Perfumer Reviews 'Plum Japonais' by Tom Ford

[@JohnCorbettMusic]

Aaron, you should start a new fragrance line where you do all the improvements you say you would on these fragrances you review and reimagine them in your style! I know that would be massively popular 🦄

[@caseyplunkett6083]

Tiziana Terenzi and Bodicea the Victorious both do this. Aaron would likely never do this.

[@3rdfitzgerald]

I agree 👏🏿👏🏿

[@JohnnyExtremer]

I'm waiting for Aaron to do a Amber and rose fragrance with some spicyness.

[@zenttofrizzy8479]

@@MARTIN-hs2by you can find boadicea perfumes for 80 bucks in niche arab boutiques in paris So boadicea is a big rip off

[@zenttofrizzy8479]

@@MARTIN-hs2by the formulation it’s literally the same brother like blue sapphire is called qurashi blend for 160€ It’s literally the same

[@SC-lb6cn]

I love how you describe creating the feeling of purple in a fragrance.

[@saltychipdust5700]

Yes Aaron do the scent improvements and give discontinued or neutered fragrances a new lease on life, I’d buy them!!!

[@JoeCoplen]

The inspiration for the one is Japanese Umeshu - plum wine/brandy made with Japanese green plums. If you ever get a chance, give it a try and it might give you a different appreciation for Plum Japonais.

[@caseyplunkett6083]

Forget Estee Lauder I've found replacements for all of the fragrances that I like from that conglomerates portfolio.

[@MrDamburger]

Do tell what ones are good replacements? Dua smells awful

[@Jindujun]

Well thats a surprise seeing you reviewing this masterpiece! Was a blindbuy for me which I did not regret! Very unique!

[@timme2844]

When it comes to plum in fragrances I prefer my plum with juxtaposition.... I find that in LouLou(vintage) which never comes close to woody or gourmandesque and gives me just that. Although I will say the far drydown does exude more of a powdery finish than I generally prefer but I find the extrait curbs that facet considerably. Great review Boss! Love my PJ!

[@samyyyyyyy]

Thanks Aaron!! Love the reviews! Great eye contact too!!

[@extraordinary_scents6806]

Excellent review. I think you need to do an ATH version of a plum fragrance with lots of darkness and spice. Would be fantastic.

[@louisefisher9959]

I hear alot of love for this. A dark Plumb fragrance with ylang-ylang sounds amazing. 🦄

[@soft2]

I personally absolutely love this layered with Tobacco Vanille or Tobacco Oud.

[@joeribt]

Thanks for the review. I considered getting this multiple times, now I regret not having pulled the trigger. I was doubting, as I thought Plum Japonais resembled many Serge Lutens fragrances - and I liked those better.

[@Methylglyoxal]

You have a beautiful way to talk. And this is definitely one of my favorite fragrances. It's like very thick and very ripe plums sitting in a dark, woody oak barrel waiting to be distilled. Also a reminiscence version of this perfume by you with mandarine, ylang-ylang, rose, ginger, oud sounds lovely.

[@chuck9569]

Plum japonais 10/10 in eyes. I bought this 2 months ago on eBay and I’m finally able to start wearing it. I wouldn’t change a thing about it! 🤷‍♂️🥳

[@jamesthefragranceguy]

How much did you pay?

[@adriancano3991]

When I first started I hated spicy and dark now I love it. Nice video

[@MrDamburger]

I only have a 30ml of this which is 80% full and I haven't used it in so long because it's so gorgeous I'd be very upset to finish it... Need to save it for when I have a special someone again

[@jamesgonzalez4922]

My absolute favorite fragrance of all time. Would be great if they re-released it under their signature line.

[@cuchanu]

Alexandria makes a clone of it that is arguably better than the original. That's probably debatable but it's excellent. If you have a hard time finding the original it may be worth checking out

[@GaryJackson921]

@@cuchanu Alexandria's dupe is a good fragrance but nowhere near as great as plum japonaise..... Still worth checking out however don't expect a substitute for PJ....

[@jamesthefragranceguy]

​@cuchanu I have smelt both. I actually prefer the Alexandria. It smells more natural and has more plum. Lasts longer too

[@tanjafly187]

@@cuchanu is Alexandria is a brand or the name of Parfum? I love Tom Ford plump japonIse

[@cuchanu]

@@tanjafly187 it's a clone perfume company

[@ChescoYT]

I found an alternative to TF Plum Jap. this week: 'Zafferano I Valmont' created by the Rockstar Perfumer Cécile Zarokian

[@Ulvaeus]

If you happen to be going to Rome Italy, a high end department store named ‘Coin Excelsior’ is still carrying this as of last week, along with a number of other hard to get TF fragrances.

[@paimei26]

what are the prices like ?

[@Ulvaeus]

@@paimei26 I bought Fougere D’Argent (50ml) and it came out as about $300 Canadian.

[@AviSLeigh]

Plum Japonais is one of my favorite scents! But I absolutely agree it doesn’t project well for long!

[@desepps9008]

We need a ATH plum fragrance!!!

[@ChescoYT]

Onyx comes close but the clean modern Oud he uses is completely different than TF's dusty antique style.

[@AaronTerenceHughes]

Wait for 2023!!!!!!!!!🦄🦄🦄🦄

[@cambyrd9125]

@@AaronTerenceHughes I can't wait!

[@summermint17]

Love your channel. Thank you for the review ❤. This fragrance is gorgeous , I treasure mine 50 ml . For me it’s most realistic Japanese temples incense smell

[@ChescoYT]

They used the same base of their Oud Wood fragrance and added a plum spice, and it's fucking incredible!! It's Tom Ford's greatest fragrance ever made imo. Sometimes they release bottles of it in secretely in selective stores. I passed up on the opportunity to buy 2 bottles at Saks last year because i refuse to pay the ripoff TF prices for only 50ml. That's like $700 for a normal bottle of juice per 100/ml. Most don't project or last. Can't support TF (aka Estée Lauder) because of this. They are re-releasing classics now, ('Mineral' and 'Bois Marocain'). Bois Marocain is fucking INCREDIBLE and slept-on like a mf! It's actually worth the money! 🚀 Praying that TF also re-releases Plum Jap soon. 🤞

[@shefayetchowdhury6316]

Thanks for reviewing this Aaron!... Yes, it's disappointingly discontinued and I've been looking to get hold of a bottle for a while, but no luck!... Did you already have a bottle?

[@gerardzonjee]

My SOTD today. So nice. Some music just kinda “lift your heart”, like Clocks from Coldplay. This fragrance does that too. Brings a spring in my step. No need to search for Ethyl Maltol whipping somewhere, or analysing a plum note, it just “lifts your heart”. On my skin the longevity is there, but enjoy it while you can carry it with you. An old school TF, the good ones…

[@miguelhernandez9231]

Great review. They say that ATHENA SMOKEY PLUM, is very close. I would like to know what would be a good layering combo?

[@omomo202]

I loved this so much I actually bought a replica from one of those imitation houses. Don’t judge me too harshly! It’s not bad but I don’t remember what it used to smell like! I really liked this at the time, though. Tom Ford was my favourite fragrance house and this generation of perfumes still are! I’d love to smell YOUR version of it!! 😁

[@justinjackson6496]

What is the clone you found?

[@omomo202]

@@justinjackson6496 from Alexandria fragrances. It’s not bad! When you buy it it needs to sit for at least 3 weeks for some reason and then it smells good!

[@ampgorky]

Never smelled it but I like this video! It’s hard to learn about perfume creation, etc. glad I found this chan generally. Thanks :)

[@rumbepack]

I think this will be coming to the regular collection like ombre leather.

[@cliffordnorton2674]

Thank you 👍👍👍 PLEASE can you make this one the centre of a mood board for a winter fragrance this year? ❤

[@tnductai]

whenever plum japonais is posted for sale with a reasonable price in the fb group, it's sold within hours. Hope estee lauder will bring it back, like bois moroccan was brought back in 2022.

[@Willensimperium]

Really like your videos, just stumbled upon them by chance while looking for a scent from you. Had a sample of Filth here and loved it and then I saw it's not in production anymore :(

[@PianoScoreVids]

"need to create the feeling of purple" that was a nice description

[@dawwlo]

Great video Aaron! You're kind to TF when it comes to commenting price of their creations 😎

[@alanhansen8218]

I suppose that I’m fortunate to own an original bottle of “Plum Japonais” and yes, I truly adore it. Aaron, if there’s any way I can encourage you to create ‘your’ version of this idea, as you related it, I would absolutely prepay for a bottle. I find your Oud collection exquisite and own them all but one which is on my ‘to buy’ list. you do Oud like no other!

[@jamesthefragranceguy]

In my opinion this is easily the best Tom Ford fragrance ever made - not just based on the quality and complexity of this fragrance but also the quality of the ingredients used. If I had to hazard a guess as to why this was discontinued I'm going to guess it was because it was too expensive to produce

[@misterfinerthings]

Nice review Aaron. I love the note of plum and wish it were used more. If you haven't already, you should check out Widian Black II and IV, Single Malt by Kilian, and Plum in Cognac by Scents of Wood.

[@1994rastaboy]

You should try Van Cleef & Arpels Orchid Leather, I recently got it and it smells sweet plum-y all the way through for me.

[@The_Babbling_Brooks]

I adore Plum Japonais. So so so good!

[@vitalygrigorjev7369]

Thanks for the review and especially for all the explanation how all those ingredients work. Found for myself something new today, the fact that, if you making sweat fragrance you kinda need to add citruss top notes, cus otherwise scent will be too sweat. Explains why many fragrance houses have bergamot or lemon top notes.

[@ryanmurray6066]

I hope they bring this back like ombre leather and Casta azure in a signature line. I ran out right after it was discontinued. This is my favorite Tom Ford!

[@paveldoslakoski727]

I'm going to try this one really exited for it.

[@Amber-py5ef]

Hey aaron hope your well. Absolutley love all your reviews. Please review juniper sling by penhaligon

[@oussochou4186]

Performance very good for me...i find it perfect with no need for any twist....perhaps extra natural oud maybe would make it mysterious and dark...yeah maybe

[@Saxeh]

Why is it always my house favourites which get discontinued?

[@JoinTheProgress]

Same. PJ was by *far* the best TF ever made, imo. Discontinued it within months of me discovering it.

[@ChescoYT]

because they are wolves discontinuing fragrances that cost them the most to make

[@JoinTheProgress]

@@ChescoYT Is that the reason??

[@alxnprtz]

Please review Arabians Tonka from Montale! It's so fantastic and well blended. This doesn't come off your skin.

[@leutiagrey8030]

When i heard you listing the fragrances, “cinnamon” threw me way off. I don’t think it blends well with oriental ingredients. Like you said, it starts to sound like food, a fruit smoothie, I imagine. PS I just found your channel, looking for reviews for YSL Libre Intense. I loved your insight and talent for dissecting notes from flavors, and rearranging them. Thank you. I’m a new sub :)

[@Salaaran]

I am really curious, are there a lot of people who are actively against calling that style of perfumery an oriental? To me it seems a little silly to get worked up about that naming, we are talking about a class of perfumes, not really any specific people. Interesting review though, it would be interesting to have a chance to smell the vision you had for it, because to me it sounds like you would change it quite drastically, so I don't even know if they would be recognized as being similar when you are done haha! Cheers for yet another interesting video

[@Hairculesss]

Aaron it would be really nice if you make a video on Guerlain's Lhomme Ideal Line (Extreme, EDP, L'intense, Cologne)

[@bradleysmith4317]

Probably my fav TF fragrance….just not willing to pay the going rate to buy it. Hope they rerelease it maybe in his sig line. If not I’ll just enjoy it from afar

[@snpdo]

a real gem, recently picked a sealed boy up 👍

[@t.d.5457]

Yes sir. Plum Japonais, Japon Noir and Amber Absolut are the big 3 from TF. Nuff said.

[@TheKamrenB]

Forbidden Plum by Alexandria Fragrances is supposed to be inspired by TF Plum Japonais

[@aromafromheaven]

Great review.very interesting

[@marvyeap]

Hi Aaron, I love your reviews and i learnt and got into darker fragrances because of you. Also now owned many Tom Ford because of you. Really opened my sense of smell. Would you mind linking where you got the bottle of Plum Japonais on Ebay? I worry about fakes. Many thanks. Cheers

[@oisnowy5368]

I'd guess the name wouldn't be inviting enough for a first smell. And it sounds specialized, so I could see it scare off more people. I think it sounds rather inviting, but I can't recall I'd ever seen it front and center in a shop. I'm more enthusiastic about Purple de Aaron or whatever the improved version of ATH could be called.

[@dukeagainsttheodds3170]

I love plum!

[@simianrogue]

Aaron, I have a question for you regarding an old fragrance from the 80's - it would have been around 1988 when I worked in Next, and at that time they produced a men's fragrance in a matte gun metal-coloured bottle with light blue font, very minimalist. But I have to say, the smell was AMAZING. The nearest thing I have recently experienced in its smell profile is Sauvage when it released. I just wondered if you (or any of your audience here) know the fragrance I'm referring to, and if so, what were your thoughts on it?

[@patrickbateman4541]

I would recommend asking on r/fragrance

[@n0cturnalgamer]

since this is upwards of £400 now thanks to being discontinued, what similars are out there?

[@justinjackson6496]

Today I’m wearing Plum in Cognac by Scents of Wood. I bought it as a substitute since I could not find Plum Japonaise anywhere and have never smelled it. Plum in Cognac is gorgeous though

[@Btree33]

Yes but so so different

[@Bredddi]

Is it leaning male or female? I’m late 30’s and like refined mysterious fragrances that exude success and having your affairs set

[@ytownmark3563]

Love this, it's my SOTD.

[@Btree33]

The original plum japonIs smells much different then the most recent batches. Almost nothing woody in the early release and not dry at all if anyone is curious

[@rob409BOI]

Hopefully we get an ATH version of this

[@jeweljeff7399]

Hey Aaron where did you get your bottle from?

[@dannyc91a]

Well it has been discontinued, so seeing as it was popular, maybe you could do your interpretation of it

[@aikjones1]

i''ve got a 40ml decant of this, brilliant stuff.

[@Namo81]

Love this one of the best from Tom Ford

[@caseyplunkett6083]

For those who are seeking Plum Japonais I recommend sampling Rouge Saray by Atelier Des Ors. The plum and spice are certainly there and Rouge Saray is smoother. Plum Japonais is bolder with sharper notes, whereas R.S is more refined.

[@revenge0lobster]

I don’t know what it is, but the Atelier des Ors fragrances seem a bit “scratchy” to me. I love Arabesque by Merchant of Venice for a rich, plum-forward scent, and the performance is beast mode! I have a few fragrances from the house, and the quality of how they blend is really something special.

[@JT-rx1eo]

I have a decant of Rouge Saray and Plum Japonaise. Rouge Saray is OK, but Plum Japonaise is exquisite.

[@jacktaylor3064]

Aaron please can you review LHomme ideal EDP from guerlain

[@cheekster777]

Thanks Aaron.

[@sophiafilms8072]

Is there anything that comes close to this as far as similarity goes?

[@danb.2338]

Great Review and Interpretation! Too bad it's discontinued.

[@lofasz3328]

they love to discontinue their best fragrances 😑 mandarino di amalfi is my favorite if all time and it's also discontinued I think...

[@HarrisPilton789]

Is this fragrance unisex? Would it work well on a woman?

[@TeyanThuny]

Plum is the best note in fragrances

[@sophiafilms8072]

Whats a good substitute?

[@Kabodnm]

are you saying glackwood to avoid getting banned or is that a real scent?

[@Principemostprincipe]

Easily the best TF private blend of all time for me. Wish it is a bit stronger

[@babywallet3224]

Hi Aaron, Australian postage please. Can't you just sell via Amazon and let them ship for you!?

[@AaronTerenceHughes]

No. It’s dangerous goods and my work needs to be wrapped correctly.

[@zakhaddad5222]

Please review santal 33 😭

[@glennbond8266]

I have read that this is more for women. Even though technically it’s unisex. Is this true? Thanks.

[@Inothanks171]

ATH has to be the most interesting fragrance reviewer

[@donk4254]

Aaron you did me dirty, sending me a 2 ml of hard candy when i can't buy it anymore. I would commit heinous crimes to get a bottle

[@SeedKreations]

i think. fragrances get discountinued cause they dont sell as expected, ifra restrictions on ingredients, problem with perfume storage, or simply cause the company does not want to have it on their catalog anymore. mostly is related to money reasons. i love the smell of plum. but yet cant find good aromachemicals that will give me what im looking for. so i choose a different path. to archieve it. cant speak of it here, could cause controversy.

[@lukeweeks3470]

It's not an ATH review if it doesn't have ethyl maltol whipping through the base 🦄

[@Topten0548]

Sir, can you tell me sources of your perfume knowledge

[@abdelrahmanahmed4868]

is it better than tobacco vanille

[@JT-rx1eo]

Depends on who you ask. This game is all subjective. I would say it's on par with Tobacco Vanille.

[@Tyl1000]

Amber Absolute is another really good scent they discontinued.

[@Btree33]

It’s back!

[@PaulSteere]

I enjoy the plummy opening to this but it dies on me so quickly and is barely a skin scent after a while, and not a memorable one at that.

[@YankeeFlamee]

Woop woop

[@empera3zz]

This one was gorgeous blend, altho it stayed one hour on my skin. Older formulations was much more longlasting. plum, reisins, spices and musks is divine blend. You Aaron should make chypre oriental creation with plum.

[@alethink5492]

Delta damascone bomb

[@revenge0lobster]

I picked up Arabesque by Merchant of Venice in lieu of this, but I still want to get my nose on Plum Japonais! “Top notes are Tobacco Leaf, Plum and Ginger; middle notes are Cinnamon, Tonka Bean and Cedar; base notes are Benzoin, Musk and Vetiver” on Arabesque, per Fragrantica.

[@gamalielcenteno4801]

💯💯💯👍👍👍

[@BrandonBaileyIG]

I wish this wasn't overpriced on ebay... and was still avail. IF anyone has a bottle they wanna get rid of or swap.. hit me up!

[@osgoodshlatters3722]

It's probably been reformulated. The original 2007 was incredible

[@lukeweeks3470]

It was launched in 2013 so I don't think you're talking about the right fragrance...

[@osgoodshlatters3722]

@@lukeweeks3470 That's correct 2013. I own the fragrance just got the year wrong. For some reason thought it was 2007

[@lukeweeks3470]

@@osgoodshlatters3722 Yeah it’s no issue. I have a 2018 batch of Tuscan leather that I bought last month, just a 10ml travel spray. Very strong stuff

[@biolizard131]

This one had so much hype, I got a sample and it just smelt old musty mothy to me, reminded me of my nan! :(

[@jmg221]

Nope. My first Tom Ford I tried and did not WOW me at all.

[@Mi3940]

Tom ford and CREED dead and buried long time ago😏

[@ChescoYT]

TF still raking in massive money tho with Tobac Vanille and Oud Wood.

[@Mi3940]

@@ChescoYT that is EXACTLY what I meant by DEAD AND BURIED as now these two brands are not PERFUME HOUSE.now they become corporate money making machines. All the perfumes water down and reformulated. I can tell by EXPERIENCE 😏✌️

[@JoinTheProgress]

The BEST Tom Ford, by far, in my humble opinion. I tried literally over a half dozen TF frags over time...hated them all...came to this one...and VIOLA..."NOW I understand why people like TF." *Then* , of course, he discontinued it, literally within months of me discovering it. It's actually one of the best perfumes ever made IMO. He found out I liked it and ditched it immediately. I have a tiny bit left and can't even bear to sniff it any longer because I enjoy it so much and *I can't get it any more* . Hate him for that, (I know, strong word), so I've boycotted all his frags for it. For the record, I don't doubt you could improve on it. Cheers, hope you're well over there across the pond.