Tom Ford has launched Lavender Palm, the latest addition to the Tom Ford Private Blend collection. The new unisex fragrance was inspired by Los Angeles and the bottle is done in a metallic silver finish…
Holiday fragrance gifts 2010, part 1
Once again, a drool-worthy holiday candle collection from Diptyque. At left, Pin (“fresh and familiar, green and resinous, the scent of pine needles and a hint of patchouli”); at right, Orange Épicée (“With its emblematic note of sour orange with a mix of essences of winter spices: Indian ginger, star anise from China, clove”). Not shown is Oliban, in blue…
Bunch o’ limited edition collector bottles 2010, part 17
More limited edition collector fragrance bottles, with the usual disclaimers: in most of these cases, the juice is unchanged, just the bottle is “special” (or not, as the case may be), and some of these may not be available in the US.
From Tom Ford, the Black Orchid Limited Edition Collection, with a Black Orchid lipstick, Black Orchid nail polish and Black Orchid solid perfume. Available this month at Saks and Neiman Marcus in the US, Harvey Nichols in the UK…
Tom Ford Azure Lime ~ fragrance review
Since I was old enough to pay for my own trips, I have not once taken a “beach vacation.” With my fair skin, I’d look like Georgia O’Keeffe: The Final Years if I sunbathed. I love beaches — but not in hot weather, so I must claim ignorance when it comes to the Caribbean and Mustique — the inspirations for Tom Ford Private Blend Azure Lime.
Azure Lime’s ingredients are “mysterious” (i.e. they are listed only in publications I don’t trust or they’re simply referred to as “citrus, flowers and musk”). Azure Lime follows a tried-and-true, summer-cologne recipe: it has a refreshing orange-lime opening with a touch of “white” flowers (mildly coconut-y and reminding me of gardenia), spices (perhaps a bit of cardamom and lemony nutmeg), and as the perfume dries down, I smell light, sweet woody (cedar-cypress) musk.
I tried Azure Lime several times at my local Nordstrom’s Tom Ford counter and was surprised at how quickly the Eau de Parfum faded…
Tom Ford Arabian Wood ~ fragrance review
I’m the odd man out on Tom Ford’s Private Blend line. I like a few of them, but by and large they strike me as not nearly so interesting or well-done as the (aspirational) prices might imply. I waited a good long time to try them at all, and when I finally worked my way through the initial twelve 2007 releases, the only one I really wanted to own was Oud Wood, and it was easy enough to control that lemming given that Yves Saint Laurent M7 is cheaper and easier to come by. Since then, there have been nine new additions to the line, including the four fragrances in the pleasant but comically overpriced White Musk collection.
Arabian Wood is one of the later additions. It was reportedly created for a “a well-known Arabian sheik” (ok) and was originally exclusive to the Tom Ford boutique in Kuwait. In 2009, it was unleashed unto the world at large, and in keeping with my usual pace, I’m getting around to it about a year later.
Arabian Wood is very much in keeping with the others in the Private Blend collection: it’s rough and loud…