Beau de Jour (2020 version) 
Tom Ford (2020)

Patchouli gem. That was the first note I got out of BDJ. The lavender creeped up right behind the patchouli with the mint and oakmoss to follow. A nice barbershop for sure. This one kind of put TF back in the race. I get about 7 hours of longevity from BDJ. Just went you thought it was safe to go back in the water!!!! 8/10

The opening feels a bit dated, but as tinfoilhatdude mentioned, this is a fougere for the modern generation. The lavender smells good in the opening and gradually descends into the background as it dries down. You get the classic blend of rosemary, oakmoss, mint, and basil, giving it a barbershoppy vibe, but it feels like a natural blend of green notes. There's minimal harshness or synthetic feeling, and the lovely green, slightly dark earthiness is prominent. The mint and mossy notes balance out the patchouli, giving it a natural earthiness. All the green notes are well blended.

Longevity and performance are good. This could be a signature scent, but I'd go with one spray during the summer. It's a battle between this one and Masculin Pluriel. If I had the money, I'd go with both of them, but I give it to Masculin Pluriel for accentuating its woody notes. There's minimal woodiness in Beau De Jour as it's replaced by green earthiness.

I'm usually not a fan of barbershop scents, but this one hits me differently.

THE fougere for the modern generation. I think it's great that TF came out with this, even though it may be linear & somewhat predictable. Maybe we'll see a swing away from 'pushing the envelope', and 'circling back' to 'the good 'ol days of fragrance'?

This is one of the best uses of mint I've smelled, as it veers away from the gourmand territory, but it also steers clear of the 'toothpaste' factor too. It blends perfectly with the lavender, but there just isn't a lot of development.

Longevity is great, it lasts all work day & then some, and projection seems ample.

For the younger crowd; stop by the mall fragrance counter, assuming it carries Tom Ford, and spritz yourself with BdJ. It's definitely worth a spin!

7.0-7.5/10

Tom Ford Beau de Jour (2020)

“I’m a very serious person.” - Tom Ford

Interesting? No.

Good? Seriously good.



4/5 Stars

A very good example of how aromatic fougere should smell like. It's a spiced up lavender with some herbs. Classic yet modern.

Pretty linear on my skin but I don't bother. Very green, mossy and reminding instantly of all time fougere classic scents like Zino Davidoff or YSL Rive Gauche (to me Zino has more of a rose-like quality and Rive Gauche is more barbershop-like).

Longevity is around 7 hours on my skin, sillage is moderate.

I like it a lot but I've got a vintage bottle of Zino in my collection so the choice is very easy and simple for me. But who knows, maybe one day I'll purchase Beau de Jour.

Not a lot has changed between the release of Tom Ford Beau de Jour (2019) as part of the private blend line and Tom Ford Beau de Jour (2020) from the signature range, but the tweak is worth mentioning. Most importantly, the packaging update to more-closely resemble other newer entries in the Signature line with the ribbed cylindrical bottle is welcome, plus the slightly nicer (but still expensive) price tag makes Beau de Jour feel a bit more realistic to me. As a semi-permanent addition to the masculine line-up (since Tom Ford frequently axes lines), Beau de Jour is also feels a bit less like a nostalgia cash-in. I for one, would have never considered buying Beau de Jour as a Private Blend; but now it seems a better value for those who want a high-end wet-shaver kind of fragrance. People still on the fence about the necessity of another lavender-forward fougère exercise when many classic examples still exist won't be swayed however, even with the price drop. For me, this is the kind of fragrance I'd buy to say I at least own something from this house I enjoy, since Tom Ford strikes out so often with me when testing. Many of his best Signature line fragrances can also be replaced more cheaply with what they pay respect to, and this one is no different.

The opening riff still brazenly copies Zino Davidoff (1986), but the slight wilting flower/animalic facet is completely missing now, with just the heavy dandy floral and lavender top remaining. The 2019 edition of Beau de Jour didn't have much of that muskiness compared to ZIno, but it had some at least. Here in the new cleaned-up Beau de Jour, we get almost a Caron feel with the approach to lavender, likely accounting for heavy use of real lavandin. Geranium, mint, basil, and oakmoss moved to the heart of the composition to round out the soul of Beau de Jour, while the akigalawood patchouli isolate and patent Tom Ford woody ambers make up the base in place of that reduced (but still present) oakmoss. Everything about the brushed-up Beau de Jour is about being silky-smooth, with all the kinks from the admittedly-quirkier Private Blend iteration ironed out. This is a nü-gère through and through, so worshipers of evernia prunastri that like to sing the blues about IFRA and "they don't make 'em like they used to" need not apply. Wear time is still about 9 hours and sillage is moderate, plus Beau de Jour is still a mature dress-up fragrance as it was before, just perhaps a bit sleeker. I could see people pulling this one off as a signature too, and I think maybe that's the mindset of releasing it as a Signature line fragrance. Too on the nose perhaps? Oh well, I thought it was funny at least.

Besides being a tad cleaner, a bit less expensive, and maybe a touch better-presented, Beau de Jour is the same retro-chic exercise that it was in the previous year, and still par for the course as far as Tom Ford loving to relive the past is concerned. Tom Ford for Men (2007) took a step back as the flagship scent, lingering in select retail stores but disappearing online, so I'm guessing this was slotted to replace it as the bog-standard masculine option from the house. Maybe Tom got tired of seventies-centric amber-heavy masculines and wanted something that was less 70's and more 40's, who knows? Point is, at about $150 for 100ml, Beau de Jour is not a good value so long as Zino Davidoff or even Caron Pour un Homme (1934) still exist with some regularity, but is a good fragrance on its own terms. Tom Ford fans have their daily driver fougère experience that checks all the usual Tom Ford boxes of being a postmodern fragrance much higher in price than its source inspiration, but at least oakmoss is listed on the box, right? If you can get it for a good deal, go for it, but I'd much rather see you do a bit more sampling before jumping in, as this is a loving homage by Antoine Maisondieu to greater things. Thumbs up