Eau d'Italie Baume du Doge and Tom Ford Italian Cypress

I would love to smell this as a retail fragrance: Space 'smells like steak and metal'

"Outer space smells like hot metal, fried steak and the welding of a motorbike, scientists suggest. A chemist is recreating the smell to help Nasa to train its astronauts. Nasa asked Steven Pearce, the managing director of Omega Ingredients, which makes fragrances, to recreate the scent after hearing of his work creating smells for an art exhibition in July . . . Mr Pearce is interviewing astronauts to help him with his task. 'We have already produced the smell of fried steak, but hot metal is proving more difficult,' he said. 'We think it's a high-energy vibration in the molecule.'"

Can you imagine? Walking around smelling like outer-space? The idea is highly appealing.

But in the absence of new, true, space-age perfumery, I'm reviewing a couple of fragrances that have recently hit the market: Eau d'Italie Baume du Doge and Tom Ford Italian Cypress. While neither are the least bit futuristic, they both represent steps into new frontiers for their respective houses.

TOM FORD ITALIAN CYPRESS: This is the kind of Tom Ford fragrance I've been waiting for -- creative, interesting, slightly off the beaten path. While I've appreciated some of the other fragrances in his Private Collection line, I always got the nagging impression that they were test marketed to near death and so gelded of anything that might have truly set them apart from mainstream sensibilities.

Not that Italian Cypress breaks new ground, but it does push its woodsy envelope in a direction that's surprisingly left-of-center for Mr. Ford, which might explain why it's first being test marketed as an "exclusive" -- for sale only in the Tom Ford boutique in Milan, Italy at this point, with a potential worldwide launch rumored for later this year (though I fear the fragrance might get slightly tweaked by the time it hits the shores of North America, and that would be a shame).

I often get an over-the-top sense from Ford's fragrances -- they're generally uber-potent, high-flying, "Look ma, no hands!" type of fragrances, yet Italian Cypress deliberately bucks this trend, delivering a subtle, woodsy scent that smells like the real deal, dry to the point of being austere, and tinged with smoke and a pleasantly salty musk.

And that's pretty much it. Italian Cypress isn't about stages of development or its many changing moods; it's about the sensation of crackling, dry wood from start to finish.

There's already talk of Italian Cypress being the most masculine of the Private Blend offerings to date, but I have a hunch there's a horde of female wood-scent fanatics who will tear the internet apart to get their hands on this one. I have yet to purchase a single bottle of Ford's Private Blend series, but I'm impressed with Italian Cypress, and am likely to claim a bottle for my own the moment it hits stateside.

EAU D'ITALIE BAUME DU DOGE: Obviously, Eau d'Italie got the memo about rich oriental fragrances being the new in-thing, because Baume du Doge is sweeter than a wagon load of pre-schoolers on a field trip to the lollipop factory.

Said to be inspired by the spice trade that flourished in medieval Venice, Italy, Baume du Doge is a thick, resinous brew of various incense essences, sweet orange peels and culinary spices such as clove, cardamom and vanilla.

There's a gingery spiciness infusing the powdery sweet vanilla, with frankincense, myrrhe, cloves, fennel and orange essence weaving in and out of the mix. Saffron even applies for a more notable role later in the game. I could easily see Serge Lutens fans going giddy for this new offering from Eau d'Italie, as it serves up all the sweet and spicy goodness of a usual Lutens without any of the tricky intro notes.

Personally, I find Baume du Doge oversaturated with its bright vanilla sweetness, but I'm more the dark amber and dry woods type, so take that for what it's worth. If you like sweet vanilla and incense fragrances, then you'll find gallons of love in a bottle of Baume du Doge.

Baume du Doge was crafted by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, who's pretty much a living legend at this point in the world of perfumery. His past credits include the previous four Eau d'Italie fragrances, plus Comme des Garcons Avignon and Kyoto; L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu and Dzongkha; Amouage Jubilation XXV; Lalique Flora Bella and more.

UPDATE (04/22/09):

A photo of the Tom Ford Italian Cypress below:

You can find more photos of the bottle and packaging at the following link -- Photos: Tom Ford Private Blend Italian Cypress