Even before I took my debut sniff of Tom Ford’s mainstream fragrance line, the retro-glam bottles captivated me. The opaque glass flasks are textured like needle-rib corduroy, with possible off-label use as a cellulite massager.
The elegant bottle is what drew me to Ford’s White Patchouli first. “Oooh...” I crooned as I fondled the bottle’s milky-white ridges. “Arghh!” I yelped as the eau de parfum seared my sinuses with synthetic-smelling florals the size and shape of a skyscraper. (And depleted a week's supply of words beginning with “s”.)
After sulking for a bit, I begrudgingly approached Black Orchid, which had already gotten the thumbs-up from men and women I knew who lived for loucheness and grand statements. You know, “theatre types”. And sure enough, Black Orchid is nothing if not theatrical: a little showy, a little contrived, but always entertaining. Encore!
Black Orchid is available from Amazon.com, FragranceX.com and FragranceNet.com, starting at $64 for 30 ml
YES! The bottle is amazing and it is a creation of Della Chuang, also an amazing chic!
ReplyDeleteNice fragrance.
+Q Perfume Blog
kissy kissy
This is the third time in 2 days that Della Chuang's name has been mentioned to me! (Both Nathan Branch and Avery Gilbert were telling me about their very festive little dinner together with Della.)
ReplyDeleteAnd I was not aware that she was the creator of those glamorous Tom Ford bottles! Thanks for this info.
Ohh I love those bottles too! Do you smell (Balmain's) Ambergris in this or am I crazy?
ReplyDeleteI just got White Suede this afternoon- it's not very interesting but I think it'll be pretty with gray cashmere sweaters this winter at the office.
Gypsy Bride, hey, you crazy kook, I never thought to connect the dots between Black Orchid and Balmain Ambergris, but I think you might have something, there! Ambergris is totally soft and "watercolored" and gentle, but you could take it as a sort of long-distance echo of Black Orchid. Neato! Thanks for the observation.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I disagree that White Suede is not very interesting. It seems pretty interesting to me. But I find that doesn't really gel on me. If you're digging that White Suede's smokiness, then you should get a load of Cartier's brand new XIII La Treizième Heure. That will float your charred, smoky suede boat, babe!
ReplyDelete"Bold and pleasingly weird"-- You got that right!! I think BO (Oh, wait... that can't be a coincidence, can it?) is the essence of derangement out of the bottle, but I agree with you that when it settles down, it's spent.
ReplyDeleteBut the aquatic part? I'm going to go have to crack my bottle and look for that-- I missed that altogether...
Cheers!
Rita @leftcoastnose
Rita, what I'm calling aquatic is perceived by others as cucumbers. Whichever way you slice it, there's a fresh wetness lurking in Black Orchid.
ReplyDeleteGreat, entertaining review as always...'shoots its wad at the top," god thats brilliant.
ReplyDeleteKatie, have you tried any of the new D&G's? I have to say I'm disappointed in the ones I've sampled. # 1 Le Bateleur is OK, but how some of them could be labeled unisex I have no idea. I'm pretty open minded about fragrances (I wear Lovely sometimes, for crying out loud)...but how # 3 L'Imperatrice could be worn by anyone other than young women is beyond me.
Maybe I'm just missing something.
BooRad, I'm getting my act together for a YouTube review of some of the D&G Anthologies. I agree that #3 is the one "for the kids". The girl kids.
ReplyDeleteMy crotch smells like Tom fords black orchid don't even own it yet weird huh
ReplyDelete*snort*
ReplyDeleteHey Katie, I love Black Orchid. It is a metamorphosis perfume: in the winter is menthol-y gardenia and mushrooms, while in the summer it is woody-sensual. I love it, definitely unisex, but never dull. It is VaVaVoom, but it does have something to say.
ReplyDeleteI find Black Orchid to smell like decay...as in decadence. It's dark, sensual...mysterious. It's what I imagine an opium den in 1930s Shanghai smelling like. I am a guy and think it works well for me, especially for a night out (it may be a bit strong for the office).
ReplyDelete