I’m a big-ticket boy when it comes to gifts. Flowers and chocolates are nice, but they’re not sufficient. However, for our upcoming wedding anniversary (May 7!) I’m going to go easy on Andy and his pocketbook – well, easy in Alan-land. Typically, I’ll drag him into Neiman Marcus or  Hermès and politely pick out a bottle of a Tom Ford Private Blend or the latest Hermès cologne.
This time around, I’m pleading for Tom Ford, but not one of the pricey Private Blends – I’m requesting one of the, ahem, mainstream fragrances: Black Orchid (which clocks in at a much more reasonable price point, and is not to be confused with Black Violet.) Up until this time, I’d ignored this one, being that it was over in the perfume section, and while I’m not averse to wearing perfume now and then, I tend to find most of them too sweet and floral for my liking. The last time I was in Sephora, however, I noticed that they had put it in the men’s fragrance section (Andy, you walk in and turn to the left wall, then go about three-quarters of the way into the store). I knew it was likely a store decision based on who was buying it, as the fragrance had been in the women’s section since it came out a number of years ago, so I gave it a try and fell in love. Maybe all these years of wearing Mr. Ford’s scents had finely attuned my sense of smell to better appreciate what I had hitherto ignored. Either way, I fell in love with Black Orchid, despite its questionable name. (I don’t know of a single orchid that’s very fragrant.)
It also has a sweet-enough aspect to make it palatable for spring – and I’m big on being seasonally appropriate when it comes to fragrance. I’ll grant you your white pants before Memorial Day nonsense if you must, but when it comes to scent, please show some sense of decency. Even with that sweetness, however, Black Orchid may be too much for many, and that’s precisely why I like it. The nights in spring are just as dark as the nights in fall.
{Available at Sephora in Colonie Center, first floor. I’ll supply a map if necessary.}
