Christmas is well and
truly over and the pact made with the other half of dodging Christmas presents
and instead just going for a single solitary anniversary present (we got
married on Christmas Day 12 years ago) fell on deaf ears (thankfully) and
instead I was presented with not just a new iPod and a new laptop (she went
well and truly overboard) I also received a bottle of Tom Ford Grey Vetiver Eau
de Parfum. I’ve been dropping lots of very unsubtle hints about this fragrance
for about twelve months and now, finally, I have my greasy mitts on a bottle.
Originally created in 2009
this stuff is not a budget brand and while it exudes luxury it doesn’t
particularly have a price tag that puts off us common folk. I would say it’s
actually mid-range – it’s not as expensive as Creed let’s put it that way. A
50ml bottle will set you back around £65 and can be picked up at any decent
perfume counter. I’m trying to think where I first saw this and I think it was
Selfridges in Manchester but I didn’t really fall in love with it until I
applied loads in Duty Free at London City Airport and then spent the next
twelve hours being refreshingly reminded of how good it smells!
So, what does the
marketing blurb to Grey Vetiver say?
‘A fragrance that captures the
essence of his menswear philosophy, TOM FORD GREY VETIVER is a masterful new
rendition of the cool and intriguing possibilities of Vetiver, an ingredient
that Ford says has always been a hallmark of a classic, tailored, and
unabashedly masculine man.’
The notes to the fragrance are:
- Head: Grapefruit, orange blossom, sage
- Heart: Nutmeg, Orris root, pimento
- Dry-down: Vetiver, amber, oak moss
So, what do you get for
your money? You get a nasal sensory overload experience, that’s what you get.
It’s a fragrance that will leave you in a place where you are supremely confident
that you smell fantastic and will continue to do so for hours on end. It’s
awesome!
The first few sprays, and
a few sprays is all that you need result in a citrus explosion in the room.
Unlike other citrus based fragrances the citrus is subtle without the sharpness
you would expect and the two head notes of grapefruit and orange blossom
combine to produce a beautiful light scent that seems to fade in and out over
the course of the day.
This fading in and out of
the citrus is interspersed with a more masculine earthy note that comes from
the nutmeg that after around an hour becomes almost spicy as the pimento note
starts to become more dominant. For me though there is no real change in how I
feel through the entire dry down process and the solid base of amber and
oakmoss provide that perfect balance to such light top notes.
As I sit here sniffing
away at my wrists (looking like a complete mentalist) some five hours after
using three sprays I can still pick up the scent but it isn’t overpowering at
all. Subtle is the key word here.
As always, the first thing
I did on my return to work was ask for the opinion of our trusty HR department
(it’s the HRT – human resources test) and they have given this a measly eight
out of ten, whereas I personally would rate this as a solid nine out of ten as
I simply cannot get enough of how it smells.
It’s not cheap, but it’s
also not that expensive and I guarantee that if you wear or gift this you be
flavour of the month. You can take that to the bank (dodgy reference from 1990 Steven Seagal film Hard to Kill). If you like Silver Mountain Water by Creed you will love this!
FORGET THE REST, TRY THE BEST
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