Perfume Review: Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur (Eau de Toilette)

I am very tempted to simply leave it to Queen to describe Black Orchid Voile de Fleur for you. Because they would do it so much better than I ever could:

She keeps a Moet et Chandon
In a pretty cabinet
'Let them eat cake' she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Khrushchev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can't decline

Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice

She's a Killer Queen
Got that agility
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?

“The alluring potion of Black Orchid is given a warm effervescent modernity with this new entry”, says the copy. And I suppose it is right in a way… Only a tiny bit less robust than the sinfully opulent original Black Orchid, Voile de Fleur replaces the pungently earthy accord of black truffles with a leathery undertone, thus transforming from some (most probably evil) mythical creature of the night into somebody slightly less outlandish and more “urban”…a femme fatale. Compared to the witchy, black-magical, somehow “pre-historic” Eau de Parfum version, the Eau de Toilette is fairly modern. I would place it in the film-noir times of 1940s.

To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah
Then again incidentally
If you're that way inclined

Perfume came naturally from Paris
for cars she couldn't care less
Fastidious and precise

She's a Killer Queen
Got that agility
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

The notes that I smell most prominently in Black Orchid Voile de Fleur are gardenia and ylang ylang. The trademark creaminess of the luscious flowers is so thick, you could cut it with a knife. When their buttery quality is taken to such an extreme, gardenia and ylang ylang (as well as tuberose) always seem to me to have a “nutty” undertone, nutty like the sweetly spicy nutmeg, perhaps. Due to the presence of cinnamon, that spiciness is particularly accentuated in Black Orchid Voile de Fleur, and I find that characteristic exceptionally appealing. Another side of the new version that is absolutely irresistible to me is the presence of “leather” (probably a side effect of a pronounced patchouli note)…Gardenias and leather… I don’t think I know of a union more gorgeous (except for roses and aoud, that is ). Funny thing is, my Holy Grail, which is slowly but surely being created within the Made by Blog project, is also based on this yin-and-yang, black-and-white contrast of gardenias and leather.

Because of the lack of raw earthiness and strange, over-ripe fruitiness, and because of the strengthened white floral accord and the sublime leathery undertone, the Eau de Toilette is different enough from the Eau de Parfum to warrant having both…in case you were, like me, one of a handful of people who loved the first Black Orchid. Because of that lack of rawness and fruitiness, the Eau de Toilette is perhaps more palatable, more accessible in a way than the weird and wonderful Eau de Parfum. If those features were what repelled you in the first Black Orchid, you might find the second one to be more agreeable. If, however, the very “thick” and very heady, dark, sensual, sillage-full fragrances are generally not your sort of thing, I would recommend you stay far away from Voile de Fleur. Unlike most Eaux de Toilette, it really isn’t much gentler or fresher or lighter then the Eau de Parfum. Like its magnificent predecessor, it too is a Killer Queen.

Drop of a hat she's as willing as
Playful as a pussy cat
Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She's out to get you

She's a Killer Queen
Got that agility
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?

Available at Neiman Marcus, $65.00-$90.00.

Image credits: Unknown, Andrea Klarin, Steven Meisel.