Tom Ford Private Blend Les Extraits Vert
New private blends from Tom Ford launch at the end of August, with a new note for the brand. For the first time, Tom Ford introduces unexpected dimensions of green. Ranging from florals, to citrus, to deepest woods, Les Extraits Vert is a curated collection with a very 1970s feel.
Apparently the ingredients used in this collection are rarely used in modern perfumery, so these are something quite different.
There are three new fragrances to choose from – Vert D’Encens, Vert Des Bois, and Vert Boheme. All very different to each other.
I think my favourite of the three is the smoky and sensual Vert D’Encens. It is 1970s personified, and if you love rich, heady scents, than you will love this. Inspired by the Corsican coast, this perfume is wild, aromatic and distinguished. It has notes of smoky incense, pine resin and fir balsam, as well as the more delicate heliotrope.
It opens with pine resin, lavender and basil, with underlying notes of lemon and bergamot, making it crisp and fresh. The heart is tree sap, with spicy cardamon and jasmine, and then the dry down is the Boxtree accord – capturing the essence of leather and smoke. I love it. It is quite a masculine scent, and it’s very, very more-ish!
If that’s not your thing, then maybe Vert Boheme is. This one is Tom Ford’s interpretation of green at its most free spirited, and it is a lively, fresh scent. Sicilian mandarin and magnolia exude behmian femininity, enhanced with Gustavia Superba, also known as ‘the Tree of Heaven’. This tree is recognised for its spectacular single blossoms which last for just one day.
So, the mandarin, Italian lemon and Calabrese bergamot are super top notes, mixing with a floral heart of hyacinth, white honeysuckle and narcissus, with magnolia and violet leaf. The hyacinth is a note I immediately picked out, probably because another Private Blend, Ombre de Hyacinth, is one of my all-time favourites.
The base of this one mixes woody textures with prized oakmoss, with vetiver and lightly roasted oakwood, with a touch of cistus. This is a gorgeous, feminine scent.
Finally, making up the trio is Vert Des Bois. This one is a very woody scent. It uses an inventive ingredient in modern perfumery, poplar bud extract. This brings and avant-garde edge to traditional green.
The extract from the unopened buds blends with spiked ouzo, olive tree leaves and plum notes. At the heart, there’s lentisque and jasmine. Then there’s pepperwood, a dose of cistus, and oakwood absolute.
It’s a really interesting scent, but not out there, actually very simple. I am not sure if I love this one as much as the other two, but it might be your favourite, and it is worth smelling!
Tom Ford’s Les Extraits Vert Private Blends are available from August 29, from Tom Ford Private Blend counter (in Scotland at Harvey Nichols and Fraser’s), £148 for 50ml, £345 for 250ml.
