Private Blend Champaca Absolute Tom Ford for women and men

Like every luxe brand ideally must have its Angel/Alien for real success in the market, Tom Ford supported his wonderfully successful Black Orchid with something equally (if not even more) flamboyant and yes, of "expensive" quality. A very recognizable tune. Posh, kinda powerful and decently exotic. I smelled it all before, but have no clue where. And once again I admit Tom Ford's taste for beauty 'exotique' in his collection. It lets you smartly stand out without associations with a Mumbai slumdog. Millionaire fair air. And if I wanted to impress smb with niche perfumery in an easy, shortcut way, I would wear as a hotbed course this and Nuit de Tubereuse by L'Artisan. A Sure-Fire Way to impress. :))))

I was at a meeting this afternoon, and the man next to me leaned in sniffing, and said "Is that you? Something smells REALLY amazing. Are you wearing some perfume? What is that?".

"That", was well dried down, Tom Ford Champaca Absolute, but I did not tell.

Dried down fully, TF Champaca Absolute reminds me of the edges of the Thai jungle where the weight of the walking elephants moving by brings up the smell of crushed jungle greens, dried grasses, spicy wood resins, mixing in with jungle air blooming with tropical flowers and herbs.. and the scent of a clear stream not too distant. If you are in the right place, and the right time, the smell of fragrant tea and rice being boiled wafts by and mixes in with the jungle and flower smells. Oh, and there is a hint of cognac and vanilla bean ... like an emptied flask that held vanilla beans soaked in booze, now tossed to the ground and open a few feet distant.

To me, these are the smells of dried down Champaca Absolute! The emphasis here is on the fully dried down.
Be aware, this Tom Ford Private Blend begins with an alcoholic party, far removed from the jungle. This is a party with spiky heels, boozy loudness, fizzly champagne, dates soaked in cognac, surrounded with bad girls/bad boys turning cheap tricks. This is not pleasant to me! It keeps me locked away for about 20 minutes, until the party begins to settle down into a warm bouquet of Champaca ... (I know the flower well as my neighbors have a tree) ... mixed with a spicy carnation, a handful of sambac, and a stalk of lemongrass. This bouquet is surrounded by sandalwood, vanilla beans, honeyed amber, a twist of bergamont, with a scoop of steam black rice, fresh snipped green grass stalks, and musk.

Finally, after about 40 minutes, this settles and becomes that edge-of-the-jungle scent I so adore.

I think this leans more towards a female scent, especially before the full dry down. But, it could be very intriguing on a man too.

On me, the sillage is moderate, and my over-all score would be 4.5 out of 5. I do not give it a full 5.0 because of the musky layers which never go away entirely ... which I do not like much. But, this is just my nose.

It is almost borderline vulgar and quite loud, very powdery. By the way, I love it.
I think it's an original creation. Exotic flowers, expensive woods, class booze, and powder, lots of it. It's like there is a complex composition and it's buried under a layer of sweetened powder which is somehow quite interesting. Weird. It has the most amazing strength and staying power, but apparently all Tom Ford PB do. Definitely a perfume with attitude and very distinct as well. Will get you noticed for sure.
I feel like this fragrance has a life of its own. I find it oddly attractive. Maybe a bottle someday.

Such a gorgeous scent discovered by chance in duty free

Very deep and intoxicating in a good way, mysterious, feminine, and tempting in a floral manner

Champaca Absolute is like an exotic garden of flowers at night. In your hand you have a glass of good cognac. You step outside into the darkness and smell the powerful jasmine, fragrant champaca, the beautiful and majestic orchid, the dark violet. At night you can smell them so much better when your senses are not distracted by noises and you can concentrate on the plants that surround you. This fragrance is like a symphony of those flowers... It is wonderful, rich and soft, velvety and full. I would say there is some rose in it, but it is not listed

I used to have a jasmine bush in my garden and the scent at night was so much fuller- with every breath you took, you could inhale this wonderful scent. And Champaca Absolute makes me remember those nights I spent on the porch of the summerhouse...

As Champaca Absolute dries down, you get some dry woods sweetened by vanilla undertones, with the flower accords still lingering in the air. It is hard to get enough of it.

On my skin Champaca Absolute smells like flowers and fruits blended all together.Too sweet and fruity in a weird way,like something in it isn't properly made..Exotic in its own way,reminded me of summer coctails,really suitable for spring and summer.It lasts for many hours like all Tom Ford's perfumes. Sillage is moderate but it's there..Not for me because it gave me an instant headache. If you can handle,big fruit florals this is for you.

Delicious! It's like fresh and exotic candied flowers wrapped in a layer of milk chocolate. The opening is surprisingly sweet, but the drydown is warm and nutty and reminds me a bit of roasted chestnuts drizzled in honey. I would buy this perfume, but it's not in my price range at the moment.

I expected something phenomenal out of this perfume but I was let down by it. It's nice enough but nothing great.

When I first encountered Champaca Absolute, two memories rushed unbridled from my sensory past. In the first, I am a young child, playing in my grandmother’s garden in Europe, with a nose stuck in a large, white, lily flower. In the second, I am inhaling the rich, strangely buttery aroma of a tropical magnolia blossom.

The perfume itself doesn’t contain notes of the lily flower, and my association between the lily and magnolia is not so much based on how they smell, but on the texture of the two flowers: the feeling we have when our finger tips touch the velvety petals.

I don’t remember the smell of garden lilies very well, but the scent of tropical magnolia is quite vivid. It is rich, yet velvety-soft; spicy, yet creamy. I guess it is difficult to reproduce by perfumers, and probably that’s why we don’t see a lot of true-to-the flower fragrances. Champaca Absolute reminded me of a tropical magnolia blossom. After the initial burst of bergamot and something else, warm and slightly piquant (the cognac?), the fragrance reveals its generous flowery heart. The flower accord is surrounded by gentle vanilla, amber, and sandalwood, as the vanilla notes seem to dominate. In the end, the impression is quite smooth and elegantly understated.

Champaca Absolute is very creamy, without turning into powdery, and a quite feminine to my nose perfume, which conjures up images of white flowers and brings a sense of gentle calmness. The cognac and wine notes only lend depth to the flower core of the perfume without ever becoming strong on my skin. I don’t think that anyone would exclaim, “You smell like booze!” when I am wearing it.

Champaca is my favorite of the Private Blend line, with Noir de Noir coming close second. It reminds me of a piano sonata, adagio, something to listen to on a pleasant, relaxed spring day or a romantic evening. It lasts for about 6 hours on me.

I wear this often and i'm a guy. It is one of the most feminine of the private blends, but its a subtle skin scent and guys can easily get away with it.

Lasts forever and once it dries down, you are left with a beautiful skin scent of amber, vanilla and sandalwood (my inexperienced nose cannot detect the chestnut). There's also a hintof something slightly off-kilter which is enjoyable.

Everyone should give it a try.

I looove Champacca Absolute. I ordered samples of the whole tom ford private collection and have tried them all and this was my second favourite (after amber absolute). The cognac, champacca and vanilla dry down are so beautiful I find myself smelling my vial when I need a reminder of how beautiful fragrances can be. The majority of the collection is, in my opinion, quite masculine and a lot of women would struggle to wear them, but this is one of the fragrances that appealed to me the most.

This is the booziest scent I've ever worn. I had it in small cloth purse in my handbag with some other samples, and it made the whole little purse smell as if I had spilled planter's punch on it.

This is the scent of a riotous party: The cognac of the top note never truly dissipates, and the flowers underneath give it a run for the money in the in-your-face department. I definitely smelled the orchid and jasmine. If you're not careful, it could give you a headache -- or a hangover.

Still, I liked it. It's the kind of fragrance that you might use to camouflage the fact that you've done something illicit -- like smoked pot or had sex with someone you're not supposed to.