Tom Ford Lavender Palm

Lavender Palm was a new discovery for me from the Tom Ford Private Collection and while I try not to veer into Tom Ford too much–mostly because of the price–I couldn’t help but be curious about how well the lavender note was used here.

Lavender Palm

Lavender Palm

In Bottle: Lavender from the get go with a nice clean hint of lemon and bergamot accompanied by a green mossy base.

Applied: Lavender is loud and first out of the gate followed by a clean taming citrus blanket. I smell the lemon in this more than the bergamot, but lavender is definitely the star of the show. This isn’t screeching lavender. It doesn’t make my teeth hurt or make my nose wrinkle, it’s bold but in a good way. It’s naturally used in the fragrance it wraps the wearer in a comforting lavender throw instead of hitting you in the face full force. It’s a bit difficult to describe so I suppose the best way to explain would be to say the lavender in the fragrance–while strong–smells just right. I don’t get too much progression as the scent wears on. Lavender fades in and out, it gets tamer the longer the fragrance is worn, and near the end I’m treated to a bit of moss and earth. If you were worried about the oleander and wondering how that was going to be, I wouldn’t be too concerned as the lavender is the star and it doesn’t share the limelight very well.

Extra: The Tom Ford Private Blend collection houses the exclusives for the line and if you’ve got the cash, a Tom Ford Private Blend fragrance can be quite nice. Lavender Palm was released to a wider audience in early 2012.

Design: Tom Ford Private Blend fragrances tend to sport a similar look. They remind me of apothecary bottles the more I look at them. Simple, elegant, and they’d look wonderful all lined up in a row.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic

Notes: Lemon, bergamot, lavender, clary sage, lemon blossom, oleander, moss, vetiver, olibanum.

While I can’t say that I really need a lavender prominent fragrance–not being much of a fan of lavender, I can say Lavender Palm is a very nice interpretation. I’m still on the look out for my preferred lavender scent, but I think those who really appreciate the note would like Lavender Palm.

Reviewed in This Post: Lavender Palm, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


BPAL The Zieba Tree

When I tried the Zeiba Tree I had expected a much woodsier fragrance than I actually got. While it does contain a bit of sandalwood, the majority of the fragrance depends on its fruitiness to get by. The Zieba Tree

In Bottle: Fruity and sweet, like lemons, peaches and–for some reason–a little bit of apple.

Applied: Perhaps it’s the citruses (particularly lemon) mixing together with the ultra fruitiness of peach because I smell a little bit of apple in The Zieba Tree. It’s odd, because it’s more of an authentic apple note than any of BPAL’s actual apple notes. I quite like it even as the sandalwood waffles in and out of the fragrance like it’s uncertain whether or not it wants to hang out or get out of there. The musk in this fragrance is a very light clean musk that makes me think of a tree that someone’s soaped up and scrubbed down. The rest of the fragrance isn’t too deep the resins add a little more of a tree-like quality to the fragrance but in general, The Zieba Tree is a predominantly clean and fruity fragrance with little hints of sandalwood.

Extra: The Zieba Tree, being a mythological entity was said to have housed bare-chested individuals in its branches.

Design: Bottled the same way as most of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s other 5ml fragrances.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Sandalwood, musk, resin, davana, lemon blossom, orange blossom, white peach.

I’m rather delighted at how fun the morph was when I first applied this and smelled apples. I’m not the only one who noticed as many other Zieba Tree testers have noted a whiff of Ye Olde Forbidden Fruit too.

Reviewed in This Post: The Zieba Tree, 2009, 5ml Bottle.