Vert d'Encens

Vert d’Encens seems to get a lot of criticism and disdain. Maybe that's because it was part of a quartet and never really got the chance to be judged on its own - it certainly didn’t help that it was fast discontinued. Vert des Bois, another of the quartet, got a lot more praise for its more intellectually spurring composition, which probably forced Vert d’Encens into an unfair corner of needing to defend itself. We won’t talk about Vert Boheme here, that was a mess. Then you have the Luca Turin sycophants who read his poor review, decided to smell as he smelled, and add their voices to the echo chamber of their infallible Pope of Perfume. I cannot disagree that Vert des Bois is better composed and more interesting, but I don’t get the smileys when I smell it. In Vert d’Encens, I do - a big ol’ smile. Like Vert des Bois, Vert d’Encens is an exercise in patchouli but it relies heavily on green incense and resins to carry the message. VdB accentuates the softer nuances of patchouli by pushing forward its fruity, gentle floral, green waxy, and leathery facets, whereas Vert d’Encens takes a far more simplistic approach to patchouli and says “here is the green and resinous side of patchouli, full stop.” Myrrh resins, green and aromatic and salty, are accented by plenty of heliotrope that give an unctuous, nutty quality that smells bright, hard, and a bit sticky. As if that wasn’t enough, pine sap and evergreen balsams are thrown in for yet more greens, more resins, more hard stickiness, plus a decent helping of very comfortable sap-sugar sweetness. They lay over a bed of dry yet loamy and fresh patchouli, like dried compost that still has some green flora stuck in it. The notes are sort of jammed together, a bit vague and ill-defined at the edges, which gives a very rustic quality to Vert d'Encens like the smells of a newly-built pine log cabin in a damp forest. It is far from the intellectual and precise delivery of Vert des Bois, a welcome deviation from the typical Tom Ford aesthetic, but Vert d’Encens also doesn’t have the typical Tom Ford aesthetic of loud, sexual, over-the-top, trashiness. So, without that and without intellectual curiosity, what is there to it? - Many perfumistas simply wrote it off. That’s a shame. I think its imprecise, rustic simplicity is its charm. When I walk through a sunlit evergreen forest, the smells of the trees sap, bark, needles, and the earth surrounding me, I don’t think of technical precision, chastising the pine or the soil for their rough aromatic overlaps with each other, instead I smile and say “this smells very nice and I am happy to be here.”

Fascinating, weirdly distinctive, decadent, even a little sinister. For some reason, for me, this conjures the more underworld fringe of Art Nouveau style; despite being as green as you can imagine, it channels the spirit of some of Aubrey Beardsley's darkly depraved black-and-white illustrations. It's all a bit kinky - not animalic or 'smells of sex', but fey and menacing all at once. Very unisex, period-yet-modern, sweet-yet-bracing - and thoroughly odd all the way through. The green is intense - they say boxwood but to me the whole effect, of a giant hopper of freshly-mown grass and freshly-crushed bitter leaves, is so very very green it verges more on galbanum. But really, convincingly, no-compromise green notes if those are your thing. Now for my personal taste the sweeter overlay of heliotrope & incense turns so heady it almost, almost cloys, making me a little uneasy, a little 'is it too much?' (And maybe it's a deliberate tease, that the almond-like sweetness of heliotrope in such a bitter-green setting makes me think yikes, danger, is there arsenic in this shot glass of green herbal madness?). In high heat I think I'd find this fleurs-du-mal, poison-flower charisma of the sweeter top end a bit overwhelming, maybe even obnoxious. But in spring or autumn its intrigue never lets up and the spell doesn't dispel - its very strangeness compels you to sniff and sniff and sniff again throughout the day. Grown-up, sophisticated, not for novices - and may repel some people. Almost creepy. Yet maybe truly great. Overpriced, like all TFs, but certainly close to unique (I can't think of much else like it) and longevity matches its poise and naughty humour, hanging about up to 8-9h on skin and days on fabric. A scary but seductive hissing, jewelled, viperous green mamba in scented form. Wrestle with it!

I've worn this on two occasions and I've enjoyed it each time. When l think seriously about this perfume l cannot shake the LOVELY vintage feel of it... Like it's a simplified and deconstructed female perfume of yore, updated to modern sensibilities. The juice is never harsh,loud, screechy, or conspicuously floral. It's soft, warm and inviting. The Green aspects impart freshness and vaguely of the outdoors. Underneath the crushed, green foliage, there is this lovely Golden almost ambery, Woody base of (pine?) resin with a touch of powder, vanilla and white chocolate. I like that there is no white musk (which screams clean!) in here, the incense notes can quietly persist for quite some time. This isn't a sterile perfume; it radiates and smoulders! As a female, l think l can wear this on any occassion, year round. It's not too heavy, and not too light. It has enough richness and body to it that can be worn on evenings out. I feel like a real classy Dame wearing this. The dry down is downright dreamy, nostalgic and romantic. And delicious. Just mmm.... I wonder if guys will find this too sweet, but in general Tom Ford perfumes can be quite sweet in general and this frag is definitely not a sugar bomb by any means. The Green really tempers the sweet. I think this may be a special occasion perfume for a man. I own Chanel no 19 in copious amounts so l cannot justify a purchase. What can l do? I will just hoard my sample for very special occasions.

I naturally gravitate towards woody aromatic scents and this is now in my top 10. It is in the same camp as Kilian Taste of Heaven. Not a dupe but definitely similar. This opens with aromatic notes and then you pick up the resins and incense. I love what the incense does to the aromatic resin notes. The touch of smokiness. I think I would have liked more incense to recreate the wild windswept Corsican coastline. I'm familiar with the boxwood note and it does a good job of keeping the green aspect going to the end. I'm not sure if it's my chemistry but I do get a good dose of heliotrope. A soft vanilla/almond backdrop. It finally fades as a soft heliotrope scent with a green twist. This is truly a warm green scent. I don't get wild anything! It's more like the scent of Christmas. Although I dont get a snowy forest like I do AG Nuit Etoile. The mint recreating the freezing icy air. I guess I could interpret the aromatic green boxwood note as the herbs you find on Corsica. Some guys might find this a touch too sweet to be comfortable with. I'm sure your ladies will jump at the chance to take it off your hands :) It has decent longevity but the sillage isn't beyond arms length. It actually retracts back to a skin scent after half an hour. A nice scent to wear during the festive season. It has a relaxed casual feel.

Finally got my hands on the genuine article after a few run-ins with fakes. Vert d'Encens is about what I had expected, given my love for Tom Ford Private Blends - deep, green, earthy, and richly resinous, with excellent performance and the distinctive TFPB expensive sillage. Perhaps not as spicy as I would prefer for an incense perfume, but I can spike it with a bit of my go to Myrrh absolute. I also now understand why the replicas I tried were so horrific - VDE goes on ugly. Unlike other Tom Ford scents which seem to take pains with 'whiff appeal,' in the bottle or freshly sprayed, this frag gives strong stale cigarette and pencil shavings notes. Once applied, it settles very quickly to an enjoyable (if one enjoys smoky balsamic type scents) experience, but it seems that in trying to recreate precisely the harsh opening, the replicas have neglected to incorporate the gentle dry down. I'm a layering mixologist of sorts, and I can imagine VDE will make an excellent underpinning for Private Blend florals Champaca Absolute, Black Violet, and perhaps even Noir de Noir.

I created an account here just so I could review this fragrance. I own Santal Blush by Tom Ford, and it *was* my all time favorite before Vert D'Encens. The first time I smelled this, it was green and a bit fresh. As it settled on my skin, I was transported back in time to a summer camp I used to attend. The pine notes are vivid, and there's a spicy chocolatey incense warmth. I call this my "sexy summer camp" / "Christmas" fragrance because it evokes memories of middle school crushes, campfire kissing and late night visits to the lake. I got a tiny sample spray bottle from Neiman, wore it for 3 days to work, at the gym and out at night and decided to commit to a full bottle. I've never loved a fragrance so much and gotten as many compliments from male and female friends (comments from the group: "it smells like waking up on Christmas Day at my parent's house" "ooooh that's going to be your winter go-to" "i want that...").

What a beautiful lush green opening, a bouquet of fresh evergreen forest foliage and tree resins, all so perfectly blended to the point that the individual notes are not too easily discerned. An ultra realistic rendition of a forest, stunningly executed. It’s the olfactory version of an impressionist painting. As the fragrance evolves, soft smoky woody notes bring warmth, further sweetened with a light touch of vanilla These notes perfectly compliment the green backdrop. Eventually what remains is a slightly sweetened but very natural woody fragrance. A truly unisex masterpiece, which many associate with Christmas, probably due to that exceptionally rendered coniferous opening. I’d never want to limit such a sublime fragrance to the holiday season; I live in a northern climate, so can see it working on cooler days more or less throughout the entire year. Not just an exquisite fragrance but a great work of art.

Any similarities to Polo Green? I've just stumbled upon this fragrance and suddenly I am intrigued by these notes. I'm considering this or perhaps Tobacco Oud. I love the Christmas resemblance. EDIT: DEC 16/17 This is Christmas in a bottle. I sniffed the test strip in my wallet, and my goodness, it is heavenly. Smells like a wintery forest. It has been a week since I sprayed on the card, and the dry down is magnificent. This is definitely a special scent. When to wear? That's the hard part. For such a magnificent scent, I can only pinpoint wearing this during the winter time. Office scent? Nope. Wear at home when entertaining your guests, or whilst your being entertained. Wear when the snow falls, your huddled near the fire, deep in conversation, which a drink in hand, nestled in your wool sweater, dress pants, your fanciest watch, and a spritz of Vert d'Encens. Christmas in a bottle right here.

Received samples of Vert Des Bois, Vert Boheme, and Vert D'Encens. Loving Vert Des Bois and D'Encens. Vert D'Encens is very similar to what I remember Imaginary Authors' Cape Heartache smells like, except you replace the strawberry with whatever the sweet note in Vert D'Encens is (heliotrope?). I found the strawberry note in Cape Heartache far too synthetic and I get a tiny bit of that with Vert D'Ecens, but I am really digging this juice nonetheless and will likely buy a full bottle when I can get my hands on it. Vert D'Encens starts off far more green to my nose than Vert Des Bois. After a short period the green notes mellow out and you are left with a incense, woods, and the sweet note. A really delicious scent. Not as heavy on the incense and green notes as you would expect given the name. This might disappoint some people, but I think this makes Vert D'Encens wearable year round.

Super resinous, peppery piney walk through a lush green forest. Dry down stays in that space, but goes a little drier and smells a little savory (but not as much as say Eau de Baux) with a fairly heavy sage like herbal accord along with dry incense. It reminds me a little of some of the darker Amouages here like Interlude and especially Memoir, but a better herbal note than Memoir has. You can even breathe some heat on it and really get a hit of that herbal and pine resin smell, so it feels much more closely associated with a green coniferous forest than the Amouage goes. I like this a lot, but it's very pricey for what it does and I think Replica : Soul of the Forest by Maison Margiela is better value and more accessible but if you want a more masculine trip to the outdoors than the Replica gives you then this is your choice.

I got a sample of this one and immediately fell in love. The pine opening was superb, realistic and sharp, yet comforting at the same time. Avoiding any and all of pine’s Christmas associations, the boxwood and heliotrope instead create the feeling of a sun-dappled springtime forest hike. There are similarities with Cape Heartache, but Cape Heartache’s sweetness is that of a scented toy from the 00’s (maybe Strawberry Shortcake?). Vert d’Encens remains much more grounded and complex. All that being said, I went ahead and purchased a decant, and it must be an old bottle, because this stuff is much more muddled and linear, with the pine getting lost in the mix. It could be a fake, I know Dua has a dupe, and the price I got it for was maybe a little too good looking back. C’est la vie.

For me, this is the winner out of the 4 Vert releases. I probably feel this way as I love Heliotrope. Once the initial freshness/green-ness of the pine and fir fade (which is not very long at all) the inspired pairing of incense and Heliotrope take over, and don't let go. There is a creamy, vanilla, benzoin like base that makes this fragrance so delicious, yet it has just enough incense and pine notes to not become bogged down by that creaminess. The strength is very good and the sillage is excellent. A few sprays lasts 8 hours and beyond. This is one of my favourite Tom Ford releases this year - if finances permitted, I'd get the 250ml bottle! :)

I'm still new to fragrances and have sampled and bought 50 or so the past 6 months. Most of my samplings have been to select fragrances for business meetings, or date night, or casual get togethers, or whatever, but this fragrance I wear for me. I can't even tell you what it smells like except it smells calming, laid back, a little like the holidays. I sometimes spray this soothing fragrance on my arm before bedtime and tuck my nose close to it on the pillow and that is the last thing I remember about that day. It's not sexy, it doesn't say "I'm in charge" or "Look at me". It just chills with you, and what great company it is.

Why are all my favorite TF frags discontinued. To start, I get one of the most authentic dried leaves notes I've ever smelled (2nd only maybe to Zoologist Elephant). The layer of leaves are peeled back to reveal something reminiscent of a slightly sweet cherry cordial (heliotrope!). Dark chocolate, cherry and liqueur. The liqueur and cherry mellowed somewhat and I'm left with the subtle cherry, pine woods and a hint of sweetness. I don't like sweet frags, and even with the cherry and sweetness this is still more 'savory' than 'sweet'. All that with a lovely smokey incense note interwoven. One of my favorites.

I blind bought this based upon the notes, and Tom Ford quality. First wear, I was disappointed. It opened beautifully - like a balsam fir surrounded by smokey incense. The drydown was overpoweringly heliotrope - sweet and somewhat musky. It could have been the wood resin. Second wear, I'm noticing the subtlety more - opening is still resinous, smokey fir, drydown is the heliotrope, but I catch faint balsam as it progresses. It's a quiet beast. Lasts a long time, but becomes a beautiful sweet skin scent after 4-5 hours. This is definitely going into my fall / holiday season rotation.

That opening though!... the opening is pure coniferous green heaven! Pine, cypress, resinous forest with a light creamy sweetness buried underneath. After an hour or two the sweetness begins to dig it's way up to the surface and level itself out with the green conifer and eventually the sweet side of this scent (heliotrope) becomes dominant and although the conifer remains present throughout the duration of the scent life, it just takes a backseat. I really like this scent overall but I just wish it kept that opening, with the woodsy green resin in the foreground.

Really like this a lot, On the top I get green almost grassy notes but then it fades it into a smell that is very similar to the sweet myrrrh scent of Eau Sauvage Parfum. VDE is much smoother in its opening than ESP and maybe smoother in its final dry down. ESP can be very harsh on opening and has rougher myrrh note in its base but the two scents become very similar after about 1 hr. Still VDE is a very nice and high quality scent. Once I am done with the ESP I am may get the VDE but the two would serve a very similar function in my perfume wardrobe.

Omg, this is amazing stuff! One the first to get my nose & hands on this precious gift from Mr. Ford. Don't waist your time trying to find samples. Just pull the trigger and go for the blind buy. With not much info online about any of the 2016 "green" TF line, I called the NY store and talked to a very persuasive rep that raved about Vert d'Encens being her favorite, so I went for it. Notes are blended perfectly as if you're on your way to some enchanted forest party and nothing really starts until you arrive. I can't wait for fall/winter..

Oh wow, this is just lovely! Christmas greenery, incense, & waxy like white church candles. Grows progressively sweeter, but I don't get vanilla. I think it's the heliotrope that comes out & sweetens things up a little over time. Longevity is very good, but it wears close to the skin. I was trying to stay away from Vert de Fleur, mostly because I was worried I'll want it too - & TFs are so expensive. Anyway, this one has well & truly sucked me in, I suppose I'll have to go & test that other one now..sigh :)

This is every pulsating green vein of life in a bottle. Vital existence of life on earth distilled into a magical formula encased within a protective vessel. Verdant trees, dewy grass, soothing gauzy heliotrope, transcendent resin spilling from wounds in bark, burning on charcoal, billowing to heaven! Yes, yes. It's all that and more. Dramatic, perhaps, but this is how it makes me feel. Easily one of the most beautiful fragrances I've ever met.

I blind bought it because of some fragrance/make up tik tok lady's review ( don't remember her name but i am eternally gratefull). It's exactly what Tom Ford wants to say about itself but usually doesn't achieve: bold, unique, quality, groundbreaking. It is resinous, siropy, balsamic tree sap wrapped by forest wind and incense. Not available anymore, sadly all good things are lost.

This is probably my favourite fragrance at the moment of over 100 that I currently have (including samples). It's fresh, mysterious, resiny, and very green. I love the conifer notes mixed with the resins and incense...Reminds me of hiking around the hills of Kardamili Greece. Still very appropriate for a classy affair, too. Wonderfully blended and very long lasting. 9.5/10

Been wearing a few days now... Excellent. Pine, Chocolate (I know it's not a note but if you're wearing it you swear it would be) and incense. Stunning, warm and sweet. Not like Bois Morocain at all... Highly original, warm and stunning. I have been catching whiffs of this throughout the day and it blows me away. Showered and I can still smells on my wrists. 10/10

Tom Ford scores again with this Oriental beauty. I wish there were more talk about this fragrance; then again the more secret it is, the more unique it'll be. Even though this scent conjures up images of autumn and the holidays, I'm going to try to rock this one during the warmer months; I like it that much. Scent: 8.5 / 10 Projection: 7 / 10 Longevity: 7 / 10

I've tried it a few times and it's a very nice surprise: much better and more natural scent than the artificial Vert des Bois and it lasts 12h+ on me. It's very green of course but there is a kind of vanilla floral mix to it which gives it a warm vibe. Sadly, as for all the Private Blend line, it's not worth the price.

This is my favorite Tom Ford creation - I am utterly disappointed it has been discontinued. Hopefully there will be a re-release of the Vert collection in future. This is camp fire in a pine forest. It is dark and moody and give you a real nature feel. This is a night or a rainy day fragrance that lasts and lasts.

This one is weird to me for some reason, and not in terms of its performance but in terms of its smell. It's as if I have a love/hate relationship with it or something. On some days, I absolutely love the smell, especially the opening and on other days, the opening is rather harsh and overly sweet for my liking.

A captivatingly green gourmand! Beautiful from the bottle, perfect on the skin! The resins and the incense blend harmoniously with the flower and add a feminine touch to the strong fir and mostly masculine pine. The result is mesmerising and lasts well! Could have well been a hippie fragrance!!

Amazing scent on so many counts: high quality smells amazing and original green and spicy, fresh and deep, luxurious and easy to wear perfect complement to the other "vert" scents, especially Vert des Bois as they share some DNA Also, it is a beast in longevity

Absolutely gorgeous, fresh and natural pine and fir slowly evolving and revealing more woody and balsamic nuances before softening into an elegantly smooth vanilla/chocolate (heliotrope) drydown; a truly lovely perfume with a classy vintage vibe!

I enjoyed this a lot! The sweet smokey chypre vanilla dry down was very reminiscent of something that I own... Le Labo's Patchoul 24! I find the dry down to be quite similar. However Tom Ford is fresher and more green.

Opened up very green that was nice in its own way. After the greeness is gone the beautiful incense scent is revealed. Smelled this somewhere before without the greeness. Can’t get this anyway since its out of stock.

This is a perfect 10/10 scent in my opinion. Classy and refined in every sense. Got a bottle last year. Sold it and regretted it every day until I landed another. Sad shame it’s discontinued. I would highly recommend

Yet another vaulted gem. Polished with lovely heliotrope, pine and incense. I usually dislike heliotrope but here it works and makes Vert d'Encens so unique. Excellent longevity. 10/10

I actually get a lot of chocolate with Vert D'Encens, a bit of incense, sometimes a hint of mint. Very powdery though. One of the best Tom Fords, great for winter.

A very unique and pleasant smelling fragrance, but this on a whiff...and I dare say it’s a wonderful purchase. Heard it was being discontinued. What a shame!

Possibly the best out of the entire line, from what I've tried. Sold on the smell immediately, now I'm just testing the longevity and projection.

The best of the vert line for certain. Fantastic fragrance, easy compliment puller for all season wear. Lasts long as well. Killer fragrance.

Personally one of my favorites for fall and winter, and an honor to have the original private blend in my collection!

Does anyone have a sample/decant of this they can send me? PM me at [email protected]

This fragrance is so addicting. It blends with skin perfectly <3.

Tom Ford Vert D'Encens raises a puzzling question in its name--can an incense/green pairing really work? Here I think a decent balance is achieved but not overall harmony. They get on base, maybe even leg out a double, but certainly don't knock it out of the park, though I'm not sure that could really be done. It's not really fair to say that Vert D'Encens is really just an incense/green pairing, as there's a bit more going on. Incense is the star of the show but the fragrance is still quite sweet, due in all likelihood to the heliotrope and sap, with the pine and fir balsam giving it a green woody character. The burst of incense is most noteworthy at its opening, with the dry down casting a shadow over this eponymous note. It makes for a pleasant sweet incense vibe in the dry down, but I'd largely prefer an alternative like L'Occitane's Eau Des Baux that simply smacks you across the face with incense and vanilla rather than the muted dry down of Vert D'Encens. Still, despite that sentiment, it could be argue that Vert D'Encens is all the more sophisticated for its restraint (I praised Vert Des Bois on such a basis), yet I simply don't experience the harmony in the dry down of Vert D'Encens that I do in that of Vert Des Bois. There's just something slightly off about Vert D'Encens while frankly, it's still overall quite pleasant, and a decent performer. Not necessarily one I'd picture myself buying a full bottle of but certainly one I'll wear again as a sample / reminder in some months. 7 out of 10

A big hit of green at first; pine, fir, vegetation. The green quickly comes into balance with a strong woody, nearly sweet resinous vibe; an incensy smoke, powder and a touch of soft florals. Finishes as a resinous, incensy oriental. Mature, unisex, an autumn and spring scent. Not terrible for work but I can see some not liking it; not sexy. Good performance and impressive longevity. Not cheap but Vd'E is a nice unique composition and the performance is there. I'm pretty hard on Mr. Ford. Many of his creations don't perform well for me and I think they are overpriced. Not the case with Vert d'Encens. I'm enjoying this one quite a bit. A like rather than a love for me but it's a solid parfum. Test this one out!

I'm not actually getting anything near as woodsy as these notes would suggest. I love the opening which is very cucumber and frankincense followed by something more herbal that I registered as garden sage, but I guess it could have been piney. I love the freshness with the incense. It smells like blessings and growth. However it starts to morph into a smokey vetiver. I personally have a hard time wearing vetiver because it screams cologne to me and makes me feel like I'm posing and a slightly skeevy frat boy. I know this is just me associating it with the aquatics of the 80s and 90s and it's a lovely scent for many others.

Unique, never smelled anything quite like it. I get maybe a little wood from this, more green, but not in your face. I don't always grab this one, but am always happy when I do. Sillage is perfect, a bit more than a skin scent, a subtle reminder it's still there. The perfect way to describe it, is like a hike through a lush forest right after the rain, and you can smell the aftermath of a campfire. If petrichor had a cousin this would be it.

I was searching on the net earlier today about this and then I found a new year’s deal of 50ml TF Vert d'Encens for 130$. I ordered 2 bottles and they were the last 2 in the stock. It does have the same genes of the family, I would say they all got that wet wood smell. When the wood settled down I was able to smell amber which I feel similar to the amber base of the other TF of the same family.

Goes on harshly...so wait...for the developement on the skin. Green/earthy/aromatic vibe scent...drydown is patch/vanilla/smokey...IMHO. Think of a more aromatic.almost herbally.. Givenchy III perhaps...??? Not a dupe...just the general vibe/family...with the TF being more masc/unisex. Further wearings are necessary for me to experience this one.

Sweet fancy moses this is good. Heliotrope! The green in here is made unique by the heliotrope! What a refreshing surprise from the handful of green scents out there. This is one you want to try if you prefer a cozy green fragrance over a straight green fragrance. A 10 out of 10 for Tom Ford.

This is really lovely and smells great with Shanghai lily. This is a strong one so use a light hand and it should last all day. It even outlasted the Shanghai lily I added hrs later

A nice almost gourmand resinous perfume, very Christmas indeed. But even for this price I really prefer the same intense version you can find at Smell Bent: Bohemian Raphsody.