The best Tom Ford perfumes for luxurious spritzing every time

A brand with a luxurious reputation that precedes it, wearing the best Tom Ford perfumes will often have you raking in compliments. But if you're new to the brand it can be helpful to have some understanding of its best-selling scents to give you a starting point when fragrance shopping – which is why our expert has reviewed them for you. 

Ask any fragrance expert for brand recommendations as a starting point for the best perfume for women, and Tom Ford will invariably come up. Scents like Black Orchid and Soleil Blanc are well-known scents and that make great signatures, and when a new scent launches fragrance enthusiasts are always desperate to get their hands on it for a spritz. 

Having worn perfume for almost half her life, as well as being a beauty editor with years of experience testing fragrances as part of her career, our contributing beauty expert knows a thing or two about what makes a great one. Ahead, she has reviewed some of the best Tom Ford perfumes to help you find the one that suits you perfectly. 

The best Tom Ford perfumes, reviewed by a beauty editor

It is practically impossible to choose the best Tom Ford perfumes overall; perfume is extremely subjective and each one is so distinct that they can't exactly be pitted together in the same way that, say the best red lipstick could. But Black Orchid's crowd-pleasing reputation is certainly a testament to what a great, timeless fragrance it is.

The perfect balance of sweet, fruity, and spicy, it's rich but not too rich, has depth but isn't overpowering, and makes a great signature scent. We found that it wears fairly well throughout the day – though we wouldn't stretch to say that it's exceptionally long-lasting – and it works brilliantly as a day-to-night fragrance. 

The phrase "like sunshine, bottled" is kind of overused, which is a shame because it is a perfect way to describe the uplifting summery scent that is Soleil Blanc. A personal favourite of our tester, it's another that's slightly sweet, thanks to its coconut and tonka base, but not too sickly. Perfumes that are marketed as scents for summer or that try to capture its essence can be very heavy on the coconut, but that definitely isn't the case here – put simply, it's just deliciously warming.

It doesn't last as long as some other Tom Ford scents, such as the richer Ombré Leather, for example, but it's one that we think you'll be happy to top a little later in the day. In our opinion, it's a real mood-boosting fragrance and one that's almost guaranteed to earn you compliments. Just a delight. 

Neroli Portofino is kind of synonymous with citrus perfumes. Conjuring the Italian Riviera, when we first spritzed this bright turquoise bottle a real refreshing burst of lemon, orange, and mandarin immediately hit us. This lasts with the initial wear, but at the same time, Neroli is very much the central note that comes through and remains.

If you're somebody who likes to match their fragrance to the seasons, we'd note that it could be argued that this lends itself well to the summer months, but equally, we don't think the time of year should ever stop someone from wearing their favourite scent year-round. 

The best oud perfumes feel so luxurious, and Oud Wood is no exception – as its name suggests, this scent is centred around this precious ingredient. Opening with fragrant cardamom and rosewood, the oud and sandalwood then emerge, giving this scent a calming quality, before it wears down to its ambery base. 

Despite its rich-sounding composition, Oud Wood is actually on the delicate side and would make a great signature scent for just about anyone; it's neither strongly masculine nor feminine. Those who don't like to wear spicy and woody fragrances year-round may find that this suits the colder months, but it's so wearable and was one of our tester's favourites of all those featured in this guide.

Another newcomer to the brand's fragrant line-up, if Soleil Blanc smells like the summer sunshine, Soleil de Feu is the spicy autumn-ready sunset. It's like the fragrant version of being wrapped in a warming hug. Opening with an explosion of spicy notes alongside bergamot and lavender, it develops to a warm ambery dry-down complete with sandalwood, tuberose, and benzoin.

The spiciness won't suit those who like the best fruity perfumes or those that are heavily floral, for example, but it's incredibly unique and great for wearing at this time of year as we move into the colder months. 

Of all of the best Tom Ford perfumes our expert spritzed and wore during the testing period, this was the one that lasted the longest; not only was it noticeable throughout an entire evening, our tester could still detect it on her skin the following morning. The leather notes don't dominate or overpower; it's an intense and sophisticated mix of this and jasmine sambac, patchouli, amber, and moss that really catches people's attention.

Despite some notes that may historically have been considered "masculine", it's very much a unisex option overall – for those who love fragrance layering, it could certainly be paired with another Tom Ford fragrance to add extra intensity and depth. We absolutely loved it. 

The first thing that struck us about Café Rose is its unique, dusky pink bottle, which makes it stand out in the line-up of best Tom Ford perfumes. Our tester has previously described this scent – one of the brand's most recent fragrance launches – as a rose perfume for those who don't like traditional rose perfumes.

This is rose but not as you know it; just the right amount of fragrant sweetness but not intensely powdery, and alongside an initial hit of coffee that makes it pretty unique. The rose remains before wearing down to a musky and warming base of sandalwood, patchouli, coriander, and cardamom, all while retaining a little sweetness. Ultimately? We rate it as extremely wearable and think it's a real crowd-pleaser. 

This is a perfume that will get you noticed. It is a real statement (and do note that the full product name isn't asterisked or crossed out on the actual bottle!). There are a lot of powerful notes at play here – lavender and clary sage through to vanilla, leather, woods, and tonka bean – but it's been expertly blended for a unique and punchy scent. We loved it, and it lasted several hours, but it isn't for the faint of heart.

Being from a luxurious brand, the best Tom Ford perfumes generally do come with a higher price tag, but this is even more expensive and not everybody will have quite this much budget to spend on a fragrance. But if you do and are in the market, we urge you to give this a spritz. It's almost guaranteed to get people asking which fragrance you're wearing. 

It's impossible to recommend just one of the best Tom Ford perfumes for men, as there are several brilliant options that would appeal to those who wear traditionally "masculine" scents – and they can, like many perfumes with patchouli, of course, be worn by any gender. But this is a particularly fresh and elegant scent that was created to capture the essence of "the Tom Ford man", so it really falls into the category of the best men's perfumes.

It opens with a real zing, thanks to citrus and peppery notes, wearing down as the minutes pass to reveal the warmth of vanilla, amber, vetiver, and patchouli for a fragrance that's warming and a little spicy. It would make a great choice for anybody who doesn't want something that's heavier on notes of tobacco or leather, for example – it's both sophisticated and cool, and we found it hard to fault!

How we tested the best Tom Ford perfumes

Ahead of writing this guide, our expert beauty-tester trialled a range of popular Tom Ford perfumes that included both long-time best-sellers and hero fragrances, as well as some new launches from 2023. Each fragrance was worn at least once, with the following factors all taken into account when she compiled her reviews: 

• Notes and fragrance family
• How it smelt upon the first spritz
• How it wore throughout the day
• Projection and sillage
• Price

FAQ

Overall, it's fair to say that there's a Tom Ford fragrance for everyone, whether you're looking for something deep, intense and woody or a light, uplifting, summer-in-a-bottle kind of fragrance.