Private Blend: Velvet Gardenia Tom Ford for women and men

Heavenly, to say the least.
It is a dark white floral, if this makes any sense. Seductive, peppery, full of incense and resins, all drowning in heavy cream. A subtle sweetness envelops everything. Velvety white petals are heavy with wax and perfume, they seem to caress all senses in the same time, this isn't just an olfactory experience. There is a profane dirtiness here, it seems sinful yet irresistible.
All I can think about when smelling it is kisses and passion. Most likely a forbidden love affair. Impossible. Imaginary. Forgive me if my imagination goes wild here... but frankly I never smelled anything like this before.
My tiny 4ml mini is a product of alchemy, nothing less.
The works of magic. Nothing comes close. It is surreal.
I surely hope one day I will own a full bottle... and of course I cannot possibly imagine who would create this beauty and discontinue it.

I feel it was a syroupy and animalic mix of the above mentioned raw materials, nor really gardenia for me, which is ok, cause i like fantasy scents, but I found the name misleading. too much animalic for my taste though, but very strong too which is a plus

Tried this at my local outlet store. After all the discount, it's still over $100 for such a small 50mL bottle. As for the scent, Velvet gardenia alright!!! because that's all I smelled. It was really rich, smooth, and honey sweet gardenia. It's quite pleasant and high quality for a white flower.

When I first saw this in Bergdorf Goodman I ran right over and tried it. Having grown up in the South I know what Gardenias smell like and I also know that the scent can vary in intensity and character from one variety to the next.

When it first was on, I thought FINALLY some one gets it! It had that slightly indolic note, but at the same time was intensely sweet with that wonderful oh so hard to produce creamy/green/mushroom heart to it. It lasted about five minutes and then for the next two hours smelled like burnt plastic. SOOOO disappointing!

I tried spraying it in fabric and got that blue cheese note that every one talks about. The only place it smelled right for me was on a scent strip.

Over the next year I would always try it again every time I would see it in the hopes that I would feel differently. But no. However, this did not stop me from buying some eventually. I found that in cold weather it stays gardenia a bit longer. It also happens to smell incredible when mixed 50/50 with Tom Ford's Noir de Noir.

In closing I'll say that I'm very impressed with the fact that for at least a few minutes one does get real gardenia, so if it's worth it to you...

Hmmm- this is an odd one-

Dry as a bone, barely a hint of gardenia, instead,a very guy-friendly tuberose-

I think this would be a good one for males who want to try a floral fragrance but don't want to smell "girly"-

This opens with a note of dry orange peel and gardenia, including its trademark dirty/earthy aspect.

This doesnt last long and a heart of beeswax and rose appears with just a hint of sweetness from the honey. The labdanum can be detected peeping through here. The beeswax is the most priminent note in this perfume,on my skin at least, giving it a waxy texture.

Soon the base is left, and the incense is very apparent.

At no stage could i see where the famous blue cheese note rumours came from.

This is a very dark, melancholic fragrance, and its really sad that its been dicontinued. I managed to find the 250ml decanter and i would recommend you get it if you happen to come across it. Its a really beautiful, unique experience.

this is very interesting: I can't say I like it though; it's fruity/floral tart scent, strong gardenia! I also get a lot of honey and/or beeswax in it. it might smell good on a man, in my opinion, if he doesn't mind florals. Unfortunately, the lasting power is relatively poor...

This scent is, by far, one of the best gardenia soliflores on the market today. That said, it's nothing I can handle wearing. I really do like gardenia accords and can appreciate them in nearly any composition but the flower in this scent is a bit overwhelming. If you can't get enough gardenia, you simply must try this one. It's so intense that the gardenia notes begin, toward the drydown, to take on a fruit-punchy sort of structure; the perfumer surely wanted to be certain that the flower's aroma didn't fade and so he amplified it beyond what I'd consider wearable.

As I mentioned, if you're a gardenia fiend, seek this one out and give it a try. If, however, like me, you merely aim to dabble in the white floral accord, preferring to smell it blended with other, complementing accords; I'd recommend Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, or Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur, instead.

very similar to Gucci by Gucci, but shorter lasting and way more expensive.

Multi layered, richly developing, complex and elegant. It is tartly sweet on my skin and definitely has true Gardenia notes. A spectacular white floral, very much a velvet white flower with fruit notes, drying down to mostly labdanum. I wish I liked white florals a little more.

I found this description:(floral) with notes of black gardenia, orange, jasmine, rose muguet, tuberose, dark plum, honey, beeswax, incense, and labdanum.

When I first put it on, it was all gardenia. I'm not fond of florals on myself, and with the gardenia scent this strong, I instantly disliked it. After wearing it a while, the gardenia has softened, but is still very much there. I'm not picking up on the other notes, but perhaps they are what's making me think the gardenia is softer now.