Lavender Extrême (2019)
by Tom Ford

Lavender Extrême low point for the house of Tom Ford. Tom Ford has released scents that might qualify as more unpleasant or irritating, depending on individual tastes, but never has Tom Ford released something so blatantly cynical as this cheap-smelling, utterly boring lavender blast.

At mid-range designer prices, it wouldn't be good, but it would be innocuous. At the pricepoint it's retailing at, it's an affront.

Not the worst thing I’ve smelled but without reading other reviews before I smelled it, I told the SA that I thought it smelled like Play-Doh. So interesting to see that’s what other reviews said as well. She then said I was right and made another SA smell it and he agreed that it did smell like Play-Doh. Nothing that great and there are other much better lavenders IMO, but judge for yourself.

I admire Tom Ford's puckish sense of humor. Here we have a posh chrome-looking bottle storing a comical kindergarten memory with which conspicuous consumers can anoint themselves. The rest of us can point and laugh.

Open a fresh can of Play-Doh and inhale. You can smell like this for hours, now. Layer with Beau du Jour for the Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop Effect. I eagerly await the next release, which I am told features Elmer's Glue and Construction Paper as top notes.

Lavender Extreme did NOT do it for me. I am a big fan of many of the Private Blend fragrances, and my love for Lost Cherry is well documented here (I love it so much I bought three bottles), but this was the most disappointing thing I've smelled in a long while. There is a very sharp lavender note upon first spray, but that fades away after 30 seconds on me (not kidding), and from there on, it's a powder bomb.

My wife hated it, I hated it. I tried it three times to see if I would eventually "get it", but no...It didn't happen, and I couldn't take it any more. It's a beast mode fragrance, sillage trail all over the house, and I could still smell it decently well after a shower, which is rare for me. The only thing redeeming about this fragrance is the bottle, easily the coolest Private Blend bottle out there, but what's inside was as lame as it comes for me.

Long overdue to sample this latest Tom Ford release, Lavender Extreme. The eponymous note is obvious from the start, though the other part of the name is puzzling, as nothing feel especially “Extreme” or even “Intense” about it. That said, it’s a nice semi-sweet, semi-powdery lavender blend that feels easy to wear from the onset, and I’m a fan.

The note listing is fascinating: lavender, lemon, violet, rose, geranium, cinnamon, and tonka. Primarily a floral bouquet but nonetheless with sweet, spicy, powdery, and citrus influences. It feels balanced and complete.

Like others, I do get a bit of the “Play-Doh” vibe, particularly at the opening when it’s going through some changes, but by the dry down, I don’t get much of this at all. Interestingly enough, I’ve had other non-fragheads tell me that they get the same Play-Doh feeling from Dior Mitzah. It’s not particularly a problem for me in either case.

Performance is decent on my skin but not on the higher end, roughly somewhere in the range of the last two provocative releases of Lost Cherry and Fucking Fabulous, the latter giving slightly better performance on my skin than the former.

Overall, I’m instantly a fan of the scent itself, but as with most Tom Ford offerings, price is a major issue. Lavender Extreme is in the higher echelon of Tom Ford pricing, at $320 for 50ml or $815 for the 250ml flacon (I don’t yet see a 100ml size for sale online), so it’s a very tough sell at retail pricing unless you positively love it.

8 out of 10