Soleil Blanc

Of all the Private Blends given the All Over Body Spray treatment, Soleil Blanc is the one where the format makes the most sense. This is a solar amber built to smell like expensive suncream on hot skin, and an aerosol you can spray over your arms and shoulders is exactly how you would want to wear it. Tom Ford's key notes for the can are bergamot, cardamom oil, pistachio accord, Comores ylang ylang, benzoin extract and a coco de mer accord. Bergamot and cardamom give a brief bright, faintly spicy opening before the fragrance settles into what it actually is: creamy, nutty, tropical warmth. The pistachio accord is the unusual part and it is what separates Soleil Blanc from the coconut monoi crowd, adding a green, salted, slightly savoury edge to the sweetness. Ylang ylang supplies the banana-custard floral note that reads as beach, and benzoin closes it with a soft resinous vanilla warmth. At mist strength it lasts two hours or so and stays close, which for this style is fine, because reapplication is the intended behaviour. Spring and summer, holidays, evenings on a warm terrace. Layer over the Eau de Parfum if you want it to carry.