Fucking Fabulous! Notable Rose Prick, Tom Ford, is launching a new fragrance today—and yes, it has an outrageous name, like the brand is wont to do: Vanilla Sex Eau de Parfum.
The tawny bottle couldn’t come at a better time. Vanilla was the trending note of 2023, most likely attributed to the ’90s nostalgia that permeated fashion and all other areas of beauty, and had a rise in Google searches of over 22 percent year over year.
Vanilla sex is well… I think you know. But what about Tom Ford’s Vanilla Sex Eau de Parfum? A few Vogue staffers (and fragrance lovers) wore the scent to tell us how plain Jane—or not—it really is.
“It is not subtle,” says senior fashion & style writer Christian Allaire. “Is it an aggressive scent for every day? Absolutely. But that seems to be the point.” Perhaps that comes from the four different vanilla varietals that are the heart of the juice. There’s vanilla derived from cold CO2 extraction, vanilla tincture from India (exclusive only to the brand), a liqueur-y vanilla absolute, and an ultra-vanil accord, which can also be found in this year’s Myrrhe Mystère.
Vogue‘s archive editor, Laird Borrelli-Persson, picked up on the sweet extract note, adding “When baking, I have a tradition of dabbing vanilla behind my ears. Tom Ford’s new scent has some of that sweetness—and lasting power as well.”
And staying power it does have. When spritzed in the office, not only could it be smelled across the way—but down the hall, too. It’s a fragrance that announces, screams, and sets a long runway for your arrival.
Both Allaire and Vogue Runway‘s José Criales-Unzueta agree it’s best worn on a night out. “I wore it both during the day and in the evening, and enjoyed wearing it more on on occasions where I was getting dressed versus a random Thursday at the office,” Criales-Unzueta says.
Unlike the other version of vanilla sex, this one should come with a warning. “The key is applying just the smallest spritz,” Allaire says. “It’s easy to over-do it! But I promise you that people will still take notice of the warm, spicy vanilla and sandalwood notes. Hell, even my Uber driver complimented it.”