Velvet Gardenia (2007)
by Tom Ford

I echo Sugaranda and Caltha's thoughts on this. If this is gardenia, it should be banned from perfumery. Yes I know all of this is, and should be, subjective, but this is vile. When I read that it had a mushroom note, which to me is earthy loamy and mellow with gardenia which to me is creamy, delicate and floral I thought "where do I get me some?" and promptly ordered a small(vile) vial from the sweet ladies at the Perfumed Court. When it arrived and I applied it, it has an intense incense that smells sharp and stale much like you would find in an old church that had wooden pews with old, old varnish. Acrid, stomach churning hideosity (yes I know it's not a word but so apt here). A sweetness that is much like my poor dog's ears when they get infected. Forgive the dreadful images here, but trust me when I say that they are mild compared with the fragrance itself. I have tried three Tom Ford fragrances and so far they have been jokes, especially for the price. I think he is a darling of the fashion industry and no one dares tell the emporer he's butt naked and his fragrances are none too pretty. Get Estee Lauder's Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia for a real beauty or Annick Goutal's Gardenia Passion for a truly buttery and gorgeous gardenia (yes I know it's built around tuberose, but many gardenia frags are. I also love, adore, and own (thanks to my beloved husband) the 6.8 oz Chanel Gardenia in the Exclusifs. When sprayed on clothes it develops over many hours and becomes more lovely by the minute, a real beauty. But run, don't walk, from this stomach churning monstrosity. A thousand thumbs down, down, down . . . .

31st December, 2011.

What Mr. Ford has presented us here is a strikingly photo-realistic Gardenia rendition. Indolic, dark and almost intoxicatingly heady, it makes me feel slightly narcotic while fiercely smelling my wrists. I'm an addict now.

7th January, 2011.

This is quite difficult to describe, it is floral, but earthy.. there's a whiff of tuberose & jasmine at first, but mixed with a kind of "new car" smell, the kind that used to make me car sick as a child. lt has a dark, mysterious, haunting melancholy to it, definitely not a summer scent & not for a party mood, it would probably work best on a damp autumn day when wearing leather.. maybe that's a leather note in there? After a few moments there is a true gardenia note, & now l realise why it makes me feel sad, because it conjures up a memory of my Greek "mother" handing me a gardenia blossom before l left the village l visit regularly in Greece. l had it in my hand on the long bus journey back to Athens, but although l love the scent, it became too overpowering & l had to wrap it carefully in a tissue & put it in my bag before l got ill. The jasmine becomes more prominent after an hour but it stays quite linear after that, slowly receding like a storm into the distance, still detectable six hours later. l have great respect for it's composition but can't imagine wearing it in public, only when l want to stay home alone wallowing. Therefore l'll have to give this a neutral. mikey_p put it perfectly; "lf Tim Burton did gardenia, this would be it"!

3rd September, 2010.

The moment I lifted up the lid of Velvet Gardenia to unveil its fragrance, I was swept into an unfamiliar territory, resting somewhere between dusk and twilight. A perfume simultaneously soft and diffusive like the performance of a soft-focused old-Hollywood starlet. The subtle and demure expressions are delivered by features that were intensified with false lashes and blood-red lipstick.

Velvet Gardenia will strike a nostalgic chord for anyone familiar with this heady flower; yet not in the least the conventionally pretty gardenia soliflore favoured by the Southern Belle. This gardenia was grown by candle light, deeming it somewhat waxy and distinctively darker and spicier than any other gardenia-themed perfume. Its dusky complexity stems from combining wine-like top notes, the spiciness of ginger lily and the underlining honeyed sweetness of labdanum. There is absolutely nothing tropical about it; it would be useless on the beach but perfect through a blizzard paired with a fur coat.

27th May, 2009.

Notes for this fragrance are listed as: ripened black gardenia and orange, in a heart of jasmine, rose and muguet. Tuberose blending with dark plum, honey and beeswax finishing with incense and labdanum.

At first I got a strident gardenia which, as one other reviewer says, reminded me of SL Tuberose Criminelle. It is unpleasant to me but mellows on the first 20 - 30 minutes. After that the incense and honey take over. The dry down on me is sweet, spicy, smoky and pleasant, but not much floral.

17th May, 2009.

I'm loving this one! No cheese or plastic here either, just a beautifully warm narcotic note with a hint of earthyness that became more prominent as the drydown progressed. Very indolic, that's for sure, but never overpowering. Seven hours into application, and it's still going strong.

22nd January, 2009.