Tom Ford for Men

Tom Ford For Men was certainly quite a surprise with how the brand launched its feminine perfume line with Black Orchid. To release a very understated classic-masculine-type scent after giving us that banshee wail in the feminine line was a head-scratcher. But the original Private Blends lineup that came out the same year more or less informed us that maybe For Men was a bit of an aside. Perhaps this was simply something Mr. Ford really wanted to have, either for himself or to be able to finally check-off of his list a perfume he had been wanting to make. Regardless, Black Orchid, this, and the Private Blend lineup created a broad palette of fragrances that stated Mr. Ford was taking perfume creation for his brand very seriously. For Men has been a cool weather staple of mine to this day very nearly since the year it was released (thanks to backup bottles) and is one of my favorites to have come from the brand. Bergamot and orange open the perfume and are immediately joined by massive amounts of parched green herbs. There is a lot of thyme, some rosemary, and something a bit herbal lemony like verbena. There is no moisture or sweetness to this at all; it is dry, bitter, and bracing. Next up is a layer of very gentle florals tying to the orange-like note from the top. This could be either orange blossom or neroli, or maybe both, but it’s hard to tell because of how much it overlaps with what seems to be a very dry, citrusy, and resinous cypress type note that's been pulverized into powder. Edgy and metallic like neroli, but something vaguely soft like orange blossom, and citrusy resinous. The piquant and spicy qualities continue here as well, further complicating note detection. It’s a very pleasant and classically masculine melange, if a bit nondescript. The final skin scent is gently mossy and woody vetiver forward, with plenty of peppery cedar in the form of iso e super to boot, and wisps of dry patchouli. This works almost like snapshots stitched together of some of modern masculine perfumery's stylistic inflection points in its timeline, as if we went from the 40s/50s or so at the start through to the 60s and 70s and fast-forwarded all the way to the 00s predominant use of synthetics for woody bases. Yet it’s very quiet and restrained, with barely any projection or sillage, but as an excellent retro masculine skin scent it will last for most of the day and it will also be quiet memorable for those that get up close and personal. For Men is not a statement so much as it tries to be a part of your person; very comfortable, very wearable, with just a bit of a modern edge to make it striking. Perhaps this is not as head-scratching as I made it seem, since we know Tom Ford's fragrances very frequently hark back to Mr. Ford’s favorite perfume genres of yesteryear, but that For Men does so without caring if you notice - which is not a characteristic of the majority of modern masculines, little alone the masculines of the 70s that inspired it - imparts a quiet but established confidence in personal taste and style that men very rarely get from fragrances designed for them. A man who knows what he likes, what he wants to smell of, and doesn't give a damn if you notice until he invites your nose to his collar.

The epitome of classy, understated (and a bit old-school) refinement, elegance, and class. Tom Ford for Men is a gingery, peppery fresh fragrance that is given depth with tobacco leaf, leather and patchouli. There is such a great progression to this fragrance on skin. It starts with a blast of citrus and ginger, then dries down to a peppery and woody heart, and then the leather notes come out with a long creamy finish. It's like sitting in a well-maintained leather armchair in a Frank Lloyd Wright home. People hate on this fragrance because of its "performance". The longevity is 2-3 hours, sillage is moderate, and you won't be choking people out unless you overspray it. I would say, for a fresh men's fragrance that is supposed to be "For Men" (quite a generic name) this is a good entry point into Tom Ford's men's fragrances. Very inoffensive, fresh, and accessible. That's what its use-case was! After a few hours it's gone; it doesn't overstay its welcome. Not every frag needs to be beast mode, projection monster, choke people out in the next town type nuclear juice that gets you branded "that Cologne Guy". Too many people will pass on this because reviewers said that it "lacked performance" or the "projection is awful". Tell me: Should a man wear a fragrance or should a fragrance wear a man? Should a man be judged by his actions, words and deeds, or by the type of aromatic chemicals he puts on his skin? Should a fragrance compliment a man's style, or should it choke people out? "Choke them out! Choke them out!" I already hear the pitchforks coming out, the villagers are angry. How dare you! Heresy! Heresy! Tom Ford for Men is a refined, classy, understated and refined scent for a gentleman who wants to add to his presence by using a fragrance, and not be defined by it. 9.5/10 Snifftacular!

This one was a victim of unrealistic expectations i think. Like the expression "the book was better" i hear walking out of the movies. As if comparing a cup to a plate,but i digress. Masculine,reasonable price and an entertaining development. I could not stand extreme which only shares the bottle.Unfortunately extreme had truffles and not the chocolate kind but the ones they dig out of the ground.(see review) This is not what i would call a sweet fragrance. Lemon oil is up front than the elements begin to coalesce into a new fragrance.tobacco,and musk,beautiful drydown. Many women i know prefer a guy to smell like a guy instead of a bowl of strawberries & cream. While i consider their opinions i dont honestly give a rat's ass what anybody else thinks of it.Since i love this. I dont see how anybody thinks its feminine. Girl smells like this and i will have questions. Longevity was acceptable.Versatile. Just go easy on the trigger as it is somewhat 70s style. If its generic why doesnt anybody name something that smells very similar? The after shave balm of this scent opens much better to my nose.Pity is i cannot find it anymore. Wish they could get the aftershave opening into the edt bottle. I like most of this house's fragrances and even what i do not like i can appreciate on some level.Thank you Mr. Ford! Please do not reformulated this.There are so few I love .

Lets not forget theres Lemon Leaf Oil & Mandarin Orange on its initial opening. So when we're testing & constantly smelling this frag up close looking to pick up the other notes it should be expected to go nose blind to the citrus. For me TF For Men is a Summer Night fragrance for small events. I spray my skin as well as clothes & I get good performance for the 6 hours I'm out. My body heat keeps it activated & subtle winds carry it to noses. For example I wore this fragrance to a friends Yacht Party. We all drank, danced & were fairly sweaty in the evening Sun. I couldnt smell the fragrance at all. However, my wife said that she could smell me the entire time. But then, at night it cooled down a bit, & we got this subtle breeze, & I could smell the fragrance again. And thats when I started to receive compliments on it. This same friend throws backyard parties & invites Local Bands out to perform. I wore TF For Men again, & this time I got better performance in the yard than I did on the Yacht. I literally smelled the fragrance the entire night we were out. And again, received compliments. So dont count TF For Men out on performance. You just need to figure out the best weather condition to wear this fragrance in. And for me its Summer Nights where theres a very subtle breeze. Dont forget To Spray Your Clothes......

Spectacular scent that despite its struggles in performance remains one of my favorite summer fragrances. Very similar to the L'Homme Ideal EDT, falling more on the fresh side while the Guerlain falls more on the sweet side - but the two have several similar accords in common. Vera Wang for Men comes the closest to this IMO. It's scent structure feels less complex but at a distance I'd struggle to differentiate them. And it would have to be pretty soon after application as they both convert to skin scents pretty quicky and both are barely traces after more than three to four hours. Both feel very, very light (almost ephemeral), and the trade-off for that airy beauty is performance. I am okay with these citrus-heavy EDTs that perform essentially as classic colognes, it actually works for my habit of applying something after I get home from work, and in these cases it means I can pretty much choose anything without having to take the remnants of my morning fragrance into account - and the bottom line is this: warm-weather fragrances just are made from more delicate aromas and on average are going to be gone sooner than their cool weather counterparts. That being said I do like to make the Extreme flanker my evening application after this one - it's just so insanely delicious.