Sahara Noir

Tom Ford Sahara Noir, its a unisex fragrance, heavy duty performance with high end quality ingredients, to someone who collects and checked many frags, this is a special one, in its own league a Masterpiece. I can see why discontinued, a daring fragrance and probably with high cost production due to the ingredients used. This starts bitter orange with not so sweet with the honey in the back and in some way helped by the strong base of benzoin and oud. To not forget the spices that sparkling all this first moment. After this pungent start, it melts down to the insense, honey, benzoin and spices more balanced and less bright, like an very good incense with some sweetness. The fragrance smells dry like the sand of the Desert. Its balsamic and the amber is wonderfull too. To describe the fragrance imagine being in the desert close to a church burning insence, smell of the dried sand and nearby a market full of precious spices with some honey, oud, amber and some Egyptian balsamic. It is so good this fragrance, full of layers, colors and movement. Daring fragrance, beautifully blended. This balsamic, sweet amber incense its very relaxed and smooth our mind. Two sprays its enough for the all day. This was only produced in 50ml bottles, if you see any other size be aware to be not the real deal. Veredict 10 in a 10. If you have the opportunity try it, even once in your life.

It's a shame Sahara Noir was discontinued, but I can understand why. It is not mass appealing. However, for those of us who love amber, it is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is so evocative. Shines best in colder months.

This is a spicy, incense-heavy scent that is certainly unique and definitely not safe for a blind-buy. I am torn on whether or not I truly like this as to me, for some reason, it smells like Christmas. In fact I've had this sentiment commented to me directly whilst I was wearing it. Because of that I keep it reserved as my "December fragrance".

I have a decant to sell. It's just too much for me =D its about 7ml, not in original bottle. if anyone interested I can ship within EU.

I've had this for about 10 years. I never cared for it much. It has a good amber and incense notes, but I thought it was too busy, too much going on. It's aged well. I like it more now and my taste has matured. I really like the green notes now, papyrus, calamus, and the cypress. It's slightly medicinal, perhaps from the synthetic oud. I get a bit of the florals from the mid. It's pleasantly interesting. I appreciate the several lengthy reviews following mine. You realy enjoy it a lot and expressed why. It's helping me see more of the positives.

No Tom Ford release dares to hold a candle to Sahara Noir, not even the very best of their private blend. It's like when lab scientists in horror movies come up with a "Frankenstein" molecule, and then it grows and evolves into a monster. This is what might have happened at Tom Ford beauty. I think they discontinued it because they couldn't afford the liability of having such an advanced and evolved "entity" in their lineup lol. Jokes aside: If you burn raw frankincense resins, the first reactions when you spray Sahara Noir are shock and awe. It doesn't smell like a perfume, it smells like a ceremony of burning the finest frankincense resins of the highest quality, which makes me entertain the idea that this might be the actual reason why they discontinued it? Who knows. But things don't stop there, because that would be boring right? No worries, Rodrigo Floris-Roux got you covered. Sahara Noir is a masterpiece in complexity, it reveals layers after layers of hidden notes, you just have to dig in beyond the frankincense smoke. Animalic beeswax, labdanum, papyrus, rose and amber all beautifully weave in and out. The harder you inhale with your nose, the more you discover. I don't expect this to be coming back. I would be surprised if it does. They don't make them like this anymore. I'm holding on my barely used precious bottle like Gollum.

What was the Tom Ford brand on about? Was he making a joke? To say this is a feminine fragrance, and push it as such so hard, is akin to saying incels are feminists. Not that I care one way or another, feminine or masculine, rock it if you love it. But I thought from the get-go that the brand backed this perfume into a corner when they refused to say men ought to try it too. It didn't sell, and they discontinued it. What shame. This business of art, right...? When I applied it to my arms and the tops of my hands, it shimmered. It was like I had applied a really light body oil or bronzer, glowing orange like desert sands. Once it dried and began to hug my skin the shimmer disappeared, but by then I didn't notice because I was stunned by this perfume. There is a sweetness to it from the honey note, which melds beautifully with the juicy orange at the top and the bright florals in the middle. The honey, citruses and florals are seamless and inseparable. But, these are really quite secondary and tertiary to the whole of this perfume. Going back to the opening, when it shimmered on my skin, I was hit by what smelled like glowingly hot, red-orange, dusty Arabian desert sands and smoldering frankincense. And when I say hot, I mean hot. It is uncommon for perfumes to capture something palpable like the heat of the sun, but this does so very convincingly. This amber is on fire. The frankincense is a stunner, absolutely gorgeous, complex, and feeding like a wild beast off of that red-orange hot dusty desert energy from the amber base. The florals and fruits that I mentioned appearing in the opening give an impression of their oils roasting in the scorching orange light. But, it's the labdanum and frankincense that are the stars of this show. All of the other notes are checks-and-balances, making sure that the frankincense and labdanum do not run too far off course. As the fragrance dries down, the bright orange heat of the midday sun passes, and the dusty sands, flowers, and trees are allowed to cool, and the frankincense cools as well. Letting the frankincense shape-shift and change temperature gives a remarkably effortless sense of time passing by, of the frankincense going on into eternity, and that's managed by Rodrigo Flores-Roux's exceptional handling of the labdanum, balsam, and mossy base. The final skin scent, after many hours, is a warm, honeyed, woody, and incense-flecked amber that feels a lot cooler relative to the heat of the opening and middle. Sahara Noir is strong, it is loud, it is confident, and it will cast its hot incense, sun scorched florals, and amber embers into the air like an explosive bonfire. Tom Ford, this is not a feminine fragrance, but neither is it masculine. It's its own thing. Like the Arabian desert itself, it doesn't care what you think of it, it's going to be what nature made it - the red, the orange, the heat, the rock florals, the smoldering incense, the gritty sands, and the alluring romanticism of a rich and complex history. Anyone can enter the desert, but be intensely prepared. I am absolutely in love with this perfume. It is simply stunning.

Very smoky, dark and timeless - evokes a sacred church, an ancient ritual, pages of a holy book. I can't really wear it - too many cemetery associations in my mind, growing up ortodox Christian. It's truly magical, mythical even - like it's from distant future and past at the same time.

I like to consider myself INCREDIBLY LUCKY when it comes to Tom Fords -- of the 12 - 15 I LOVE, I am only WITHOUT one -- Amber Absolute -- that's the only one that remains. Most of their best scents are, let's be honest, discontinued and hard to find. I don't quite get why... Sahara Noir reminds me of late 2014 - early 2015. It's dark, resinous, balsamic, slightly animalic and dense. Balsamic resins, smoke, bits of honey and wood, along with a slight amount of stank, and it just works. It ties together perfectly -- PERFECTLY. I think I might add this one to my pantheon -- I think it deserve to be there... So, here I am, in my 1500th review in, what, 13 years or so, still in love with this, still crazy about it. Why on earth would you stop making this? Now I need to ration this out...

To my nose it's very medicinal.Heavy on the citrus.Like liquid Vitamin C I used to drink as a kid,and a bit of cough syrup in the drydown.I smell no incense.Just something like a burned candle.

A Transcendent Experience When I once entered the perfumery in search of incense fragrances, this gift from the Orient was recommended to me. The moment the scent reached my nose, I closed my eyes and felt as though I had stepped into the most beautiful cathedral in the world. The incense embraced me and invited me to explore the darker mysteries of existence. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like the scent on me at all - but for me, Sahara Noir remains my great love. It’s a fragrance I can easily imagine on men as well. As for women, I can only see it on those with strong personalities - women who command a room the moment they enter. Confident, far from naïve or girlish. Sahara Noir - worthy of a god or goddess, standing proudly on a balcony, listening to the concert being performed in their honor.

Incense masterpiece! So happy that I sparingly spritzed this only in the cooler months. It has aged like fine wine. 😘

@RehanQ This is nothing like Amber Absolute. They are bold gorgeous, I like this one better, but 2 completely different perfumes. They should bring this back, *UNharmed* ..one of the best.

Exceptional. Said to be a reworking of their unisex perfume Amber Absolute.

I ADORE this in all its bitter, deep incense glory. It lasts for weeks on clothes. My bottle is from way back when it was just released, so years old and I’ve been using it very sparingly. Hoping for a re-release (TF did finally bring back Oud Wood although not Tobacco Oud which was my favorite, so fingers crossed)

It may say for women, but in my book this is absolutely a unisex fragrance, a couple of sprays in the office and the compliments just start rolling in. Subtly floral with dense base notes, such a great fragrance blend, it doesn't overpower and is very pleasing to wear.

This is really good like ridiculously good blend, I'd wear this religiously! Thick dense rich incense, all that honey amber and spices such a sexy and mysterious blend 😍

My beloved 11 year old bottle of Sahara Noir. This is back when TF made super long lasting, loud, daring fragrances that transported your imagination. This one, takes me to the Sahara desert. Spices roaming through the air next to an exotic flower field of something I’ve never smelled before. This is incense dominated. If you are a fan of incense like me and enjoy the classic Kilian Incense Oud and fragrances alike, you must try or own this gorgeous fragrance. Some highly sought after TF frags that are discontinued go for a hefty price tag, I did blind buy this one and don’t regret it at all, unlike Plum Japonais. Thankfully I turned a profit on PJ, it was nothing compared to good boozy plum frags out now days. Sahara Noir is a straight up masterpiece in the incense genre and I highly recommend!!!

It was 2022, and I went into my local Macy's. I smelt this on my wrist, and I was blown right away. It's such a shame, but at least I was lucky enough to try it. The last ones were made in 2022, and after that, the secondary market prices have just skyrocketed for a bottle, if only I had picked up a bottle. It's mainly incense, incense and more incense, but as someone else said, I'm all here for it. It's another that I need.

This is half SL Ambre Sultan and half SL Fille en Aiguilles. If you own both Serge Lutens, you already have Sahara Noir.

Straight incence and not much else. Beautiful bottle.

Just blind bought Sahara Noir.. it’s 100% heavy on incense in the opening. There are some florals wanting to peak out. The creativity of wanting to connect this scent to the Saharan Desert is fascinating to me. Amazingly well blended and for a 10 year old bottle, nothing smells sour or bad. If anything it’s macerated beautifully. I also own Amber Absolute, and while I see why people connect them in the same vein, they are different enough to own both. At the end of the day, I love incense, I took a gamble, and I won. If you don’t love incense, do not even think about buying this fragrance. Also, be careful bc there are fakes out there that do not have a heavy incense opening. There are obvious markers to compare a fake to the real. This is the era of Tom Ford I am after in my collection.

My first scrubber. My God, this is vile. I don't even know what I smell. Something extremely medicinal, bitter, screechy. Olfactory equivalent of chewing on and swallowing pine tree branches. 100% no. One and only sample I sprayed once and threw the rest away, it's so bad I want to forget it.

I'm convinced i have an expired bottle or something def wrong with it. I get a floral amber scent profile . No trace of incense what so ever , sweet and ethereal. I found several sites that list completely different notes. For top notes : Orange, violet, orange flower , ginger basil . For Middle notes:Grapefruit blossom , Orange blossom , Black pepper For base : Amber Patchouli Cedar , oakmoss , leather . It smells more like the note breakdown that i listed than what it shows on fragrantica . Has there been a reformulation or something . And definitely leans to the feminine side . I consider Amouage Interlude man to be incense oriented i consider Incense oud by Kilian to be an incense oriented smell . But Sahara noire is probably the furthest it can be from incense . In so confused :(

Finally got my hands on a 15ml and first impressions are mixed. The opening reminds me a lot of Bois d’Encens, the cypress and calamus is creating an open that’s smells close to Frankincense. I’ve realized recently that frankincense/olibanum is my least favorite balsam. Labdanum and myhrr being my favorite resins. So I was a little disappointed that the labdanum wasn’t as front and center. However, as this dried down this becomes quite a magnificent Amber. It’s what I imagine Amber Absolute must smell like. I need to give this a few more wears but this might be full bottle worthy for me.

Its too bitter for me.. and its not that strong.. Doesn't even compare to Mitzah in terms of performance and incense smell.. so I will sell it..

Incense heaven! This could be even better than Amber Absolute. It shares this undeniable similarity with Encens Satin, by Armani Prive. I think this is a little more detailed than Encens Satin, where Encens Satin is a little more simple and straight forward. This has more going on, its a bigger puzzle to solve. This is top 5 Tom Ford ever released.

FYI…this is getting rereleased.

Reiterating my love for this perfume and wanting to buy a bottle of it I can know for sure is authentic.

Really caught a good luck streak at this independent perfume store in Houston Tx in 2022 The 1st time I came in there not expecting much I spotted 3 Tom ford Sahara Noir’s $130 each till she tapped on her calculator and said she could do $115 before tax. They were sealed & covered in dust Worried they could be fake I still bought 2 & Nope!!! Went almost 2 weeks later and the 3rd one still there for me. So can sorta see now how when it was readily avail & in production marketed towards ladies how this may not have sold enough…I never got to experience Amber Absolute I have to settle for Black Friday sale at Parfums Vintage for Sandal Amber every year because I really love it. But this one pushes that Tom Ford Amber out on initial spray that blows all other ambers out of the water!! At least to me…& then 15 min comes in with that middle eastern type incense that projects & lasts & lasts! Tom Fords don’t do that anymore....So good