Jasmin Rouge by Tom Ford, 2011

This is one of those scents that's really difficult to describe. It's gotten some mediocre reviews, mostly from jasmine fanatics led by the ad copy to expect another A La Nuit. Instead, it's pure Tom Ford, one of those dense, complicated scents like Japan Noir, Noir de Noir, or Black Orchid that seem to have a million conflicting things hitting all at once. So what does it smell like? It's fruity and sweet but also dirty, with a lot of jasmine and indoles mixing with a maraschino cherry smell and perfumey aldehydes in the beginning. It's got that Tom Ford signature jammy fruity patchouli running in the background, as well as a classic white flowers accord, heavy on the waxy, almost tropical ylang ylang. It's also got a salty mineral quality to it that's hard to pin down (but smells almost like beachy skin) and a shot of that creamy sweet pink pepper/bai rose note that so many common fruity florals use as a base, but I could never call Jasmin Rouge a fruity floral or common. It much to "perfumey" (and too "niche") for that. Given time, something comes in that mostly smells like really old paper. If you can imagine red fruity jasmine with a ton of indoles mixing with that old book smell while a quiet mix of jammy patchouli and creamy sweet pink pepper hum along in the background, that's the best description I can come up with for what Jasmin Rouge smells like for most of the day. So, does it work? I think so. In spirit (though not at all in terms of smell), it reminds me of A*Men - It's kind of a hot mess, but it somehow actually makes it work. It's ridiculously flowery and perfumey, but that dirty, almost woodsy old paper and indole smell grounds it in territory that's too weird to be strictly feminine.