Ébène Fumé

Ébène Fumé is one of the darker, drier Private Blends, and the All Over Body Spray keeps its structure intact while dropping the concentration. Tom Ford lists five materials for the can: palo santo, African ebony, black pepper, Spanish cistus resin absolute and French pine tar essence. That is an unusually specific list for a body product and it maps closely onto what the Eau de Parfum does. Black pepper gives the first seconds a dry, prickly lift, then palo santo takes over with its distinctive sweet-resinous smoke, sitting somewhere between incense and hot cedar. The ebony accord supplies the dry, almost dusty wood underneath, and cistus adds the leathery, ambered resin that stops the smoke reading thin. Pine tar is the surprise and the reason this smells like a fireplace rather than a candle: it is tarry and slightly medicinal at close range and it is what gives the composition its grip. At aerosol strength you get an hour or two of clear scent and very little trail, so it works best as a base layer under the Eau de Parfum or as a quiet all-day wood for people who find the original too insistent. Autumn and winter suit it. Consider it a way to wear a Private Blend idea daily without spending Private Blend money on every spray.