely scent. Not overwhelmingly floral, not overpowering, and not sharp/edgy. This is my husband's favorite when I wear it.
- Vanilla Tobacco
- Amber Absolute: Unique, herbal. Stronger than Noir de Noir. Initially, I couldn't stand Amber Absolute. It smelled to me like Chinese medicine box. But then I am totally in love with it. It is very unusual. It has a very unique dried herb fragrance and very complex. It reminds me of the fragrance in the air in Big Sur, CA or Mono Lake, CA when the flowers and plants are drying in fall. The fragrance is not floral, not particularly sexy or feminine.
- Tuscan leather: couldn't stand it, very leathery.
- Neroli Portofino: didn't like it at all. Just like some reviewers said, it smells like Tide.