A crisply-tied tie.
A pair of polished cuff-links.
A severe, pomaded side-part.
The makings of a gentleman now have the perfect olfactory accompaniment, whether of a day or a lifetime. Beginning with a burst of lavender, ‘Beau de Jour’ may be what Tom Ford’s recent series of fougere scents originally wanted to be. Not sure if I’m slightly chagrined that he waited to release the best after the rest of us got one of the others, or just relieved that there’s finally a fougere that gets elevated to the vaunted heights of the upper echelon of Private Blends – either way I smell damn good today thanks to this Beau, and my husband Andy who was sweet enough to present it to me on Valentine’s Day.
That lavender beginning, only the slightest bit reminiscent of Tom Ford’s own ‘Lavender Palm’, remains pretty clean for the first two hours of wear. A delicious shroud of green covers the initial spray – it reads rather mint-like for a moment (though the literature attributes this to a floral green geranium, which I love as well) before ripening into a richer oakmoss, with elements of basil shifting us deeper into verdant territory.
This is a decent Private Blend, even if it might require a spritz or two more to really make a statement. When I first started sampling this collection many years ago, I was sent a fragrance book of the original scents, with a few samples that ended up merging into one glorious TF amalgamation wafting out of the guestroom. That fragrance – an impossible to reproduce cacophony of the most lasting notes of some of those OG PBs – came to mind as this one wore on during the day. It was a gleeful turn of events, because I always end up trying to find the one dominant fragrance in a store like Barneys, where all their gorgeous scents blended together, and failing with my one selection. ‘Beau de Jour’ encompasses a little bit from a lot of other Private Blend bottles (I detected subtle reminders of the aforementioned ‘Lavender Palm’ along with faint echoes of ‘Fucking Fabulous’, ‘Fougere D’Argent’, and even a tiny bit of ‘Amber Absolute‘ and ‘Tobacco Vanille’ – all of which I favor.) That said, it still stands very much on its own – an elegant, distinguished gentlemen among rather more sordid brethren like ‘Tuscan Leather’, ‘Plum Japonais‘, ‘Japon Noir’, and ‘Santal Blush’.
