A Few of my Favorite Things - Tobacco Vanille

Wednesday, December 21 2011

A Few of my Favorite Things - Tobacco Vanille

In a world of recycled scents I am not a fan of the ‘barely there’, nor do I like the ‘fresh’ and ‘airy’ fragrances - the ones with just enough scent within them to be considered actual fragrance rather than bottled water in a more expensive (usually hideous) bottle.

Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille is none of these things, it is strong and lasting - there isn’t anything more satisfying than pulling my clothing out of the laundry basket only to be met with that familiar musky vanilla dry down on my shirt collar. It’s smell never seems to fade. I have worn it for about a year now and would completely consider it my signature scent. It is the complete opposite of everything I detest in perfumery - it is deep and earthy, a well dressed gentleman of a fragrance and that is exactly the image it conjours.

Now I am not a fan of cigarette smoke, nor am I a fan of tobacco fumes in any situation but Tobacco Vanille I would happily trap myself in a room with. The first sprays of Tobacco Vanille feel like a strong hand on your shoulder, a comforting grip that soon sweetens (but not too much) into something akin to burying your head in a pile of your old childhood books and taking a deep breath inwards. It’s comforting and warm and everything a man should be.

It is quite a simple perfume however, it is not crammed full of so many accords that you no longer know what you are smelling. What the name reads is pretty much what you get, it is a vanilla and tobacco scent with a slight hint of tonka on my own skin - but Tom Ford does it so wonderfully and with such class that I can’t help but think the simplicity is perfect, any more would ruin this for me.

Does it get compliments? Yes, every time I wear it. Is it worth the price tag? Yes! Is it for everyone? Definitely not, and to be quite honest I can’t think of anything worse than a world full of people wearing Tobacco Vanille. Is it one of my favorite things? Yes, and though I’m a complete fragrance fanatic this one is the one I always seem to come back to whenever I need a hug - and I’d probably dare to say that it is one of my favorite fragrances I’ve ever encountered (but don’t hold me that.)