Private Blend: Velvet Gardenia Tom Ford for women and men

My previous review of this was a short one in which i described the smell as grass and piss. I've just re-applied and i'm going to give you a more in depth interpretation.

Initially you're struck with a heady white floral with harsh (slightly synthetic) undertones. This is a combination of the gardenia and tuberose. At this point the gardenia is one of the best you'll find on the market. Very photorealistic and, as the name would suggest, smooth and velvet like. The plum is also apparent, but it's not the thick, deep purple, pulp like plum that i would wish for. It is weak, watered down and rather dissapointing. After about 10 minutes on the skin the fragrance begins to change and the notes of honey and beeswax begin to appear. This is when i almost get up to run to the bathroom and grab the closest thing that i can use to scrub it off, but for the purposes of this fragrance review, i carry on regardless. There is also a more predominant labdanum giving the scent a powderiness which i don't feel mixes well with the honey. I can also detect what may be the lily of the valley and a definite citrus. This is more like orange rind than any other citrus however. It's very harsh and sharp, like the spray you get when peeling an orange. These notes come together to create something that is reminiscent of freshly cut grass and... dog piss. This will stay the same for the next couple of hours, hovering between the piss smell and the white floral (but being piss for most of the time.) After this point it gets even stranger, adopting a curried aspect. I get a huge amount of something that smells like a combination of cumin, curry plant and oregano. Could this be the incense? I don't know, it's weird incense if it is! This part of the development is almost enjoyable but i would never wish to smell like it. Anyway, it doesn't last for long. After another hour you end up with a simple combination of honey, labdanum, beeswax and that watery plum. Sounds nice? Not to me.

I've come to realise that the overall combination of all of these scents come together to create a sillage which smells like rotting/going over gardenia flowers.

I got this as a gift and since i like most Tom Ford fragrances my expectations were high...well...WRRROONNGG!!! i hated it, had to give it away to the only person that i know loves gardenia: i gave this to my mother. For me it lacks complexity and development; way too flowery and linear ; i dont find anything elegant on this, unless you´re talking victorian elegant.


65/100

WOW! Gardenia, Tuberose, Plum and a subtle kiss of Incense. This my fellow fragranticans is how you make Gardenias sexy, you dress it up with Tuberose, squeeze Plum all over its luscious petals and you let it lay in a cave full of beautiful incense. Velvet Gardenia is a beautifully crafted fragrance and has and always will be a stand-out for me amongst the Private Blend collection (which some people have noted, tends to lack in substance and has a questionable quality to some scents). I adore this fragrance because its different. I haven't smelt anything like this before. This one is definetly for people who love Gardenias, if you're not a fan, I'd probably suggest keeping away because its quite powerful. It dries down to a sweet, floral mixed with a bit of smokiness sort of quality that is both delicious and incredibly unique. Lasting power is fantastic.

9/10

I wanted to like this one so much because I LOVE gardenia, but alas...Velvet Gardenia is not for me. Upon application in smells like a room full of Gardenias and incense...I just can't get into this smokey incense smell. The creamy Gardenia smell gets fainter and fainter until mostly all I can smell is incense. So sad.

Picture a gardenia with some addition of honey and ripe plum. Floral in the initial spray but dries down to a gorgeous melancholic concoction of flowers, incense and honey. One of the strongest and longer lasting from TF Private Blend.

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.