Tom Ford Noir Extreme (2015)
by Tom Ford

Cheap vanilla .....

TF Noir Extreme has an alluring opening with well-blended spice (mostly cardamom, nutmeg and saffron) and floral notes, sort of contemporary, urbane, and has that 'upscale' feel that TF fragrances aspire to. The vibe is similar to La Nuit de L'Homme, Valentino Uomo / Intense, and other sweet, 'masculine', 'crowd-pleasing' perfumes, and Noir Extreme manages to smell more refined and interesting than most of the competition. However, in a few hours all the interesting spice and floral notes dissipate to leave behind a base of vanilla and amber that's just dull, a bit sharp-scratchy rather than smooth and comes across as rather cheap. I know that the average perfume buyer doesn't perhaps care about the dry-down, but TF Noir Extreme still has the worst dry-down of all Tom Ford fragrances including both the Signature line and the Private Blends. It has adequate sillage, and good duration of several hours, but I wish it just disappeared on skin after the initial and mid phases. Oh well ....


2/5

I much prefer this to Tobacco Vanille & "effing" Fabulous, I only wish Noir Extreme was as well constructed.

This is a beautiful date-night scent, which suffers from a synthetic let-down. This should cost half as much, or less, for the quality you get.

Nonetheless, it is the only Tom Ford creation that I would actually spend currency to purchase. The vanilla is much more enjoyable, for me, than either T.V. or V.E. But alas, my wife does not care for the scent so currency will be apportioned elsewhere.

Overall: 6/10
Longevity: 7/10
Projection: 5/10

Well, I was expecting something, got half-something and decided that for that price it's actually nothing.

There's a 1 Million catch about this one. I say, subjectively of course, that 1 Million Prive is better than Noir Extreme. Old latin proverb says: honores mutant mores. When you tell people it's Tom Ford, all of sudden it's a "very good fragrance".

Conclusion: nothing special at all, but I'm glad I tried it and didn't blind buy it.

Originality 3/10
Scent 5/10
Longevity 8/10
Projection 6/10
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55%

Spicy, sweet. A simple description would be to say that Noir Extreme is a more sophisticated, slightly sexier version of Viktor & Rolf's Spicebomb. And maybe that's all that really needs to be said. It's certainly enticing, and I can't imagine many people not enjoying smelling this up close. It's a date fragrance by design and there aren't too many others out there I'd put ahead of this at the moment. So if you're in the market for that kind of fragrance, it's worth looking at. Avoid if you're averse to sweet fragrances or if you require the traditional masculine combinations of woods, leathers, and sharp citrus notes to feel manly. NE definitely has a feminine side, though overall it's obviously meant for men. It smells really good. Final rating 8.5/10, with a half-point of wiggle room either way depending on how it plays out over the season.

UPDATE: I'd move my rating down to an 8 out of 10. Extreme becomes a bit thick and sticky, or cloying at times while I'm wearing it, and depending on the day, it can feel like a comfortable unisex gourmand or one intended for women. I still think it smells good, and in general I like it, but I couldn't wear this one as much as I had hoped.

Orange and Neroli mix with pleasant spice mix - cardamom mainly. The dry drain takes a floral turn, mainly in the direction of a rose. This is a rich nose, but it has a generic tone that is distinctly unexciting. An undertone of jasmine adds another angle.

The base amps up the sweetness by a few degrees, mainly courtesy of a tonka core. The rest is a nonspecific woodsy background and a somewhat pedestrian ambery impression.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and four hours of longevity on my skin.

The opening of this autumnal creation is quite agreeable, and the base is its weakest moment: too generic and far too predictable. Overall a tad mediocre. 2.75/5.