Tom of Finland

I'm finally getting around to my long-lost review of Tom of Finland, mostly because I wanted to give myself more time with its reworked version, Clean Suede. Tom of Finland opens with aldehydes and lemon with plenty of woody, peppery, and saffron notes just like Clean Suede. However, in TF it is tamer, softer, and seeming to emphasize more wood and saffron than the harsher opening of CS. The more apparent heart notes peaking up into the top of TF made me think of a smooth yet bitter and strident wormwood that's been softened by the sweet citrus and aldehydes, versus the spicier and hot tanning chemicals of CS. The same difference continues into the heart, where the leather of TF is softer, kinder, more sensual, the animalics have been dialed back and the powdery orris dialed up, in comparison to CS. And again, in the final dry down the theme continues with the leather and orris falling away imperceptibly to a suede accord, salty musks, a bit of woody vetiver, and a touch of gentle and elegant vanilla. Tom of Finland is a gorgeous leather perfume. It perfectly balances calming and pushy though leaning towards the former, it is sensual, snuggly, and the perfect blend of masculine and feminine. It keeps to the brand's brief very well, even though I've never quite understood ELdO's interpretation of the cartoon; I've always interpreted the cartoon as a lot raunchier and challenging than TF ever comes across while I wear it. This leaves me with a couple conclusions. One, Tom of Finland and Clean Suede have noticeable differences: the original is smoother and softer, but just enough spicy and animalic to get the point across - sexuality without a gender attached; Clean Suede is noticeably hotter, animalic, spicier, and raunchier. Both are great, it just depends on your taste. Second is that Clean Suede is more to the Tom of Finland cartoon, by my interpretation, than the Tom of Finland perfume is to the cartoon. But that's art, isn't it? To read it correctly means that we will all get something a bit different out of it. Of the two, Tom of Finland is my favorite and one of the best leather perfumes of this century.

09/10/23 15:47: I was expecting this to be a daring ELDO scent that would evoke a butch man who reeks of sweat, leather, and sex. In reality it is unisex and leaning slightly feminine. It is a sweet, powdery leather and lime. Virginal, innocent, clean, and safe. There is nothing challenging about this fragrance aside from the brief rubber note in the beginning. This is a young Tom of Finland being driven to school by his mother, smelling the makeup case he found in her purse as he riffled through it in search of lunch money, while holding a pencil eraser in his hand. I'm not disappointed I own this, but I've been terribly misled. 10/26/24 12:17: I revisited ToF one year later making it my scent of the day. It was kept in its box in a drawer, unused for a year. I was struck by how the color of the juice changed from what I remember to be a clear pale yellow to a now bright orange. Yesterday was a cool and sunny autumn day. The unpleasant rubber note in the beginning and the lime are no longer detectable to my nose. The fragrance is still powdery and the suede is still present. Somehow, a year later, the fragrance has attained a rich quality to it making it feel warm and well-blended. It is still unisex but I would say it now leans more masculine. It has aged beautifully while still having no relation to the Tom of Finland character. If the rebranded bottles (Clean Suede) contain this same formula then I highly recommend this perfume - just know you might need to let it age a bit.

i think that, in many ways, my interpretation of fragrances comes down not only to the smell itself, but to the image painted around it, by name, by description, by packaging. this is probably normal - after all, if those things didn't matter, every scent might only have a number, and come in a plain, unadorned gray bottle. tom of finland is one of my favorite smells, and one that immediately draws to mind a few images: i am sitting in a bathhouse or a sauna, and water with eucalyptus and pine oils has been poured over the steaming hot stones, almost transfixing me with the redolence and thickness of the smell. to the left of me, an older man has his arm slung over my shoulder, cajoling and camaraderie, a winking smile in the corner of his mouth, and i can smell his sweat as an undercurrent, beneath the steam. me and a lover lay on a blanket in a meadow, the smell of conifers all around us, an old wicker picnic basket laying open. on the blanket lies a plate of meats, cheeses, and fruits. i wrap a piece of prosciutto around a juicy chunk of melon, and with my fingers feed it to my lover. it was a long hike to get to our spot, and so the sweat has dried to our skin, and now the dust of dead bark and mosses cling to us. all this said, i appreciate the subtle fruitiness beneath the pine scents. i tend towards liking these ambery, resinous perfumes, so this definitely hits all the right buttons. one of my favorites, and i would highly recommend this to others.

At the tender age of eighteen I moved to London and took my first job as a cloakroom girl at the infamous underground fetish club. Unkissed, let alone anything more, I found myself face-to-face with the original sin, not as a participant, but as a silent, stunned observer. Some of the things I saw simply lie beyond written words: images that are indescribable, unforgettable, and especially searing when you’re young and wide open. Tom of Finland smells exactly like that place at the start of the night, before the real action begins: people drifting in, slipping into latex with generous handfuls of Johnson’s baby talc to make it slide, women layering their own perfume on top of the sweet powder, touching up makeup, the last nervous small talk while everyone is still half-dressed and pretending composure, right before the sweating starts. I kept it a secret known only to me. My landlady never wondered why the cash I handed her each week was soft and wrinkled. Friends at university just decided I was weird and antisocial for vanishing every weekend. Mum was told I worked “in a bar.” Tom of Finland is that same kind of secret: something only you fully understand where it comes from, what it means, yours alone until the moment you lock eyes with someone else who knows, and the air between you tilts. Every day, the future looks a little bit darker. But the past... even the grimy parts of it... keep on getting brighter.

This is the ELDO I'm most tempted to actually buy in full-size - I've not yet tried any other scents by them that both smell pleasant enough for regular wear and have real staying power. I love the contrast between the sharp, clean conifers and aldehydes with the animalic base, and the sweet, tempering effect of the vanilla and tonka. It wholly embodies what it's supposed to be, rugged, outdoorsy and masculine but with something a little "queer" in multiple senses of the word to it. It's definitely a very masculine scent but I really enjoy wearing it as a woman, it gives a sense of androgynous glam rather than just smelling like I've borrowed a man's scent. Although I first got a sample in the winter and the notes read to me like "cold-weather", I've found it wears really well on stagnant, overwhelmingly hot summer days in the city, like a breath of fresh air. It may just be the distinct "leather and condoms" accord but I feel like this is a spiritual cousin (or maybe a long-lost lover) of Tom Ford's Tuscan Leather - Tom of Finland is a man of the woods, naturally strong from working outdoors, dressed in flannel and drinking whisky neat, whereas Ombre Leather is a suited city-boy with memberships at a boutique gym and a private member's club, but they've certainly crossed paths in the past and think of one another now and then.

This was one of the samples I received in the Almost Complete Collection. I don't normally love leather-dominant fragrances for myself, but it works really well here. Since this is more masculine IMO, I gave it to my husband (along with Hermann and a few others). This PROJECTS. We traveled to Miami at the end of April, and it lasted through Florida humidity, and a few hours later, I was still able to smell it on him the entire flight back home. I love several ELdO fragrances, but longevity ranges from abysmal to moderate, at least for the more feminine (Yes I Do) to unisex (Remarkable People) end of the range, and most of them do not project much (the only exception may be Bijoux Romantique which performs really well). This one has amazing projection AND longevity. As for the fragrance itself, to my nose, this is unique and smells niche. It does not resemble any designer fragrance that I have smelled. The leather here is wearable and mixes well with the woods and other notes. I would love to get my husband a FB of this in the future after he has gone through his current bottles (unlike me, he does not like to have too many fragrances at once). For niche, this is a more affordable brand, and given the performance of this one, you get a lot of bang for your buck!

Rugged smoothness, naughty sophistication. This is a linear but gorgeous and really fun leather-floral-aromatic fragrance that totally fits with the Tom of Finland aesthetic. Blast of new suede boots at the top supported by smooth vanilla and pungent tonka. Then the clean iris powder, sharp pine, and fizzy aldehydes cut through with astonishing clarity. It's a combination that works surprisingly well, but the suede really holds everything together. I don't get much lemon or birch, but maybe they're just so well blended with everything else that I'm not detecting them. Oh well, all the reason to wear this beauty more often! Superb staying power and projection, and works well in cool weather or warm. I should also note that this is a fragrance that complements most natural body smells, which you really can't say for a lot of designer scents that seem like they're trying to hide skin chemistry and can come off as a bit discordant as a result. Tom of Finland is classy enough to wear to a dinner party, but versatile enough to wear to a club. Very unisex, very sexy. One of my favorite from ELdO!

While technically considered a "bright suede leather" , its main character impact compound would be safraleine, a wonderful substance that I discovered through Tom of Finland. It's like saffron, but more suave, without the vintage feel and the medicinal bitterness, bringing a strong leather facet. Aldehydes are even more important here, making Tom of Finland both a leather scent and an unusual summer freshie! They emphasize its cleanliness (take No.5's aldehydes and you won't actually be that far), while birch tar and other rubbery components give it that challenging urban vinyl sensation, that was first coined by Bvlgari Black in the 90's. Not that they're so similar, but in both cases it's the feeling of something unnatural, glossy and a bit dangerous on your skin. Faux leather pants maybe. An Off-White rubber bracelet. Some kind of Haute Couture punk: the vanillic dry down envelopes all dangers in an irresistible sweetness. Best of both worlds: a mood lifter and a modern Goth scent. I have my third bottle.

I love this one on me. I'm a fan of ELDO, but I don't like all their fragrances. The first thought after spraying the sample was of suede, and then I got some hints of floral and vetiver and wood. It dried down into something like Play-Doh. It's delightful and playful and fun. It's been on my skin for 2 hours, and I can definitely pick out the leather and wood and floral and vetiver. Really smooth. I will be getting a FB of this one. 7/22/21 edit to add - I got a FB. This is flat. When I spray it on, I smell suede. It dries down to suede and powder and a hint of vanilla. I'm sorry to say I'm disappointed 9/16/21 edit to add - I can't explain it, but there must have been something wrong with my nose. I've worn this numerous times, and the complexity has returned. I'm wearing it today, and after 2 hours, it dried down to a beautiful vanilla with some wood. Really very nice. 12/16/2021 edit to add - i wore this yesterday, and I can still smell something supple on my wrist. This stuff lasts!

This scent has a very very lovely transition from a bright citrus scent to a suede, iris base. I can see how this wouldn't be niche enough for some, but to me this seems more like a romanticized version of most modern men's fragrance. As if someone went to make those type of scents but for everybody. It smells like a better version of those clean mainstream fragrances that my dad used to have that I would secretly spray on myself when I was around 12 in order to impress my middle school crush. Not a direct copy of those scents, but how my rose tinted memory remembers it smelling. If you are a guy looking for a scent to dive into the world of niche fragrances: this is a pretty safe one to start out on. Or if you want a safe scent that is just different enough for a trained nose to sniff it out (pun intended), then go for this.

A favorite from first spray. This has everything that Tom of Finland should have-- leather, rubber, powder, and a soft footing of tonka and iris. To me, this meets the fantasy image of the men that the real Tom of Finland, aka Tuoko Laaksonnen, drew. They aren't real-- men with proportions like that and, um, organs, that commanding, and jaws that chiseled, and hair so perfectly coifed, do not exist. They're a combination of an impossible ideal of masculinity combined with an intense sensitivity-- we all know real lumberjacks and bikers don't pay this kind of attention to their appearance, or wear pants this tight! So as a fantasy fragrance, this is perfect. The leather and rubber says sex, the powder says refinement, and the florals and coumarins say sensitivity. It's a masterpiece.

Wow...when I first reviewed this fragrance in 2012, it was orange in color, more ambery, stronger, spicier, and longer lasting. What the heck happened?! Once EDP strength, it's become something between EDC and EDT. It's like, okay, once upon a time, there was a daring artist who depicted hyper-masculine men in coy, compromising poses but then today, they've become stick figures. This fragrance had some soul at one time, guts, and was daring! Now it's become Etat Libre de Prada. It's as though the original was a little too much, so it had to be censored. Here's the thing: it probably wasn't the most outrageous thing in 2012, yet it wasn't reduced to this powdery travesty of its former self. Well, maybe that just shows, there's something to vintage perfume as well as art.

This one’s right in the middle of a Venn diagram of things I love. On the one side, old-school masculine floral leathers, alongside Knize Ten, Lalique Homme (Lion), and Dia Man. On the other side are the sexy inviting scents, masculine fragrances that beckon someone to lean in really close ... and then closer still - ones like L'Homme Ideal EDP, Ambre Nuit, Tuxedo or Rochas Moustache. As usual with ELdO, the marketing is fanciful and a lot of fun, but doesn't really capture the scent for me. This isn't aggressive, it's a seductive skin scent. I think the leather daddies from the great art in the package would be wearing Moustache, not this ;) One I'll always want to have handy in a bottle on the shelf.

This is a beautiful clean, creamy leather. Leather is one of my favorite 'genres' of fragrance and this is one of my favorites. I get the lemon and aldehydes for a very breif moment on initial spray. However the leather and creaminess from the vanilla and tonka quickly show themselves and it's beautiful. It's a very light and sweet, wearable leather. I'm a true fan of the house of ELDO. This is categorized as masculine leaning, however this is beautiful on a woman's skin. I can say most fragrance houses have their own DNA in all of their fragrances and ELDO definitely does. I've enjoyed almost every fragrance from this house. Tom of Finland being one of my favorites.

I have such a story with this fragrance! First I grabbed a decant, loved it but didn't feel like getting a FB. Long story short, I ended up buying a bottle anyway. On myself it mostly smells like a leather jacket that was kept with a satchel of vanilla aromatizer but then a friend mentioned it smelled like latex and I started getting this note too. Oh well, nice combination anyway. On others, however, I mostly get creamy vanilla beans and soft suede. Oh and yeah, it is sexy, not in a NSFW Tom of Finland way though. Music: Cruisin', Love Through Vaseline by Spiritual Front.

Woody,spicy, very sexy, warm, fresh and clean - it does evoke the over the top hyper masculine imagery of Tom of Finland, I can really smell the connection. Like the eponymous artworks, it is erotically charged with male sexuality, but even so this could be devastatingly arousing on the right woman so please try it if that could be you! You can get a sample for €3 from the ELDO website. Some people have a special fragrance that they reserve purely for sexual encounters, this one is most certainly a highly recommended contender.

Tom of Finland is simply amazing. It's like wearing a sexy suede jacket, since suede is present in all the stages of the perfume. When the basenotes appear, the suede is sweetened with the vanilla and tonka notes, with a touch of iris, giving it a powdery touch. The dry down is good and very light, very close to the skin, with a bit of sexy musk. Tom of Finland smells great, it's easy to wear, it's light, office friendly, and good in high temperature, this is very versatile, and can be used year round.

Too bad Pride is in the dead of summer! This is a fragrance for moderate, cooler weather. A yummy soft leather/suede fragrance, a little sweet and a little woody. I can get some rubberiness from it too, reminds me a bit of latex, so it fits that theme really well. Basically smells like borrowing your partner's suede jacket. A soft boy fragrance! I get the resemblance to Jazz Club, this has those same sweet leathery vibes, but much lighter. Also kinda reminds me a bit of TF Ombre Leather

Some one at ua fragrantica sad that it is perfect fragrance for kissing with your boy friends, not for dates with women. Now to the aromat of it. Firstly it smell like suede.Yeah thats it, maybe with a bit of vanilla and aldehydes, but mostly suede. At base it very pleasing and satisfying blend of soft & warm spices and vanilla.Those spices, with a view of the pyramid, probably blend of mostly vanilla and iris, with hint of iris. If i would buy any pride fragrance, it will be it

I love this scent! I do get the similarities with Luna Rossa Black and Bvlgari Black, but this is certainly it's own thing. While I pick up rubber in the others, this leans more toward like a latex or pleather. It puts the image of a dominatrix in my mind. Not blind buy safe, but it's an amazing scent which I love and find completely unisex. Performance is really good too! I think it could be pulled off in any situation as long as you don't go trigger happy in high heat.