Vanille Fatale
Tom Ford (2018)

Dense and rich, but the powdery aspect turns me off. It's not overly powdery, but the combination of barley, rum, and plum gives it a sickly sweet feel. Personally, I prefer Tobacco Vanille over this. However, its performance is great, so there's no need to worry about that. Overall, it's just too powdery for my taste.

The opening blast is a set of spices, with saffron and cardamom clearly in the foreground; they result in the smooth and quite bright. a shadow of darker spices is thrown onto the initial dyadic mix by a frangipani impression.

A bit later a comforting coffee infusion develops, which is a soft black Arabica coffee that is mild and adding an interesting side note, which is given a further touch of spiciness by a smooth myrrh and hints of olibanum in the background.

It takes a number of hours for the eponymous vanilla to develop on me, and when it unfolds in its full strength one is pleasantly surprised: no beans about it: this is not one of TF's overpowering strong and thickly vanillas, but quite a balanced and more restrained rendering of this bean, which blends in well with the rest of the whole - the vanilla is a good team player. A note of roasted barley mention in the scent pyramid is hardly noticeable though, yet instead I get transient whiffs of a hazelnut aroma.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and seven hours of longevity on my skin.

A nice scent for warmer autumn days, and a less overpowering vanilla creation that many other on the market, but this makes its name somewhat misleading. Otherwise it is crafted well. Some notes are convincing, some are a bit too generic. 3.25/5

Like a dreaming of long walks and home to an open fire, the crunch of leaves underfoot, a warming cup of chocolate and a pair of woolly socks. VF is the kind of fragrance that you want to sniff every few minutes and you can't get enough of it. Smoky vanilla, warm spices, boozy rum, subtle leather and rich amber. All notes were perfectly blended and every note play's it's role equally. Not too loud, but just right, from the beginning to the very end. On a woman it smells sexy, on a man it gives you confidence. Evocative, fascinating, luxurious, sophisticated, warm, addictive and sensual.

It feels balsamic&warm on the skin with a great vibe of smokey vanilla complementing the spicy sweetness of myrrh. As time passes VF becomes just a bit smokier & effectively more solid as the glowing nuances of amber & tobacco enrich the composition with distant leathery, woody, powdery undertones, creating overall a velvety sweet subtle-oriental distinct potion of meditative aromatic bliss that gratifies the senses. It's amazing when mixed with tobacco oud. The scent gives a self-confidence feeling, not to mention heads turning and that lovely attention form the opposite sex. Perfect for fall & winter evenings. The longevity & sillage both are nice.

Soooo similar to a softened Tobacco Vanille, as several have already pointed out!

I found Vanille Fatale to be flatter than I'd expected. No doubt, Tom Ford used very fancy ingredients to paint a composite picture of voluptuous vanilla: Saffron, cofee, rum, several exotic flowers, various resins, even mahohany wood!

These are commendable and create a sugary, smoky vanilla. But it's not that inspiring in the end.

This is Tobacco Vanille without the Tobacco. A nice fragrance nonetheless. A deep vanilla which kind of reminded me of Eau Des Baux for a moment. For the price, you would come out better getting Eau Des Baux IMO. 7/10

A very nice, sugary vanilla. “Softer version of tobacco vanille”, I can't help to think. But then my mind goes: no, it's got nothing to compare except the vanilla. It's way more exotic, summery and fruity. It's got an acidic coffee note. Gorgeous.