Tom Ford Noir
Tom Ford (2012)

Tom Ford Noir
Fresh, citrus, spice
Ideal for year round wear imo
It definitely has a new feel to an old spin vibe.
I'm not sure if this marketed as unisex or not but definitely can see a certain type of woman owning this scent.
Dry down is a powdery spice.
The early bergamot juice fades fast and is really nice. What scent lingers is still lovely.
This is not a blind buy. Get a sample. Test this out. Quality of ingredients and smell achieves a 3.5/5 from me which pushes past a neutral review.

The year was 2012. Tom Ford grabbed a bottle of Habit Rouge off of his shelf and wondered how it would be received as a tentpole release in a post-Dior Homme market. Noir Eau de Parfum was born.

That's a slight exaggeration, but Noir EDP is essentially a Gothic Habit Rouge with a dash of Shalimar's alluring sensuality mingled back in. There's considerably less baby powder, and the rose is creamier and more abstract, and, in keeping with the Tom Ford aesthetic, there's an emphasis on dark resins and dirty patchouli (which, along with geranium and vetiver, dominate the drydown).

Considered as a modern Habit Rouge flanker, it's a much worthier remix than Guerlain's own Dress Code. Indeed, as someone who finds Habit Rouge somewhat fusty and embalmed, I much prefer this more seductive and sleek interpretation of Habit Rouge's themes. All of Noir's substitutions and additions are thoughtfully integrated into a complete and full-bodied experience that still feels essentially rooted in the dense, stereotypically French approach to perfumery that the house of Guerlain excelled at until LVMH pushed it to begin keeping up with modern sensibilities and market demands.

Noir's discontinuation speaks to its failure to capture the heart of the market, but, to its credit, it did survive longer than some of the flankers on the line. The surviving Noir pour Femme carries on some echoes of this scent in its utilization of Shalimar's smoky vanilla DNA (Noir Extreme, on the other hand, has more kinship to Spicebomb than Shalimar).

All in all, this might be Tom Ford's best-ever retro-remake from his own line, and has personally become my favorite release from the entire past-and-present lineup.

If vanilla ruins things for you, then I expect vanilla will ruin this for you. I don't understand the marketing logic of calling something "Noir" if it has any appreciable vanilla drydown, which definitely does, as well as possessing a powdery/soapy drydown which for me has come to seem characteristic of many Tom Ford fragrances.

The opening of this is addicting and beautiful. It does conjure to mind Habit Rouge with its rose/vanilla, but the star in the opening is the patchouli/iris. Gorgeous. And I don't use those flamboyant terms loosely. But as this patchouli dries out and fades the beauty fades as well. Two hours in what you are left becomes more and more powdery and feminine. It does feel like an EDP, with the enhanced thickness, close projection and decent longevity. I get a respectable 6 hours here. My problem is not with the presence, but the nature of drydown. Just not quite to my tastes. Every time I put on that opening though I forget about all of that and just revel in the smell. Its rich and sensual. It is not super cost prohibitive, and if I find a great deal someday I may pick up a bottle. Thumbs up here. A pretty good fragrance.

A slightly skanky Dior Homme - becomes sickly over time. Pugh!

This a very interesting scent. In style it reminds me of Encre Noire, however in character it has nothing to do with it.

Dark, mystical, mysterious, polarising, creamy in a dry and strange way. This scent is certainly a taste to acquire.

In the first half hour it was just ok and different, sort of specific scent. But after that it became something to seriously consider - maybe even buying.

Dry, woody (maybe styrax makes it a bit woody because of the tar and leather mix in it), dark, powdery, gloomy but not depressed.

Originality 6/10
Scent 8/10
Longevity 8/10
Projection 6/10
__________________
70%