The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: Tom Ford


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Tom Ford Ébène Fumé

WHAT I SMELL: Ébène Fumé opens with a soft woody smokiness tinged with labdanum and leather.  It’s calming, serene and wonderfully subtle. As the perfume develops, the incense loses a bit of its sharpness and a smooth and slightly creamy cistus enters.  At this point, the perfume feels like a sheath of light leather is embracing your skin.  Hints of florals help to make the creation more rounded which helps to keep it from becoming too smoky.  Beyond that, the perfume doesn’t develop much except for the addition of a lightly sweetened guaiac woody note.  Ébène Fumé isn’t a game changing perfume, but it’s perfect for those times when you are looking for quiet reflection.

From the Tom Ford website:

ÉBÈNE FUMÉ MERGES THE PURIFYING ESSENCE OF PALO SANTO WITH NOTES OF SEDUCTIVE EBONY WOOD, AROUSING EXQUISITE CALM AND HEIGHTENED SPIRITUAL LUXURY.

ÉBÈNE FUMÉ CONJURES TRANSCENDENT SPIRITUAL CALM THROUGH THE MYSTICAL ESSENCE OF PALO SANTO SMOKE – STOKED BY THE WARM ELEGANCE OF CISTUS ABSOLUTE, ROSES, AND SEDUCTIVE NOTES OF EBONY WOOD, CAPTURED IN SLEEK, SUBLIME NOTES OF LEATHER.

Top notes are Incense, Palo Santo, Black Pepper and Violet Leaf; middle notes are Leather, Labdanum, Cade oil, Papyrus and Rose; base notes are resins, ebony tree and Guaiac Wood.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Old leather bound books which have been stored in a church rectory for hundreds of years.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ÉBÈNE FUMÉ:  serene, calming, contented

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ÉBÈNE FUMÉ:  CaFleureBon, Temptalia

BOTTOM LINE:  It is Memorial Day today in the United States.  A day that is for remembering and honoring those who have served the country since its inception.  I thought that this calming perfume would be the perfect scent to pay tribute to those who came before us and to pray for peace around the world during these trying times.  No, perfume can’t create world peace, but if anything, it can help to soothe our souls.

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Amber Woody
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $270 for 50ml eau de parfum


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Tom Ford Ombré Leather Parfum

WHAT I SMELL:  Ombré Leather Parfum opens with a light suede and a dusting of violet leaf.  It’s soft and a little creamy with a clean finish.  From the beginning, the suede feels smooth and pliable like a set of very fine gloves or the softest of slippers.  As the perfume develops, the suede moves to more of a hardened leather.  But don’t get me wrong, there is nothing but elegance here as the leather retains its’ gentlemanly demeanor.  After some time, the leather adds just a touch of woody tobacco.  Here, the perfume moves from the closet to the men’s club.  Again, the perfume remains refined while being incredibly approachable.  And then some time later, a light floral glides in that feels a bit spongy and which seems to float above the leather and tobacco.  In the end, the perfume quiets to a soft and comforting light leather perfume that is topped with the prettiest of violet florals.

From the Tom Ford website:

OMBRÉ LEATHER PARFUM INTENSIFIES THE ORIGINAL SCENT, FUSING HEATED LEATHER FLORALS WITH WOODS–CAPTURING THE UNBRIDLED SENSUALITY OF THE AMERICAN WEST.

ABOUT THE FRAGRANCE:
A DISTINCT FLORAL LEATHER, OMBRÉ LEATHER PARFUM MAGNIFIES THE ORIGINAL FRAGRANCE, MERGING BLACK LEATHER WITH POWERFUL VIOLET LEAF AND SENSUAL CEDARWOOD LACED WITH A HINT OF GREEN TOBACCO.

My Little Pony – Rainbow Dash

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  My Little Pony…lightly leathered, lightly sweet.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE OMBRÉ LEATHER PARFUM:  comfortable, smooth, approachable

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OMBRÉ LEATHER PARFUM:  No written reviews found.

BOTTOM LINE:  I really like this perfume from beginning to end.  Being Tom Ford, I was thinking that this would be a powerful leather bomb.  Instead, I was quite surprised to find a soft, comforting and quiet perfume.  Ombré Leather Parfum is a perfect leather perfume for the office or for those evenings out on the town when you just want a whisper of leather to trail behind you.

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Floral Leather
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $165 for 50ml parfum extrait.  Also available in 10ml and 100ml sizes.

Review is based on the Ombré Leather parfum extrait version launched in 2021 and not the earlier release of Ombré Leather eau de parfum.


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Tom Ford Velvet Orchid

Tom Ford Velvet Orchid

WHAT I SMELL:  Velvet Orchid opens with a sweet, rather honeyed opening that quickly moves to an odd combination of honey and graham crackers.  Yes, that’s it…like honey graham crackers.  After a few minutes, the orchid reveals itself and the honey graham cracker note leaves the room.  This is sugared and sweet and very rounded with florals that feel like they’re manufactured in a Chinese factory.  After around 15 minutes, the fragrance settles down a bit to become slightly woody with some added radiant warmth, but overall, it feels like a sweet and big Everlasting Gobstopper.  OK…maybe I spoke to soon. After around an hour and a half, Velvet Orchid becomes creamy and lighter with a smooth sandalwood finish.  At this point, the fragrance finally finds it’s “pretty.”  Oh, but what a horrific ride to get there.

After reading what I wrote above, I had to give this fragrance another shake to see if I was being fair to the perfume.  So I pulled out the tester a couple of days later. Let’s take a look at round two…

Tom-Ford-Velvet-Orchid-parfum1Testing Round 2:  Maybe it’s the weather (it’s cooler the 2nd time I tested this) or maybe it’s just my disposition, but the 2nd time I wore this I spritzed on just a bit less which I should always remember to do with a Tom Ford fragrance.  In any case, the harshness that I first experience was much more toned down.  I didn’t get the honey-graham cracker aspect that I did at first and albeit being sweet, the florals were far less manufactured.  The perfume is sweet and somewhat powdery, but much more palatable.  There’s a rather tropical feel to the fragrance this time as if the florals are hanging off of a vine and radiating in the sun.  There still is a honeyed note, but it’s light, not thick and just adds a sheen to the overall composition, like a layer of fine shellac.  This time there’s a slight hair spray aspect that I didn’t get at first, but it’s not offending and it adds just a tad of sharpness to the mix, but as soon as I smell that, a creaminess comes in with a radiant warmth.  The fragrance seems to transform much quicker than it did earlier, but that’s a good thing as it moved much faster to the stage of where I want it to be; a creamy orchid that’s soft, a little powdery and very smooth and pretty.

From the Tom Ford website:

INTRODUCING TOM FORD’S NEW SIGNATURE FRAGRANCE. VELVET ORCHID LIVES IN A WORLD OF GLAMOROUS MYSTIQUE, EVOLVING THE CARNAL GRANDEUR AND SEDUCTIVE POWER OF TOM FORD’S ORIGINAL BLACK ORCHID INTO A HARMONIOUS AND UBER-FEMININE FRAGRANCE.  LAVISHED WITH COOL FRESHNESS, DRAMATIC PETALS, HONEY AND RUM, TOM FORD VELVET ORCHID IS AN ORIENTAL FLORAL FRAGRANCE THAT TEASES AND CARESSES WITH ENVELOPING AND BRILLIANT WARMTH.

From Fragrantica:

The fragrance opens itself with bergamot, mandarin, Succan absolute (purified rum extract) and honey. At the core of this creation (made of “corporeal floral notes.”) isTom Ford’s distinctive, “timeless” signature – an imaginary accord of black orchid blended with notes of velvet orchid, which gives the perfume its name, with intense Turkish rose oil and jasmine and a new accord of purple orchid that grows in the wilds of southern Brazilian coast. There are also additional floral notes of orange blossom, rose absolute, narcissus, hyacinth and heliotrope. The base is warm due to the rich flavors of Peru balsam, myrrh, labdanum, sandalwood, suede and vanilla.

Knots Landing2

Trouble in the cul de sac…the cast of Knots Landing.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:   What I got the first time I test was a “Knots Landing”  kind of big 80’s glamour stuck in a cul-de-sac perfume.  The 2nd time, what I got was just Donna Mills in Knots Landing, the prettier and more glamorous of the show’s entourage.

Donna Mills...the eyes have it!

Donna Mills…the eyes have it!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE VELVET ORCHID:  Test 1:  artificial, over-the-top, relentless…Test 2:  velvety, fuzzy , pretty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT VELVET ORCHID: Kafkaesque, Now Smell This, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE:  I never said that I was infallible and I try to keep an open mind when testing fragrances.  Tom Ford and I don’t always mix well with each other and I thought maybe this was one of those cases.  But I found that my review was rather harsh so I had a give the perfume another visit since my words were over the top even for me.  Whatever the reason, the difference between the 1st and 2nd wear was like night and day.  I loved Black Orchid and couldn’t imagine that this would be so polar opposite.  In any case, Velvet Orchid really is pretty…just remember to use a light application so you don’t get full on Everlasting Gobstopper!