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Patrick’s perfumes: «Tobacco Vanille» by Tom Ford is like Christmas in a bottle

20.12.2021

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

A perfume is a work of art, perfumers are artists and I’m a collector of their creations. «Tobacco Vanille» by Tom Ford smells like Christmas in a bottle – guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Weltschmerz. Covid blues. I’m not sure what it was. But, boy, was I in a foul mood. Not long ago, I was working on an article in my home office when a feeling of lousiness suddenly came over me. Outside were sleet showers; inside, cabin fever. It felt as though the world was missing colour. It felt black and white. Bleak.

I was in dire need of a boost in morale. But how? Turn to online shopping? Retail therapy is a band aid; it offers only temporary relief. Not to mention it eats a hole in your wallet, which makes for an even worse mood in the long haul. And I may have given in to this urge a little too often lately. Perhaps sweets would do the trick? But the resulting guilty conscience and number on the scale don’t help, either. Alcohol? No, it’s more of a mood killer for me. How about pharmaceuticals – the mood-boosting kind? As a rule, I keep my hands off those, too. So how could I fix my mood?

Out of nowhere, my mind wandered to Tom Ford’s «Tobacco Vanille» perfume. Incidentally, I had purchased it in a previous retail therapy session. A spray here, a spray there, and I felt... legitimately better. The colour gradually returned to my home office, my gloomy thoughts faded away. At that moment, «Tobacco Vanille» actually had an antidepressant effect on me. How was this even possible?

Smells like Christmas spirit

I have only one explanation: «Tobacco Vanille» smells like Christmas. It smells like freshly baked gingerbread and cinnamon sticks; like Christmas Eve relaxation next to the fireplace, thick snowflakes sprinkling down, frost flowers on the window serving as a backdrop. Like family and good friends, rosy-red cheeks and sparkling eyes. It smells like a few hours of warmth and wholesomeness.

What does «Tobacco Vanille» smell like? Like this. Image: Shutterstock

And this. Image: Shutterstock — What does «Tobacco Vanille» smell like? Like this. Image: Shutterstock

The combination of spices, tobacco, tonka beans, cocoa, dried fruit and vanilla must have triggered something in my brain. A nice memory from my childhood; Christmas with loved ones or something like that. I have no other explanation for its effect on me. And it must be the same for others who’ve got a whiff of this fragrance. That could explain why, since 2007, «Tobacco Vanille» has been one of the best-selling eau de parfums from the Tom Ford Private Blend Collection.

I certainly understand why that is.

My name is Patrick. Patrick Bardelli. Not Süskind, like the author of the book «Perfume». But I’m also a great lover of perfumes and I regularly write about good and bad fragrances. Want to enjoy my literary odour? Follow my author profile. Always follow the nose.

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Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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