Noir de Noir
Tom Ford (2007)

Aloof, yet deeply romantic. You think this is feminine? Don't worry, it will show you its masculine side. This is perfectly unisex, it just depends on the type of person you are. I thought im not romantic, or just dont have any feelings towards sexuality and love to pull this off. But i was wrong, this fits me 100%. I just need a spray of this from time to time, to remind me of beauty that life has.

Tom Ford usually makes bombastic, rough around the edges fragrances, they are larger than life, in your face, sexy as all hell, but somehow still manage to have elegance to them. This is hands down the most elegant Original Private Blend Tom Ford. Where TV and TL show you that rough side, this doesn't have any rough side, yet its still just as iconic as those two. I would dare to say that this is even more complex than the mentioned 2. It has a few mysterious layers that will be uncovered as time goes by. Just try it out, this may be not love at first sniff, but your mind will want to return to it after some time, cause this is really special.


Don't think this is just for date and valentine's day. This is for any season (almost any, summer can only handle cold days with this one).

The recipe in Nigella Lawson’s ‘Feast’ for Chocolate Guinness Cake makes an enormous wodge of damp, dense (yet springy) chocolate cake of the deepest black imaginable, topped with a thick single layer of white cream cheese frosting meant to resemble the head on a pint. The beauty of this cake is the way what Nigella calls ‘the ferrous twang’ of Guinness holds its own against the chocolatey sweetness of the crumb and the tartness of the cream cheese. If you think about it, the pairing makes sense – there is something almost animalic, or at least iron-rich, like blood, that connects the loamy darkness of stout (and soil) with the aroma of a 90% cocoa bar of chocolate being melted in a bain marie.

Noir de Noir uses the iodine-like sting of saffron to perform the same trick. The slightly garbagey, vegetal iron-filling aspect of the spice acts upon the patchouli and roses to create an extraordinarily dark truffle accord that feels like a cross-section of that Chocolate Guinness Cake. It’s worth noting that the rose note here is slightly rosewater-ish, providing a chippy Turkish Delight brightness that countermands the black velvet lushness of the chocolate-oud. Probably the most romantic perfume in my collection, though, like dark chocolate and Turkish Delight, a strictly once-in-a-blue-moon kind of craving.

I have never been able to stomach this one. Sweetened rose, chocolate, and patchouli ... the combination just nauseates me whenever I revisit it, unfortunately.

This fragrance has a chocolate note with a slightly sour rose note, and a hint of patchouli that adds an earthy/dirty quality and helps produce the chocolate note. The opening can be a bit sour up-close, but this subsides after about an hour. The drydown is a great blend of vanilla and light florals from roses and other flowers. If it were up to me, I would skip the opening and jump straight to the drydown. The oud is not prominent, so there is no need to worry about it smelling fecal or rotten. Moreover, most ouds used in Tom Ford fragrances are mass appealing and often synthetic.

The longevity and sillage are average, and this fragrance is suitable for spring, fall, and winter with a moderate number of sprays. Overall, this fragrance is worth sampling and deserves recognition from the Tom Ford brand, but it's not particularly extraordinary.

Chocolate, roses
And a bit of old perfume
Make us young again.

***

Fratchouli rosé
Lighting up the night like day
Dark chocolate's way.

***

A bonfire of rose
Like perfume for chocolate
Loves a recipe.

A wonderful fragrance. A dark rose with wood undertone. I don't smell the truffle (perhaps a chocolate truffle?) the base notes seem to come out with the top and heart notes, a very soft patchouly. Love it. It lasts and lasts. Definitely a fall and winter scent but it can be worn on summer evenings. For those who cannot afford the real thing I suggest the Oil Perfumery dupe, which is a very close match.