Black Orchid Tom Ford for women

A femme fatale kind of image shop assistant smelt amazing so I asked he what she was wearing... I went straight down the perfume dept and sprayed Black Orchid. I like it- bit I'm afraid it makes me feel sick after a while. I'm not sure which note is too heavy for me. I can appreciate it but it's not for me! You definitely need a striking image to wear this.

This is a classic ! One of my favourites! Very long lasting. This is a winter's scent should not be worn during summer. This is more of a night time scent as well.

Now I have done it again, sorry. The guest review below this is mine.

I must add that it smells wonderful even in warmer weather.

I almost given up hope but finally I have found a perfume with chocolate that suits me. Little spicy, fruits, patchouli, vanilla and a beautiful floral smell.

I put it on yesterday evening and I can still smell it on my wrist...believe it or not but it was 17 hours ago I put it on. Now it's a soft chocolate, vanilla, patchouli smell. This perfume is incredible, so happy I bought it.

Holy Jesus!! This stuff is seriously addictive!! Should be on prescription! You think you can just use it when you are in the mood, but to be honest this stuff takes over control the time you put it on your shelf...you want it more, everyday, every night. You dream about it, you can't live without it..some might say I'm on drugs, but no! I'm on Black Orchid! And when you wear it, you don't need to wonder who is the guy smells good around-it's you! Use with caution!!

Don't know what happened. BO used to be on top of my wish list, but because of its hefty price tag - never being on discount - I've always avoided it...
Yesterday I tried it again, hoping to sense its beauty on my skin, but...
all I could smell was oversweep, overipe fruit. It seems this cloying smell sticks into your clothes forever...
Needless to say, it is now removed from my "want" shelf ...

If i see a women wears it, i would marry with her. Tom Ford for god sakes what kind of a human you are. Strongly applaud for this significant piece.

If you are a wallflower, or do not have a commanding presence, FIND SOMETHING ELSE. BO does not ask permission---it takes over. I love it. Men love it on me. It's rich, deep, and demanding.

This is my second review of this. On a whim I decided to try this in warmer weather and it's a completely different perfume! I'm not crazy about the opening, it's quite chaotic and my senses are a bit overwhelmed by all the different elements at odds with each other.

However once the tart berry, dark chocolate, floral, spice, and the sweetness settle down, they begin to harmonize. The berry is the clear leader in the beginning, but with a strong tangy citrus, the chocolate, white florals and an intense sweetness.

The next stage the black currant ebbs a bit but the tartness still stands out as the dominant element. The white florals are eclipsed by a deep rose and heavier floral note. The sweetness now accents rather than dominates, patchouli begins to emerge and the perfume is an exotic modern fusion.

I'm not really sure what to make of it, it's outstanding but I don't know that it's a fit for my personality. I tell you what though, I'm intrigued by the first few stages, not enough to purchase a bottle based on that, but enough to want to continue to explore the fragrance.

That being said, I concur that after 2 hours or so, the boldness is gone and what is left is a subdued echo of the what it once was. Based on the drastic change and demure shadow of itself that it becomes, as well as being nearly gone alltogether after 4 hours, I can't see myself ever buying a bottle.

I cant wait to get this baby...it's so mysterious on me. I can't describe it...not my typical fragrance and I love that. I feel like wearing my hottest black or leather skinny jeans, sky high heels, a fitted leather jacket and just work it! lol. Okay let's just say I love the fragrance. Dark and seductive. :)

I loooove this one ! Apparently tom ford wanted it to smell like a mans crotch !?! Please don't go by that , because this is an extremely luxurious scent and very jungle and dark and sexie ! When i wear i feel like a sexie man is around me all the time hovering over me or something ! Haha, go have a sniff its amazing n very yummy without being food like. I can go on n on :) and the bottle is just beautiful ! And u don't need much just one spray of it and it sticks with you for like a whole day!

I really wanted to like this perfume -- I normally love anything with chocolate and/or incense -- but this just didn't smell right on me.

Jasmine always smells like gasoline on me, but I thought that because it was only a top note, I probably wouldn't even notice. I was wrong. It ruined the entire scent and made me smell like a gas station.

I gave my tester to my mom and she loves it, so I'm pretty sure it's just my skin chemistry. Shame. :(

The question isn't why do you want it, but what do you want from it? A fragrance of mystery, complexity and intensity cannot simply be worn. It must be felt. I myself am confident enough to wear Black Orchid, but it doesn't always mean I'm in the mood for it, but when I am I want it bad. Sound familiar? This is not a fragrance that opens up floral. Don't let the note grid fool you. Yes, the orchid, gardenia, lotus, ylang ylang and jasmine are all there... but masked in exotic woods, amber, incense and a very lustful chocolate-vanilla blend. Chocolate can be aggressive and will be one of the first notes you detect, however it does not overstay its welcome. Following, the resins and blackened flowers arise with the earth beneath it chaperoned by vetiver, sandalwood and patchouli. Magnificent.

Its for sure one of the most interesting scents in the recent years...a contemporary art which cannot be understood at first sniff...
I have my own love & hate moments with this fragrance. I dont really wear unisex perfumes but this one and all the positive reviews got me to order my 50 ml bottle last week. It needs really a strong personality to wear! At first spray it was very feminine to me, but the mid and the base notes are very masculine. I think this is a very charismatic and complex scent you need to wear again and again to understand the different layers of it.
For men only: use it with caution (1 max 2 sprays!) otherwise people might choke near to you...:) After all, this is a beautiful scent and everyone owning and wearing this stuff should be very proud as this is one of the most amazing scent of modern times!

From time to time I fall head over heels in love with a perfume. I've fallen for Black Orchid right now. When I'm in this phase I would kill for it, it just has to ask...

unique, sexy, the best! my number one perfume!!

Working in a niche perfumery store, this scent is certainly very much loved by Italian men, even tho is considered a feminine perfume. Sexy, dark and snappy attracts those who want to feel in step with the times and make an impression. If you are feeling from other times i would not recommend this scent, it's very contemporary and doesn't give you any vintage chic feedback.

this perfume is sexy, mystical, dangerous and enigmatic.. ull feel different if ure using black orchid.

this perfume is sexy, mystical, dangerous and enigmatic.. ull feel different if ure using black orchid.

As much as I deeply wanted to try and buy it, I finally got to try it on paper... well I cannot say it was a disappointment from a fragrance point of view, but neither that it was a wooooaaahhh!!

Sexy notes, yes but actually a nice perfume... nooo!!

At least on paper strip it smelled more like a bathroom cleaning product, so sorry to write this, but that was it.

It's unique..exactly what TF wanted but not a good fragrance to wear. It's almost like "hello I dipped my skin in melted Black Licorce and I smell sexy"


The private collection is much better and all of his mainstream fragrances are very smelly almost like an antique shop fragrance

Looks like I am very much in the minority here with this one. Wearing this made me feel so depressed. I was constantly reminded of a wet, rainy cemetary. I did not get any sweetness at all. I usually go for "darker" frags in the colder months, but this one is a no-no for me.
In fact, I don't think I've ever had such a viceral reaction to a scent before. It was overwhelmingly sad.
I couldn't get it off fast enough - it lingered forever.
This isn't dark - it's pitch freaking BLACK.

It was not love at first sniff here... My first impression of Black Orchid was that it smelled like engine oil, before drying down to a cloying berryish thing. I was baffled by all the positive reviews. But in my life it is often the case that the things I start out disliking end up becoming some of my favourites (see: Shalimar, green tea, and a lot of the music I listen to). By the third or fourth time I smelled this, I didn't hate it so much. I still didn't love it, but something intrigued me enough to buy a 30ml bottle. I've now owned it for a couple of weeks and am finally head over heels in love. My main impressions are of dark, tart, juicy berries and bitter dark chocolate. That kind of chocolate that is so dark it stops being sweet and actually tastes a little spicy. The drydown is exquisite, berries and exotic flowers. It's warm, dark, intense, and alluring. Just a bit masculine - guys should not be afraid to wear this too. Perfect for a night out, or a dark winter day. I can see this earning a place on my favourites shelf.

Tried on this perfume a couple of weeks ago. I must say that this was the first perfume that made me think and my head was up in the clouds trying to figure out what made a perfume smelled so...alien. For me it definitely has a 'fleshy' quality to it...the juiciness of thick orchid petals or the one of the carnal kind. Something biological, neither male or female but essentially human.

@Selinu... try the voile de fleur version...

I cant stand any spicy scent. This perfume is very delicious with all of its notes but spice... I wish there were no spice. Will love it when Im grown enough.

I obtained a sample vial of this at my local Sephora last week. I wore it for the first time last night. I sprayed just ONE small spray under my neck, because I was hesitant about trying a fragrance labeled 'for women'. I got three compliments on my smell, and I woke up this morning, still smelling like Black Orchid. I also recently purchased the Grey Vetiver from Tom Ford, which unfortunately doesn't have the same projection as Black Orchid. Black Orchid is definitely a fragrance that will make you noticed. I get a lot of sweet patchouli, woodsy florals, and for me, it does smell quite feminine for the first two hours, after that, it transforms into a very elegantly masculine scent.

I was a bit scared, because of so different reviews. I was surprised. Yes, I was thinking that this perfume is very strong and very, very dark and I was waiting that, becouse I love dark, mystical, warm fragrances. And, Yes!!! It is! :) But in the very, very, veeeeery good meaning! But I think that this is not so dark how most biggest people part say. I want more and more!!! I am so happy about it all! This fragrance really is very dark, sweet, sensual and mystical. I am in love. :))
And yes, longevity is very, very, very gooood!

My friend who is a female owns this fragrance. I was at her house about a month ago and I tried it and loved it. So I ordered a bottle on-line. At first it did not smell that good but after about 10-15 minutes it was a wonderful scent. It does not smell girly feminine and it could very well be worn by a man. It smells very spicy and I can smell flowers. I don't know if it is the orchid that I smell. Great fragrance by Tom Ford and I will be wearing it often.

Potent and complex. Everything is somehow both warm, but also dark as pitch. Nothing sweet or floral at all. I'm not much on some of the hyperbolic travelogue descriptions I've read on this site, but I do admit that this triggered the thought that I had just leaned over a hole in the ground, at night with no light to see anything, and reached into the hole and opened the lid on a box to something within that seemed very old, timeless, expensive, opulent and exotic when the warm scent rose out of the darkness.

The scent from the initial spray on the test strip and my wrist was a bit of a bludgeon, but after a few minutes it settled into my favorite TF scent, so far.

DO NOT spray & immediately smell LOL . . . . . because DAAAMMM motor oil chemical leather mens fahrenhiet IS what you will smell & its NOT delicate feminine or sexy . . . . BUT that does not matter give atleast 10 minutes THEN ''she'' starts 2 peek out her big beautiful bold head from behind the dark velvety petal's . . . . you just sit still & the more you do , the more time you give her the more open & social she will be . . . . she's the porcelain fairy that live's in the center of the black orchid & if you spray THIS HEAVILY ON A GARMENT & then COME BACK 2 WEAR IT THE NEXT DAY ! you will see her at her most charming :) a naughty little almost ''goth'' like nymph dancing around in a little dusty cloud of pollen that smells like something I cant even do justice by with words . . . . I just wanted 2 say DONT run away at first sniff it would be your LOSS because there IS magic in mysterious smokey flower

It smells masculine not a womanly.

I REALLY REALLY want to love this, but the patchouli is too strong, I do LOVE patchouli scents, but I prefer the ones where the note is used to "warm up" the composition. It smells too strange on me, I just can't like it for myself.
I didn't want to give up on it though, because I still believe this is a special fragrance. So on a whim I asked my husband to try it on, and surprisingly he did.

I must say, it smells absolutely amazing on my him! Very, very sexy. His response after I made him try it on was, "Now THIS is the panty-dropper right here!" Ha!(inside joke)

So while, I do adore this perfume (a lot), I love smelling it on my husband instead of myself.

Black Orchid has quickly become my go to scent when i'm dressed for a special meeting in office or when i'm going to some high class spot at night. This stuff really get's you noticed. I had a meeting with my project managers this morning and i used this wonderful/amazing stuff, i felt like i was in the spot light. i feel really confident when i use Black orchid. fragrances dont tend to last long on my skin or project, but this is an exception. i mean WOW i get easily 12+ hrs and projection for 5-6 hrs with this.

will be in my collection forever

This is what a fragrance is suppose to smell like.

Chapter III

Sweet and sexy... soft and spiced. Complex and layered. The flowers are just below the surface and the vanilla and sandalwood shout for attention. I like the way it responds to warmth and heat. Very, very pleasing, comfortable like an old lover. You know the places to go...

Chapter II

Sandalwood, sandalwood, sandalwood and spice were the later hours of the day. I love patcholy and waited for it to appear, but alas not today. It's cold and damp here on the mountain and I have learned to pay close attention to weather and scent. Tomorrow is promised to be a warmer day and we will see what develops.

I am still growing in love...

Nothing short of stunning. Dry down is heavenly, slightly reminds me of the a*men dry down. The opening is slightly too potent for my liking, but after the first hour, it becomes more bearable.

A masterpiece, enough said.

I always write my reviews as a story... and this is the first chapter and the first chapter is the beginning of a love story. I am getting citrus and vanilla and all of the base notes. I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I will make it my only fragrence for the next few days and write more as we get to know each other better.

I have to say this take my breath away at first,
Then I'm man candy,he said mmmmmmm!!
This goes really good with my chemistry,
If it doesn't with yours, sorry it can be bad
or doesn't last.

I really want to have an opinion on this one but I just haven't. It drives me crazy, when finally I know what this is about it changes...
But I recieve very strange comments when I am wearing it. My dad: " smells like african shop", my mum:" smells like dirty men". But a lot of people find this very sexy and provocative.
All I can smell is strong cherry jam at first, after some chocolate, spicy, patchuli and tuber. It has very good lasting power on my hair and on my clothes but my skin just eats it with max 4 hours.
It is dark, strange, sweet... I will need more time to figure it out. But definetly it is ingteresting.

Purchased a 3ml sample of this today, I also heard that this was Michael Jacksons sig fragrance during his later years. Shall be leaving my review as soon as I receive it through the post.

Really impressive.

This is one that deserves the characterism "black".
Black-the-house-down.
You will smell like the darkest day in England, or like a demonic wet candy shop.
Another must-have. Can only picture this for men.

First whiff: there's this odd note or their combination that I can't name. I point my finger and say "patchouli, you are making this fragrance behave in strange ways!", but it's not patchouli's fault. I love The Odd Note. (See, I already gave it a pet name). It's dark, sugar-free and unlike the usual dark feminine scents. It's the same note that's expressed in a stronger manner in Bois 1920 "Real Patchouli", though I don't think (meaning: I hope like hell it's not) it's patchouli solely. I like it. An hour later, I still like it, but it has become a tamer creature. A few hours later, it's soft, lying very closely to my skin, but The Odd Note is only discernible if you, well, essentially rub your nose against my skin. Also, vanilla has come to play, too. Go away vanilla, you're ruining it a little. All in all, we've spend a nice afternoon together, me and Black Orchid. I can easily imagine this on a man, and it's a nice image. A homme fatale of sorts, a self-possessed, subtle man. Everything is pulled inside, no unnecessary flair or theatrics. No dogmatic attitudes. A discerning pleasure seeker.
I'm not positive I'll ever own it, as I am, apparently, the pickiest person on the planet (curse you, vanilla), but it's a truly lovely, not run-of-the-mill fragrance.

oh well...so much of confussion created by all reviews :) ..well im a male n i hv tried it...i call it unisex for sure..i experienced woody as a top note with touch of floral and kinda earthy...over all a lovely smell to wear.

Its funny how everyone has such a different experience with this fragrance.

Some say its too masculine, or it smells like Angel,or its soooo odd?? etc. etc.

Well, I get none of the above on my skin. What I experience is a fruity, lush floral oriental. Just a hint of chocolate for some depth and a little sweetness, but honestly if i didnt know the notes, I wouldnt know what they were other than...uh fruity? floral? oriental? And definately not odd. Not ordinary, but not odd.

I dont experience this scent as masculine at all on me, and Im amazed at how it appeals and is sold to men. That's how different scents morph on the skin. Its truly a unique experience for everyone who tries this.

It's a wondrous beauty of a perfume that I hope to one day own. FBW for sure, but try before you buy! Dont go by reviews. This one is a shapeshifter.

Sweet and very unisex. Can easily be worn by a man.

For those who can't tolerate black orchid on their skin, try it on your clothes, it smells heavenly and lingers for weeks..

For me this is a big patchouli-ish blast that turns into TM Angel. Brings to mind middle-aged 'chav' women. Doesn't do it for me at all. (Love querelle's review below! :D)

Tom Ford Black orchid starts with a pink/purple puff of sweet air like a whiff of a sweet chemical bi-product from an unknown location in Newark, New Jersey. It makes you think of vapor from the runoff from some sort of fragrance factory where super sweet fragrances are bottled. You try to figure out which direction the wind is blowing...

Just then, WHAM, you get hit in the face with a tire swing. Somewhat stunned, you stagger backward, touching your nose carefully to see if blood is streaming out, and when you find to great relief, that you didn't get injured, you notice that the "pink wind" doesn't smell nearly as off-putting as when you first noticed it.

It even smells a little like chocolate sandwich cookies with vanilla creme filling and flowers mixed with rubber and burning chemicals, kind of compelling in a strange way. Then you worry that you might be concussed.

Black Orchid is a mysterious fragrance. It is standing outside, trying to take cues from the scents surrounding you, and failing.

It's an overcast day, when the sky is an impenetrable grey, but you can't tell for the life of you whether the cloud cover is normal water vapor or pollution.

The longer I wear it, the more I like it, but it is beautiful in the way an industrial landscape is beautiful. Scary, majestic, and so unapologetically man-made, that it commands awe.
Literally awe-some.

I'm not sure what other peopel are smelling in this one. I don't get these rough incense/wood/leather notes others are mentioning. On me,it goes on as a lush, amazingly true orchid, thick, tropical, dense. My father raised orchids for decades, so I can safely say this smells like the flowers he tended. It stays pure that way til the very very end, where it's dried down to a lovely creamy vanilla wood. I guess it's all down to chemistry, so try before commiting to a full bottle.

smoke, leather, patchouli, i can also detect watermelon and peaches from it. even though this is a little masculine and my boyfriend said it smells "sour", i simply adore it : )

i've heard people say guys can pull it off. i dont know, i dont think i'd try it. that being said, this is absolutely one of the best fragrances i've ever smelled in my life for men or women. it's really a work of art that has to be respected. i smelled some 400 dollar bottle of clive christian....ummmm no. i'll take black orchid (which is no cheapy anyway) everyday of the week.

This one is thick, creamy, sweet, and warm as well...longevity and sillage are superb! One more thing, it blends so well with my body odor and making it as if IT IS my body odor, love it!

This has everything I love in a perfume. Deep, dark, brooding and exotic and yet I can't wear it. There is a staleness that repells me.

I love a moist earth smell but this has rotting mushrooms somewhere in the mix, and cheap chocolate and a rotting quality on me.

A real lesson in why its not a great idea to blind buy. Personal chemistry is so important.

I'm a man and this has become one of my all time favorite fragrances to wear. I've loved it, and purchased bottles, since it was initially released, and it is worth every penny.

I just love the scent this gives off. On me it is a semi-sweet dark chocolate and rasberry incense with a bit of patchouli and vanilla. The lasting power is superb; generally around 10 hours. This fragrance has, by far, fetched me the most compliments out of the many scents I own and wear.

FYI, even though this was originally designed to be a womans fragrance, every single department store I know of sells it in both the men and womens fragrance sections.

My boyfriend got it for me for my birthday, I have already try it before and I have to say it is a version of the first male perfume I ever bought, Furyo
from Jacques Bogart, a discontiue perfume, for my utterly sadness. Black Orchid is on the same level, dark and beautiful, sexy and naughty.

I only give L.O.V.E. to this perfume. I literally fell head-over-heals for this one. BO is one perfume you should not miss. Addicting, enchanting, bewitching... you name it. The powerful opening notes of incense and a hint of chocolate and vanilla have taken me to a different plane of nirvana. The smokiness is not repulsive at all, in fact, it makes your want for more. A few minutes later, the spicy- floral tandem develops and melts into the smokiness as it continues to lure you into the addicting experience. This one of the fragrances with a strong and distinct character. Definitely FBW! :)
Staying power is very good. Sillage is heavy.

It comes as a no surprise then that this juice is so popular among Gulf Arabs, both men and women, as they are used to old-world opulence, overpowering incense and long lasting oud-like scents. The market there is also over flood with BO knock-offs to the point that they are sold at traffic lights. Never the less, BO has not lost its originality due to the layers upon layers of different notes that reacts differently to different types of skins.

This is beauuuuutiful. It opens with a very earthy, mushroom scent which is weird and I thought was kind of unpleasant at first. It softens up a lot though and becomes a creamy, slightly chocolatey smell. The sandalwood is most prominent to me. Its sweet but definitely not annoyingly sweet like most perfumes with vanilla. There's also smoke and some spices. Amazing. Sometimes it has an almost manly quality to it. This is so good.

Well, I tried this out at Sephora, and I was very anxious to try out this scent. Incense, patchouli, and spices sounded so great!
So I tried to spray it, and the sprayer was stuck. I pumped it a few times, and then I got drowned in Black Orchid. So my review is going to be for someone who wears way too much at one time. LOL.
I will update when I have tried this properly.

Upon my dousing, I smelled pretty wretched. I can smell the incense, but over top of the incense and the spices is this smell of decay! It's like the cartons of mushrooms that were shoved to the back of the refrigerator, and you remember them for your salad. They still look good, but you peel back the plastic wrap, and PHEW!
It is very earthy and smells damp and weird.
Occasionally, I would get a whiff of pure incense, but that opening note lasted and lasted.

I would like to test this lightly, because I could smell stuff in it that I would like.
I don't know if it because I accidently doused myself in it or my body chemistry that it smelled so bad, but I would like to find out.

I think that Baby Phat Seductive Goddess smells alot like those underlying tones of incense that smell so good in this.

UPDATE: So I have had time to test this properly. I have tried a light spray, and I have tried spraying cotton and dabbing myself. All attempts have left me with that rotting vegetation smell. :-(
I really wanted to like this. I let my boyfriend try this too, and the rotting smell is on him too, but he doesn't smell it.
It just has to be my nose! He really likes the smell!
I, on the other hand, have started to feel naseous when I smell it.
I have never had a reaction like this to a perfume before. I've never felt sick to my stomach over a fragrance.

I always hate chocolate smell but with black orchid i changed my mind about chocolate smell..

First impression at the store: Oh, weird.....bitter medicinal herbs and rather masculine. Hm...this is popular? Upon second application, without the initial shock, and in the sanctity of my home, I got the chance to slowly take in all the strange goodness.

EDP: As a whole, to me, it smells dry and leathery, with tobacco, cocoa, vanilla, and florals. But please don't think of this as a scent that gives you the feeling of warmth, sipping hot chocolate in a cozy cafe. Rather, the feeling is a summer night at the graveyard, with the smell of moist dirt, a sad tune being hummed at a distance. At the same time, it is late night seduction in a modern bedroom, up on the 34th floor, drinks, fire crackling in the fireplace. Oh my, how I would love to be in either of those places...well, more so the latter.

This is unisex, and I'd say suits a man even more than a woman. If this was on a man, I'd unashamedly sniff him non-stop. I did think this was the same type of fragrance as Angel, so did a side by side. Upon checking the notes, it looks like both are predominately chocolate and patchouli. Angel is a lot sweeter and stronger and probably should only be worn by a woman. Angel may have been innovative, but Black Orchid is a lot more sophisticated, and comes in the most exquisite bottle. It's too bad because I so want the bottle, but while I thoroughly enjoy Black Orchid, I don't think it's the right scent for me. Or I may just have to buy it after all, as my sample is dwindling....

The only way I liked this on my skin is if I put it on BEFORE going to bed. It smells much better the next day.

At last I come across this mysterious wonder.. and what do I make of it.. Hard one I think, I really get the darkness, especially the chocolate and incense, almost mixed up with some old dusty pot pourri from the back of an oak dresser, very Gothic and dramatic, creamy yet with a sword edge hidden in amongst it's beautiful blackened wilted petals.. I would have to give this time as it's a smoulderer .. eventually it's going to burn into your soul!

I sprayed this on paper and it smelled disgusting, maybe next time I'll try it on my skin. On paper it smelled like incense and masculine.

i didnt expect much from this but i really really like it! its such a dark, complex and sexy fragrance. i imagine a very mysterious and confident woman wearing a scent like this.

i can really smell the cocoa and the pathouli throughout. it is a very spicy fragrance. its sweet with floral notes such as the orchid and gardenia. also theres a slight vanilla in the dry down that gives this fragrance a warm feel to it. i would say this is a very alluring fragrance.

the staying power on me is really good. its such a strong perfume so a little goes a long way. i can still smell this closely on the skin after 8 hours. although its very expensive so im still hesitating whether its worth the money or not...

this also reminds me of a stronger and more complex version of the Black XS Paco Rabbane perfume. Also i would say the Black XS is more watered down.

I love, love, love this its dark, mysterious but if I'm honest its more masculine... any man wearing this gets me vote :) amazing staying power.

Black Orchid is really one of the most delectable fragrances I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It's an ultimate masterpiece. In fact, I love it so much that I often find myself forcing myself to wear a different perfume as I want to wear this elixir every single day.

I hear that Tom Ford requested it to smell like a "mans crotch" and unbelievably in the midst of its dark chocolate and florals and about one hour into the journey, I can smell it. Its buried in the sweet composition but my god its there and It doesn't smell off putting at all.

After this overload of deep florals, rich Chocolates and syrupy Berries. The fragrance's Vetiver and Incense poke their heads, binding with the Vanilla and Amber to smoothen out into a calm cocktail of masculine beauty.

I know I will never be without a bottle of this stuff.

How can anyone say this perfume lasts long? I am very disappointed: I paid 90 euros for a bottle (yes I am dumb, thank you) and this perfume lasts less than flowerbomb (which doesn't last much either). The perfume is rich, gorgeous and distinctive BUT NOT long lasting. Great sillage for about 30 minutes. HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED TOM.

Bu parfümü birkaç kelimeyle anlat deseler yanıtım şu olurdu: LÜKS ve SEKSİ!

it is risky to use B.Orchid..i tried it,bitter scent

This one was a blind buy in my search for oriental sillage monsters. It has many positive reviews and was among the 40 most popular perfumes on this site, when I bought it.

Black Orchid certainly is loud. It is an almost bittersweet perfume with a strong opening of minty patchouli and wine gum smelling fruity notes. When it settles, patchouli seems to calm down a little, while the wine gum mingles with bitter chocolate and sweet floral notes. I find it hard to identify the individual notes in this perfume. It is as if all the notes are in disguise as something else. So you could say that this perfume is blended to perfection and that the creators have succeeded in creating something really new.

BO is absolutely unisex.
I can’t say that BO is a particularly nice scent but it certainly is unique.

In 3 words: UNIQUE – UNISEX – BITTERSWEET

I bought blindly this one because of the comments and the oriental floral group which i love. Yeah, it needs to be tested on the skin. On the clothes or paper,the scent doesn't change any other notes and all you can get is the top notes which is so sharp and awful floral-fruity. But on the skin after fifteen minutes later, the scent changes into the pleasant woodsy scent. The dry down is very amazing and so spicy; choco-vanillary, woodsy and a slightly mixture of white floral. At first, i was hesitated to buy because i heard it is so strong. But for me it is not as strong as 'Narciso's For Her'. I love BO and men also love to smell it on girls<3

I wanted to give this a try because I really like unique sensual fragrances (usually woody florientals). Well this is indeed unique and in some ways sensual. It really does need to be sampled on the skin and not a paper strip. It changes ALOT. Starts out kinda strong, for me it was an instant turn off . . .then it settled into this really warm sensual sweetness. Then just as I was about to put this on my short list of "gotta gets". . . all I could smell was DIRT, TREE BARK, all those woody things that I DO NOT want to smell like. Very disappointing because I actually thought i may have found "my scent" but in the end there is just too much woods in the soul for me. Same thing happend with Versace Woman . . . HEAVEN then DIRT . . . . I mean earth! ;-)

My husband got me this as a gift in the 100ml bottle. I was quite excited about it being Tom Ford. To my disappointment, I disliked it straight away. It has such a strong scent which gives me a terrible headache and makes me feel nauseous. I could lay in bed the whole day from the scent. I'm sure my hubby knows that I don't fancy it cos I don't wear it at all.

It's rare that I order a full bottle of perfume without trying a sample first, but something about the sleek glass bottle and composition of Black Orchid just called out to me. I've always been a fan of big, dark, sexy, 80s-style "power" scents (like my beloved Coco) and everything about Black Orchid seemed right up my alley.

And oh my, it was! My opening impression was weird - very weird. A huge, aggressively medicinal bloom, reminiscent of menthol and camphor, with earthier elements weaving in and out seemingly at random - puffs of spiced vanilla and incense, with a sensual underlying throb of sandalwood. I think most people's impression of this scent as "masculine" or unisex is due to these opening notes, which are looming, impressively structured (although the structure itself is more conceptual than obvious, like the black orchid itself) and not at all subtle. I didn't pick up much citrus, but I sometimes have a "blind nose" with fruitier elements so others may notice it more. The middle notes unfold about 30 minutes in, and are far more gentle, comforting and feminine. This is when the vanilla becomes warm and rises to the top, and other gourmand elements like chocolate appear (I found the chocolate VERY dominant and yes, it was delicious!) The base doesn't appear until many hours later, and it's quite subtle and beautiful - the chocolate mellows out into a soft dark cocoa, with wisps of smoke, leather, and a delicate latticework of patchouli and vanilla.

Overall, Black Orchid is like a slap in the face followed by a slow, sensual kiss. It's not for the faint hearted or people who prefer conventional florals, but for the woman (or man) with the confidence for a slightly challenging scent, it is DIVINE - sexual, sophisticated, and with a slight edge of whimsy/mischief that isn't alluded to in the packaging or advertising. It's not as dark and scary as I expected (after the 'in your face' opening, that is!) but it carries an intriguing warm, complex sensuality. I can't stress enough that this is a bit of a sillage monster - one spray is more than enough! I taught a yoga class about an hour after spraying it on, and once I started to sweat I had to open a window because I was *really* worried the students would be able to smell me. But overall, I cannot recommend this beastly little beauty highly enough!

Ok so this is like the best smell ever AAHH *sniffs wrist*, SO darn good.

I actually bought Black orchid blindly which might sound like a stupid thing to do when it comes to this type of fragrance but I had fallen in love with Van Cleef & Arpels Precious Oud and couldn't stop thinking about it, unfortunately it's crazy expensive.. But on Precious Oud fragrantica page people were saying it was a rip off of Black Orchid and I've always wanted Black Orchid because it's just one of those perfumes you gotta have in your collection. Black orchid isn't sold in Sweden, if it is, it's REALLY difficult to find so I ordered it online instead and I basically just opened the package. And I'm sooo happy because it really does smell like Precious Oud!
This will be my new fave winter fragrance for sure. I could actually even imagine that I could pull it off as a day time fragrance, since it's so cold here in Sweden :) but of course this stuff is heavy so it's a really beautiful night fragrance. I kinda wish now that I had bought at least a 50 ml bottle, next time I'll deff stock up on the big bottle :) Also the bottle, which I think is a big deal when it comes to scents - I love the bottle, it's sexy just like the perfume. I guess you could say it's a statement perfume, because I doubt you will be unnoticed when wearing Black orchid.

The smell reminds me of my grandma. It's so sad because I really wanted to like this perfume.

In my skin I don't get the chocolate or gardenia -all the other flowers are gone as well. I only get the oriental, dark scent -incense, amber, spices, and sandal wood -too heavy.
Not even "Angel" by T.M. smells so deep on my skin. There was a time -when I was 16, when I liked to smell very intense, and I pulled off quite well "deep and sweet oriental" fragrances like "Tribu" or "Angel". So weird this one doesn't work on my skin.

It has an amazing sillage and it's very long lasting, though. However, never got any compliments. Too "old" as I said.

I must add that is the kind of fragrance that makes you a little sick when you wake up after a "party night" and you didn't put your clothes for wash immediately. You can smell it all around your room and in your coat.

If you want to walk around like a giant chocolate bar, be my guest. İt makes my stomach upside down. But i want that sillage in the violet blond!!! PERFECT PROJECTİON!

I bought the 50 ml bottle of this just today. I wanted to have it since long time after reading so many reviews abt it. But my experience with it wasnt good. Im really sorry but i dont mean to insult anyone who adore this perfume. We have different nose and different body chemistry so hate and love are very subjective when comes to this. To me its so heavily oriental and dark. The smell makes me feel like im facing a ghost. I imagine dead body, blood, raw meat and everything horrifying. I never felt like this abt other fragrances, even with the controversial angel by tm. although some of them i dislike alot. Im not sure whether i dislike black orchid too. It just too dark and scary.... Im sorry...

I urge those, who call it sex in a bottle ( and like it ) - try Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood or Kingdom by McQueen: ( with Kingdom you literally feel it's having you against a wall: I am so speechless it'll probably take me months to come up with a comprehensive review! ). Tom Ford's Black Orchid is a late hour seduction game with a reverse sex roleplay. It's a thick liquoir of dark berries, liquorice and the indestructable olfactory champion ylang-ylang ( that's the most frequent cause of headaches in perfumes by the way, so test before buying, if you are prone to face-numbing migranes! ). Yes, it is an odd kid on the block among thousands patchouly-phobic florals out there, and it is the most obvious unisex /bisexual perfume I have ever smelled: the stage is totally feminine with all the heavy florals, but the vetiver stands there in the center and it is very much a boyish figure! - the sugar somehow just didn't quite fuse with it here. I would call it the Marlene Dietrich of all perfumes: it is neither of the sexes, yet very attractive to both. My husband sniffed it at a local drugstore on my recomendation and said: "I wouldn't mind wearing it myself!" Considering he is open to experiments and happened to play for "the other team" in his distant youth, this did not surprise me in the least. And since I occasionally find other women attractive, I guess it also explains why I like Black Orchid's double nature. For me this is THE perfume to wear with a black tuxedo on a naked body with hair swept back in a sleek bun and red lipstik burning on the lips. Kim Basinger turning up in front of Rourke, wearing a suit with a fake moustache in 9 1/2 weeks is this scent's ideal visual portrait. The only "wrong" thing with it is that it lacks dryness. This could have been a sensation, if it had had more "dry wine and powder" in it and less obvious modern "moisture".

یک عطر خوشبو با ماندگاری و پخش بسیار بالا
فقط نمیدونم چرا آقایون همش دوست دارند اونو یونی معرفی کنن
خود تام فورد میگه عطر زنونه است
تام فورد کارهای یونی زیاد داره اگه لازم بود این رو هم یونی معرفی میکرد
در کل یک عطر سنگین و عالی است اما برای خانمهای باکلاس

I just tried it due to the high rating review of the perfume but I just don't like the spicyness of it. It "itches" my nose like pepper !

A minty, mysterious, seductive awakening. It's also a little strange and scary, like you think it's gonna become something else any minute. Very complex fragrance.

EDIT: Yes it does smell like Angel after a few hours, on me anyway. And unlike many of you, I see that as a positive :)

I bought this fragrance after receiving a tester strip in the Sephora 2012 holiday magazine. Upon opening the tester strip, the scent of Black Orchid filled the room -- I absolutely loved it!

I purchased the 1.7ML. When it arrived, I was so charmed by the bottle: the sleek black, shiny bottle exudes class and sophistication: promo pictures have nothing on how good the bottle looks in real life! The smell of the perfume in person is a little different than the tester strip: I smell *a lot* of truffle... a note that at least on me is a whisper at top and than near-dominant in the heart.

I agree with the poster below: this scent is not a happy one: it's dark and seductive. It's has a dirty kind of sweet spicy mixed with truffle that forms a surprisingly delectable concoction.

I don't see myself wearing this every day or during the summer, however super great on special cool winter nights.

Edit: I also discovered that this scent is a major appetite suppressant. I wouldn't wear this if you plan on going to a dinner party with friends because you will kill your desire to eat along with all the appetites of those near you (amazing sillage!).

All I could mostly smell in this was a weird note of melon mixed with some earthy patchouly; not at all what i expected, it makes me think of some fruits that have been letf too long in a over-heated room, so they aren't so fresh anymore. I also get some earthy notes, but not enough, not "dark" at all as I wished... another weirg fruit-chouly mix...

First of all this is an amazing scent, but not what I expected, I can definitely smell patchouli, ylang ylang, black truffle, plum and maybe a little vetiver. But it has this dirt sweat touch with the patchouli, which I think gives it the masculinity, if it wasn't for that touch it would really difficult to get away with. Its strong and it evolves over time, top notes are amazing , dry down is strong ylang ylang, I can feel the darkness in it. Some people aren't impressed by it, but I'm sure its because maybe I haven't sprayed generously or properly. I love it but I think Tuscan leather is still far better in mysticism. Beautiful definitely a good blind buy, not sure about sillage yet, some smell only within arm length some Snell from across the room, but o think that's during the first hour or so

I bought this last summer based on the reviews .. I liked it alot except the dark choclate note .. which I really hate ..
my mistake was that I over applied this at very hot summer so I got the negative feedback, and I wanted to give this away for my sis or mam but I couldn't because I remembered the price hhhhh ..

and now we are in winter, I started to use this again and I am totally in love with its seductive dirty tart drydown ..

I love this for winter «3
And I will wait the positive feedback from my family or friends ..
who knows maybe one day I will be a friend with the dark choclate note :) !

Oh Lord almighty this fragrance is sex-on-wheels.

Alluring, appealing, duuuurrrrty, sensual, smoky, sweet, sweaty mess.

Like love making in the moonlight and a one-night stand in the back of a cab all rolled into one.

Purrrr-grrrrrr

Update: I am just the proud owner of the 50ml, since the 100ml was not available in the airport. It is now my signature scent :-) So happy.

"Dirty & Desirable" - Longevity is outstanding. Even after having a shower it is on you. I find this perfume sweet & quite dirty. Smells somewhat strange. I can't understand this scent. I can't decide whether I like or dislike it. I love its longevity, silage, brand, bottle, everything, it smells very expensive, but there is something disgusting in it. May be that sweet+dirty note in the fragrance repels me. It is high quality, expensive smelling dirt. Yes, it smells like money, which is the dirtiest thing in the world and has specific smell.

It is unique and so nice, longevity is great, all my clothes smelled
Like black orchid,but the silliage is monster!!! And i dont like that, i have 100ml, used about 10mls, it is new, i have a box for it, if some one is interested to swap for something equal in value from my want list just pm me :)

Black Orchid is undoubtedly the new best fragrance for me. I have smelled this kind of fragrance in years its heavenly and enchanting....
Although it might be feminish for some guys to wear but I wouldn't mind wearing it at all.
Its pure luxury in a bottle.....
Its dark, soft, mature, calm, intense, serene, and superb....
The prominent notes in it are Floral and I can small coconut as well although I m not a fan of coconut smell in perfumery but this one is an exception perfect amalgam...
Projection and longevity is extraordinary.....
Truly a treat for sense of smell....
I give it 9.8 out of 10.

کاری حرفه ای از کمپانی محبوب من تام فورد
با بوی بسیار گیرا و همچنین پخش بو با ماندگاری بسیار بالا
بوی خیلی سنگین و گرمی داره که مخصوص زمستونه

I had very high expectations from Black Orchid, but oh my god, I REALLY dislike it! It smells disgusting on me! I expected something dark, sweet, heavy, creamy sexy fragrance, maybe orchid like in Euphoria, but no! I can not even describe it. The only thing I can say (and I don't say this often) this stinks!! Pfhew! :(

It's definitely interesting. It's unisex though and I think might be better on a man.

I bought a sample bottle of this because of the reviews that said it was dark and sexy, which is my favorite style. To me it has a very strong undercurrent of dirt, and not in a good way. I thought it might be something about my skin chemistry, but recently I encountered a fragrance saleswoman wearing it and trying to sell me on its "sensual" qualities, and she smelled like a healthy and well-maintained compost heap. That's an appealing smell in its place, but not on me, thanks.

I bought this for my anti-fragrance boyfriend, for I know he will eventually come around and wear Black Orchid with as much enthusiasm as I would. This scent by Tom Ford is unisex, though best on men. It is spicy, chocolate-y, warm, sensual, dark and very cold weather appropriate.

The scent was formed in 2006 by the creators of Givaudan. The fragrance was put out in limited release, and is still circulating among the fraggies.

The initial smell for me was bitter and cedar-like. That only lasts a minute, so be patient! After about 5 minutes the real fragrance comes through: bitter dark chocolate, gardenia, amber, vanilla, incense, patchouli. The fragrance is lush, creamy and so sensual. People, it smells like sex.

Any man smelling like this… oh my!This seductive, mysterious, and gorgeous scent can project its extreme awesomeness on any man. This is a difficult feat, indeed!

After about 10 minutes you smell the vetiver and patchouli, the orchid, the lily and some mild citrus-y notes—along with the dark chocolate, vanilla beans, amber, incense, sandalwood, gardenia, cream, and spiciness. And, guys, I promise this is not a “girly” smelling perfume cologne.

Honestly, this cologne is what I would imagine the moments after passionate sex smell like. It is crazy.

As for sillage: hold out your arms, and the sillage reaches to your wrists. And, people, this scent LASTS. With two sprays, it was strong and noticeable on me for about 10 hours. That is almost impossible with my scent-gobbling skin.

The bottle is quite plain and uninviting. I guess Black Orchid’s sex-in-a-bottle allure is going incognito.

I have to be careful when being inspired by all you lovely Fraggies' reviews. You all have been a huge part of my journey this past year... my "frosh" year in perfume.

The reason I need to be careful, is because apparently, I am nose blind (what's that word for when you can't smell certain notes?) to certain notes. But only in certain compositions. So, say, cinnamon... I might smell the note in one perfume, but not in another.

Therefore your reviews about this being "spicy" and "incensey", etc., had me instantly attracted and I put this straight to the top of my "have to have" list.

So, I bought. Blind.

Alas... while I DO love this perfume, I only ever get one single note. From top to bottom. But since there is no top, or bottom, it would be more accurate for me to say that I only get one note through the "slow river-rafting trip" with this scent. THANK GOD, I love that single note. And I feel like I am experiencing a 100% different and opposite smell than most of you here; as if this is my personal Tom Ford creation!

This is the creamiest, most luxurious, velvety, pillow-soft Gardenia.

I know that true gardenia essence in a bottle does not exist. But for me, in this bottle, exists MY true gardenia.

Heaven is the collapsing & relaxing into the bedsheets post-coitus with your lover.

Yeah.

Like that.

Very strong. I sprayed a tiny bit on my neck at a department store and it has followed me around all day. It is definitely not overbearing, however. It is slightly sweet, but very spicy, sexy, and sophisticated.

I catch myself thinking that the closer to the base, so I usually swallow saliva, it's an involuntary reflex, so the body reacts to a pleasant smell edible, right want to have to bite it "something" delicious, yum-yum!

wow this is a strong perfume I only applied one spritz to my wrist and i can smell it as if i applied four spays of any other perfume.
Its warm and would be perfect on a cold winters day. I can defiantly smell the patchouli, incense, and spices. After it lightens up I can smell a sweet whiff of vanilla.
Sadly I don't smell the chocolate, flowers, or the fruit.

this stuff makes me sick!!! simply too strong and unbalanced. I'm a fan of gourmands but this is a little too loud; also more on the masculine side of things.

A friend was wearing this at a party and I fell in love with it, it has a sultriness and sexiness about it that i enjoyed..have just added it to my shopping list

There are some perfumes that make you feel rich, like old money. They're classic and some might say a bit stuffy and overwhelming. Some Chanel perfumes come to mind...

Tom Ford's Black Orchid is what you might call a new money perfume.

Wear this unusually sexy perfume and you'll be the outrageously brash American in Europe wearing red lipstick and a fur coat in autumn.

You'll feel expensive.

And magnificent.

i like it, even though I think it is more masculine than feminine, must be in the mood to wear it (not an everyday scent), and prefer it as a winter scent than a summer scent. very intense and persistant. I can smell wood and spices. be patient and find out how it changes and melts into your skin, you may be surprised..

Got my free sample from Sephora today. And as much as I tried not to, because of its price, I adore it. Now to start saving my pennies....

I tried this a few weeks ago. when i first sprayed it on i thought it was disgusting. my friend didnt even want to walk near me in town cause of the dark overpowering smell. an hour later it calmed down on my skin and i actually started to like it more. this is not for everyone, you have to really like this smell and this smell has to suit you really well to be able to wear this. i have a love hate relationship with this. but one thing is for sure, you will stand out for sure! :)

I was pleasantly surprised when i smelled this because i usually dont like ''mature'' scents.But that one was totally awsome.It is dark classy an yes for 30+ age...It cant be worn everyday but only in some special ocassions.The longetivity on that one is just WOW.I sprayed 2 times one in each arm and it stayed for 12 hours+ and when i took a bath i was still smelling it until next morning!So it stayed for like 24 hours on my skin!
Overall score 8.5/10

One very unique rich complex brew here. Enigmatic? Many layers unfolding, revealing and hiding. Chocolate patchouli, fruits and spice. An odd watery, almost synthetic floral, like crushed orchid stalks in a bamboo garden.
Not for everyone, but Definitely an artistic fragrance, a good composition, i'm impressed.

i tried this on my skin when one of my friend gave me a try one of hers. at first this is like a very dark fragrance for me. i can tell you that its overhelmingly strong for me at first whiff. i thought i can never be with this fragrance. then, after a few hours, i got home and the first thing that i heard from my brother mouth was "What perfume are you wearing? It smells like a noble perfume. Something that usually smells from the posh and elite class people" That is like a total compliment for me. I tried smelling it again and yes, it changes to the type of smell my brother has described. Try it first on your skin, then you'll know it!

Longevity: 10/10
Sillage: 10/10

I just love it :)

When I first tried this I was actually in awe. What a statement....
I use Black Orchid rarely, but I love it.
There is no other perfume like this.

First time to write a review- I usually just read and learn a lot from other reviewers. But this ONE merits a review. You have to give it a chance to develop. I was so excited when I got my sample today- I wanted to see what the hype was all about before I ventured into buying an EXPENSIVE bottle. Anyway, a minute after spraying my wrists all I was smelling was medicine- and a bitter camphor type of medicine at that :(((. All I wanted to do was to quickly get in the shower and get rid of that awful pungent smell but I decided to stick it out.

OUTCOME after an hour= This is a very, very elegant, and classy perfume that develops slowly yet beautifully. No more medicine smell but a beuatiful dry down that is not overwhelming at all. The fragrance is there yet not there- very elusive and that's why it's very sexy in a quiet way.

Oh man, I fell in love when I sprayed it on my hand the other day! Luxurious chocolatey-vanilla goodness; earthy patchouli and tuber dirtying it up in the best possible way; spicy, peppery, bittersweet, smoky sexiness - the olfactory barrage was perfection! Right away I bid for and bought a slightly-used bottle on Ebay (not too hard to find slightly-used since the scent is so polarizing).

But now that I have the bottle, I can't figure out where this is taking me! Depending on where I've sprayed it, a different note comes out - on the elbow it's patchouli and vetiver, on my wrists it's a Belgian dark chocolate with vanilla ganache, my cleavage is smelling like coconut (where the hell did THAT come from?), and it's all from the same bottle! But it all smells like the most fabulous sex you've ever had!

This is the ultimate seduction perfume: every aphrodisiac imaginable stuffed into one bottle. The perfume has very little structure or logic (I mean beyond the indolic top notes that it opens with), but then neither does desire or lust either. Besides smelling like pure sex, the olfactory effect of the barrage of notes at once is a lot like sex itself. And like with any good sex, you just have to give up any restraint and enjoy the tangle. And make sure to shower afterwards, the sillage and longevity on this is a monster!

I have tried this perfume 3 times now. Once before I joined this wonderful website and twice since. I tried this scent for the 2nd time about 6 months ago. I went to the perfume counter in search of a cherished new scent that I had not yet identified. The woman immediately took me over to BO saying how it was all the rave and they couldn't keep it on the shelves. While I was trying all the different fabulous scents, two different women purchased a bottle.

What the hell am I missing?? I don't even begin to get it!! I left that day with one of the Hermes.

Fast forward 6 months. I went into Nordstom's looking for a deep dark scent for winter mmmmmmmm. Seriously... she takes me right to BO and Bvlgari Jasmine Noir (which is not noir) and Coco Noir which is neither deep nor dark. So now I am determined to figure this little bugger out. Just like I had to buy Fifty Shades of Gray so I could see what all the fuss is about. BTW...I have a 3 year old and a 9 month old...read?? Please!! In my free time I am on this website trolling all the beautiful scents I have yet to discover!!!

Anyway, I digress, so I am at Nordstrom's trying this stupid fragrance yet again and I hate it. It just plain stinks. It is sharp, literally, after the initial spray and just yuck. Even the dry down, ah no!!! But all you people love this so there just must be something that I am missing so I get a sample to take home with me and I try it again. UGH!!!!

Nope!! I will never understand all the hype!!! Not for me!!!

Hayatımda kullandığım en güzel kokudur kendileri. Seksi, şık, lüks...

I bought a bottle of this, simply because I couldn't make up my mind about it. Initialy, I think it smells very, very masculine on my skin (almost sweat-like?), and it takes a long time to mellow into something less cloying. It's dark and mysterious, and makes you sniff yourself all day in order to pinpoint exactly what it is you smell of.I still have no idea, but I think I like it. I'd quite like to smell a man wearing this.

beautiful, dark, deep, mysterious. my absolute favorite and signature scent. :)

Now this is what Lady Gaga's Fame should have smelt like!

I smell this today....i was just amazed by its darkness...its a smell which makes u lost....such a deep & intriguing...i dont know abt the jargons of this fragrance industry & dont even know different elements...not cant differentiate....but its amazing...such a powerful..long lasting perfume...just love it

این عطر رو کنار جعبه اون بگذارید ،نگاه کنید،رنگ طلایی رو میپذیرید یا مشکی؟ این همان پارادوکسیست که اغلب دوستان درمورد اون بحث کردن!
به نظرم طلایی نماد روح زنانه ی مغرور این عطر است و مشکی کمی نماد روحیه ی مردانه ی مهربان اوست
به نظرم این عطر یونی هست
آنچه مشخص هست اینکه کاملا لوکسه
به نظرم برای خانمها که عطر کاملا حرفه ای هست اما برای آقایان اگر به بوهای شیرین بسیار علاقه مند هستند مناسبه
در ابتدا یک بوی شیرین کمی مرکباتی حس میشه، گویا مربای پرتقال با نارنج بو میکنین
اصلا اینطوری بگم نزدیک یک گل فروشی کمی مربای نارنج رو روی این شیرینی کشمشی ها که قدیم ها خیلی میخوردیم میریزین و میخورین
نکته مهم اینکه یا وجود این مقدار شیرینی بوی اون شمارو گرما زده نمیکنه!
یک خنکی ملایمی در رایحه همراهی میکنه...
بوی وانیل هم اون حس زیبای شیری رو بهش میده
این عطر رو خوشبو میدونم مخصوصا برای خانمهای محترم
اما
شخصاهیچوقت نمیپسندم در این حد شیرین باشم!

I just walked into my bedroom after having used Black Orchid & was overjoyed with what I walked in on. To me it smelled like a beautiful, sexy, dark & mysterious woman had exploded (in a good way). The type of woman who wears Tom Ford clothing, cosmetics, etc. (or wants to). Fashion-forward, edgy & sexy as hell in that brash yet waspy way that Mr. Ford does so well, that's what this perfume evokes for me.

Kind of addictive, yet at the same time all too-much and headache provoking. I don't think that much strong white floral gardenia should coexist with that much patchouli and chocolate, at least on my own skin. I find it bewitching on others, though. It just catches in my throats and makes me ill when I wear it myself.

Ahem! Black orchid you say mr. Tom Ford? This is anything BUT orchid. I am trying hard to imagine a delicate and inocent orchid in the midst of this crazy BANNNNNNNG of odores, be it black or pink but I cannot. This has nothing to do with delicacy and inocence. This perfume is absolutely Ccraaaaaazy: crazy sweet, crazy lasting power, crazy sillage, crazy orientals in your FACE, crazy fruits jumping on jasmine and roses in a bath of chocolate. Ahhhh..... my type of little guy. The only disapointment to me is that some of the notes are blended a little too mainstream for my expectations...but then it turns again crazy at heart.
A definite "will purchase"!

In Victorian England, women were forbidden from keeping orchids, they were considered far too hot. lusty, and sensual for the average victorian woman. For me, this scent conjures images of naturalists combing damp, dark, forests...in search of the rare and perfect orchid, perhaps ending their day with a glass of smoky scotch and pipe tobacco.

The opening of this scent confused my nose. And not in a good way. It was decidedly masculine and reminded me of my father's old aftershave. But it quickly unfurled into something mysterious, warm, and dirty.

Leather, vanilla (which is an orchid pod, btw), definitely a hint a chocolate. I cant decide if I am repulsed or in love. I will say however, as a fan of orchids and their history, Tom Ford was spot on when he created this. It is a perfect olfactory reflection of their tale.

The female suffragettes in England eventually stormed a hot house and ripped apart hundreds of orchids in defiance of male dominance and female repression. This scent seems to me a reflection of the feminine fiercely claiming scents that were once considered off limits and unfeminine for women to wear. I have no idea where I would wear this. Definitely not a day scent, and not even sure it would be considered sexy for a night out. But perhaps I could pour myself a glass of scotch, put on some jazz, and tend my orchids...

Ahhh, Black Orchid. I just knew it would be the one! Smoky, chocolate, creamy.....NOT!!!! Sex or body odor? Sorry, just not there for me. A little raunch never hurt anyone, ya know! It was like going out on a date with someone just to discover you don't like anything about them. Simply a vague floral with greens tossed in for good measure. That cash would have been better spent on groceries!

Aphrodite herself made this potion, adding each and every potent substance to attract the most beautifully made human beings. First, in the heart, she added deep and dreamy love, so luxurious and silky that one will get transported into another world once smelling this. Second, she added the sweet and delicate romance to bring passion to the potion. To hypnotize anyone who dares to smell this into a state of unconscious love making in which only ones soul does the work. And lastly, she added dark and mysterious sensuality to create an unbearable attraction to one who is wearing this scent. Somehow after thousands of years Tom Ford was able to get his hands on this potion and sold it to all. Once you smell this fragrance you will be deeply drawn to a world of romantic pleasure with the most utterly luscious desires. Be cautious not to get too far under the spell of who ever is wearing this. Or else you will be held captive until the potion wears off the skin!

That's a monster in terms of sillage and lasting power. I smell sweet coconut and vanilla mostly. Beautiful scent but very very feminine.

Tom Ford, you scared the hell out of me again! White Patchouli, after a looooong journey, turned out to be great, in hot weather.
Black Orchid, it really scared me when first trying lol. With one spray, the sillage filled my little apartment ( yes, even when i actually sprayed it outdoors and came back in ). I thought WTH, i had to give White Patchouli a fair amount of tries before i could appreciate it, so i will do the same with this.

Black Orchid is dark, watery, light and heavy, with a HUUUUUUGE sillage, all at once. It's weird. It's so different from any mainstream fragrances atm. It's really masculine, in a feminine kind of way, capice?
A woman wearing this, sexy all out. It's like the night after, his cologne mingles with yours.
This is totally unisex. I'd love to smell this on a man, and i love to smell this on me.
Tom Ford, you're a mad scientist, or a genious :)

Al ver tantos comentarios no pude resistirme a comprarlo porque me gustan las fragancias embriagadoras, al ponérmelo por pimera vez casi me resultó desagradable con un fondo de corral, cuando se suavizó un poco pude apreciarlo un poco mejor pero mi piel lo absorbió y se transformó en algo pequeño muy cercano a mi piel herbáceo nada de chocolate la verdad por la relación calidad precio me decepcionó, tal vez en verano se proyecte más.en la ropa dura muchísimo

در مورد رایحه اش هیچی نمیگم.چون به نظرم اصلا قابل توصیف نیست
دوستان چیزای مختلفی درباره اش گفتند که باید بگم که:
"این چنین هست ولی این همه نیست"
ولی بشنوید از ماندگاریش:
می دونید که کلا عطر با رطوبت میانه خوبی نداره.یعنی پخش بوی یک عطر با رطوبت هوا نسبت عکس داره.با توجه به رطوبت بالای هوای شمال (رشت) که تا 100 در صد هم میرسه گاها ؛ این عطر روی پوست بیش از 48 ساعت و روی لباس تا یک هفته دوام داشته
(در اینجا منظور از دوام به مشام رسیدن رایحه پایه عطره چون پر واضحه که نباید انتظار تاپ نت فرار رو بعد از چند ساعت اولیه داشت چه برسه به چند روز)

تاپ بودن رایحه:9.5/10
پخش بو:7.5/10
ماندگاری:10/10
ارزش خرید:10/10

taste of chocolate and eat dark chocolate

fantastic. all of tom ford is sexy so... lovely

creamy, thick, dark, lucious, lovely, woody, full of patch, chocolate, velvety, sexy, and rich. This has me mega impressed. Really love that it's dark, mysterious, and deliciously feminine. It touches upon gourmand, but has a really nice spicy flair to it. GAWD just delicious. Definetly has earned my approval.

love it, it is classified as female scente but to the girl at the store was for me, dark gothic patchouli, chocolate, flowery and spicy, kinky and sexy and pricey

opening of this perfume is challenging. Bothered me a bit, I imagine it's the patchouli, but with three minutes becomes a very pleasant floral pump. The sum of these flowers with a touch of fruit notes reminded me of watermelon booble gum Fini. This was also praised by friends. I'm expecting a bottle of it coming from Fnet, a blind, and I'll be very happy when you get it!

I don't know if there is anything more to say about this wonder. So many opinions, lovers, haters and stories.
I just want to tell mine.
1. ORCHIDS. I love these flowers, this is the reason i found Black Orchid and was obsessed to try it. And it's strange how so many people found orchids note in it! I didn't. Dark, bitter, viscous chocolate take over. But if you've ever seen black orchids - stunning, rare, special beauty- you know this is it. It's a dream, goal and searching. And sometimes it takes all your life to find it.
2. NOTES. I just love how so many notes become one purfect harmony. Like a symphony orchestra. Every note has it's place. I don't even want to think what it's like in the beginning, later or after all night then you just feel that warm mist around you. It's so wonderful that something unique is created in traditional way - top, middle and heart- so right, so talented, so recovered. I would say this is definitively niche composition, just more intriguing than simple one : you can't find one main scent- they all are playing main part in this masterpiece.
3. ART. Black Orchid is example how perfume can become piece of art. Hard work, talent, many years spent trying to do your best. And finally result which brings you glory. It's like Chanel No5, Shalimar, Opium ( I'm not comparing ! wouldn't dare). I just believe that time will go, but Black Orchid wouldn't be forget, it will be nowadays's perfume's etalon.
4. SEDUCTION, DIRTY, SEXY AND BLACK ORCHID. No! Definitively. It's too proud and powerful for such a mundane things. I think it's ylang-ylang's work. well, good, because it means aphrodisiacs really work :) Black Orchid really has something magnificent, but in very special way: like Marie Antoinette - promiscuous, but still a queen.
5. FOR STATISTICIANS AND LOVERS OF THEMSELVES. Silage and longevity is incredible! It's almost all 24 hours. And it definitely worth all these dollars. Quality is amazing. And if you decide to have your bottle - don't forget bring a blank-note, you will be surprised how many interesting compliment you will get :)
6. This is the miracle which started my passion for perfume, showed me how deep scent can tickle your mind and other people's emotions.

I just wore this for the first time tonight and absolutely loved it. I thought it smelled very masculine. It has a very dark, floral top and middle note thats addicting. It's a very classy and elegant fragrance that compliments any nice outfit very well. This is a must buy for me.

Shopping for a George Nelson desk at Herman Miller in Dallas' design district, the very well-appointed saleswoman smelled wonderful. Such an impact. I waited until we got all the way across the store to ask her what fragrance she was wearing. She told me she just bought her second bottle of Black Orchid. When I bought a bottle, 3 days later (my husband, saying "go and buy yourself a bottle"), the saleswoman told me she sold 6 bottles in a day with all of the shoppers asking for this one fragrance. Black Orchid is stepping out fragrance and not for the feint at heart. It is for partying in glamorous nightlights and making impressions. My sister's 31 year old daughter asked her, "What have you got on?" it is amazing. Not for a casual picnic or a trip to the ballpark, that's for sure. But this is why fragrance is special.

Black Orchid. Da dove iniziare? E' un profumo indefinibile, ha talmente tante note diverse da non poter dire che sia un profumo legnoso o fiorito, fruttato o gourmand. E' un profumo profondo, intenso, nero, direi anche un po' oscuro. Ed è per questo che è così avviluppante. Black Orchid è una spira di fumo dal colore e dall'odore terribilmente attraenti, ed è per questo che lo adoro.

This turns sour on my skin (I wonder which ingredients cause this?). Nothing sensual or luxurious about it for me.

Oh yum, this is delicious. While it may be a little manly for a female fragrance for some, it is very sensual and well made.

Easy to overdo, and I definitely wouldn't want to wear this in hot climates, but definitely worth checking out.

I find it hard to pick individual notes, combining into a delicious cocktail of notes, but don't get a lot of chocolate to be honest

Black Orchid is a huge chocolate flower.

The composition is constructed around spicy black orchid, and all of the other components (citrus, jasmine, gardenia, black current, spice, fruit, chocolate, patchouli, and amber) exaggerate each facet of the flower. The result is an enormous 3D black orchid: dark and psychedelic. Woodsy notes are barely detectable, but there is definitely something almost swampy lurking behind the onslaught of sweet chocolate. Also, there is a loud, constant stream of piss coming from the black currant and/or jasmine.

Nicely done, just keep it away from me.

ok i'm sorry, i eagerly awaited the arrival of my blind buy off ebay. but i could have saved money and time by going to get a bottle of TM's Angel instead(even though the notes provided don't match). This is a really nice scent, it's powerful, decadent and its longevity> 8 hours for me. but Angel does pretty much the same job at a cheaper price and where I live, definitely more available. I'm happy I got it to try and that its a lovely scent to have, but i'm not overwhelmed with love for this copycat.

I only have a 3ml sample of this, but wow does it go a long way. Intense sillage. This perfume is a knockout, soporific is the nicest way, like being reduced to a blissful state in a vat of warm spicy chocolate mixed with black cherry, or is it plum? vanilla, truffle and spices. Only worn it at night so far, the drydown is still there in the morning, warm and caramel. I can imagine this is probably a love or hate fragrance, Me, I am totally addicted. must get some more.

Bought it to my husband, he was mad about it, he thought it's masculine perfume. It is perfect when he wear it, especially in the summer breezy night, smells like rare special flower. Now i use it too, and i wonder how could i miss this perfume while testing.

Best perfume I've ever smelled. Hands down. I'm a guy and it's so perfect on us. I've got many compliments from both men and women. It's so magical and Dark. This one is definitely unisex. Even though I think it's more attractive on us.

ooh thanks a lot missyskye :D. soon m gonna buy it.(:

If you're a guy, try layering Tom's 'Black Orchid' with Lalique's 'Encre Noire'. It is nothing short of ALLURING. Try two good sprays of each fragrance (wrists and neck) and watch the world respond around you in the most wonderful way. Every time I wear this combination, people just want to be in close proximity to me in hopes of catching more of the mysterious sillage. Enjoy!

yes, it can work wonders on a man with the right chemistry and charisma to pull it off.
on my skin it starts out a bit camphorus, resinous, thick & spicy yet sweet, with a hint of skank (perhaps the tuber?). it soon developes into a more fruity, rich & creamy dirty gardenia and dark orchid, still covered in spices, with chococalte blooming in the background. The drydown is very creamy, chocolatey, spicey, woody & sensual/smokey ambery..while still retaining the gorgeous skankiness.

to shahab
while out walking our dogs my fella went in front of me and i got a whiff of a true stunning smell that made me weak at the knees
then he said do you like your tom ford black orchid on me -at first i wanted to hit him for using my perfume as we girls dont like to share
but i have to say that it smelt so good on him so yes i would say unisex and now i have hidden my tom ford

can some one tell me, is it a unisex? can a man wear it?. m curious...In most of the articles , i have red as it can be used as unisex easily.

Oh the times I have sprayed this on my skin whenever I see it. This fragrance is amazing and it's destined to become a classic scent (if it hasn't already). Sensual, deep and just so damn nice to smell. I'm a guy and I would (do) wear this any day. It's definitely best suited to evenings. Longevity and projection are both great on my skin. The one downfall of this is it's price. Yes, the Tom Ford fragrances are fantastic (all are perfectly blended and just great), but some of the prices are ridiculous. However, I suppose that is what you pay for a top quality fragrance! I know some people really open up their wallets for their favourites. And fairly so! I hope to purchase this in future so I won't have to spray it generously on myself discreetly while I'm out smelling fragrances! Trust me, you're going to love it.

Black Orchid is the essence of seduction. The softly whispered 'shall we go there' and where does 'there' lead? Each time I apply this fragrance I fall under its spell again, it pulls me under turbulent tides of dark pleasures, sweet promises and unexpected thrills.
For me the vetiver is the fulcrum om which the balance of the ingredients rest. When it breaks through in the drydown, everything makes sense. It's decadent, opulent and unapologetic.

When I got this, the SA sold it as a unisex fragrance. So I was a little surprised to see it listed as a woman's scent. Having said that, I don't really care what it's classified as and think it smells wonderful. During warmer months, only use this lightly and at night. This is a bold fragrance, intoxicating. Living in a hot humid climate, I don't use this one a whole lot but when I do... Game on!

Black Orchid is exactly what I imagine a dominatrix would wear.

Just got this(again)and when i opened the box-i was like welcome back b**ch! :)This somehow reminds me of Angelina Jolie.A sexy peculiar-full bodied fragrance.I will not apologize for wearing a women's perfume...I just love heady white florals.This intoxicating perfume feels private enough for me to wear-and distinguishes it self from the masses with a certain attitude.Only had one compliment by wearing it...whereas with Noirdenoir i had way too many.I cannot really tell the similarities between those two-yet one thing is for certain.Both are masterpieces by Mr.Ford. Bring it on B**CH :P

Firstly, i would like to argue that in my opinion this is a psuedo-feminine scent; i believe this should be classified as unisex.

I get a lot of chocolate and floral notes which make it a fragrance best suited for Autumn time.

Unfortunately for me, my best friend owns this and he sprays around five or six sprays of this DARK fragrance in the summer. Needless to say, he stinks up the whole room - oh how i despise the liberalistic attitudes that my generation tend to have towards fragrances!
I didn't have the heart to tell him, so instead of confrontation i took the bad-friend route and gave him my Lacoste Challenge bottle (which has got to be the most revolting juice i have ever smelled in my fifteen years of existance). Revenge is sweet!

So I got my sample 3 ml in roll on today, and I'm not dissapointed. It is dark fragrance , very arrogant, not taking prisoners, very sensual and I don't know why, but I see there a woman with black hair, latino woman, with a flower in her hair, in a long fluffy skirt?
When I used it on the top of my hand, I kept on wondering why it's so familiar to me.
After 2 hours of loud projection I realised it's Ambi Pur electric air freshener which I bought months ago, and was sick of when it was in the socket. I couldn't stand it in my house.
I think with the perfume it's like with love. I feel I need to know it better to completely trust, but I am in love already, even if it's not just simple feeling.

What I feel there? Gardenia, orchid, patchouli,and definitelly blackcurrant, this is the note which is dominating on my skin. It's so strong!I don't feel any chocolate.

Absolute long lasting monster.

Wow! Yes I love it. On me it is very fresh chocolate and a very slight cool mint. So nice.

i already posted my two cents on black orchid last year, but i just have to say: po, i absolutely loved your review, it is spot on! you managed to put into words why it's so very alluring. it is unlike any other and it defies explanation. i have many perfumes but this one is strangely powerful, like a potion created by a wizard, it lurks in the back of my mind even when i don't wear it for a stretch of time...black orchid, "you keep coming back like a song" :)

strong long lasting warm only a little needed - seems to last longer when a sharp sweet perfume like
Dawn I by Arrogant Cat is used on top as they seem to have a like by like smell just love tom ford


UPDATE
i have just done a small test
i place the tom ford on my arm then sprayed the
arrogant cat on top -it is very strong at first then slowly drys downs to a wonderfull smell -i did this at 10 am and at 10pm it is still going strong i will update again in the morning
update 6am following morning oh my god its still there
and still fresh
i will keep doing this as it will make my tom ford last ages

Black Orchid is a jungle cat--it sneaks up on you! It definitely smells black and enigmatic. It starts out with strong gardenia and patchouli, but as it dries down it becomes a mix of chocolate and vanilla with gentle spices. It's just yummy enough to be satisfying, yet not sooo yummy that everyone will say, "You smell like the county fair," like they would say if you were wearing Pink Sugar.

Have you ever seen those "chocolate potatoes", the ones that are marshmallow in the center, covered in chocolate, and rolled in cocoa powder? It's that tuber note that makes this smell like an earthy chocolate potato. It's such a weird perfume but endlessly fascinating!

The projection is not as strong as I'd like. By the time it wears down a bit, it becomes a skin scent on me. I have literally sprayed myself about 7 times. I'd only need ONE spray from Angel to equal the strength of Black Orchid. Still...I love it. It's a keeper.

Black Orchid is a scent that requires more than just first impressions. The first time I put this on, I got a raging headache. I scrubbed it off but hours after, Black Orchid was still burning the inside of my nostrils. I thought I'd write this off as "not for me" and just move on. But I kept thinking about it, and kept reading raves about Black Orchid, so I finally dug my sample out to try it again, and... wow.

I can see why people love this. You have to go easy - one spray should be enough for hours upon hours of sillage. I wouldn't ever wear this during the day - just too much va-va-voom for me to pull off on a random tee-and-jeans day.

The initial scent is more white florals, the drydown more chocolate and patchouli. It's a heavy, dark scent - you put this on when you want to get noticed.

I definitely want a bottle of this for black-tie events. Black Orchid is something I can see myself putting on when I want to get dressed up and feeling like a proper adult. (A delicious-smelling adult, that is.)

Edit: Word of warning on how potent this perfume is - I just took a shower and it's STILL on me. Not just on me, but going strong. I sniffed my arm out of curiosity and my mom walked by. "You smell good. I can smell you from here." She was halfway across the room. I'm a little bit terrified, actually, but like... in a good way?

White floral, with gourmand notes; could it be vanilla cream or chocolate? or creamy gardenia tuberose that creates such an impression. Luscious flowers are vastly present, accentuated with clean citrussy notes.
Lots of creaminess in this one: 1.gardenia 2. vanilla and chocolate 3. orchid and lotus 4. bergamot 5. hints of black currant.
This should be called white gardenia and everything else, not black orchid. Even, so these flowers are bright, pink and vivacious; no dark suspense here. Not sure why the add creates that impression.
overall, this scent is safe for anytime. If you're fond of creamy gardenia/tuberose white florals, this is it, better than Fracas.

Testing Black Orchid is quite an experience. This scent is Out Of This World. Much more extraterrestrial than Alien, much more captivating than Hypnotic Poison, much more addictive than Dior Addict. It's as original as Bvlgari Black or Womanity, only more wearable IMO.

I get mostly chocolaty gardenia and patchouli. And whiffs of citrus every now and then. From time to time I fear that an unexpected ugly note will show through but no, it's like standing at the edge of a cliff, you fear the fall but end up returning home safe... The drydown is longlasting but much more subtle than I expected, mostly vetiver and sandalwood. Now, I feel guilty for pointing out individual notes because this scent is all about a unique harmony between unidentified ingredients for me, breaking it down to pieces seems almost like an insult! All I know is that when I spray Black Orchid I just can't get the scent off my mind or my take my nose off my wrist - surrender is the only option under this spell...

It's a mystery that changes constantly, every time I try it I discover something new that I didn't get last time. It's not a ''good old familiar friend'' but a creature from another planet- I might never get it completely, always full of surprises and secrets! Black Orchid is so moving, can make you feel powerful, confident, queen of the world, dark evil lost soul, but also soft, tender, generous, full of love for life and new experiences, a sinner and a saint, has the power to make your head spin and right afterwards comfort you in absolutely no time! I don't know how they did it but when I wear Black Orchid I feel like I lived ten individual lives in 24 hr!

I adore Black Orchid. It draws attention just being herself. You shouldn't wear Black Orchid to please the crowd (it's too ''inhuman'' and ''strange'' to please everybody) but for your own pleasure. Black Orchid is one of the kind, doesn't impersonate anyone - she can only be herself and no excuses for that. It's the ultimate ''It's me, I'm here and I could care less if you like me or not'' fragrance statement. And it might not be the most beautiful fragrance ever but it's THAT confidence and originality that makes Black Orchid so special and unforgettable.

I have waited for ages to test this on my skin....should have kept waiting. OMG!! Im sorry to all you girls who adore this and I know that perfume is a very personal thing, but this stank soooo much that even after scrubbing my arm, I could still smell the lingering, putrid, rotten fruit scent.
Maybe its just my chemistry but this truely stinks on me.

Trying hard to be a classic like A Shalimar .... unfortunately for me what was initially impressive ended up disappearing to nothing after a couple of hours...... and offered no intrigue or longevity like the real classics

Hmmm ... how to begin? Perhaps I'll just eat my hat and then sit around simpering bashfully <_>.
I don't like Tom Ford. I get the same feeling from him as I do from the Kardashian brood ... common and trashy.
I also had a dance partner who drowned herself in Black Orchid soon after it was launched. She turned out to be the raving bitch from hell and blamed it on being bi-polar.
I DETEST patchouli.
Why then, when I closed my eyes and applied three hefty sprays of Black Orchid to my right arm today, did I instantly and irrevocably FALL IN LOVE with it? It beggars belief that a fragrance with so many negative connotations for me ( and not tested on my skin all this time for those exact reasons) could bowl me over in the way it has. It's glorious!! I'm going to shut up now and just glue my nose to my arm!

To me Black Orchid is,warm, chocolate coverd sweet flowers.
Just wounderful and sensual
I can still smell it in the morning but then its like a
different perfume,a fresh,watery, marine smell, just lovely but very
different from how it started out.
A complex and wounderful perfume,love it.

Omg this is sexy as hell! I got it as a present from my fiancee and it got stolen from my luggage,was bearly used! I cried so much cos I cant afford to buy it these days! So sad.....But wearing it felt gooooooood!

Initially, I did not find myself overwhelmed by this fragrance. I felt that it was a bit to heavy for my age [I'm 23]. However, after falling in love with Black Orchid Voile de Fleur I decided to give it another shot. I find that the Voile de Fleur is a bit more subdued and appropriate for everyday wear. Black Orchid is now one of my go-to perfumes for nighttime. It also would be perfect for the colder months. Like another reviewer, I'm not a fan of patchouli in general, but Black Orchid is an exception. It's such a wonderfully complex fragrance and it is certainly worth the money.

Unique. Dark fruity gardenia. Gorgeous. Unisex. Just love the bottle. My favorite out of all. Delicious in its heart, it's chocolaty with rancid fruits and incense. At times has a little gourmand vibe to it. Strong fragrance. Lasts for a while. Definitely a great buy for a beginner who is stepping into a more finer fragrances but yet safe ones. It doesn't smell synthetic or tried or other commercial designer fragrances. This yells TOM FORD TOM FORD TOM FORD !!!
Verdict: 8/10

abbastanza alternativo....io ci sento soprattutto la frutta rossa...
mi ricorda il profumo dei lucidalabbra in crema per bambine...in un certo senzo credo sia provocatorio..
sicuramente non e' unisex.
non varia mai e la sua durata e' ENORME.

There's not much more to say that the previous reviews haven't covered. On a personal note, I am not a huge fan of any fragrance that is dominated and overpowered by patchouli. BUT, this scent breaks the mold of anything traditional. The start, where I most detect the patchouli is nothing like the heart or the dry down, an enchanting veil left on the skin. It truly is one of the most powerful scents I have ever visited and it screams confidence and intrigue!

Oh my gosh!!!! This thing says what it wants and lets the chips fall where they may! A woman wearing this will turn a dog to a puppy, she definitely isn't the type waiting for someone to pick her up at the bar, give her a promotion, she may even propose. She knows what she wants and takes it LOL. This starts off quite masculine but moves to a sweet and unisex (yet very dark) heart. I am in the heart now and hate to write such a premature review, but I can't stop thinking of it everytime it hits my nose. If you like your fragrances sweet, loud and dominating this is it. This is probably one of the best from TF, I will put this on the shelf with Amber Absolute!

Unique..very heavy and masculine top note, but dries down to a cozy, sweet, chocolate, flowerey scent with hints of tobacco and vanilla, imo. Oddly, I love it..will be my next purchase.

I got this perfume from eBay at incredible price, 100ml for below than USD$70... Nice right? It was used, but the previous owner only used it one or two times, so plenty more left for me. She just advertise it and i straight away bought it (it was buy it now item).
Now let me share my experience. The first minutes it hard to take. Bold, very smokey, strong incense - you might hate it at first strike. I let it dry and the drydown is pretty good. Less bold, it melt into something lush, but it maintain smokey incense smell.The chocolate and vanilla appears smoothly here. The floral become the shadow of the incense, detectable, but weak. The perfume last on me about 8 hours. I got few compliment, they love it. Did it love it too. Nope... actually I don't love it or hate it, but I like it. The smell make me feel in luxury, so I definitely gonna keep it.

coconut smell nice but not great a unique but i didnt like it
i smell it everywear
every one buy this am sure they have one millione
8.3 /10

I tried to love this perfume, but Tom Ford Black Orchid (BO) is not my cup of tea for sure.
Unfortunately the rich and concentrated chocolate, patchouli and Incense blend in this unique perfume puts me off. Nevertheless projection and longevity is superb!
Therefore if you like the scent, BO worth the price tag attached to it with no doubt !

Stepping off the plane in Hawaii, the warm thick humid air enveloped me like a wave of heat from a recently opened oven door. The air was infused with the aroma of tropical flowers. I was greeted with 4 or 5 lei's made from orchids, tuberose and gardenia's. Their heavy, cloying scent wafted up from my neck into my nostrils and almost overwhelmed me. While it was a welcoming change from the dry stagnant airplane air I'd been inhaling for 7 hours, it was not a scent I was able to stand for more than an hour at such close and extreme proximity.

This is what I get out of Black Orchid. A strong and immediate sense memory of Hawaiian air.

This is a thick, syrupy mostly linear perfume overly laden with gardenia. It does dry down to some other scent that I can not put my finger on... but it is also sweet, and thick, and cloying. I wish I could smell chocolate (which is why I bought this in the first place) and the spices and incense. I think if the gardenia was taken down ten notches, those elements could come through.

Sadly, this will be a not oft used perfume. A similar effect with less syrupy sweetness is, believe it or not, the new "Far Away Exotic" offering from Avon. The Avon doesn't have the longevity of Tom Ford... but I'm not sure that is a bad thing in this case. The Avon also does a better job of layering the exotic spices and other flowers and the gardenia/jasmine is at a much more reserved and "proper" level.

My 50ml of BO will last me a lifetime.

Well, with me is just opposite – I should not love it, but I love it. Generally I don’t like very heavy and sweet perfumes, but this one is just magic!
Firstly it is sweet, but not worm, it is even somehow cold. Like a chocolate ice cream.
Definitely not for a pale, transparent blond as me, but I both it just for my own pleasure,I don’t care if it suits me or not ))))

I honestly dont know what to say about this perfume.I really want to like it, but so far I dont. I dont hate it. All I can smell is the chocolate, I never get any bit of flower at all.

love love love, serious i got a bottle of this for my birthday two years ago and i have barely used it cuz i want it to last a lifetime. it is amazing. it is an amazing combination of sweet, floral and complete elegance. the scent cloud fades after four hours and the entire smell goes away after like 12-15 hours so its a longevity power house. the bottle is amazing and the scent overall is so tolerable yet makes a statement , it is unisex or at least i will refer to it as such cuz i wanna wear it always. i give it a 10 o.o. 10

I should love this and I keep trying it, thinking I will THIS time. I have a 4 ml bottle, just enough to really test and I'm so glad, because I probably would have bought a big bottle otherwise. Mostly this works as the deep, dark, strong, long lasting perfume that I love; but something keeps catching my nose wrong. I think it is the jasmine, which works for me in a fragrance only if I don't single out the note. Would Black Orchid Voile de Fleur be better for me?

I tried this in the 1-ounce size. I'm glad I didn't spring for the largest (I usually do). When I first applied this fragrance- I was in love! It was spicy, earthy, medicine-like, smoky,and kinda weird and naughty too! It was strong and sexy, for sure. So, I wore it with glee about 4 times. Then, I noticed a deal breaker. I cannot tolerate or stand watery fruits. Yuck! To me, water fruits are in the produce department and can be purchased for pennies per ounce. I will not pay $100 for a watery/fruity fragrance. Ever. And, the drydown for me went from a smoky, earthy, spicy "romp"- to a watery, fruity, teenie bopper "body splash" in about an hour. I wanted to CRY! I hope you guys have had better luck. The opening spice accord is beautiful.

This is one of the most interesting fragrances I have the pleasure of owning. I have discovered a very good way to wear this as a male. I simply layer Tom Ford's Black Orchid, with Lalique's Encre Noire, as this combination provides the fragrance with the masculine, brooding vetiver base that truly allows a man to wear this with confidence. Both fragrances complitment eachother extremely well, and the feedback from those whom encounter the silage around me when wearing this, has been truly remarkable. The result is truly a mysterious 'niche' experience ...without any offence. Quite sublime actually.

Hey, you're a guy! why you're wearing this fragrance?! It's feminine!
Me : I don't think so pal! I'm sure a guy can handle it too!
Black Orchid.
That's exactly what I get from this fragrance. Specially dark and black feeling of the scent.
The opening is very strong, dark and sweet! one or max two spray on chest and neck is more than enough!
So watch out folks and don't over spray this!
In the opening I can smell floral notes mixed with strong and dark chocolote, sweet and synthetic vanilla ,patchuli and incense.
About 3-4 hours later, in the base, floral notes become weak and they are in the background with very pleasant and sensual vanilla mixed with some fruity notes.
Project like a monster and last for ages.
يه عطر زنانه هست. اما بدليل اينكه بوي بسيار قوي و تاريكي داره خيلي از زن ها جرات استفاده از اونو ندارن
خيلي ها معتقدن كه اين يه عطر يونيسكس هست كه من موافقم
در ابتدا بوي بسيار قوي و تاريكي، تركيبي از شكلات تلخ، رايحه گلها كه قوي هستن اما خيلي تاريك و سنگين هستن و خيلي شاداب و زنانه نيستن
بوي وانيل هم خيلي قوي وجود داره كه تلخي شكلات رو تا حد زيادي ميگيره و اونو خيلي شيرين ميكنه به همراه گياه پچولي و كمي بوي دود مانند
در ادامه و بعد از گذشت 4-5 ساعت بوي گلها خيلي ضعيف ميشه و بوي وانيل به همراه كمي رايحه تاريك ميوه ها بر باقي رايحه ها حكومت ميكنن و اين روند تا انتهاي عمر عطر روي پوست ادامه داره
بوي خيلي خيلي قوي و شيريني داره. اگه از بوي شيرين خوشتون نمياد سمتش نرين
پخش بويي در حد بمب اتم و ماندگاري در حد يك روز كامل روي پوست و تا يك هفته روي لباس داره
قويترين و ماندگارترين عطري هست كه تاحالا داشتم و يا تست كردم

I don't remember ever having such a conflicted relationship with a scent. I am obsessively drawn to its depth (chocolate, flowers, fruit, wood, and that's just the beginning) and its originality.

But within an hour of spraying it on I have to use rubbing alcohol to get it off because I smell -- there is no other way to phrase it -- rotting cloves. I know. Cloves don't rot. But if they did, BO on my skin would be said rotting cloves' big moment.

Maybe it's the plummy smell combined with patchouli. Whatever it is on me -- and I can wear complex scents well most of the time -- in one hour my obsession turns to a desire to put as much distance as possible between me and the fragrance.

What a shame, because I love both the creator's idea of the combined notes and the many evocative positive reviews here.

I've never thought that a newly released perfume could have such an old style halo, without pretending to be neither vintage, nor antique-kitsch nor copy of a copy of... on the contrary it is a very original composition.
I've been trying successfully to keep my distance from such a fragrance, for some years as I've always regarded it to be "over": over advertised, over priced and over regarded, till this morning. Maybe it was me to be "over prejudiced". At lunch time I popped into a perfume shop and I happened to try it.... and to lose and to win at the same time. As it was predictable, I came outside the shop carrying a new bottle of Black Orchid. Charming!, not a simple fragrance: a very rich bouquet composed by a great number of first class ingredients (fundamental!) all expertly assembled, without mistakes or dissonances. I could not distinguish tuber (not too sad as I'm not a tuber fan!), whereas a black dusty chocolate, ylang-ylang, vanilla and patchouli were/are quite strongly recognizable. I had some problems also while detecting "orchid"(I know these plants and many among them have astonishing fragrance but here ...) According to my experience, B. O. hasn't got a very complex evolution: it's seems that the classical 3- phases are just fused all in one, all expressed at the same time, in the opening, mainly. That's why I liked it so suddenly and without any bad surprises later.
Really long lasting!

Initially ,I hated this a few months ago. I even told the sales lady that I could not see who would like this. Fast forward to now, and It smells better. This is still not really my type of fragrance because I think this may suit a more mature woman, NOT to say that scent has an age , but I can see older women adoring this if they loved say Obsession back in the days. I don't take this to be overly sweet . It's full of jasmine and cinnamon which I do like. Something about this smells earthy or dirty, outdoors. It's pretty good but not good for daily wear or summer imo.

Have just tried this one out today - first hour of sniffing my wrist thought - "Hey, this is Good!" Three hours down the track it is totally gone. Very similar to Calvin Klein's "Euphoria" - notes are much the same, Black Orchid, Black Violet and lasts a good 8 to 10 hours so will be sticking to that one. Maybe it's my skin doesn't like it as plenty of other comments are so favourable. Guess the old adage "try before you buy" is a good one.

I have a love/hate relationship with this fragrance. At times it smells like Avons Imari Seduction with a dark dirty almost earthy note (might be the truffle) other times I get an almost fly spray quality from it. Other times I get a hint of some sort of melon (like the old New West) overlayed with vanilla and something that reminds me of brown paper - this is the time I do like it. Other times it makes me feel ill as it smells sweaty and cloying. Strangely enough others love it on me.

Black Orchid is a very sweet vanilla chocolate fragrance that smells just like a candy and is very similar to Axe Chocolate. Tom Ford has wonderful fragrances but Black Orchid is not one of them and i don't think it's worth the price.

This is a great scent for confident guys like Mr.Ford himself. Dark, strong and sexy.

Whoa - I can't get past the massive hit of gardenia. I used the tiniest little spray of my sample but it was still headache inducing. The weird thing is, after scrubbing my wrist I can now smell soft chocolate and orchid. It's too bad that I can't get past the top notes to enjoy what may be lurking underneath.

It's too sweet for my taste. It's dry down is much better than the opening, as it becomes more earthy. To my opinion, is far away from being "dark and sexy" Sensuality is not candies....Sensual perfumes, such as Femminite du Bois, or Magie noir (before its reformulation), have depth, bitter-spicy aura, but are tender as well.

A great wear to bed gourmand. Its a sweet yummy,soft and spicy delight!

I went to Nordstrom and they sell this as unisex in the men's fragrance section. Go figure!

What I have never understood is, is this unisex or do men just pull of puttin it on like alot do Anth. 10 La Rue La Fortuna by D&G that is always categorized as a Unisex althought many websites offer it as a womens fragrance?

I LOVE!! this perfume. I just bought it yesterday. It starts off strong, but ends up being powdery and subtle. It makes me feel super sexy.

Sorry to people who thinks J.Del Pozo in Black is similar to Tom Ford Black Orchid, but Del Pozo in Black which is cherry & licorice bomb and has no connection and similarity to Black Orchid. Don't let bottle colors / names confuse you, this is misleading for the people who didn't smell those scents too.

All the way i feel plum... First, it plum in chocolate, then arises tobacco+vanile, but then i find plum again, so strange... In the end i feel a little bit of vetiver, and... candied plum!!!
I can't find there any patchouli or incense(((
Anyway it's beautifull, powerfull, warm and feminine, very comfortable, especially in winter. And it's so sexy!! hereupon, i feel shy, when someone stand's too close and feel the black orchid on my skin - it's too intimate, like someone can see you nude.
I think that BO can wear any woman, younger or older, but BO woman should have one important characteristic - she must to know herself cost... must to know that she beautifull and inimitable, unique and charming.

extraordinary fragrance, made me feel sensual, relaxed and edgy. had a similar effect on me as does incense which i smelled very strongly in the perfume mixed with the spicy dark chocolate with a waft of murkiness- what a combination!! Has a vintage decadent feel as well.

Purchased this several years back when it was first launched and ended up returning it to the store. I just did NOT get this fragrance. I was sent a sample last week, and now I love it. It smells like something an adult vamp would wear;dark, cold, slightly sweet but in an ethereal way. Nothing like the real me, but I love this when Im in the mood for it.

hmmm...interesting fragrance, I love the dark, rich, chocolately aspect, BUT I think the truffle just ruins it. It adds this weird smell to it, actually it smells just like an actual truffle mushroom might smell....weird...it's not for me...too bad

Black Orchid requires the attitude! The scent is rich and oriental.

For sure, Black Orchid is not suitable for teens wearing jeans and tee-shirt.

By the brave can be treated as a unisex scent...

So, if you are a man, if you wear crisp white shirts and well tailored suit - you should try!

Having sampled and sported various perfumes which have gotten the truffle accord just right... this is not one of them! I got the chocolate, floral, vanilla and resinous notes, but that blasted truffle walked right up and kicked me right where it counts!

Two things come to mind... 1: a stinking Rafflesia growing on top of a putrid garbage heap in the middle of a hot, dank and sticky forrest. 2: my huge Aunt Mary squishing me between her ample bosoms in a gargantuan hug as I desperately try to claw my way out!

I guess it just doesn't agree with my skin chemistry. It comes across as the wrong kind of stink (ahem... "schweddy balls") and flowers only a certain few could pull off. Interesting for sure, just not something I'd ever leave the house wearing on purpose.

Oh how I wanted to Love this .. At first spray I gasped "Oh My God this is really weird" I tried really hard to wait for the dry down .. so hard. I lasted about 20 minutes and had to scrub it off. Maybe I will try another day (when I have a cold or something)

Black Orchid has become my everyday smell as I got fed up with sticking to lighter fragrances which never lasted throughout the day. Black Orchid only has to be reapplied once through the day for me, and I work in a busy store where we sell fragrances, yet despite this I am still asked which fragrance I am wearing as it lingers beautifully.

It's a deep, rich fragrance, sweet yet not sickly, warm yet not smothering. It may be too much for some people but there is not a better smell than a spray of black orchid after a hot shower.

My absolute favourite fragrance, a classic in it's own right. Well done Mr. Ford.

Smelled a sample of this and now I want a full sized bottle. Tom Ford Black Orchid is dirty and delicious, like you combined dessert ingredients such as deep dark chocolate, rich vanilla, some syrup, caramel, milk, clotted cream and confectioner's sugar with spices, mud, dirt and a little sweat. Not a pretty picture when you imagine it, but hey, Tom Ford Black Orchid surprisingly works and it smells undeniably good when worn during cool evenings.
The fragrance can make a woman feel dirty and expensive, slutty and sophisticated all at once. Strong and not to be missed, mysterious yet outgoing, this contradiction of a fragrance should be used sparingly, or you can end up with too much of everything.

Black Orchid is heavy, rich and dramatic.
Normally I wouldn't enjoy those characteristics but in Black Orchid they work so well on me. I'm so glad I tested this, I nearly didn't as I'm usually not keen on patchouli as a dominant note.
I have a little decant and I'll make it last, as it is quite pricey, and hard to find on a good discount. Luckily a little goes a long way.

I love it! It is heavy, gorgeous, rich, warm winter fragrance. It is very sexy and it has a strong character. For the days when i want to rock somebody's world.

Must say that when i tried it on I was like..hmmm not good...but after an hour or so when i smelled it again I fell in love!!

For the ladies: I'm not a big fan of Tom Ford. I was, when he was still art dirctor at YSL where he launched the amazing M7 frag for men and created the beautiful bottle. In 2005 he left and created his own brand (what else of a self proclaimed egomaniac) called: 'Tom Ford'. Cashing in on his supposed 'sex symbol' status for the ladies, he posed sedutively on a cover of Vanity Fair, where he sat clothed between an totally naked Scarlett Johansen and Keira Knightly. Although he is 100% and now openly gay. Sorry ladies.
That misleading of people, I don't like with TF. I also don't like the excruciatingly overrated and overpriced 'Private Blends' by the man and his bigger than big ego. Those private blends are medicore frags dressed up in ridiculous expensive prices, so that when you bought one, you have to find it great or you would die of embarassement that you let yourself be fooled byt the TF marketing bulldozer. But I must confess, I find some of the first frags of his own house like 'Black Orchid' (2006) an unabasehdly and shmeless masterpiece on the same level as 'Opium', 'Chanel Coco' the first 'Lolita Lempicka'... I think he is a blown up poser who is capable of making the occasional great frag. 'Genius' I guess. And 'Black Orchid' is fabulous and gorgeous, make no mistake. As is the bottle. Praise where rightfully praise is due.
How does 'Black Orhcid' tick and smell? It is a complex frag in the 'old school' style of the 'classics' mentioned here. Not 'Less is more', like the minimalist Bernard Ellena's for Hermès like 'Jardin après le Mousson', 'Toit', 'Nil'... but 'More is more'! Black Orchid is also like the Guerlains, the Diors... an intricate work with a symphony of notes. Top: jasmine, gardenia, ylang-ylang, bergamot, lemon, mandarin, blackcurrant, tuber; Middle: Spices, fruity notes, lotus, orchid; a very powerful base: vetiver, sandalwood, patchouli, incense, vanilla, dark chocolate, amber. With that much notes it can go two ways: a cacaphonous mess where all these strong notes fight each other to death or a soul caressing harmony, outerworld beauty and olfactory bliss where all those notes pull together to play a team match and score. To make the symphony sound better and more than all seperate notes together. The sign of a True Great. Black Orchid scores big time.
You can maybe in the long and lively development sometimes detect some separate notes for a short time like the dark chocolate, the incense, the orchid, the vanilla, the amber... But you are literarlly blown away by this concentrated mass attact of awesome perfume power. Smell and awe. Incense, dark chocolate, orchid, vanilla, amber and gardenia are the most pronounced notes for me.
This is an gorgeous tsunami of fragrance brilliancy. This fragrances rocks, like 'Chanel 5' rocks and 'Jicky' rocks and 'Joy' rocks. And will always be rocking. This is Timeless Quality. Here not the top notes lead the dance but the formidable base. They let the middle and top exist, but as a compliment to the power of that exceptional strong base. The middle of orchid, spices, and fruity notes, plus the top of flowers enforce and interact with each other and with the base. They deepen the scent and make it more intricate. The result is one of the most intoxicating frags I know. 'Le Baiser du Dragon' by Cartier is the one that really resemble it the most IMHO. If you think 'Hypnotic Poison' makes you dizzy and giddy with pure delirious pleasure, try this magic potion. It is that magic of your first full blown good wet kiss. It is deep, dark, mysterious, earthy, sex in a bottle, unashamedly powerful strong and sensual. I'm a man, but I can imagine this being a 'man magnet'. It is without a doubt a masterpiece. The only masterpiece perfume of his own house to date sadly, apart perhaps from 'Tobacco Vanilla'. When you put this on you feel like Christine Lagarde of the IMF, Scarlett Johanssen, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jake and Mary Gyllenhall, Uma Thurman, Penelope Cruz all rolled into one. Glamourous, ageless, unisex, beautiful, eternal beauty. A fragrance for strong personalities, but also a fragrance that in applying makes you feel stronger. And let there be not doubt: totally unisex!
After a period I didn't use that bottle, I spritzed again a few weeks ago and now I am lost and addicted, hopelessly in love like an alcoholic who starts to drink after a 10 year dry spell. The power of 'Black Orchid' is that awesome. I quiver, I shiver, I sigh, I sniff myself like crazy. Put me for 24 hours in an isolation cell without food and drink, but give me a bottle of 'Black Orchid', I won't hesitate.
Black Orchid is a masterpiece. Despite the ballooned ego of TF anno 2011.
So if you like the clasics 'Opium', 'Coco', 'Arpège'... but you also like more modern 'big personality' frags like Narciso, Addict, Midnight and Hypnotic Poison, YSL Cinema, Gaultiers Classique, you'll love 'Black Orchid'. Don't let yourself be persuaded by reviews like mine and other less favorable. Try it and you'll surrender to the magic of Black Orchid. It is a one of a kind tour de force. I don't like Tom Ford since his 'Private Blends', but I love Black Orchid.' To death.

A very masculine fragrance, over powering for women unless worn in the evening and even then a single spray. Far too much amber for my taste it almost knocks your head off!! YUK!

This was a blind buy for me. But, when I opened it up and smelled it for the first time ever. I fell in love. It's one of my must have scents. It smells like chocolate mixed with flowers and pine needles to me. I love it! :)

I had a very strange experience with this. I bought a decant and I applied liberally and I smelled absolutely nothing! I thought maybe my sinuses are messed up and my sense of smell is compromised. But later I tried a different perfume and that was totally detectable. I don't know whether my sample is just faulty/inferior or what. Just wondering if anyone else has had this experience?

Initially, I was hesitant to purchase this fragrance. Not because I didn't love or understand the combination of notes or overall feeling. Until this year (2011), I haven't worn any perfume for over 20 years. I spent much of my non-perfume wearing years suffering from headaches by only a spritz or just a walk through a cosmetic department in a store. I thought I couldn't wear perfumes, didn't want the risk of migraine strength headaches to test them, and overall just avoided the whole thing.

Ironically, it was my boyfriend who suggested I wear fragrance again, and I turn to the one of the strongest, non-traditional feminine fragrances out there. (He would hate this fragrance on me since he prefers straight up floral without a touch of "masculine" read: wood, spice, or citrus).

I love it. I love that the bottle reminds me of a classic Madame Gres dress. I love the dark, earthy, floral, jammy, truffle quality. It reminds me of a film noir where the heroine is beautiful, yet tragically troubled. I love the overt sexiness of this fragrance. The fragrance makes no apology for its strength and sexiness.

So, I wear this for me. I wear this at home, in my satin pjs, with a glass of red wine and toast myself that I can wear fragrance again.

It took me a while to like this scent. It's very heavy and strong but those are characters in a scent that I like.

Over the last couple of years, I've come to enjoy it. It's not something I reach for everyday.

I can see why this scent crosses the gender barrier - it has a ton of the citrus-woods aromachemicals that are common in sporty men's fragrance. However here they're layered with syrupy and dark fruity notes. This is an interesting contrast while it lasts, unfortunately for me, a lot of these Tom Fords don't hold together well on my skin. I like the idea of this and the sillage in passing much better than the actual wearing experience.

Sniffing Black Orchid calls to mind four things: lipstick, makeup powder, bubblegum, and grape candy. Much has been made of "rotten fruit" notes in this scent, but I get none of them. The fruits are loud, and paired with cold orchid, milky ylang, and indolic jasmine notes, but they don't smell overripe. Everything is rich, smooth, sweet, and dramatic, with emphasis on the darker side of what is represented. Still, I'm not compelled by Black Orchid, see very little unisex potential in it, and would rather be smelling something else.

A dark and delicious masterpiece by Tom Ford. I smell more gardenia than anything else in this composition, but there is so much more than Gardenia! A strong and heady concoction with so many notes I can't pick all of them out. Silage and longevity are amazing. A top 5 scent for me. A woman's parfum? OK, but ladies, step aside, this man is wearing your scent! Very suitable for a man, or a woman.

I see that there are tons of reviews listing tons of notes, but I can't really pin down what's going on when I spray Black Orchid. I smell orchid and gardenia with a slight hint of something green, like maybe just a few stems and leaves combined with a dark creamy scent that blends everything together. Smooth is the word that comes to mind. This scent is sexy and powerful, and incredibly smooth. Nothing stands out awkward on the corner. Everything is blended in a sultry rich way. The first time I smelled it I asked the sales lady if milk was one of the notes. She said no and seemed puzzled that I would ask, but sometimes I feel like this smells like rich flowers floating in warm milk with boozy candied fruits. I suppose there is a hint of spice, but I would not call this a spicy scent. To me spicy is L'Artisan Al Oudh or Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau.

I don't find this to be overtly masculine. Keep in mind that I tend to lean toward more masculine scents, but still. I sprayed it on my husband out of curiosity and periodically smelled him throughout the night. He smelled good, I mean, he smelled like Black Orchid, but on him it didn't do anything for me. That is not to say that men can't wear this. I wear men's perfume, so they have all the rights to wear mine! ;)

The only chocolate I smell would be deep down in the base notes. Definitely more of a supporting role than a lead. Haters of chocolate and strong gourmands shouldn't worry too much. I probably detect more of a white chocolate than anything else. See? I keep going back to some sort of creamy scent.

This scent is so wonderful that it almost made it to my signature scent. This is definitely my first "sophisticated woman scent." I just couldn't do it... It's really too hard to say that one scent can capture my everything. That's okay though because the fun is in the searching!

This is so beautiful and hateful, I don't know where to start. I both love it and resent it.

This is, in essence, a perfume for perfume lovers only.

At first spray its very much a unisex kind of scent, very herbal and masculine. You can tell that the prominent chocolate note here is not of the sweet variety, more of the earthy richness of a deep dark chocolate. Then as it settles down something lovely happens. A softness is introduced, gardenia and orchid florals that lend the scent a similar feel to the freshness found in floral aquatics. It gives this a new dimension in what could have been a rather masculine scent (though it would not take much to tip it that way for the men who like to wear this.) Of course this is tempered with an earthy background so as to avoid becoming too fresh or floral.

The smokey notes in the base notes really come out in the dry down, giving it that sensual close to the skin type of smell, and because of that distinct scent I can understand why some say its sex in a bottle; it just is.

If it were a woman, I would picture her as a dark haired beauty with a sultry laugh and bewitching eyes. She would wear gowns without the jewels (and not much else) and get away with pretty much anything. She would stroll through lush gardens at night, her laughter trailing in her wake and leaving her lover bewitched and picturing their bodies entwined as he trails after her.

There is something utterly captivating about this perfume. That being said I really just don't like it. It is very masculine (something I'm beginning to associate with this house) and just not something I can see people smelling on me and complimenting. On the contrary I'm sure the stench would scare them all away. There are just some perfumes that really take a person who can appreciate the nuances of perfumes to enjoy, and this is one of them.

It could be beautiful, should be beautiful, but I just would never ever wear it. So, sadly, not for me.

I am rather enchanted by the utter sensuality of this perfume. It is rather strong and so it would take an equally strong woman to wear this.

Black Orchid...for women?

Months ago, when I first came across this, I was not sure about this fragrance. But there is something about it that I keep finding myself keep coming for more.

It wasn't long ago when I stumbled on an opportunity on a few samples. At first impression, it is definitely not something I would wear, but there is something mysterious about the Black Orchid that I find myself secretly yearning for more. I would go back to it time & time again, dabbing on my wrist, immersing my olfactory cravings on the Black Orchid like an addict. The dark elegance it exudes is very intriguing, the mixture of sweetness & the pungent touch of citrus emerge as a complex fragrance. Every now & then, I would catch myself time & time again yearning for the Black Orchid as if it was calling me at the back of my mind, even though I was resisting it.I was resisting it simply because I wasn't sure if I could pull it off.

The Black Orchid, the dark charismatic complex layers exudes as an evening scent, elegant & sensual, feminine yet masculine, combination of sweetness & woody scents. The Black Orchid grew on me over time & revealed itself to me in succession. I succumbed to its allure & temptation and I'm glad I made this purchase.

It may not be the One. But it would one that I treasure. For women? The lines have blurred, I am not as hesitant now as I was before in putting this fragrance on. In fact, I would gladly put it on as I suit up on my favourite Tom Ford gear.

As many positive reviews about this master work of Tom ford, I don't think I can add much thoughts on what already said.


Powerful Synergy between the components "chocolate, fruits, and flowers"

It is very hard to distinguish them separately, due to the harmony and perfect mix and ratio.

You may or may not like the smell. But this is one of the very few perfumes that has amazing longevity, projection, and silage.

When you walk down the corridor, you spread the smell in every direction, and the puzzle is that it doest loose it's power and the smell remains luxurious till the end.

The only draw back is that few people may not enjoy the smell of chocolate in perfumes.

I believe it is a unisex scent, in fact I've surprisingly seen it on the shelf of top 10 fragrance for men in one of the mega stores !!!!

Black Orchid is thick, deep, dark and everlasting. I don't smell much chocolate. The main note is flowery, but mixed with an intensely oriental vibe. It's not the orient of the flower power generation, nor a sultan style one. It recalls a mysterious rendez-vous between east and west, in a night full of stars.
I consider it a unisex fragrance, really. It's beautiful on a woman, but it gives a different and interesting feel on a man, given that he's not an endorser of the typical (and boring) male stereotype.
Black Orchid smells like a classic fragrance, it's so anti-modern, in the sense of being rich and complex and sophisticated. It could be a recipe found in one of Guerlain's drawers. The long lost masterpiece.

I tested it today for the first time, and i had mixed feelings. At the beginning it makes me dizzy, because it has a strong coconut scent, mixed with a very strong pineapple scent...oh my god, it was hard to take, even for me, a sillage monsters lover. However, the drydown is simply amazing and mouth wathering, a kind of chocolate bomb. B. O. is incredibly long lasting, and it also has a strong sillage, so we only need to spray it once in a day. I became a huge fan of it!!!!

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I just HAD to try this one out. I went with a friend to do some perfume shopping, so I knew it was my chance.

OMG. two sprays and you couldn't smell anything within a 1 foot radius of me for HOURS! and on the ride home, I totally smelled up her car! I am in LUV with this stuff.

But first thing first, the initial spray. Wood wood and more wood. I got a burst of patchouli and fruit that wanted to beat the hell out of each other, it was a bit scary. I really didn't want to be left with that all evening.

As it dried I got something that smelled like cough syrup, like the Vintage Robitussin LOL

Took about 30 minutes to calm down to where I could smell other things notes though, and it got to be something really amazing. I didn't get chocolate but I got something more milky. There's an orchid in here but it ain't black! The florals pop in here and there but they're not very consistently there.

The sillage...man its something else.

In all I really do like the fragrance but one spray is more than enough, two and more is asking for serious trouble! Its so super big though, that you have to really be ready to be noticed wearing it because its plain unavoidable!

Extreme, that's what you can call this fragrance. I am a fanatic for heavy orientals/fragrances and this one is amazing but I'm not sure if I would spend so much money on it. The first sniff brought me back to an esoteric shop I went to that smelled just the same as this perfume. It's very spicy, very heavy and dark. Very seductive and not for shy people. You will get noticed. I get a mixture of fruity notes, heavy incense and patchouli. Weird combination. This stays on forever!

This scent is misterious, deep and very seductive.
Black currant,chocholate truffles melting with the accords of wild forest with all his fruits and the rivers full of toffe and dark chocholate. Note of liquor is warming up a jar of all ingridients giving very warm floral ending ..... still feeling sth misterious behind this .....
I would covered in this fragrance the Nan's from Dune film by David Lynch, strong, misterious, inteligent and dangerouse wearing black .......doesnt matter if its man or woman who is wearing this......
U can like it or not ........ But hit your head if u think its not well done and balanced fragrance !!!!

With just one spritz (one is enough with this baby!)
I was intoxicated. Couldn't stop smelling my wrist, and it just kept on going, smelling it on my t-shirt the next day...
Luxurious to the extreme, a head-turning, rich, shameless fragrance. Talk about a heady experience!

This is a not just a perfume, it is a statement! Very alluring night time scent. If you're wearing this, you want to be noticed. Besides the chocolate, the orchids and the spices I smell a lot of truffles. Where are they though? They don't appear in the list, yet they balance the spicy chocolate and the tropical orchid perfectly by adding a distinctly woody earthy note. Very well rounded.

Its so funny to me that since i was wearing black today i instantly reached for this. I dont think its dark in a bad way... as in it's not gloomy. Its dark, rich and audacious. I like fragrances that catch you off guard and make you a force to be reckoned with so to speak. Bystanders cant lethargically watch. they have to pick a side.

I have to say though that i even find 1 squirt enough on this. If you are doing multiple, you are probably killiing someone at work.

I just dont get how this one was not labeled unisex. the ones that ARE unisex to me are typically not. This one is way masculine for a woman. Although, i could see Diane from the Good Wife wearing this lol.

Anyway, i bought it and i think its incredible.

Black Orchid by Tom Ford is quite possibly one of the most recognised niche fragrances on the market today. It took me so long to get around to trying it, but now that I've been there and done that, I am ever so slightly confused.

I expected Black Orchid to be quite a dark smelling fragrance. So I was surprised to find a sweet, caramel based scent wafting up to greet my nose upon first application. It's not really a gourmand despite it's candied and syrupy opening, it has some texture to it as well.

I kind of enjoyed its crudeness on my skin, even the sickly sweet toffee aroma. It was the array of fruity notes in the heart that unfortunately broke the deal for me. I can only liken this fragrance to a box of assorted chocolates. You enjoy the dark chocolate, the creamy nougat, the hazelnuts, but then you're left with pineapple filled chocolate. You can stomach it, however it's an odd taste sensation, something so fruity and acidic blended with something so rich, smooth and addictive.

The fruits do give off a sweaty smell which is unfortunate for those, like myself, that don't do fruity scents justice. The patchouli only makes the jammy fruits stronger and more concentrated, which is a shame. In this retrospect, I do admire Black Orchid for being so complex and confusing, but in my opinion it is also its downfall.

Black Orchid is not a sexy fragrance for me personally. I think it really boils down to skin chemistry and personal preferences. Controversial it most definitely is, being the most talked about fragrance since Thierry Mugler's gourmand-bomb, Angel. I can understand its appeal, but I'm going to gladly pass this one on.

I wish I could put a positive spin on this one. My son brought home a sample from Saks 5th Avenue and I really don't get what all the hype is about. I was expecting something dark, brooding and totally different from anything else, but how disappointed I was. To me, it's one of those over the top, soOOo sweet fragrances - totally cloying. Young women would probably love it, but I certainly wouldn't spend the huge $$s that this perfume commands. I guess variety is the spice of life, and how boring it would be if we all liked the same thing. To those who really love this one - enjoy!!

Beautifull,dark and deep perfume,lovely bottle design,and georgous name Tom Ford,excellent...This beauty should be in all perfume lovers collection,but maybe not a big bottle,a small bottle would be ok,the scent is timeless and notforgettable,i want get one as soon as possible.

I left the Cowboys game during halftime to run to Neiman Marcus to buy this perfume....if that tells you anything. I think it had been out for a day, if that. It's a gorgeous, intoxicating scent. I always get compliments. It is heavy, so I wear it in the winter, or when I REALLY need to make a statement. Also, it wears for a long time, so I'll wore it alot when I was in trial and needed a scent for all day...and also one that lingers. I think this is a must have in any fashionistas perfumistas collection.

When I first smelt Black Orchid, I was repulsed. It did nothing for me but it sat on my shelf, sad and lonely for two months so I gave in. I started to ease myself into its heaviness and now I am hook, line and sinker in love with this perfume! It's sultry, heavy, dark, smoky and oh-so-sexy. It has become one of, if not my one and only signature scent that my loved ones recognise me by. Well worth the rather hefty price tag in my opinion.

So excited to get my lil hands on this.
First smell lovely rich,then it turned into somthing that smelt like dry musty old roses with a strong salty aftertaste (for want of a better discription)
So very dissapointed was looking for a new sig fragrance and hoping this might be it.

A grown up, unique, chocolate scent with exceptional projection...

0-15 Mins- My wife thought it smelt like Thierry Mugler Angel.

15 Mins - 7 Hours - Projection massive, approx 3- 4 foot around. Has a chocolate smell with a twist, the twist bit being not so nice, but once it settles down it is very comforting, I felt like my nice auntie was with me and I felt like I was being supported, perhaps this may become a smell which could be applied in times of need and grief

Not sexy for me, but warm and caring, and not a "pretty" scent but what counts is that one could fall in love with this and the super strong projection makes it a cut above the rest

Masterpiece

i tried it in amsterdam! i had high hopes for it since i read this is a strong orientalfloral, when i sprayed it on my skin it turn out to be bitter chocolate with flowers -_- not that provocative imo.. idk how to explain but this was not what i would imagine Bo to smell :-(
pity!

I have been waiting to try this for so long, today my sample finally arrived in the mail.. I had to order this from the US as it is incredibly hard to get hold of here in NZ! So here we are... total LOVE at first sniff... I think this is absolutely my new signature scent. Strong at first, but in such a good way, definitely get the chocolate..dries down into a deep sexy alluring scent. Total sex in a bottle. Yummmm.

let's just say, i have NEVER had a "signature" perfume and never thought possible to have one, as i'm just too crazy for too many perfumes...until i found this one. I will NEVER be w/out it and need it on me, at all times. i'm down right obsessed with its mystery, complexity, and exotically seductive powers, but most importantly, it's ability to keep me faithful. like a soul mate, i have finally found "the one."

in short...perfection, in a little black bottle.


Update: okay, so if you follow my reviews, or look at my top fragrances, you will see I did in fact end up cheating on her and she's been replaced with Montale Patchouli Leaves. BUT, she's still number 2 in my book and probably always will be. The heart wants what it wants and Montale stole mine...but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fling on the side every now and then ;)

Wow!!!!:)

I love orchid scents...and I love Black Orchid.:)

I have many of perfumes in my collection, and I wear every of each, but Tom Ford Black Orchid is one of those what is truly ME.:)

It's just merges with me, it's a wonderful masterpiece.
It's opens with a hint of bergamott, vanilla and chocolate notes and it's turnes into a creamy orchid accord with praline, vanilla and a touch of jasmine. Smooth, dark, musky infusion, beautiful creation.

Complex, deep, rich, misterious, dark, passionate, feminin, seductive, intoxicating and ultra sexy...

Black orchid marks perfumery’s return to Glamour. It is opulence, decadence, luxury and sex (muskymale’s mans crotch reference is 100% factual!). it’s exciting to see this released in the current market esp since perfumery ‘took a shower’ in the 90’s, and since then such insipid clean, fruity and fresh shower scents have saturated the mainstream, To quote Mr Ford- “In the 1990s, it would have been a transparent bottle with minimalist packaging, transparent juice and a minimalist scent, But we have become so dermatological in our approach to beauty that I wanted to put some glamour back into society with a powerful fragrance.”,-- and yes, Black Orchid embodies such excess of luxury, materialism, elegance and unabashed sexuality that hasn’t been seen on a scale like this since the pre AIDS-era biggies like YSL Opium, Dior Poison etc.

The fragrance is a lush and utterly creamy Oriental Floral, reminiscent of the Far East, a real Hong Kong garden of a fume. There are also gourmand notes of dark chocolate, black truffle and fermenting/overripe berries as well as earthy dark patchouli, there’s so much going on in here that you just need to sniff it yourself and decide! The bottle is a piece of art in itself, a black and gold lacquered beauty that doesn’t look out of place beside your Shalimar.

Tom Ford requested the maker of Black Orchid to make a perfume that smells like a man's crotch, and indeed it does! This is 100% pure sex in a bottle. The bottle itself is porn!

It is dark, sexy, seductive, femme fatale, on the border of being vulgar, overly sweet on top, and loud with capital L! I love this! Make no mistake about it: Black Orchid is a big statement perfume. There is NO way that you would not be noticed if you wore this. It is absolutely VA VA VOOM!!!!

Well, I suppose I must have balls, as I have no difficulty wearing this one...Au contraire, it seems intensely female---not light & frothy, but distinctly feminine. There is a lot going on in this perfume; it could have turned out rather a mess, but it doesn't. A heady, waxy floral note, perhaps tuberose, combined with a subtle incense note somehow hold it all together. At first it's floral, a tiny bit bright or sharp, and there's a (thankfully) transient smell of cherry cough remedy, which immediately smooths out into a sumptuous floral/amber/patchouli/incense/woody symphony. Some perfumes are like a piece of music performed by a quartet...Black Orchid is music rendered by the whole orchestra. Big, velvety, complex, sexy as all get out. I get compliments on it whenever I wear it. It seems to smell quite different on different people, to the point that I can't always identify it on others. It's not commonly worn where I live, in any case, but if it were, I feel it would still vary enough to wear it without smelling like everyone else. Sillage is fairly strong at first, but only moderate at most after full dry-down. Lasts as long as anything ever does on me, a few hours perhaps.

I received a small sample vial and decided to test it since I've heard very divided opinions on this perfume. I wasn't sure what to expect. Top notes were overpowering and awful: amber/musk/incense/putrid wood all meshed together. My initial thought was "This is revolting!" ...fortunately the top notes evaporated very quickly and the scent started to change. The drydown is alluring and mysterious. A complex blend of dark chocolate (reminds me of velvet), wood, licorice, a little amber with just a dash of vanilla. It is not unpleasant, and on the right person this would smell good. I don't dislike it, but I also find it too dark for my personality. Not a perfume I would wear.

Oh my. After all I'd read about this one, I couldn't wait to try it! It was everything I wanted and it was my destiny. Finally, finally got my hands on a sample the other day. It blew me away!- but in all the wrong ways. It smelled, to me, like someone wore an amazing perfume then hung out in the big cat house at the zoo. Beauty mixed with animal excrement. I was devastated. If it works for you, I am jealous, and enjoy!

I really wanted to love this fragrance. Opening notes on my skin are so promising. The deep earthy undertones in the opening notes never seem to go anywhere for me. I get gardenia after dry down then this morphs into amber. Nothing but amber and slight chocolate. For some reason it is very foody on me. It makes me so very sad.

Black Orchid is part of my personal collection. It can be worn by a male or a female, and I have found that it "adjusts" accordingly. The fact that there is musk in the fragrance, makes it wearable by either gender.

Although "Orchid" is part of the name, it is not as floral as one would think. It is unique, sultry, warm, and classy.

This perfume is one of my top ones. I normally wear it with black clothes and in the evening. Very luxury and unique

-I know this is 'for women' but I like this! I heard Michael Jackson r.i.p wore it and was happy to know I am not the only guy who wears it. The guy had good taste!

For me I would say this is the smell of a passionate love affair between a man and woman. Mysterious and full of Lust. When you wear this you will seduce!

-This perfume is nice on me and its very unisex. Women are attracted like magnet when I wear it to the point that it gets annoying sometimes! I think "voile de fleur" version is even more sexy for women. How about that one for women, so men can steal this? Joke!

A bottle is worth every dime. Top notch quality. Tom Ford is for sure one of top perfume house!

Di questo profumo ho sentito di tutto, dai commenti orribili a quelli smielati.E' un profumo denso e originale, non è così scuro, anzi si sentono note dolci e speziate nel suo sviluppo; ma come tutti i profumi decisi e potenti, o lo ami o lo odi. A me piace moltissimo. Lo dovete provare,solo la vostra pelle e il vostro naso vi possono consigliare...

The first words that come to mind with this, are rich and warm. This is a beautiful fragrance for those who can't decide whether they are a sweet tooth or spices person, a flower or woodsy notes lover. Sounds like me :P It's got everything but you have to love the dense perfumes genre though, and it is definitely in a femme fatale category.
All the notes intertwine and work harmoniously. In general: beautifully executed complex fragrance, sensual, modern vintage class in a beautiful bottle. Modern shalimarishness - more cool?
My only personal complaint is it is a tad heady. Still love it to bits, and thank god most perfumes turn sweeter on me! I would love it less with a bitter dry down. Love, love, love Tom Ford! Have to get…maybe next month.

Edit.
This is not an over exaggeration when I say that the dry down is exceptional in this perfume. Black Orchid is quite a roller coaster ride. Striking, from the beginning to the end.

My first impression was that it was very masculin. When I first sprayed it I wasnt too happy since I expected something sweet and deep, instead it was very sharp and masculin and almost a little bit sour.. But I didnt wash it off, witch was good!

After a while it got deeper and more feminime. It's a very dark, almost smokey very classy scent. Prefect evening perfume! The dry down is a very plesant and genuine vanilla scent.

The ONLY thing I dont like at all, (accept the opening witch I dont like either) is the lasting power. It only last a few hours!! It smells about 2-3 h and after that you can just smell the vanilla dry down if you put your nose on my wrist. Very, very sad since I really liked it. But a perfume without lasting power is pretty useless for me so I think this one have to go...

I really like the opening of this perfume! It is dark and I get something coconutty that makes it smell a bit like suntan lotion. I love the dark red fruits in there, they add some acidity to the chocolate and coconut notes. If only the perfume could stay that way because when the red fruits fade away it becomes really nauseous! I can't stand the dry down on me, it's such a shame! I don't think it is masculine at all.

Black Orchid is all spices/incense/gardenia/overly ripe fruits/amber/patchouli/orchid to my nose. I do smell the chocolate note in there as well, but it's hidden too much by all those other notes I mentioned. This perfume is super heavy duty and means serious business.

To those who like it, one spray is more than enough, & it has massive staying power, so that's always a plus. As for myself, I can't say I'm at the 'like' point as I'm still trying to get myself to appreciate all its heavy combined notes. I have a full 100ml bottle, so for the time being, I smell it when I'm at home every once in a while. I'm hoping this will 'culture' my nose enough to make me want to actually wear it in public someday. I also have the Voile de Fleur version, and while I'm not fond of that one either, I do find it softer and overall more wearable.

The tragedy of Black Orchid is that while the drydown is an exquisitely sensual and opulently orgasmic experience born in the uppermost reaches of heaven, in order to arrive at that point it's necessary to first spend at least two unbearably nauseating hours smelling as if one has been drowned in a vat of horribly rotting fruit. And it just isn't worth it.

The opening is so thoroughly revolting that it's not just a question of sickening everyone within a 50-foot radius-- it's a matter of literally being unable to bear being in a room with oneself!

I've had a large bottle of Black Orchid since the time it first came on the market, and because of the incredible beauty of what it eventually becomes I've tried-- oh, how I've tried!-- to find some way to wear it. But it can't be done.

The suffocating stench of putrefying fruit is overwhelming and inescapable, and it doesn't even begin to dissipate for at least two hours. Four hours after its application Black Orchid begins to develop a few attractive qualities, and eight hours after that initial spray it becomes quite possibly the most beautiful scent ever created.

If it were possible to reach even the hour-four stage without going through the god-awful horror of those first two hours I'd buy every bottle on which I could get my hands. Sadly-- tragically!-- the only way to reach the incomparable Eden of Black Orchid's drydown is via a seemingly-unending, nightmarish slog through an appalling garbage dump of decay.

I did not like! The Black Orchid is a scent that always caught my attention but when I finally bought I found a floral very sweet and very feminine, the fixing and the projection are excellent but is a very sickly sweet smell that honestly I did not like.

It has good quality but I think Chanel is so much quality and the price is better in general because they do not recommend blind to the surprise may not smile as I did ... at least I got to change quickly.

Hated at the first sniff but i found adorable the drydown,i couldnt stop smelling my wristle.it can also be considered as a shared fragrance. The scent is not so feminin but it is subtle and classy. İ am going to give it one more try.

Sexy, rich, dark.
I was not sure if i liked it or not when i tried it on in winter, the first note made me sick and wanna puke especially when i was dumb enough to sniff it having a hangover. But something kept me trying and i started to like it. Then i tried it on again when spring has came, it feel very choccy and sensual.
yet, doesnt worth it. Too expensive.
Would go to Dior' midnight poison.

A very rich and sensuous blend. It has a great aphrodisiac effect. Once you smell it, you want to smell more and more. You just can't get enough of it. Not only the scent, but the bottle design is quite unique too. I also consider Black Orchid to be a unisex fragrance - and own it and wear it proudly.

At Marrionaud in Paris, Champs-Elysees, the salesperson told me that more men buy this perfume, and I can see why: it is rather masculine than feminine( indeed it smells like a softer oud+ vanilla combo to me). I bought today a 30 ml EDP of this, and yes, it rocks. It is one of the few mainstream perfumes I still enjoy: different from the others. If you consider La Nuit de L'Homme( including Le Parfum), 1 Million ( good perfume), Dior Homme Intense or Midnight in Paris masculine, this is definitely more masculine than anyone of those miles away. The lasting power and sillage is excellent: it works in both heat and cold and it gives you an allura of an urban sexy young man that is always fashionable and sensual. I love it.

I think this is a very sophisticated scent .its very strong one spray will do for sure and it lasts for hours and hours

Not for me, very similar to Agent Provocateur which I bought when it came out (thinking it so unusual and loving the bottle) but it never suited my skin. Very strong. I could like this on someone else though.

Sorry, but this just ain't for me.

If someone took one of the Poison flankers by Dior and gave it an obnoxiously sweet, fruity-chocolate note, this is what you'd get. At times it can smell like salmon, at least to my nose.

Don't let my review discourage you. Black Orchid is just the kind of fragrance where you like it, or you hate it. I fall in the latter category.

The gooey opening dries down to a smokey, lush, rich scent that I can only describe as "bohemian." Best when worn sparingly so the perfume can be "discovered" up close rather than "announced." It's the base that gets me. I live for the base of this perfume! Interested in trying Tuscan leather, which sounds right up my alley.

This is such an unusual scent. I'm having a hard time liking it, as much as I want to. There is something about the strong woody-incensey quality that I like, but I also find something about this fragrance very disturbing and strangely nauseating. At some stages, Black Orchid smells kind of like a public bathroom to me. On my skin, it smells of sweat, dirt, mushrooms, and has a very thick, sharp scent of wood shavings. Very damp, musky and earthy.

It's definitely not a sweet or feminine scent, at least not for me; I think a man could easily get away with wearing this. Perhaps it will grow on me, but at this point I think it's a little too much.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Black Orchid, sensual warm, utterly delicious, mysterious dark and intense. I am always complimented when wearing it and I adore the body cream so hard to find it now

A masterpiece. Speechless...
Its works well on my skin (huge long lasting power) and its incredible erotic.
I think its unisex fragrance. On my skin smell a combination of dark-smoked-exotic-fruity-warm notes and not too heavy, very light and aerial.

Wow...what an exotic scent...very well crafted. Very complex..at first spray it is almost too much to comprehend. The incense comes through very loud in beginning..not a bad thing..very bold and exotic. Try again...it's dark, mysterious, enchanting. It is truly unique and beautiful, especially as it unfolds into the final phase, very rich, sandalwood, dark chocolate come through. Irresistable. Definitely a scent that will be added to my collection and will stay there forever....

this a unique, provocative perfume and there are a few things to consider when trying (and judging) it. first of all, don't sniff and inhale deeply in the first minutes: it's a bit like a punch in the nostrils! be patient and allow a little time to go by and try again: about half an hour later, close your eyes, breathe and take it all in...this creamy, nutty, deep fragrance will transport you into a different state of mind! it possesses a bit of the spirit of YSL's NU EDP (which was created under tom ford's creative direction of the brand), but takes it further into another, more feminine, realm. "black orchid" is sweet and somewhat powdery, softly spicy, dense yet not heavy...complex, like most multi-dimensional human beings are, and it leaves a lingering impression. the drydown develops a bit of interesting citrus in the background, akin to the one present in the base of kelly caleche EDT. another important detail is context (as with anything else in life): i don't consider this fragrance to be night-time only, not at all, but be aware that it is not for riding a hot, crammed subway in the morning and is not recommended for going out to dinner, nor for the gym, but apart from that, if you don't overapply, this scent can go anywhere! i think one spritz below each ear and one on each wrist is enough and it will last all day (probably until the morning after, actually). this is a fragrance i wear for myself but i have noticed that it has an effect on people ;) i absolutely love that this perfume takes a stand, it isn't wishy washy and is not for the tepid, unopinionated individual. all in all, it's hard to define "black orchid": it is intriguing and mysterious...you don't quite know why you are drawn to it again and again, but you are just certain that you are, logic be damned :) i am truly happy that my intuition guided me "blind" to this perfume!

This one feels like a drag queen's just slapped you in the face... And clearly it's one of Tom Ford's usual show offs. And I do agree with Louw, a triumph of marketing over substance.

Take some gardenia, orchids, patchouli leaves and a Godiva dark chocolate bar... leave it in a sauna. Now imagine the wood used for the interior is sandalwood. Leave, and return minutes later to find a warm, musky cloud of Black Orchid. This is a positive review by the way.

A triumph of marketing over substance, in my opinion, I'm afraid.

I was eager to try this because the marketing was so seductive and made the fragrance sound dark, luxurious, mysterious and sexy. I'm glad I didn't buy it blind because when I tried it I found it absolutely repellant!

To me it was a confusing mess of competing musky woodsy notes that actually made me sneeze. On my skin it dried down to something that was bitter, even sour and unfortunately for me, had great longevity - I couldn't wait for the smell to fade away!

A disappointing experience, but I do intend to try more of the Tom Ford perfumes to see if I have better luck with any of them.

When I first smelled it i thought it was weird and sour, but after a while i began to find it quite fascinating. after getting a sample and wearing it for a few hours, it grew softer and creamier. because it's so strong, i wouldn't wear this too much. but a sniff once in a while just blows me away.

I didn't buy it, it was a present.....and I'm glad! I don't like it at all, I gave it to my grandma (and she doesn't like it!). In my opinion it's quite stifling. Of course it's a question of personal taste.

Funky jasmine. That's what I get. I'm repulsed yet strangely drawn to it at the same time. This is a good thing though, because it means it has depth, intrigue and complexity. Just the way I like my perfumes. Bravo!

to make it short! this smell is just unbelievable !
I got it as a tester and the lady warned me of its power, strength. I thought this would be a typical headache-perfume, which it certainly is, BUT !!!!!
the dark 99% chocolate i smell in it, is just as temptuos as a piece of a real chocolate that lays next to your hand !
It has some spicy fruits or flowers, i do not exactly know what, but i just smell this strong chocolate!
i would wear it in the evening, maybe for a concert in the opera ;)
men's opinion: WHO IS THIS LADY, AND WHY DOES SHE SMELL SO COURAGOUS, TEMPTING and GLAMOUROUS !? ;)
enjoy !

I have this perfume but I have not had the courage to wear it in public yet. I wish I had dark exotic looks to match the rich exotic fragrances I love- can I wear this as a blond with 'girl next door type' looks? Maybe it will surprise people in a good way when I do?

Anyway, the fragrance is powerful and dramatic. All I smell in the beginning is the dark chocolatey orchid. It has some similarities with Angel, not a snuggly gourmand chocolate, but a dark and bitter one. This is a sillage monster for sure. One spray and I can smell myself for hours! It dries down eventually into a warm sweet vanillary, smokey fragrance which will last on your skin until you shower.

Very complex, strong, sexy, interesting fragrance.If you can find it, I recommend buying the roll-on, (8 ml) which is the best way to apply the tiny amount you need and will still last for a couple of years, it's not an everyday fragrance.

In fact, I would make it a law that all powerful fragrances should come in a roll-on option, whoever is going to use up 100 ml of this one, Shalimar, etc. Then I for one would buy a lot more serious perfumes.

Not only does it have the sweaty note which I despise, the place I sprayed on my arm has a nice cluster of painful, itchy hives. I've never had that happen before with a perfume. The opening was foul too. Fruity and cheap smelling, not at all what I expected from reviews, or the price, or the appearance of the bottle. I've washed my arm three times, it will not budge.

I agree totally with Lady Venomtongue about the "hype" here. I thought this would be an exotic, deeply tropical floral with the added gourmand notes and was terribly excited to get my bottle in the post (an ebay bargain). I was really disappointed with it - incredibly strong though it was. Even in the notes Tom Ford admits that this flower is more imaginary than real. I have not written Tom Ford off and would like to try a couple of his other inventions, but for me this one was never going to be the love affair I had hoped might be a possibility. I'm really happy though that so many people love it.

I bought Black Orchid when it came out and it still baffles me to this day. Its intense, thats the first thing and its a bit of a mix. At times it almost has this urine smell to it which disappeared quickly for me and then it became sweet and a little intense, a little woody and a whole lotta other stuff. I think guys could wear this easily but for the ladies, i think a really sexy confident lady could pull this off- no problems at all. I dont want to sound offensive but to me, this fragrance smells like what I imagine a high class hooker would smell like. It honestly makes me think of sex and the mix of wrong and right scents you get from the sex act. Its an interesting fragrance.

I've been suggested to smell Black Orchid so many times, and when I finally decided it was the right moment to face this composition I got somehow disappointed by it. It opens with an interesting chocolate floral / fruits accord that may be pretty compelling expecially to anyone who is not familiar with the smell of the Oncidium Sherry Baby AKA The Chocolate Orchid (an epiphytic orchid of hybrid origins). After that, the scent turns to a pleasant, but conventional, sweet musky vanilla drydown. A nice fragrance that could have been great if they just have dared a bit more in the drydown. Nothing that I would never buy a full bottle of, but I'd surely appreciate on a person seating next to me for 2 (maximum 3) stops on the subway.

Rating: 6.5-7/10

I received a sample of this fragrance from a shop.It smelled pleasant enough in the vial Then, I put it on my skin. Instantly, I thought, old moldy flowers! With some time it developed a strong scent of incense + moldy flowers. Now after 3 hours, it is mainly incense and chocolate. I found it so offensive initially, I didn't have much to offer in the way of pleasant notes, although they are there: cocoa, incense, chili, cumin, dried spices. The lingering dark chocolate note is the best part of the experience. I love spicy fragrances and the opaque black bottle but this one ultimately is an absolute no. If the fragrance was reinvented without the moldy flowers top note, I think it would be a winner.

I own a couple of mini's of Black Orchid and I still haven't finished either. I wish there was a less strong version of this, you know like a body mist or something. But it is sooooo strong!
While I like the scent, it's really cloying and it makes me dizzy. With such staying power, I'm waiting to find a Tom Ford fragrance I can wear without a headache.

I totally agree with Mushroomfat that men must give this fragrance a try. I was growing tired with this and placed it on my husband's bathroom shelf one day thinking out of sight out of mind. Well, in his haste hubby sprayed this one by mistake and mind you he smelled fantastic...so men out there you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Blue cotton candy
Tropical fruit shaved ice
Deep fried funnel cakes encrusted with cinnamon sugar and drenched in maple syrup
A gypsy caravan
A flower vendor
The county fair berry pie contest

Round and round on the merry-go-round
Every carnival stall keeps spinning around me
Over and over, again and again
Faster and faster yet

Blue cotton candy
Tropical fruit shaved ice
Deep fried funnel cakes encrusted with cinnamon sugar...

Over and over, again and again...
Stop the ride! I want to get off!

I have to do my review of the MEN'S edition on this page in the hope anybody wanting to try the mens edition will be encouraged to do so by my review because it is such a fantasic scent that I want guys everywhere to give it a go!
AWESOME!!! a massive overkill of such a beautiful, soft, invigorating floral note CANNOT be ignored.

Update: so it turns out this is a UNISEX fragrance.

Wow, so many beautiful floral notes have been put into this scent. From start to finish it's a thickening of the obvious Orchard accord, any citrus notes are very light, the fruits do well in sweetening, the chocolate and vanilla work as a solid, also sweet, base.

All guys must try it at least once.

I have a gorgeous scent copy,or you can call it a dupe,or a scent replica. I cannot afford to buy the original Tom Ford scents,which is fine with me dears. This is GORGEOUS! It is very thick,and heady,and rich.

There is a deep and creamy feel,and this is truly a scent you must be open to FEEL,not just smell. It is like a creature which has come to life on the skin of my arm and neck. I smell spicy,exotic flowers,making my head hypnotized. I smell rich earth,that wise soil patchouli. the chocolate,she visits too and dances by,waiting,and making space for her dance partner,the dark gardenia.

I am truly bewitched by this smell. This is for the bold of heart,and open minds. A woman can hold the world in her powerful feminine grip with this scent. A man can be in this scent too,and he will be just as strong,and as suited to it as well. But a man is brave there too wearing this,as he is not afraid to touch the flowers of the earth,and show a more tender side of himself.

I am sorry, I am the kind of person,I always have to say what I feel,and I don't mean anything mean by it. I am hoping that we are looking at fake fur in the above photos.

I think this is another one of those scents that is highly dependent on a persons skin ph/chemistry. If it works on you? It REALLY works. If it doesn't? Well, you're going to need time to shower it off because this eau has SERIOUS staying power. I agree with earlier reviewers and will reiterate that a few well placed small sprays do the trick. Too much more and you'll smell like you're wearing an entire bottle. If you should miss your skin and wind up with it on your clothes they will smell very spicy and musky. INMO almost like a mans cologne. Should that not sound like something you want, I recommend you spritz before you dress.

That being said, on me Tom Fords Black Orchid is absolutely lovely.

Whilst wearing it, everyone I come across is immediately intrigued and DEMANDS to know what I am wearing. They'll often exclaim that it smells wonderful- lovely- rich- extremely posh! To which I respond- TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. It's an absolute must.
With my skin chem- the patchouli is completely undetectable and dissipates before my nose, or anyone else's for that matter, even has a chance to identify an offense. The fruit notes are also barely there but linger delicately. The floral notes are wildly impressive, especially the gardenia and orchid. This lush 'tropical garden' intensifies dramatically and stays strong all day long. The dry down never overpowers it's floral notes and instead adds hints of spice- and rainy deep forest-like woods. In the end all are kissed with a creamy-vanilla almost cashmere like caress.
Tom Ford has created a scent that is beautifully bold. A scent that is at once sexy without being overt or gauche. A parfum that definitely belongs among the high couture elite of the fragrance world. I am certain Black Orchid will remain one of my absolute faves. Indeed a very luxe and highly satisfying addition to my fragrance wardrobe.

The reviewers who have tagged this as overpowering and cloying are right on the money. This stuff stinks..... BAD! It's not cheap, either, or it wasn't when I bought it a few years back. It grabs onto the skin, clothes, even pillow cases and doesn't let go. This is not a good thing. It almost smells like licorice tastes, yet stronger. Yeah..... bad, bad, bad...... Tom Ford is a brilliant designer, but he made a bad decision putting his name to this nauseating serum.

Sellers insist to sell it as unisex stuff. They're right. It's interesting for men as well as for women.
Black Orchid is just a masterpiece with strong quality and projection, so you must be careful, it can gives you headache and blow your temple up.
This scent is dark, waxy, romantic, royal and overpowering. Although there's no hint of cuteness, it's so elegance and classy.
Preferably for cold weather because of its sweet candy pattern of flowers; waxy, deep, dense, smoky and resinous.
Overapply may harm you, so just one or two shuts are OK. Proper for indoor formal occasions.

10/10 for longevity
10/10 for sillage
7/10 for scent

Black Orchid really unfurls on the skin 0-100 in 3 seconds flat. On me, the Ylang has a strong, fruity-floral apricot note that almost makes my mouth water, and almost makes me cringe...but in a good way. Ah, the top notes are very syrupy, very sticky - waves of treacle dripping down into incense. This perfume walks a fine line between luscious and overblown, ripe and spoiled, rumpled and dirty. In the 10 hours that this perfume came unbound on my skin, I was again and again afraid that this or that note would overwhelm, would be too much. It never happened. This is an expertly blended concoction. This is what I wear when I don patent leather, a velvet coat, or want to make an entrance. Deliciously decadent. Enough hooks to keep you on your toes. One spray is all that is needed. Two and you're courting disaster.

You'll either love the intensity of this perfume or run for the hills. If you've decided to run, you'd better hide too, black Orchid travels at the speed of light.

It's powerful,luxurious and full bodied. Its sensuality embraces you with a woodsy, incense haze & caresses you in a way that only patchouli & sandalwood can.

I can't help wishing it had been called Hypnotic poison but I guess Dior got there first.

For me, nothing compairs to this erotic, dark, sexy, seductive perfume! Pass by a man and his head will turn. It's gives off that "I've got to have her" feeling! I love it. It has gotten to where when I reach for a fragrance to put on, and it's not going to be Black Orchid that day....I still have to stop and take a breath of it in.

A little goes a long way, I mean like 1-2 sprays. Sillage....wow 4-ever!! I recommend NOT spraying on clothes. I don't spray on clothes anyway ( oils in fragrances tend to stain my clothes).

Mmmm, I really should get another full bottle, just in case.

After reading all the rave reviews on here I became obsessed with this fragrance. I had sniffed it a few times at Saks and carried around a strip of paper with the scent. It does smell very nice on paper but not on my skin. When first sprayed, it hits me like a slap in the face. It is so sharp and green at first. Almost like you had dug up the roots of some plant. I can smell the roots and also the damp earth. I waited patiently for these notes to dissipate but they never did. They just got stronger and stronger. For me, it is a bitter and dirty and unripe scent. Not a hint of anything sweet for me in this one. I tried to scrub it off with soap and water, but it was relentless!!! UGH!! I just wanted to get away from myself. I must say that I paid a pretty penny for it too. I am sooooo disappointed, but the bottle is pretty. So black and slim with the shiny gold metal label. Beautiful in my collection but I will never spray it again. Just thinking of it gives me the creeps.

Good News!! Saks took it back and let me exchange it! I got Jimmy Choo! I'm going to udate my review of that one too because I have grown to LOVE IT!!

I received Black Orchid for Valentines Day and I love it! Its a sexy, passionate perfume made for a beautiful women. I can't say it any better than "BlackAmberMoon" said it! It is the perfume I have been waiting for all my life...thankyou Tom Ford.
Oh and one more thing....I tried dabbing alittle Indonesian patchouli oil on me after the Black Orchid smell calms. If you are a patchouli lover, this combo is incredible.
****but surely, one spritz is all you need!

I tried this perfume and instantly hated it. The opening is cacophonous on me. All the scents scream, "Me first! No me! Smell me first!" It was heady and cloying and confusing. The heart of scent was musky, and not in a good way. It smelled like I really really needed to take a shower. Because it is such a strong perfume, I attempted to wash it off, to no avail. The only good part of this perfume was the dry down, which smelled of vanilla and incense...but the 36 hour wait made it not worth it. In my opinion, this fragrance says "easy". It's like the older woman in the club who is obviously too old to be there, but never grew out of getting bombed and making out with random guys.

On the other hand, the SO couldn't stop sniffing me. Go figure.

When I first sprayed Black Orchid on my wrist I was like wow! This smells really good! It does resemble Escada Sentiment during the opening, only richer. I also get a Flowerparty by Yves Rocher resemblance after couple of minutes, more complex version as well. Black currant, mandarine and citruses with underlying spices and fruity notes; I'm pretty sure there's some lichi here. Love it!

I must admit that I have no idea how the flower black orchid smells like. I have had orchids at home, but I don't have green fingers, which leads the orchids to an early death or not wanting to blossom ever again. So naturally I've forgotten how they smell like.

After a short while the incense and sandalwood blends in. Now I get a So Elixir by Yves Rocher vibe. I'm really enjoying this one so far!

I thought I had found a new love but that was before the drydown came for real (after approx 1 hour) which was a huge disappointment. All I get is incense, patchouli and citruses. Quite harsh to my nose and, yes, a bit masculine. Alas.

The opening and the middle part are fantabulous, not dark, just delicious, but the drydown ends up being too simpel IMO. It's a shame when the drydown doesn't match the rest of the fragrance. *Sigh*

The lasting power however is great, could smell it the day after.

i love dark scents...I both adore Habanita and Jesus del Pozo's In black and I was expecting Black Orchid to light similar facets of being a black lady diamond.
That is about my expectations.

The fragrance starts masculine to my standards. I was struggling myself through the opening phase... then it started to melt a little into flowers pickled in whiskey. I still had high hopes for the drydown.

Then I got the awful slap of patchouli in my face, patchouli at its worst, exuding nothing dark but bitter.
I do not fancy excessive patchouli in fragrances, to me patchouli is meant to give an earthy base and balance to sweeter notes. Not the case this time. It was pushing out all the rest of the base notes which i adored (sandalwood, vanilla, ambergris, incense, chocolate etc.)

Conclusion: there are dark and gothic fragrances which are feminine. Me mostly got masculinity and one of the most abhorring patchouli base. Not a keeper.

There really isn't much to compare Black Orchid to- the opening is incredibly heady, sweet and gourmand, slightly grounded by the truffle accord..maybe there are some violets in there but they are drowned by the flood of every note in existence! It would be too much for daywear and overwhelming for some, but I wish the opening would persist here. Black Orchid dissipates rather quickly, prematurely blowing out all of its notes and promptly drifting off to sleep, leaving me a little unsatisfied! The drydown is a very pleasant,slightly floral, gourmand chocolate...in the end B.O. leaves me longing for the olfactory overload of the open, though I am still drawn to it like a spurned lover! It really is a rich and interesting scent overall, definitely sexy!

My signature fragrance. Such an erotic blend of notes...Every evening that I wear Black Orchid, I turn heads as its enchanting aroma fills the space. A bold and daring fragrance, that must be accompanied by a confident swagger and a devilish grin. An Oriental Spicy lover's heaven.

What could be said about Tom Ford Black Orchid that hasn´t been said already? I love it, is powerful, dark, unique, original and bold... a little sweet without reach gourmand territory, and specially appreciate in foggy and moody cold days. Not for everyone and not for everyday, leaves without a doubt a precedent of sophistication. I am sure that those who enjoy Black Orchid should die with TF Noir de Noir. Highly recommended!

1st of all , I wanna thank Floof for the 4 ml sample bottle she sent me :) , i was waiting so long to taste this one , and it worth alllll that time , its just Amazing

BLACK ORCHID is a dark , sexy , mature that's was my 1st idea but after few hrs i keep sniffing my hand and its just WOW , there is lots of sugar, there are heady floral notes, there is a fruit note somewhere. Tempering all of that is a strong undertone of something earthy and dark in a very good way.

i just got it today so um not able to review it as it should be , so later I'll post larger review about it !

This is the sexiest perfume for women i have ever smelt. This is not for girls but for a woman who is totally secure in herself. There is a bit of 'skank' in the mix which gives the scent its 'come to mama' feel to it.

I find this fume so damned confusing, having smelt it on numerous occasions, and nearly bought it too.

I find the top notes, loud, tacky and discordant, Blackcurrant/Tobacco and the sweetest possible Gardenia and Ylang Ylang give these opening seconds the impression of the breath of someone who has drunk too much Vodka and Redbull for their own good.

The dry down isn't much better, it's so coconuty and syrupy and floral, and certainly doesn't rise above the crowd of bog standard fruity florals.

It's the base which is compelling. The mix of vanilla/chocolate, incense and creamy sandalwood with the remnant of that berry/tobacco tang is pretty haunting and delightful. Extremely seductive and addictive.

I hate buying expensive perfumes which don't delight me at every stage of their development, I want it to captivate me from the moment it leaves the nozzle.

I shall have to work out if I like the oh-so-shagable base enough to grit my teeth through the rude, brassy opening.


Edit: I bought it in the end, I'll just have to put up with the top and dry down. LOL

I was worried by some of the reviews that this would be overpowering or a let down, but I was completely wrong. This smells amazing. As soon as I sprayed it on I couldn't get enough of its gorgeous smell. On me it doesn't seem very dark or heavy. It definitely has a green streak through it with a lovely floral hint hovering over the warm base, which is vetiver and patchouli to me. I get only a little chocolate and vanilla, just enough to make it delicious, but not gourmande. It is also unisex, which I prefer, could be equally as good on a man I think. Really very unique.

I put this on and thought that I should like it, but ultimately I don't. It smelled of harsh violets and cheap patchouli to me - I love patchouli scents but wonder what the formulation budget was? There's something not quite nice about this one for me.

Black Orchid is a fume that makes me vocal.ohhh,ahhh,loveeeeely.It is thick,dense,syrupy!
The first notes r like an elaborate buffet.a lil of all that is good.Crooking its finger toward u beconing u on.

After a while a GIANT black orchid unfurls.Its petals like silk Bordered in velvet flash irresisdecence toward thedark side of the moon.U feel u r one with that precious flower.The scent carries u on deeper into paradize.

Toward the end u feel and smell the deep,regal forrest.A creamy vanilla waifs through,followed by sheets of exotic woods with spices.

In short,its a masterpiece.Sillage is unreal!!! Last on me 12/14 hrs.

The most expensive smelling fume.I love it!

MMMM, this is probably the most sophisticated sweetness you can buy. This doesn't smell like a man's crotch to me or it at least doesn't smell like mine. (Mine gets cleaned EVERYDAY, mind you!). It smells like marshmellows and fruits and a little bit of gardenia and something else I can't quite place. This is a sillage MONSTER! TWO SPRAYS AT THE MOST, PLEASE! If I ever smelled someone doused in this I would get them the number to the nearest suicide hotline. This will off YOU and everyone around you if not sprayed moderately.

That being said, you won't even NEED more than one spray. I sprayed this once in the morning and the next morning, even after a shower, I could STILL smell it. This is definitely a fragrance where the expensive price tag is justified. Don't pass on this one, y'all. Give it a sniff. Wait, give it more than a sniff! The first time I smelled this I did not like it. I sprayed it on my skin and fell in love :)

Just got a 100ml EDP of this. Tried the tester and was amazed at the compliments a got from just one drop.

i really hope i don't get tired of it though. From your reviews, i'm not sure i will....

I realize that this is a popular fragrance and has a lot of reviews, so i wont repeat what has already been said besides- yes its great, dark, beautiful, comforting, sexy, mysterious, creamy and unisex to an extent. I have had a man buy this after smelling it on me and he told me to never stop wearing it. Most people seem to like it on me and i get many compliments. I also use it as a room spray sometimes and it will cover most smells.
Anyway all I came here to write is that i recently purchased a kit at neiman marcus with a solid wax compact of black orchid, a lipstick in the shade black orchid (too dark for my mother or myself, ideal for darker skintones or halloween) and a nail polish in black orchid (same shade as the lipstick but more wearable on nails- i havent tried this yet). Really, I purchased the set for the BO compact which easily slips into a pocket or purse and is completely transportable. I think the wax is a little softer smelling than the spray, more comforting. It also layers beautifully with the spray for better lasting power. As of now the compact is not sold outside of the kit and it might be a NM exclusive. Highly suggest!

Gorgeous. Black Orchid starts out very sharp, but dries down to a beautiful, spicy scent. It is very potent---I only have a sample, and it has lasted awhile since I literally use one dot at a time. Reminds me (very slightly) of Opium. My sister-in-law wears it often, but I save it for special occasions.

Reminds me of Angel! Although more wearable because the patchouli isn't so harsh. For those looking for an Angel alternative... I would go for this. It's deep, dark and alluring. The middle seems to be the best part for me... floral scented spice. Now, I only tried the EDT and it dried down fairly quickly, leaving behind a powdery ghost of its former self. If I bought this, it would definitely have to be the EDP. My skin just eats perfume up!

BTW, I didn't get any chocolate, which I was REALLY hoping for.

This is 'the one'.
The very first review by BlackAmberMood says it all , very beautifully I might add .
Black Orchid is definitely not for the shy or retiring ,and definitely not if you mind being approached by strangers asking 'What is that gorgeous scent you're wearing '.
I can imagine that on some , this will be the scent that wears them,not the other way round , but my skin loves this dark, exotic juice , so much so that in my own weird world Tom Ford concocted this velvety deep , dark and syrupy, chocolatey heaven masterpiece just for me :)

I finally bought this and I am loving it. It strikes me as some kind of secret elixir or love potion. It's dark and seductive. Fruity yes, but the dark black currants and the astringent type spices along with the incense can cause eyebrows to raise. It's pretty sharp, not mellow at all. I don't smell all that much chocolate. Maybe a tinge. It's very, very strong, and lasts for hours. I sprayed some on one morning, (about 3 sprays), went to the mall and tried on many different perfumes. By the end of the day I could only smell the Black Orchid.

I was very intrigued about this perfume based on the reviews here in Fragrantica and also because of a recommendation from a friend who works for a perfume store. Especially when I heard that there’s a chocolate note in this perfume. I have been looking for the right perfume with a chocolate scent for a long time already and I told myself this could be it!!

So I eagerly went to a perfume store, went straight to the TOMFORD corner, and there it was sitting with its brothers and sisters (with almost similar bottles) with its unique bottle texture and style. I asked the girl at the counter if I can smell it, and she excitedly proceeded with her sales talk saying how unique and exotic this perfume is.

And she is right! This perfume is very unique, BUT (a big BUT) no matter how much I would like to want it, I just couldn’t force myself to! It’s too dark and strong for me, now it’s not anymore a question why this is being used by men too. Yes, I would love to own a perfume with a chocolate note, but this is TOO much. It’s like melting a dark truffle in the microwave and then use it as a lotion all over your body! Maybe others would love that but it’s just not my cup of tea.

And I am not sure if it’s only me but I can slightly smell a tobacco scent from it??? I cannot smell any hint of citrus, floral or fruity notes from it.

So that paperstrip that the lady gave me with 3 sprays of BO on it, as I cannot see a rubbish bin near me, I put it straight in my jeans’ back pocket and continued smelling other scents and forgot about it. And then when I went back to my office, I was wondering why the scent is following me, I thought it was just stuck in my nostrils, but then I remembered it was still in my back pocket and then I quickly threw it to the nearest rubbish bin. But maybe that was not a good idea at all, because it was as if I lit a scented “Black Orchid” candle in my office because the scent won’t go away.

Sorry BO fans, it just didn’t impress me.

YES YES YES! Fruity, dark, exotic, creamy, luxurious, floral, heady. THIS is the perfume I've been searching for! J'adore!

i think black orchid is not so special as some reviews wanna show.i find in the opening to much patchouli that makes the fragrance very masculine, then it warms and i feel gardenia, very deep gardenia thatnks to the basenotes.i do not fit in this scent and i think is good to wear with caution because it's strong and just by weman that love strong petchouli and deep powerful fragrances.

The bottle its amazing, Tom Ford its a really smart man who always knows what sells.
This sells but unfortunatly I hate it. And I really wanted to like it...
In my skin this smells like plastic. Its powdery but sharp at the same time, its really weird.
Its definatly sophisticated, but I dont know why, because I cant imagine no one wearing this with the last fashion clothes on. Reminds me of those old drugstore fragrances or body sprays, probably its my skin that is weird...This give me headaches and make me feel has Im wraped in those bubble bags :(

Hunter Thompson once said "I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me." I can say the same about BO. I'm just starting to use it but I love it so far.
It indeed is similar to Angel (base notes).
What I smell most of the time is dark dark chocolate and fruits mixed. That's why I mostly love BO. Sometimes it is a killer-gourmand but sometimes I can smell forest fruits the most.
I like how it changes, brakes and dances around. Very interesting perfume with amazing sillage and lasting power.

edit: my father(57) decided that he will steal BO from me from time to time. He says that his female friends love it. What a punkrocker :)

This is a scent for a sophisticated woman. It is at once sultry and sweet. Black Orchid, for me, started off with the sweet floral smell of gardenia and black currant. On dry down, I smell citrus fruit and spices entering the mix, all tempered with patchouli, sandalwood, and chocolate. It is a warm scent for cool days and nights - heady and sexual, but not too heavy as is often the case with scents that have patchouli and vetiver in the base notes. Sillage is good without being overpowering. Lasting without being cloying or too masculine. Simply lovely.

This is the fragrance that Anne Boleyn wore when she seduced Henry VIII. It is dark and rebellious and I suspect could turn a nation upside down. Only a strong, confident, and driven woman can carry this fragrance well. I don't feel at all I am the girl for this part, but my husband likes it! I guess I just better watch my head!

According to the notes (and with that "dark" image as well!), I was supposed to like this one... However, there's something wrong with it and I can't figure out, what exactly. Maybe it's the chocolate that's too prominent or the feijoa (must the dubious "fruity notes" listed here) or just my body chemistry.

This fragrance is not for the light casual wearer. Expect to be noticed and in my personal case, complimented (always in my rotation). Its rich, sweet, clean, and mysterious. A bit of black magic in a gold plated apothecary bottle. Genius.

After reading all the reviews, I was fiending for a sample of this. Unfortunately for me it has two out of my three deal breakers - sweet & dominant floral.

It starts out as powdery, sweet, and berry. It progesses to chocolate, spice, and deep floral.

Then it goes to chocolate, sweetness from fruit,tartness from citrus and a very heavy floral with sweetness of its own.

It settles with sweet floral chocolate fruit which actually makes my stomach revolt (for lack of a better term).

I couldn't get this one off fast enough, scrubber and a half :(

I think this has a lot to do with the skin chemestry .. either it's a hit or a miss ,, on mine was lucky me a hit , on my friend's skin was horrible i couldnt detect any of the notes listed ,, I LOVE THIS PARFUME , mmmmmmm the scent is overwelming ...You should try this

Oh, God. When I first applied the Black Orchid I wanted to scream out loud: "Oh, f***, what is this?". But please, don't get me wrong, it was meant in a good way.
I could not agree more with the review in which someone said, that the top notes and middle notes could be the 8th wonder, because I haven't seen/smelt anything like this. There is actually no words to describe what kind of sexy orgy is happening at my wrist at this moment. At the beginning I got...wait for it...bubblegum! Really? Yes, really, pure bubblegum for 30 seconds and then, thanks god, it turned to the sexy orgy part, which I'm loving very, very much. The minty note from patchouli lingers now and then, but no too much, I'm frightened that patchouli might ruin this absolutely perfect scent for me, but so far it's under control.


Yeah, it does smell a little bit like man's crotch, lol, well, one particular man's crotch if I remember right, but that would be too much information, lol.

Anyway - this is almost satanic. Porn on my wrist, jesus, I love this.
Ladies - get your high heels and best lingerie, because I can't imagine this with something else. This might be the only thing that woman should wear in bed as well :)

It's dark and sexy and noirish where saint
and sinner collide in one bottle. The opening starts with white gardenia with it's sweet innocent scent represent the saintly part of the fragrance dries to an
tart and succulent of black current, there
is an nuance of tangerine that is juicy
to the core dries to an velvety texture
of bergamot, and ends the top notes with
nocturnal jasmine with it's quieting aspects and ylang ylang that hangs in the dark night.

As we go down to the middle notes we enter a room of fiery spices but it's
not overwhelming and brings exotica to
the senses there is an deep and diluted
note note of fruits that makes it primal, the lotus is the quietest note
in the perfume but it also makes it powdery and the orchid the star of this
fragrance is the most dark quality of
orchid you can ever get dries the middle
down.

Dry sandalwood starts the drydown with a
esoteric fervor then warms with amber
and earthy patchouli then dark chocolate
with deletable tastes makes it sexual
ends with the mysterious note of incense.

When i wear this it conjures me of a late 1920's metropolis where a fashionable women wearing all black with
fur short cut dress and a close fitting
crochet hat walking though the shadowery
streets with streetlights reflecting her
shadow and the steam from the subway
from the asphalt floor and she comes across a man who's dark good looks slowly pulls her in and kisses her deeply and slowly moves her stocking from her garters and rubs his hands
over her flawless legs.

this is truly sex in a bottle.

I bought this on a whim from eBay because I didn't want to pay a high shipping cost for a single small bottle of perfume - and am I ever glad I did! I LOVE this stuff - it's gorgeous, seductive, dark yet enticing not off-putting and the dry-down is amazing (I get black pepper for some reason *shrug*)! Even my husband, who is notoriously picky about fragrances (how he can smell anything as much as he smokes is beyond me!) likes it. I was trying to describe the scent to the person who sold it to me, but I just couldn't - it's something that really must be experienced.

Hi.

Everything about BLACK ORCHID speaks of Seduction.Yes it is definitely a Seductive Perfume that Attracts like Magnets and This is something different That you have never Experienced in Your life. Gorgeous,Luxurious,Heavy,Hot, Classic,Expensive,Rich,Spicy,Unique and quite Feminine.

A Perfect Oriental with mixture Flowery and Fruity That makes the Atmosphere Heavnely in Two Sprays.So Strong opening.Citruses and Jasmine are a perfect blend in the Top notes,While the Heart Encompasses Black Orchid and Lotus and a Weird and Special Base notes.

It has a Perfect Character Then if You are Looking for a Perfume that want Describe Your Personality and Your Emotion This might be Your New Fragrance. Suitable for SPECIAL Occasions in WINTER EVENINGS. I Recommend it to any Lady who just wants to smell Special but Test it first before Buying!

Sillage?Excellent.

Longevity?Good on my skin.

8/10

I'm reviewing this a second time because my nose has "matured" quite a bit since the last time I smelled Black Orchid. The top notes strike me not with citruses like those listed, but with black currant and... licorice? I think that would be it. Ripe, sweet, and deep. It doesn't change a whole lot in the dry down, but the distinct chocolate and vetiver (I adore both!) appear. You end up with a fragrance that is smoky, fruity, dirty, and elegant all at the same time. What an accomplishment! I actually feel a little intimidated by it, haha. Maybe I'll be ready to wear it in due time.

Ok, I tested this perfume and it smells wicked. It's definitely not light or fluffy. I's the most sultry, sexiest, steaming hot perfume I've ever tried. I have to have it!! I don't normally go for this type of perfume, (more of a fruity floral person) but again, I have never, ever smelled one like this before. It'll be my 'going out on the town and smelling damn sexy' perfume.

Well, I'm not sure exactly what a black orchid is supposed to smell like. But, there used to be a nursery in my neighborhood that specialized in orchids. I used to spend hours there, under the humid tents searching for little gems to bring home with me. To my nose, this perfume smells like someone bottled the scent of those tents, condensed it and dipped it in chocolate. I got a sample from a very generous fragrantica member (Thank you very much!) and decided I had to add a bottle of this to my collection. (It's on the way!)

Weird and wonderful. It really is a love it or hate it perfume. I love it. At first it smells dirty, but on my skin it settles down to a smooth vanilla woods scent with a hint of incense.

Lasts forever.

Beautiful scent if you like heavy orientals with exotic flowery notes. To my nose, this should not be considered a chypre scent, because the dominant notes are not reminiscent of that general scent group. I suppose some could argue that. But to me, this is definitely a true oriental with floral notes blended with earthy notes- dark and bittersweet chocolate & a truffley edge- the mushroom kind of truffle, NOT the candy kind- Mysterious, alluring & very dark, needless to say. My nose also detects a substantial amount of amber that gives the fume a lot of warmth, which I like, but more so for autumn/winter months.

Sillage is grand, as one might expect from the house and price tag. Lasting power also seems to be fantastic so far.

There is a note that's starting to remind me a little of Donna Karan Gold (original), but I'm not quite sure what it is; may be my skin chemistry.

This scent conjures up an image of wealth & refined taste in my opinion. When I sniff my wrist I can't help but think of an affluent, stylish young woman (with a lot of handsome suitors)who may be particular & very selective. Could easily be a signature fragrance. Highly recommend for gourmand junkies, oriental/floriental lovers & exotic flower gals. Very luxurious & sensuous fragrance!

So powerful - dark, spicy, heavy. But gorgeous. It lasts forever and you just need a tiny bit. I suspect it is the kind of supercharged perfume that could knock your neighbour sick if they don't like it. But if they do it is sexy, hypnotic and timeless. It has a lot in common with classics from Estee Lauder and Guerlain but it is modern too and almost unisex despite the liberal floral notes. It is a pity it is so expensive. Definitely on my wish list.

The first fragrance from Tom Ford evokes
timeless luxury and worldly glamour.
Sensual and sophisticated, the alluring
black orchid is blended with rich black
truffle and precious wood notes.

This is amazing. it took a long time to grow on me but now it has i just love it.

And the lasting power? you're talking days not hours.

Worth the money.

Bluntly put, it is sex in a bottle. Melds from lust to passion. Rich, fragrant chocolaty orchid balanced with a dark forest of mushrooms and vetiver topped with a creamy yet carnal vanilla. Impressive sillage, long-lasting, complex top notes with sumptuous dry down.
Sometimes if I leave it on overnight I'll be woken up to the decadent vanilla note in the dry down in the morning.
When wearing Black Orchid, random strangers will compliment me or ask me what I'm wearing. I will be devastated if this is ever discontinued.

Does anyone remember this Andrews Sisters song:
"Drinking rum and Coca-Cola,
Go down Point Koomahnah,
Both mother and daughter
Working for the Yankee dollar"
?
Because this is exactly what Black Orchid evokes to me - it's all there: the rum and Coca-Cola, with a fistful of cocoa added no less (must be the combination of dark berries, chocolate and patchouli), the tropical feeling, tropical flowers, the 'vampy' reference so to speak... It's strong allright, very strong, very heavy, very, very sweet, everything in here is magnified. Imposing. Demanding. Astounding sillage and staying power as well, and oh boy, how it diffuses! I can see how this can cause one to either love it or hate it with a passion, and I truly appreciate it for the grand imagery it creates, in a very loud voice... I admit it is so interesting I could not help sniffing it over and over again (not that I had a choice), even thought it was killing my senses and perhaps somehow harming my internal organs as well, or so it felt. However, having met it once is enough for me for a lifetime and I wouldn't mind staying as far away as possible from it in the future.

I was obsessed to buy this, but as luck had it I sampled it first. Thank goodness I did as it is totally overpriced. Smells nice, but Mauboussin or Kenzo Jungle runs rings around Black Orchid.

Black Orchid reminds me of the most beautiful man I ever saw.

I was in Taos, New Mexico, sitting outside of a Starbucks and enjoying my chai latte after a long drive from Denver. He pulled up on a black Hog (that’s a Harley Davidson for you non-Americans), wearing chaps and black leather boots. His face suggested he was early 60s, but his long hair was still black as night; and he wore it tied at the back of his head.

Now I’ve seen some good looking Native Americans in my life, but this one was exceptional. The desert sun had certainly left its trace; but the resulting wrinkles only added depth to the chiseled canvas.

I came close to approaching him, but wasn’t sure how he would respond to ‘hi, I think you are the most exotic example of art in motion I’ve ever seen, can I take your picture?’

Ah well. At least I have Black Orchid to keep the memory fresh.

I really expected to love this. The scent was so beautiful on paper. Something about my skin chemistry, though, turned it into the smell of a sickly sweet hospital cleaning product. Almost like a combination of coca-cola syrup and camphor. So disappointed.

If you are a lover of deep, dark & rich fruity-floral scents you may enjoy this creative little fragrance.

It is so, so much better than Voile de Fleur to my nose yet somehow I can't ever see myself buying a full bottle. I would enjoy owning a decant - used occasionally as a moody scene-setter scent.

I get incense, earth & mildew first, mixed with still lake water, rich berry compots, black currents complete with their bitter green leaves....then the spice & the orange peel...a hazy floral veil...rich, sticky blackberry liqueur....patchouli & woods....& eventually a smooth, woodsy, ambery chocolate.

It is well-made & different enough to hold your attention, but could become sickly if applied with a heavy hand - suffocating you like a bewitched strangling vine in an enchanted wood.

Dare I say it - I would like a darker version of this scent: more incense! More liqueur-berries! More bitter crushed leaves! More black chocolate! Black Orchid is a Disney enchanted forest...I guess I want the twisted Tim Burton version.

I got a bit of a surprise when I finally got a sample of this the other day. Ive been dying to try it. Thought it would be a bit mysterious and unisex. On me its very light, soft, feminine, and powdery floral. No chocolate, no amber or insence. Just a fresh clean smell. Nothing I would spend big bucks on thats for sure. It does last though. Not what I was expecting at all.

There's flowers and chocolate, there's incense and fruit but this fragrance is not about its individual parts or about showcasing a particular note.

Black Orchid is about how when you're going out at night (wearing your bright red lipstick with your favourite leather jacket) and put it on you feel as if you have just applied liquid sex... Humid, heavy and sweet.

Black Orchid does not whisper, she is not cool and refined. She is over-the-top glamorous and maybe even a little bit dangerous.

When you are very very sensitive, this perfume obviously is too too much. For everybody else: black orchid makes you face any kind of music:
Swank, uninhibited, no excuses.

A tribute to Les Fleurs du Mal...

I got to try out Black Orchid today, what an experience! The minute I sprayed some on my wrist a horrid odor crept into my nostrils like a combination of tobacco and something terribly bitter. The scent then calmed down into a dark woody scent and slowly transformed into a luscious fragrance. A 50 ml is quite expensive, so I would have to wait until all of my perfumes are gone before purchasing this one since the smell is bound to linger more than the others.
A WOW factor, girls!

Timeless~Sensual~Luxurious! Right off the back I smell the mandarin and bergamot citrus and a hint of jasmine. The jasmine is so delicious in this fragrance. Then it goes through this rather spicy phase. After that initial shock finally wears down, you're granted with the rich darkness of the black orchids. It warms into a rather mellow sweetness where the incense, patchouli and amber come alive. It's a rather ardent and beautiful meeting of sultry woods and sweet fruit accords that just lingers on into the night. What more can I say? I love this stuff. Timesless~Sensual~Luxurious!

Having just posted my first impression, I just noticed that after significant drydown, the scent has become much more pleasant. Amber-Vanilla-Patchouli oil scent. Much more natural and less cloying. It is still very sweet but in a much more understated and organic way. I can sense a floral bouquet amidst the warmth of the amber and patchouli. This one may well be one of those scents worth the drydown (like Shalimar, though obviously in a different way) and may be worth hiding yourself (with a clothing pin on your nose) until it settles.
Interesting.

Summary: No Orchid, just chocolate.

My Notes:
Literally, the first thing that I did after sniffing this on my wrists was sneeze.
The first blast is classically oriental.
Then, there is a boozy and almost fruity waft. Dark liquor and over-ripe black currant jam. What follows is a slightly musty but still sweetly rounded scent.
All stages so far are so spicy that it continues to tickle my nose and threaten sneezing.
As it settles down, it becomes primarily spices and oils and is reminiscent of an aromatic tincture. The Bergamot takes over a bit and the chocolate and vanilla become more obvious. It is sweet yet tempered by the smell of incense and spices.
As it dries down, I still haven't noticed much in the way of florals. This scent is highly edible and a bit strange. After the initial dusty sourness, it becomes sweet yet still dark and moody.
This is perfect for a mysterious yet sensual vibe. This isn't sexy in the traditional sense as the darkness hearkens more of Bette Davis than of Marilyn Monroe and the slight bitterness of the sweet notes is not very feminine in a classical sense.
This is an intelligent, crafty, possibly meloncholic lady covered in powder with the aroma of chocolate liquor on her breath.
It is more winter, special occasion to me. Well suited to a sexy librarian or black widow.
Well formulated, classy, dark, good sillage (the sillage is much less overwhelmingly dark and less masculine), and long-lasting.
Having said all of this, I wouldn't buy this as it gives me an allergy headache. Also, it is VERY chocolatey (in a n artificial, waxy way) and it reminds me of the scent of chocolate lip-smackers and that isn't really a good thing. It confuses me a bit as the sweetness is very immature and the spices are more middle-aged. As a twenty-something, I feel this scent is lost to me or, more rightly, that I am lost between demographics.
Chocolate fans will be pleased with this. Not ever having been a fan of either chocolate or chocolate scents, this is not my cup of... chocolate.

smells gorgeous and unique, totally love it's seductive, confident and not easy to get it has a total attitude but the problem is that it's not long lasting i am really disappointed :(

i got a small sample of this today. Oh my gosh it took me by surprise! I was fully expecting not to like this but I love it!! It smells, dark, unique, spicy and alluring. I want a full bottle of this mysterious potion!

Tom Ford's BLACK ORCHID is a thick, ultimately patchouli-rich fragrance with a number of distinct phases according to my nose.

On first spritz, my immediate reaction was that this was a sugar festival. Within less than a minute, however, the sugary opening gave way to a flour-y phase very similar to my memory of BOIS FARINE. But, unlike BF, BLACK ORCHID continues to develop past the pile of flour in a sawmill filled with freshly cut planks of wood.

With time, the patchouli and spices assert themselves, and the drydown is a thick, almost chewy, amber layer that is slightly sweet, quite dark, and rather spicy.

Those who find a bit of ANGEL in this are focusing on the patchouli and the thick drydown, I think. Others are finding much more of a floral focus here than I am able to discern. The flowers really don't play a huge role in this edp, according to my nose, perhaps because the incense and spices--one of which appears to be cardamom--are so very strong, and the vanilla and chocolate add a sweetness that imparts to the flour note a cakey texture.

I like this fragrance, but it definitely builds up with reapplication to create something very different than one might have been expecting--or would have guessed from the opening. BLACK ORCHID seems like a perfume that can be many things to many people, depending upon how much is applied. Apply a lot, and you will begin to approach the drydown of ANGEL. Hold back, and you will have a much milder scent. But there's no getting around the patchouli, which you must not only tolerate but like in order to be able to wear BLACK ORCHID.

So I received my sample today, and almost immediately bathed my arm in it, whoops!
It reminds me of the Beckham Jasmin Noir dry down except it's stronger, also sweeter. While they don't smell exactly the same they have the same feel to them. Dark, sultry, not your light sunny bouncy floral.

The jasmine, incense, amber, and vanilla stand out clearly. Thankfully I prefer Jasmin Noir overall or I'd have to own them both! If you do enjoy Jasmin Noir but would prefer something a bit sweeter and lighter you might consider giving Black Orchid a try.

Thanks kastehelmi for swapping me this sample! I don't know what possessed me to want to sample Black Orchid - it *should* be too oriental, too sweet, too spicy, too heavy, too dirty for me. I *should* be drawn to the lighter flowery Voile de Fleur. But Black Orchid is irresitible, like a drug.

From the opening, you're intoxicated, floored, and way out of your league. Unfurling white petals of gigantic gardenias and jasmines, wreathed with dried berries, swimming through a fog of vanilla and incense. Dark, then light; sharp, then sweet. Definitely a heavy perfume, but instead of repelling, it intrigues. The white florals die off quickly, and the jammy fruits lead you down into a floral accord. Compared to Nuit d'Orchidee, Black Orchid is not so much a solifore as a medley of flowers and fruits. NOT a fruity floral - this fruit/floral bouquet is shrouded in that same fog of vanilla incense. The light-hearted fruits dim more and more throughout Black Orchid's lifetime as the deep gothic base comes to life, with patchouli amber and Chocolate. Overall, Black Orchid is robust and fleshy, but dark. The best word I have for it is INTRIGUING.

I really must disagree with those who say Black Orchid is "not for everyone" or "controversial." Sure, it's dramatic and unique from the light-hearted concoctions that seem ubiquotously popular, but I can't find anything unlikeable about this. Sticky? From a gourmand-hater, NO. Too dark? Balanced with fruits, no. Obnoxiously loud? Maybe, but the difference between this and something like Opium is that it's ENJOYABLE and has you leaning in for more.

I am sitting on the edge of my seat for the Black Orchid VDF sample coming to me soon!!

Can't agree more with dear Kastehelmi member , also when the well-experienced Kittykati member said that its "
heady and incredibly thick; intoxicating, sticky, smoky, woody, chocolatey. there were moments when it reminded me of j'adore, but i see absolutely no similarity to angel
" indeed accurate analysis.
for similarity to J'adore : thats right ! as both scents have huge centripetal orchids in . but where J'adore is lovely & tolerable , black orchid is fumey , cloying & obnoxious ,,, a nightmare to my nose with all those dark chocolate + smouldering incense .
Please test thoroughly before buying & don't believe the Hype ,,,,, indeed its all hype .

Black Orchid edp is super sensual and absolutely delicious. But I have to say that is has soo many similarities with now discontinued Dior Poison esprit de parfum that i love so much. That is similarities in nature though, not in ingredients as BO is built upon a base of heavy patchouli.

Black Orchid is a bit more open, has a greater depth and is less creamy and rich than Poison edp. It's a very interesting, bewitching and sensual fragrance that jumps directly up to my want list.

I'll probably wait to buy it until my stach of Poison edp is running out. I will be using that one more frequent now when I know that the kind of scent I love, but thought maybe would appear a bit dated, is instead a very modern and highly celebrated and admired fragrance today. THANK YOU TOM FORD! And I (almost) forgive you for reformulating Rive Gauche :)

edit: For me, right now when I am retesting it, there is a bit too much offensive patchouli in the base for my liking. But I know this will differ depending where I'm in the month. Hormones seems to influence my sensitivity towards fragrances and certain notes.

And so I have a new least favorite scent. This reminds me of being on a bus suffocating in the company of a dirty angry woman who loves her pungent perfumes to drown out the scent of all of the others. Wow.... maybe it's patchouli and orchid together in such strength, combined with the dangerous dark chocolate that leaves me gasping for air. It's the scent of a villain, a vortex, a weapon flower that destroys the other orchids. Perhaps in a small dose it might be tolerable on somebody, but it's just gross on my skin.

Thank God for Tom Ford . This stands out at a love me or hate me perfume but I'm here to stay! Dark , sweet , terrible but bewitching all at the same time. Enough with the watery fruity aqua nonsense and forward with Black Orchid. Dramatic, over the top but completely romantic . Love it and may it newer be changed nor discontinued.

At the frag counter I eagerly spritzed on the celebrated Black Orchid. On first spritz, I loved the opening. It was wild,wonderful,weird,--bewitching, almost intoxicating. I thought it would be a heavy oriental but it's strangely FRESH/green, or as others have said, aquatic, just hovering above the skin.
I get the impression of something herbal-minty/camphor or menthol quality? It's kind of warbly--it seems to oscillate.

Still, just sniffing the nozzle and/or test strip was a beautiful, admirable scent.

However as the top notes faded, the gourmand accord made itself apparent, and I immediately thought "ANGEL"!!! After that, lovely spices and a woody drydown. But then I got a bit disappointed. It struck me how each transition felt like a derivative of every other commercially successful perfume on the market.

And that's the secret--ok, not-so-secret--success of this perfume: it capitalizes on the buyer to buy into the exclusivity of luxury/prestige which in turn implies a conformity. Let's face it, TF is a marketing maven and he knows this all too well.
tangent>.

Also, BO's wild foray into numerous fragrance families [or "facets" the marketing materials say] is very much in the style of Allure Sensuelle by Chanel.

On my skin, throughout the entire experience I feel I've been laced with oak/treemoss and coumarin. This could prove to be fatal.......

BO is in EdP concentration after all, it is strong and persistent so it needs to be applied with a light hand. Less is more. DO NOT SPRAY MORE THAN ONCE IN ANY ONE AREA. Otherwise, you'll become an instant identifiable smelly object. A bad,toxic headache-inducing one at that. Mouldy cheese. Enough coumarin to burn a hole through anything, burnt plastic. Rotten things, mostly.

I see Black Orchid as a dark haired, strikingly dramatic, Oriental lady with porcelain skin wearing an incredibly loud, statement making multi-layered kimono. As an eccentric, she may seem wild at first, but once she lets her hair down and those layers are shed one by one, you realize underneath it all, she's really quite tame. I personally like her wild exuberance best. I just wish that part of her lasted throughout everything.

Wow what a perfume! The vetiver in here is SO strong in here it's almost drowning everything else out.
This is quite a severe smelling perfume, this perfume makes a statement, this perfume stands up and says... SMELL ME NOW!!
It's the kind of scent that would turn heads if you walked into a party. It would make people whisper hehe.

Ok...enough of the messing around. Like I said...this is an overload of Vetiver and woods to the point of being masculine. It's a dark brooding scent and makes me think of sexy vampires in black velvet dresses. :)

Interesting perfume for sure!!

OK, I must say that I adore, love, admire and appreciate the ORIGINALITY of this one. Its smell is elegant, refined, expensive, unique, BUT: it's baaaaaaaad :((. Bad to the point that it can trigger nausea and/or headaches, that if you're in my shoes. It's bad because it brings out a dark, musty, pungent-to-the-extreme smell. Very bitter dark chocolate and brandy, that's what it evokes to me. I love it and I hate it with the same passion. And like with all things that one SHOULDN'T,I think I'll go and get myself a bottle, sooner rather than later :)

This is definitely a head turner! It intrigues people arround you, keeps them interested... Everytime someone asks me what am i wearing i won't tell them. This is my secret. And it could be your secret...
I am in the process of buying another bottle.
If you decide to go for it, hurry up! Such a massive popularity on this website and the fact that MJ used it doing his electrifying perfomances, drive the prices up!

I can definitely see where problems with this fragrance are coming for.

First of all, it is what you can call a true killer :) Many people say the same thing about Hypnotic Poison or Dior Addict, and although they are strong indeed, Black orchid beats them by far in this field.

It is a magnificent blend, very dark, raw. I dont know it is is sensual, for me it smells really wild, as some people mentioned here it reminds you of thick forest, darkness, something uncontrollable.

The fragrance is so rich that it should be very carefully dosed. It might get very sickening at first when you spray too much. I did that mistake and I have spent the whole evening surrounded by a heavy, thick chocolate-incense cloud, I just hope my friends managed to enjoy it at least a bit.

It's deep, sensual, sexy, luxurious, dark and mysterious....

absolutly love it!!!

I wanna kiss you in Paris
I wanna hold your hand in Rome
I wanna run naked in a rainstorm
Make love in a train cross-country
You put this in me
So now what, so now what?

Wanting, needing, waiting
For you to justify my love

This fragrance confuses me. It is very sensual, no doubt, but I think it is just on the edge between being seductive and just plain vulgar. It won't be an easy decision for me whether I love it or ...well disrespect it.

By the first impression, Black Orchid reminded me Agent Provocateur and Hypnotic Poison - the scents you'll never forget once you tried them; the scents that will get into your head and seduce you, until you just HAVE to try them again. But at the same time, the scents that somehow constantly annoy you like a person who talks too much.

If you can handle it - I’d say go for it and turn not only heads but minds!

Most of the reviews about this perfume is very entertaining and informative. I only tried Black Orchid once and came to a conclusion that this fragrance is not for everyone. A blonde sexbomb (not a cross-dresser) showed it to me and I thought it suited her perfectly. I agree with some of the other perfume-lovers that it's utterly seductive, luscious, gothic, decadent, luxurious, etc. At times, it makes you want to turn into a lesbian..:-)(only joking here) But, it's not for me, thanks. However,if someone is looking for something unique, not a run-of-the mill scent, this is the one to get.

oh my god, i hate this scent, it is so agressive and not seductive at all, it is very acid and smells like dead animal i dont like it, i find it so obnoxious and it is worst on my skin i think im not made for it! i highly prefer "voile de fleur", it s more seductive and kind very sweet oriental wraping scent, but i will not buy it, it is not interresting , its is a good perfum, classical, reminding me of maisons such Dior or Guerlain, nothing special but my mom love it, i think its because it reminds her old perfumes !

Dark, Gothic, Tough, Wild, Sweet, Rich, Barbaric, Violent, Uncivilized, Passionate, Ferocious, Dangerous, Moulin Rouge, it makes me feel all of the above in one second.

Can you say sensual? I feel so SEXY when I wear Tom Fords Black Orchid. I have a highly sensual personality but this just pulls me over! It’s like when you wear it there is no one you can’t have or seduce! It’s hypnotizing and it keeps the wearer and anyone else guessing at just what particular scent that they are smelling, because it gives its particular notes all a chance to shine in one whiff leaving you mesmerized and not overwhelmed!

absolutely love it.was working 2 day and had to ask customer what perfume she was wearing Black Orchid by Tom Ford. definately on my xmas list cant wait 2 smell it again.

I have tried to understand this perfume for a long time now without succes. Everything about it sounds great, interesting, dark, sensual and mysterious. And sure it is, on paper and on a lot of people, but not on me.

The top notes are like ooooooh hmmmm mmmmm ooooh yyyyyesssss mmmm... So incredible yummilicous and dark and kind of bitter and at the same time a little sweet. Transparent but also sensual, heady yes, mouthwatering gorgeus. I can´t get enough.

But top notes are after all top notes, lasting for quite a short time and then... there is nothing in Black orchid for me. It become sour, strange, even bland. It´s like the whole super sensual scent have been soaked in to much water. And with something not so fresh in that water. The rest of the time I just want´s it to end.

As all of you know by now, the one´s that not so suitable for you is the one that lasts the longest!

Black orchid is like some kind of making out and when it´s time to move on... yeah I don´t have to go so far. But, sure it´s a dissapointment!

Admit that I´m a bit yellous of the people that this one works on!

Longlasting, strong and excellent top notes.

I think I have to put some on again, those top notes just killing me...
softly.

This is what an expensive sweet fragrance should smell like. It has everything I love in a perfume. Fresh at the beginning and very sweet, dark and mysterious. It's warm sweetness with a touch of smokiness added to it. Spice mixed with chocolate and fruity undertones. The base smells like the fruits have been marinating in a sweet spicy chocolate juice! and the result is a warm deep rich scent that lasts forever. It gets better and better the longer you wear it. It reminds me a bit of Midnight Rain by La Prarie.

Haha, when I went to the mall and wanted to try this the saleslady told me I probably wouldn't like it. Of course that only made me want to try it more. The opening notes were simply fascinating! Unique, but not at all bad. I almost can't even describe it. The dark spices are so intense, but romantic at the same time. When it dries down to the heart notes, it gets even more interesting with deep, rich florals. Not for people who like safe fragrances.

I can't decide whether I love or hate Black Orchid. I own and adore Black Orchid Voile de Fleur, a lighter version of the original, with more white florals and milky notes, and more incense and woods rather than the spiced fruits and gourmand notes of its predecessor.

I'd read somewhere that Tom Ford wanted Black Orchid to smell like a man's crotch. I'm not sure that that was entirely accomplished, but there is a definite B.O. aroma in this scent that reminds me of teenagers after gym class.

It has its moments of beauty, but unfortunately, to my nose, it's just too inconsistent and its B.O. aspect kills the gourmand notes for me.

As with any heady, spicy fragrance (such as TM Angel), this smells best in small doses. One squirt too many and you'll see noses quickly turning away from your direction. Sprayed with a light hand, it definitely has potential. However, I'll be sticking with Voile de Fleur - I don't have to contemplate its loveliness; it's beautiful without trying too hard.

I tried this a few months back and the memory of it stayed with me all this time; something that has only happened twice before.

I have it on now and want to spritz some on my sheets so I can sleep with it and wake with its trace still on my skin....it is lovely, sensual...like a fine wine.

I don't understand the other reviews that call it dirty, or naughty...i feel positively all woman and know that if I walk through a room with it on, it will definitely turn admiring heads!

On the wrong body chemistry it may turn woodsy, but if you are lucky enough to compliment it, you will find a true love!

I smelt this a few years back, it literally amazed me. I've been walking around pondering over this perfume every day for probably the last 2 years, I don't know why I still haven't bought it, it's sexy and creamy and truly like no other.

I tested Black Orchid the other day. I must say i was disappointed. I had anticipated something complex and unusual.

But on me it smelled like Fracas, with just a touch more "green" and a hint of vetiver, patchouli, and chocoate. I have Fracas and was hoping for something different.

I will definitely give it another try, because i've noticed how fragrances smell different on different days.

I managed to get this for a good price on ebay,was very exited to try it out.Its not a bad smell,also masculine.But its nothing i could wear,it just gets to much of everything in one scent(and i usually like strong scents).Its like i have something heavy over me and i just want it off.I think a man could carry this scent much better becuse of the intensity.
But the smell is not bad,lots of chocolat all the way and spicy fruits.

im a straight guy and i use it all the time. they sell it in the mens section at neiman marcus. id have to say its my favorite fragrance because its the most distinctive.

I only have a sample of this and while I would like to hoard it until I can get my hands of a bottle, I can't resist wearing it. Such an enticing scent, deep and opulent! I don't get even a hint of the citrus listed in the notes, but I do get plenty of truffle, Orchid and wisps of dark chocolate. I detect something woody here, too...not exactly sandalwood nor patchouli....maybe both with the vetiver? Whatever it is, I find it Sinfully delicious, from the rich beginning to the sensual drydown.

Ermm..ermm.. Black Orchid ,Black Orchid what a mystic and multifaceted fragrance you are.
This fragrance drives me crazy today and screw my face up and later it surprised me with his changes.
When you look at the notes you might thing how crazy this guy Tom Ford is to make a fragrance as he throw any notes in the pot and see what happend,for me it looks like this. Flowers,Chocolate,Incense,Woody Notes and Citrus/Fruity Notes in a combination it's really strange.
When you put the fragrance on your skin and you take the first sniff it's perverse in my opinion,it's strong and sticky sweet you smell the chocolate it's Oriental and floral and i screw up my face my mother and my sister too.After some hours it becomes softer and you smell the sweetness of the chocolate but it smells also a bit soft and creamy i like the drydown more than the beginning it's like a crawler becomes a butterfly.
And after this you smell some base notes it is a bit masculine in my opinion,i smell the woody notes and the incense and the patchoulie it's warm and it smells pure and confident.
All in all this fragrance is really provocative and takes getting used to.
It's nothing for the daytime and summer!
I think it's nice for a winter evening.
Black Orchid is a fragrance for mature woman nothing for teenagers.
I really like the Bottle looks elegant and charming and the black match also very good to the scent.

The top and middle notes of this might just be the 8th wonder of the world. It's like nothing I've ever smelled before. It's larger than life, lush, decadent, exhuberant, euphoric, two and a half hours of heaven... then the patchouli rears its ugly head and that's when the party's over for me (my skin doesn't take patchouli well). The drydown is rather musky, not very interesting, quite boring in fact, and lasts an icredibly long time. Despite all this, I'm still trying to convince myself that those 2 1/2 hours are worth the purchase, because what I feel during that time is pure euphoria.

Black orchid would have to be my fav at the moment,
I love wearing orientals .
When I wear this fragrance I can't really smell the chocolate .
I smell the beautiful notes of black orrchid,amber and Incense .
I get alot of compliments with this one.
Try the finishing oil spray with the fragrance too .It lasts 3 times longer.
Dark!Sexy!Classic!