The last person I ever expected to dovetail with my meditation practice was Tom Ford, and yet that is precisely the sort of happy alchemy that is happening with his forthcoming new fragrance. Advance word is that this marks a return to his smoky, deeper frags after lighter and sugary forays such as ‘Lost Cherry’ and ‘Bitter Peach’ – neither of which impressed me much. This one sounds more promising:
Tom Ford unveils a new fragrance from the Private Blend collection, called Ébène Fumé or “smoked ebony”. The scent represents the mystical ancient essence of the Palo Santo wood whose scent and smoke are believed to cleanse from negative energy. There is also ebony that stands for calm and enlightened luxury.
Mindfulness meeting opulence, Ébène Fumé promises a fragrance of transcendental aura and spiritual peace, focused on warm woody notes, fresh herbs, resins and sumptuous flowers. Palo Santo wood releases pufyfing mystical aromas that mix earthy, woody and floral aromas, as well as pine needles and incense.
My current meditation practice involves lighting a stick of Palo Santo incense and allowing its tendrils of smoke to surround and purify the space, so the fact that ‘Ébène Fumé’ revolves around this is pretty amazing. It’s said that the scent of the Palo Santo smoke will be bitter and acrid for most people at first, and then as you purify your thoughts over time the scent transforms into something more enjoyable. I’m at the point – whether real or imagined or born out of desperate hope – I enjoy the scent of it as it burns, so I’m extremely interested to see what Ford does with the idea of it. He’s gone resinous and incense-like before with the gorgeous green incense of ‘Vert D’Encens‘, the desert smokiness of ‘Sahara Noir‘ and the incendiary majesty of ‘Amber Absolute‘ – and it’s the ideal place for his olfactory expertise.
The anticipation is killing me, even if it’s only been a hot minute since my last Tom Ford experience (the exquisite ‘Soleil Brulant’) but that was in May and feels a lifetime ago. I’m ready for the next one…
