Noir de Noir
Tom Ford (2007)

I discovered Noir de Noir the same day I discovered the TF Private Blend line, back in 2007. A sales associate had me smell it, touting that it was a unisex rose, and I was immediately smitten by its dark burgundy velvet petal rose, conjuring up red wine and blood, thorns, dark, shadowy earth and chocolate-cake-patchouli sensuality. This was early on in my exploration of fragrances beyond just the one or two here and there to wear in heavy rotation. I was thrilled with all of these new discoveries, and was more than happy to use my credit card to have them in my possession. Noir de Noir made me feel like I was really treating myself to a luxury (my first knowledge of Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle, and Creed would be just around the corner).

It would be the scent I would often where while DJing, when I was younger, leaner, and always randy. "You smell so good" never felt so authentic as when heard from someone approaching me behind the booth to flirt. To be not quite 30 felt like I had so much ahead of me, and the attention seemed like it would never end. Over time, life happens, often in the form of detours—changing attitudes, changing health, grief and heartbreak. I would retire from DJing and discover the hobby of perfume-making by 2014, which started with exclusively natural perfumery. I'd convince myself that everything I had was too synthetic and not "artful" enough and would sell a whole lot from my collection, include the bottle of Noir de Noir I had at the time (forget about all the now long-discontinued Creeds that, regretfully, were just too easy for me to let go!).

Fast forward ten years, and I have long since embraced classic perfumery with its amalgam of natural and synthetic, reignited my love for fragrances tenfold, and now and then, I've sniffed Noir de Noir at the perfume counter to reignite those memories. It's another one that I've not been compelled to replenish as with many that were worn habitually in my past. I also heard and read time and again that it now lacks the depth that it had the first few years it was in production. It will always, however, be fondly remembered as one of the scents that bookended my salad days.

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.

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

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