Perfume Pen Pals: Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, Tom Ford Private Blend White Musk Collection and Etat Libre d’Orange Fat Electrician


Dan,

I tried the new Tom Ford White Musk Collection, and found them all to be lovely, and minus the Private Blend’s usual bombast. White Suede is nice, with a birch tarry quality. Jasmine Musk is very jasmine-y (uh…duh!), very pretty. Musk Pure puts me in mind of Chanel No. 5, lots of aldehydes. Urban Musk is animalic, starting off as nutty vinyl, ending on halitosis.

Oh, and I really like the new Tom Ford Grey Vetiver. It's vetiver lightened up enough with citrus to pass muster with a vetiver lightweight like myself. Vetiver’s grassy, vegetal thickness does me in at full force. Even at medium force.

Katie


Katie,

I sampled all of the Tom Ford musks at Saks, and the only one I liked was White Suede.

And I can't abide by Grey Vetiver. Appreciating it because it covers its vetiver with citrus is like a Midwesterner only eating those tacky sushi rolls because the fish flavor is covered up with mayonnaise. Whether it's sushi or vetiver, you're either with us or you're against us. Though I'm not included in the vetiver "us" because I'm still on the fence.

You're right about Grey Vetiver being a lighter vetiver, but it's also a less interesting vetiver. It's akin to not liking black licorice and buying the black licorice that tastes least like black licorice. Except it still tastes like black licorice. And nothing else. Just not as much like black licorice as other black licorices taste. I found it kind of boring. (But I took a sample home with me to wear, so watch my opinion change.)

Dan


Dan,

White Suede started off as my fave TF musk, too (and I guessed you'd like it, with its smokiness), but it sort of fell apart into components on my skin. The Jasmine Musk ended up smelling best on me.

I suppose Grey Vetiver is a wuss-out vetiver, but it's the only way I can get vetiver down without a spit-take, practically.

Katie


Katie,

Today I’m wearing my sample of Etat Libre d’Orange Fat Electrician, which makes me angry, not because it's bad but because it's another boring, one-dimensional vetiver.

The fellows on Basenotes fall over themselves for every single vetiver, and every single leather and tobacco, probably because they're the acceptable-for-men accords, but how many vetivers must I endure that smell just like every other vetiver? (That's a rhetorical question. The real answer is around a couple dozen. So far.)

This one is thin and pleasing, probably because it's thin (a non-thin vetiver is hardly ever pleasing), but it ends up smelling like a cheapie designer vetiver, like Paul Smith Story, which can be had for half the price.

Whenever vetiver is present, everything else seems to get compressed, smothered. Vetiver is a perfume blanket. I don't like perfume blankets. I need to fly, KP, you know this about me.

Dan


Fumeheads, vetiver seems to bring out the Goldilocks in Dan and me: it's either too much or not enough. Please nominate your "just right" vetivers. (That includes you, Dan!)

12 comments:

  1. Is it bad that I like vetivers that are too much? My very favorite is Tauer Vetiver Dance, which radiates smoky, rope-y vetiver for at least a 5 mile radius around me. Happiness is.

    I've never smelled FM Vetiver Extraordinaire, which gets lots of raves, so my vote for the "just right" vetiver would be good old Guerlain Vetiver. It's enough vetiver to tickle my fancy without being in-your-face like Vetiver Dance.

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  2. I'm not really a fan of the lighter vetiver and citrus pairings (Guerlain Vetiver does nothing for me). I prefer a more grounded vetiver. My just-right vetiver "soliflore" is Sycomore -- it's nutty, a bit sweet, but still undeniably vetiver. Other fabulous vetiver-important frags are Vero Profumo Onda (rich leathery-balsamic-vetiver), Soivohle' Underworld (balsamic and resinous, deep forest vetiver), Ayala Moriel Hanami (beautiful woody floral), SIP Magazine Street (warm feminine floral vetiver), SL Vetiver Oriental (dabbed it's less airy, more grounded with a hint of dark unsweetened chocolate). Also good but not love for me are Miller Harris Vetiver Bourbon for a balanced straight up vetiver with a gorgeous drydown, and CdG Vettiveru if you're in the mood for a refreshing vetiver-citrus-lite cologne.

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  3. Dear Katie and Dan: Just right Vetivers for me (and I know Katie would rather throw up in her mouth than wear these):
    1) Encre Noir - dark, inky, exotic woods, old dry paper mmmmm (Sycamore is close to this but not as stark. I like stark.)
    2) TDC's Sel de Vetiver - for very hot weather, its refreshing almost medicinal clean is wonderful. The tango it does with iris is magical.
    3) J.C. Ellena's Vetiver Tonka - another great one for warm weather, my only gripe is its longevity : price ratio.

    Suprisingly, I do not care for the Guerlain Vetyver, considered by many to be the reference vetiver. Old fashioned and a snooze fest.

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  4. opusgrrl, it's not bad at all to have a strong constitutional tolerance for ropey vetiver. You obviously come from hearty stock. If you love smoky, earthy fullness, you should investigate LesNez Turtle Vetiver Exercise No. 1 (there's great review of it on NowSmellThis).

    I've been digging Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle as my tickle-my-fancy vetiver.

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  5. Ahsu, I too, very much enjoy Serge Lutens Vetiver Oriental and Vero Profumo Onda. But that Chanel Sycomore is just too much capital letters "VETIVER" for me. Did I mention I'm a vetiver lightweight?

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  6. Now, Scott, you know from my TDC Sel de Vetiver review that I ended up really liking it, so no untoward upchuck scenarios there. And in fact, I can handle a bit of Encre Noir. I've not tried the Vetiver Tonka yet. I do find Guerlain Vetiver too soapy.

    Ooh! I just thought of another wussypants vetiver I love: Etro Shaal Nur. Hey! Maybe I'm not as anti-vetiver as I claim.

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  7. I'm going to second the recommendation of Comme des Garcons Vettiveru!

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  8. Scott, Agreed on Guerlain Vetyver and also on Sel de Vetiver, the only vetiver currently in my collection (I think). It's unique, has real presence, and manages to avoid vetiver's typically grim single-mindedness without being watered down or softened with too much citrus. As for the rest, I've flirted with buying Sycomore but found I'm satisfied with occasional visits. Same with Malle's Vetiver Extraordinaire. And I once owned CdG's Vettiveru, which, you're right, ahsu, is another of those vetiver-lites, perfectly pleasant and likable but a vetiver in all lowercase letters, a sushi roll with mayonnaise. Maybe I'm just a one-vetiver man.

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  9. Dear Katie,
    This is late, but I have just applied Encre Noir for the first time and think I might faint from its beauty. I definitely need to smell more overt vetivers. I knew I liked the smell of vetiver becaue I used to go to World Market just to sniff the placemats, but I was cautious / skeptical about a vetiver-centric frag because I feared it would not smell like the placemats.

    But, it does. =)

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  10. xaryax, Encre Noire is indeed a wonderful "statement vetiver", and who would've thought that "smelling like a World Market placemat" could be a ringing endorsement?

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  12. Try Diptyques Vetyverio. Vetiver softened with a little Turkish rose, carrot seed, Floridian grapefruit and bergamot.

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