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Tom Ford is clearly giving a nod to fragrances of the past with this one. Really strong stuff. For me the sharp woody spicy pine combines with the soft spicy rosemary and patchouli gave it a sort of mature medicinal smell that wasn’t one that I ended up enjoying on myself. It felt a little too mature for me, and I love older stuff like Agua Brava (1968). Smells like an explorer or a professor that spends his days either in a study surrounded by mahogany furniture and old maps. One that laughs through his big mustache “Hmbrr brr mbrr!”
I don’t have the bottle yet, I haven’t tried it enough, but this Is smell is one of the bests in the world. I’ll come back to fill the performance rating once I own a bottle.
Strong mosquito repellant... the hardcore stuff that makes your skin sticky with pungent citronella, or is it...? Yes it is, but at the same time, I do find myself going back for more. I don't necessarily dislike the smell of mosquito repellent, but do I want a very expensive perfume that instantly conjures that up? I just can't decide how I feel. Perhaps summer will change my opinion, better still, perhaps this stuff will actually deter mosquitos from feasting on me, in which case I can get on board. The thing is, as it dries down, it becomes clear that there is no citronella, it's probably the combination of geranium and anise (the latter of which is way stronger than I expected, and it's not even listed here) giving me that vibe. It's a complex fragrance, and interesting, I'm just not sure if I can bear it if someone says I smell like bug spray, and it seems inevitable. Following that, the bottle will sit there unused reminding me I spent too much money on it, even though it was discounted. I realise I'm confused. It's a confusing fragrance. Update: After several wears, of course I love it, it's magic! I think this is a thing with Tom Ford perfumes. They're not mass appeal, so it takes consideration to appreciate them. I must say I've yet to find one I didn't love, even if I wouldn't wear them all.
A masterstroke by Tom Ford to release this into the signature line, and they waited what seems like no time at all (but was probably like two years or something?) to do it. Following in the footsteps of the brilliant Ombre Leather is a positive step, effectively giving back to the fans if you like so you'll hear no complaints from me. It does make you wonder why they didn't just release it in this format straight away? Anyway, glad they have. I liked Beau de Jour in the Private blend, but it got slightly lost being last in a trio of fougere's released in a row. Don't me wrong it was the best of those but still. I recall the PB being a stark, diffusive, powdery exchange between bergamot, lavender and geranium akin to a Rive Gauche (although I didn't think it smelled that much of it) or YSL Jazz or something but with warm fougere traits in the base. This iteration however seems (I might be remembering wrong) to have much more gusto and a heavy patchouli note from the start, immediately evoking Houbigant's Fougere Royale. It's a strange rubberiness, permeating the fresh, powdered barbershop vibes that give it a bit more oomph and a sort of dirtier quality to what is a soapy clean affair for the most part. Having said that I could instantly tell it apart from Fougere Royale because Beau de Jour has a much more modern leaning disposition generally. Sure it has the classic warmth and coumarin and as we've established the patchouli note so prominent in both these releases, but develops and behaves differently on my skin. The issue I have with this is that the opening is great and I can enjoy the beginings of many fragrances but sadly they start to take a nosedive...pun intended. :) This wains heavy on me, I'm still interested by it but even my missus said it was too strong and was irritating to her...and I have to agree, it was getting on my nerves for a period. It reaches a sweet spot though after about two hours when everything rounds out (not that it isn't fantastically well put together from the off) the warmth of that base starts to chime sweetly and all those manly, but sophisticated, shaving vibes come to the fore. I think Tom Ford and his perfumer/s have really put a lot into this fragrance, I just have a hunch from the name and the fact that masculine aromatic fougere's suddenly became a base they wanted to cover comprehensively all culminating in the king of Fougere's if you like? This is the result and I have to say it's a supreme effort and despite comparisions to loads of other stuff that inevitably comes with the territory...I would still buy Beau de Jour and I own Fougere Royale, Zino Davidoff, Rive Gauche...etc etc... If that's not enough of a sign that they've brought something fresh to the genre,I don't know what is?
