Tom Ford’s galbanum-led green floral of 2016: mandarin, magnolia and honeysuckle in the Private Blend’s green set.
At a glance
Vert Bohème is a green floral eau de parfum from Tom Ford’s Private Blend collection, released in 2016 as one of Les Extraits Verts, a set of green fragrances. It opens on galbanum and Sicilian mandarin, moves to magnolia, honeysuckle and violet leaf, and rests on a soft, clean woody base.
Fragrantica and Parfumo both date it to 2016. Fragrantica now lists it as discontinued, and a lighter eau de toilette, Eau de Vert Bohème, followed in 2021.
Creation and context
Now Smell This reported the collection in August 2016: four Private Blend fragrances, Vert d’Encens, Vert des Bois, Vert Bohème and Vert de Fleur, described by the brand as “daring and intoxicating interpretations of perfumery’s classic ‘green’ note”. Kafkaesque and Memory of Scent reviewed the first three in the autumn of 2016, and the Tom Ford house page dates the set to the same year.
Tom Ford’s own copy, quoted by Kafkaesque, calls Vert Bohème “Tom Ford’s interpretation of green at its most free-spirited”, with Sicilian mandarin and magnolia enhanced by gustavia, which the brand describes as “The Tree of Heaven”, known for single blossoms that last just one day. Parfumo lists the note as “Gustavia ScentTrek™”, and Fragrantica describes that as a woody accord: it is a constructed note, not an extract of the flower.
Fragrantica credits the composition to Rodrigo Flores-Roux. Parfumo gives no perfumer, and Memory of Scent filed the Verts under “uncredited perfumer”, so treat the credit as Fragrantica’s alone. At launch it sold in 50 ml and 250 ml eau de parfum, at $225 and $595, according to both Now Smell This and Kafkaesque.
The composition
The note list below uses only materials named by at least two of the brand’s published list (via Now Smell This and Kafkaesque), Fragrantica and Parfumo.
Reviewers agree on the shape but not on the detail. Now Smell This found “a blast of rich galbanum” and could not pick out the magnolia. Kafkaesque found a muguet-like soapy floral and compared the style to 1970s green florals such as Chanel Cristalle and vintage Rive Gauche. Memory of Scent heard hyacinth over a galbanum, moss and vetiver accord and likened it to Jacomo Silences.
Why it matters
Les Extraits Verts were a deliberate turn away from the dense ambers, ouds and gourmands that dominated the Private Blend catalogue. The house page counts them as proof that Tom Ford “could work in a lighter register”, and Now Smell This’s editor called them the first Private Blends she had been interested in for some time.
Vert Bohème is the most classical of the set: a galbanum-led green floral in the line that runs from Balmain’s Vent Vert (1947) through the green florals of the 1970s. Tom Ford had already worked in this area as creative director at Gucci, where Envy (1997) set a transparent green floral of magnolia and violet. Vert Bohème brings the older, bitter galbanum style back in a modern, musky form.
Reformulation and editions
Vert Bohème was sold as an eau de parfum in 50 and 250 ml. In March 2021 Tom Ford released Eau de Vert Bohème, an eau de toilette that Now Smell This and Fragrantica both describe as a variation on the 2016 fragrance, with mandarin, magnolia, honeysuckle, violet and the gustavia accord.
Fragrantica lists the original eau de parfum as discontinued, and its reviewers report having to look for it on the resale market. No reformulation of the original has been documented.
Wearing it today
Expect a sharp galbanum and citrus opening, a fresh white-floral heart and a soft, clean base. Reviewers on Parfumo and Now Smell This found that it settles close to the skin within a few hours, so it suits daytime, spring and the office more than evening.
Because the eau de parfum is discontinued, buy from reputable resellers and check batch codes. If you want the same idea in current production, sample Eau de Vert Bohème, or go back to the green florals it draws on.