Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › Tom Ford's Black Orchid
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Tom Ford's Black Orchid

post #1 of 29
1/5/08 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 
I wore this to work a couple of days ago and i got 4 FOUR!!!!! compliments each from different women. This is one "female" scent thats MUCH better suited for men.
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
post #2 of 29
1/5/08 at 7:21am
I used to like Black Orchid. But recently I sprayed Black Orchid on the one hand and Tobacco Vanille - on the other. Black Orchid is nice, but not in the context with Tobaco Vanille: Black Orchid became pale...
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 29
1/5/08 at 9:27am
I want to try Tobacco Vanille for that very reason since I do love Black Orchid too. It (BO) is definitely for men - though because it's a little sweet at first, I guess a woman might like it (but every woman I know has said they wouldn't wear it!)
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 29
1/5/08 at 9:57am
Wore it once and was told by three women that it's not really suitable on a man. Irrespective of their thoughts, I find it quite feminine and cloying.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 29
1/5/08 at 12:29pm
i dislike it because it has wayyy too much of chocolate/vanilla note for my taste....i feel like this fragrance was designed for fat people.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 29
1/5/08 at 12:37pm
Tom Ford would never design anything for a fat person, he probably has blocked them visually and mentally out of his idealistic world. I agree that Black Orchid is sweet but no sweeter than Gaultier 2, Pi, New Haarlem, Tobacco Vanille, Opium, Le Male, Rochas Man, Chergui...
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 29
1/5/08 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jock_With_Scents View Post

Tom Ford would never design anything for a fat person, he probably has blocked them visually and mentally out of his idealistic world. I agree that Black Orchid is sweet but no sweeter than Gaultier 2, Pi, New Haarlem, Tobacco Vanille, Opium, Le Male, Rochas Man, Chergui...

its not that its sweet....its just too much of a gourmand fragrance for my taste....I despise A*men for the same reason....

Body Kouros is the only gourmand fragrance i can wear and actually enjoy.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 29
1/5/08 at 12:45pm
I gotcha. I have trouble with gourmands as well. I loved New Haarlem but it got cloying on me and I had to sell it. I also have my Black Orchid bottle up for sale for the same reason. I will learn one day to stick with vetiver, spices, incense and woody notes.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 29
1/5/08 at 12:50pm
Black Orchid is an acquired taste that's for sure. The trick is to spray only 1 to 2 sprays on - additionally, it takes about a couple hours for the true magic to show up on your skin in Black Orchid. That's when the sweet fruit notes (I always think it smells like very ripe plums and rum) start to smell like decomposed fruit, or fruit that's fallen off a tree in your backyard and left to rot for a couple days. That particular note is quite mesmerizing and it pretty much divides very easily the world into those who 'get' Black Orchid and those who don't.

Let me also say that the body products (they have a Black Orchid body oil) are just as good and can be used as a replacement for the scent itself - and smell amazing on a man also.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 29
1/5/08 at 12:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jock_With_Scents View Post

I gotcha. I have trouble with gourmands as well. I loved New Haarlem but it got cloying on me and I had to sell it. I also have my Black Orchid bottle up for sale for the same reason. I will learn one day to stick with vetiver, spices, incense and woody notes.

100% agreed.....
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 29
1/5/08 at 1:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by acceptfacts View Post

i dislike it because it has wayyy too much of chocolate/vanilla note for my taste....i feel like this fragrance was designed for fat people.

LOL its a good thing you didn't make that comment on many of the Lutens else the Lutens fashionistas and queens would have whalloped you to a sugary pulp with their hand bags!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 29
1/5/08 at 1:57pm
This is one that's so sweet it makes the back of my throat hurt.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 29
1/5/08 at 7:27pm
You'll probably need to smell it on someone else, as opposed to putting your nose up against your skin. Many fragrances are designed to smell a certain way as it goes through the air. Up close, it can be very overpowering.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 29
1/9/08 at 4:47am
Black Orchid is a fruity, floral powerhouse with recurring sweetness such to the extent that it walks a tightrope over gourmand territory. The sweetness of the scent is balanced well and interspersed throughout the note pyramid, but the scent never seems to assume the aspects of most gourmands (i.e. smell like a dessert or overpriced coffee beverage) I have worn it three times and tested it several times in conjunction with other scents and i have never encountered the infamous rotten fruit accord/note. As Mike P. mentions in a previous post, 1-2 sprays is enough for starters. I have always worn three sprays and that is more than enough.

My full-day wearing experiences of Black Orchid have always been a fresh, clean feel with a omnipresent sweetness that never becomes cloying. Wearing Black Orchid just feels good. A hypnotic, decadent, tranquilizing experience. I like that.

PS: I agree with DreamerII. Black Orchid pales in comparison to Tobacco Vanille.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 29
1/9/08 at 7:07am
Just found this thread after posting a new one... I agree with Rosbergs3 - black Orchid garnered 2 compliments on me in the same afternoon!
It is a scent that need only be applied lightly... but the two ladies who passed comment said it was well suited to a man when told it was in fact a woman's scent. Instant "knicker-dropper" one of them said! lol!

This is by far the potion of my choice by Mr Ford. The male scents pale compared to this!
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 29
1/9/08 at 7:13am
I have always liked Black Orchid since I smelled it. I can't say it's a fragrance to wear every day, but for certain moods... certain moments... it's great! I don't mind the little sweetness (a dark chocolate... perhaps slightly burnt...), but it finds a good balance in the mix! I often layer it with a sandalwood (Tam Dao), and I like it even more!
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 29
3/1/12 at 2:17am
blind Bought this one and i am wearing it for the first time today, the first 2 hours were quite unbearable and nauseating, But it has mellowed down to a very nice chocolaty Note thats Quite Alright... Would try it again tomorrow before i give my final take on this one.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 29
3/1/12 at 2:25am
IMO it is too feminine for me. Doesn't smell bad but I picture it on a middle to older age woman wearing it in the fall and winter evenings.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 29
3/1/12 at 4:29am
Yes it's an awesome fragrance, Tom Ford lineup is great I remember also getting lots of compliments from this.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 29
3/1/12 at 7:00am
This is one of my new favorites. And there's no one anyone who doesn't know how it's marketed would associate it with a gender. My lady smelled it and said I better own this or she's buying it right now.
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 29
3/1/12 at 7:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by starshipvelcro View Post

This is one of my new favorites. And there's no one anyone who doesn't know how it's marketed would associate it with a gender. My lady smelled it and said I better own this or she's buying it right now.

Lol score
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 29
3/1/12 at 7:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gmm150 View Post

IMO it is too feminine for me.

Ditto.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 29
3/1/12 at 8:20am
It's one of the best fragrances released in the past decade.

But if you base your purchases on marketing/labels, then Dior Homme is probably a better option - due to it being extremely butch......
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 29
3/1/12 at 11:49am
Find it quite easy to wear. I admire its staying power. Other scents should take note.
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 29
3/1/12 at 7:12pm
I don't base my opinion on marketing/labels. Everyone has their opinion. To me I still think it is feminine. It just reminds me of a older woman. She could wear this to a evening event or dinner along with her fake pearl necklace and too much make up. This is just the type of woman I see wearing this.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 29
3/1/12 at 7:24pm
It is definitely a woman's scent if the woman has balls. Delicious on a man or a woman IMHO and the best scent by Tom Ford. Staying power is amazing, don't over apply. Many scents marketed to men are a lot more feminine than this! Sold in both the mens section and womans section here.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 29
3/1/12 at 7:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by acceptfacts View Post

....i feel like this fragrance was designed for fat people.

And I find your comment insulting, it does not belong to this forum.

I have worn Black Orchid a few times and get compliments every time I wear it, but even better than BO is BO Voile de Fleur, tooo bad it has been discontinued, but I snatched 4 bottles LOL
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 29
9/21/12 at 11:57pm
that juice has magic powers on women!
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 29
1/26/13 at 9:36am
Nice unisex frag.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Male Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › Tom Ford's Black Orchid