So after yesterday’s “angelic” scent, today we have Tom Ford’s F**king Fabulous as the daily sample from my Advent calendar. I must say, without the calendar and a sample that was a gift, I don’t think I would ever have tried it, because I dislike the name so much. I mean, who is the intended buyer — middle school boys, sniggering at dirty words? Please.

However — gonna go out on a limb here and say, I like it. Thankfully, it’s not a “love it, must have it” kind of like. I really do like some of Tom Ford’s fragrances, but I resist the whole fashion marketing schtick, the snob chic, and I think the prices are ridiculously high. There, I said it! I hope I haven’t given offense. Back to the SOTD, which I’ll refer to as Fabulous. It was released in 2017 and it was hyped to the max. Fragrantica characterizes it as a leather fragrance, but the leather isn’t a heavy one, to my nose. Notes listed on Fragrantica include: Top notes of Clary Sage and Lavender; middle notes of Bitter Almond, Leather, Vanilla and Orris; base notes of Leather, Tonka Bean, Cashmeran, White Woods and Amber. It’s an unusual and successful combination, especially that herbal opening with sage and lavender, which I enjoy very much. That leather note in the middle stage is, to my nose, more like suede; it’s very soft. It blends well with the vanilla and orris notes. I think the bitter almond accord is what some commenters have perceived as a smoky rubber scent. I don’t smell burning rubber, but I can sense how it might smell that way to someone else. If I had to sum up this fragrance in two words, they would be “lavender suede.”

Others have commented that the leather smells powdery to them, and I get that too, probably from the orris, plus the soft, warm base notes; Fabulous is unexpectedly cozy and cuddly. Many commenters talked about a similarity to baby wipes, but I think that’s really because many traditional baby product scents include lavender and vanilla, both of which are in evidence in Fabulous.

That’s pretty much my experience with it! I enjoyed sampling it, but I won’t be seeking it out. Have you tried it? What did you think? And how do you react to some of the names of TF fragrances that appear chosen to titillate, if not offend?