I reviewed Tom Ford’s Italian Cypress back in November (2008), and at the time, it was still only available for purchase from the Ford boutique in Milan, Italy. Here’s a snippet from what I wrote about it:
“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.”
Italian Cypress is not the only Ford Private Blend fragrance I’ve liked, but it is the only Ford fragrance I’ve ever purchased, if that tells you anything — I even had to go through the extra effort of scaring up a bottle on eBay, too, since I wanted it when it was still unavailable in the U.S.
Now that it’s been released worldwide and is available to the general consumer, I thought it might be good to post some photos of the bottle and packaging. Ford’s bottles aren’t particularly wowzy as far as photographs go (the dark glass eats up all the light), but they have clean lines, some shiny gold on the cap and label, and the accompanying box with its metallic gold stripe is kind of fun.
The photos below are of the smaller 1.7 oz. size — the larger 8.4 oz. size that Ford offers for his Private Blend series is indeed a striking bottle, but I can’t even imagine wanting so much of just one single fragrance. I look askance at anything over 2 ounces these days.
