TFPB — Amber Absolute and Oud Wood

Tired of Tom Ford yet?  No?  Yes?  Doesn’t matter, I shall continue on because I’m still obsessed with them. They have been a lot of fun to go through, and I’ve still got some of the scary ones yet to do.  Tomorrow is “scary perfume” day, with a shower to start and a shower to end, and Velvet Gardenia and Purple Patchouli in between.

Amber Absolute – Notes of amber, African incense, labdanum, rich woods, vanilla bean.  Let me start by saying amber is normally not my friend, we snarl at each other a lot. It usually has some kind of musty smell on me that hurts my nose. Not all amber-dominant perfumes, but most.  Amber Absolute is not only an amber I can wear easily, but one I love.  Yes, there is amber, but it is so surrounded with the other notes, it is like a woody, incensey, ambery bouquet, softened with the vanilla and full of comfort. Where I normally find amber-heavy perfumes too harsh, this one remains rich and full, just a little bitter, but that adds character to it instead of making it annoying.  I remains at the top of my list of favorite Tom Ford’s because it made me love an amber perfume.

Oud Wood — Notes of rosewood, cardamon, Chinese pepper, oud wood, sandalwood, vetiver, tonka bean, vanilla, amber. I have been on the fence on this one for a while.  Not that I disliked it at all, but I just couldn’t quite get a handle on its character or hook, if there was enough there to keep me interested.  So while the best description I could come up with is a smooth, beautiful woody scent that is very pleasing, I found myself constantly putting this one back on. Why?  Because it just smells great, the sillage is terrific on it.  It’s not a breakthrough in any way, it’s not “interesting” or “difficult” or “challenging,” it just smells good, and I love smelling it on me.  Isn’t that a great reason to love a perfume? 

For those of you that did NOT vote for Heather Mills on Dancing with the Stars so she finally got the boot, you have my thanks, though I’m a little miffed it took that long for that hussy to get the boot.

Tip for the delicious somewhat healthy snack food of the week, go to Just Tomatoes and get a vat of the Just Veggies. It’s dried veggies like corn, peas, peppers, tomatoes, and somehow they have dried them so they are crunchy, but they have stayed delicious — better than normal veggies taste.  Way better than that bag of Reisens I got to tuck in packages that wound up tucked in me during all the Ebay and Polkadotpeckie hoopla. 

 Also, the Perfume Shoppe has resumed their sample program!  Most of you know I’m a huge fan of Naz and her customer service, and she has a great lineup of perfumes.