We review Lost Cherry, a spicily warm, tantalizingly luscious, and charmingly liqueurish unisex Eau de Parfum (EDP) from Tom Ford’s Private Blend Collection.
Tom Ford
Having served as the Creative Director at Italy-based fashion powerhouse Gucci and, previously, at French luxury house Yves Saint Laurent, Thomas Carlyle Ford founded Tom Ford in 2005.
Ford opened an online store in 2006 and, the following year, his flagship boutique at 845 Madison Avenue in New York City. His clothing, eyewear, watches, and fragrances quickly became a favorite among celebrities. Fashionistas and frag-heads expectedly followed suit.
When it comes to clothing, eyewear, and accessories, Ford’s sense of style is undeniable. In 2006, he made his mark on the world of fragrances when he launched the iconic Black Orchid in collaboration with American conglomerate Estée Lauder.
A year later, in 2007, Tom Ford introduced the Private Blend Collection of luxury fragrances, and, with the addition of new scents, that collection has been growing since.
Lost Cherry
Facts
| House | Tom Ford |
| Fragrance | Lost Cherry |
| Concentration | Eau de Parfum (EDP) |
| Nose | Louise Turner |
| Released | 2018 |
| Family | Gourmands |
| Description | A cherry scent that’s tart, sweet, and lucious. |
| Sizes | 0.3 fl oz (10 ml), 1 fl oz (30 ml), 1.7 fl oz (50 ml), 3.7 fl oz (100 ml) |
Ingredients
Denatured Alcohol, Water, Fragrance, Benzyl Salicylate, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamaldehyde, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Hydroxycitronellal, Benzyl Benzoate, Geraniol, Limonene, Coumarin, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citronellol, Eugenol, Isoeugenol, Benzyl Alcohol, Citral, Amyl Cinnamal, Farnesol, Cinnamal, Amylcinnamyl Alcohol, Anise Alcohol, Methyl 2-Octynoate, Oakmoss Extract, Treemoss Extract, Benzyl Cinnamate, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate.
Source: Tom Ford, last retrieved December 21, 2021
Our Review
It’s rather poetic that, in 2021, two fragrances were lost on the way to our editorial office—both due to events highly unlikely—and those fragrances were the 0.33 fl oz (10 ml) spray and the 3.4 fl oz (50 ml) bottle of Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry.
Faith, as it turns out, has a fine sense of irony, and her timing is nothing short of impeccable. Finally and against all odds, this much-discussed, rarely-in-stock fragrance found its way to me and our photographer.
The boozy sheen of Lost Cherry’s dark-red cherry and cherry liqueur gives way to a sweetly blend of Turkish rose and Arabian jasmine that permeates the senses. This full-bodied, love-it-or-hate-it perfume reaches a level of insatiability few gourmands can rival.
The top notes are tart cherry, bitter almond, and liqueur. The middle notes are Maraschino cherry, Turkish rose, and Arabian jasmine. The base notes are tonka beans, balsam of Peru, Bourbon vanilla, cinnamon, benzoin, sandalwood, cedar, and vetiver.
Had Tom Ford not come up with the name Lost Cherry, he might as well have called it 50 Shades of Cherry.
It’s plump. It’s delicious. If you are into cherries—and I don’t know about you, my love, but I myself am quite into them—it’s just begging to be bitten and nibbled on. Lust and lusciousness in a glossy, velvety fragrance.
From the very opening, Lost Cherry greets you with a cocktail of tart cherries soaked in alcohol-laden, bitter-sweet Amaretto liqueur imported straight from Italy’s provincial commune of Saronno, where it was invented by a student of Leonardo da Vinci’s centuries ago.
Picture a bowl of ripe, dark-red cherries laid on top of almonds. Dash them with Maraschino, a.k.a. cherry liqueur, or Amaretto, a.k.a. almond liqueur—whether you get one or the other depends on the chemistry of your skin—and you won’t be far off from this fragrance’s delicious top notes.
A dozen or so minutes in, the scent develops a somewhat medicinal, almost mossy, nuance. This is where you will either fall in love with Lost Cherry or where you will feel compelled to strip off your clothes, throw them in the washing machine, and wash away the scent with a quick shower.
Thankfully, this medicinal note eventually fades, at least for most wearers, freeing mental space for a sugary, lightly boozy cherry syrup with the powderiness of Turkish rose, the bitterness of almonds, and, if barely noticeable, the earthiness of Bourbon vanilla.
Slowly but surely, the scent of cherries intensifies as the undertone evolves on the sweeter and/or woodier side. Once again, whether you get more sweetness or more woodiness from the base notes is impossible to predict and ultimately depends on how this scent will blend with your skin.
This is the point at which the base notes finish unfolding, and the scent starts to dry down with a strong hint of—no prizes for guessing—cherry and the lingering scent of vanilla.
The main theme of Lost Cherry is, as the name suggests, cherry. In case you haven’t given this fragrance a whiff yet, expect to indulge in exactly that—and temper your expectations for much else.
The smell of cherries is forward and indiscreet, much like the look of red lipstick. Yet the fragrance itself is sweet and mellow, and can best be described as one that’s not overpowering, with a soft touch.
Longevity
Lost Cherry isn’t the longest-lasting fragrance in our collection. And it won’t be in yours, either. In our tests, the scent lasted for a maximum of 4 to 5 hours on the skin before fading away and needing to be reapplied.
So, if you need Lost Cherry to stay on you from dusk to dawn, you will have to carry it with you and spritz it on your pulse points several times a day, probably in the morning, at noon, in the early and late afternoon, and then a few times during dinner.
Plan on having to reapply this fragrance often. If this is love at first whiff, you will run of the spray or the glass bottle fairly quickly—and have to restock your supply of it more frequently than you think.
You asked, we answered: Why some perfumes last longer than others
Sillage
Lost Cherry is one of those fragrances that sits close to the skin. You, along with anyone close to you, will certainly be able to sense it. With that being said, the sillage wears off quickly and, within an hour, your perfume will be barely noticeable to others.
It is best worn in an intimate setting or a confined space, such as in a dark-lit establishment on a date night or a balcony at the opera. If you were to wear it in cold weather and go outside, Lost Cherry would most probably disappoint.
Layering
Lost Cherry layers particularly well with another warm and spicy scent from Tom Ford’s Private Blend Collection, Tobacco Vanille. We attribute it to the fact that both of these scents contain creamy tonka bean and earthy vanilla in their formulations.
A lesser-known and exceptionally good layering is between Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry and Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s amber and woody Baccarat Rouge 540, also a warm and spicy scent.
Sizes
Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry is an Eau de Parfum (EDP) that comes in four standard sizes: 1 fl oz (30 ml), 1.7 fl oz (50 ml), and 3.4 fl oz (100 ml) bottles, as well as a travel-sized 0.33 fl oz (10 ml) spray.
The juice is pale yellow and mostly transparent. It is in a beautiful dark-red bottle in the typical shape of the Private Blend Collection with a pale-pink label and a high-quality atomizer that delivers a fine mist.
The bottle and packaging will decorate your dresser drawer. However, and as is the case with most perfumes at this price point, it is relatively inconvenient for travel. Owners of frequent-flyer cards should consider buying the travel-sized spray in addition to the glass bottle.
Read our guide: Which size perfume to buy?
Price Tag
This fragrance is on the pricy side, even for a fragrance from Tom Ford’s Private Blend Collection. Also, don’t try to relate the price to the intensity of the fragrance, as I did, or you will be disheartened.
On the day of publishing this article, the 0.33 fl oz (10 ml) travel spray retailed for $75, the 1 fl oz (30 ml) bottle for $216, the 1.7 fl oz (30 ml) for $368, and the 3.4 fl oz (100 ml) sold for $499.
Awards & Recognition
In 2019, Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry won The Fragrance Foundation‘s Fragrance of the Year: Women’s Luxury award, also known as the “Oscars of the fragrance industry.”
Two years after, in 2021, Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry won Allure magazine’s Best of Beauty Award.
In Conclusion
If you’re into gourmand perfumes, like cherries, and can stomach the steep price tag, there’s a high chance you will fall in love with Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry. While this perfume isn’t for every occasion, it can serve as the cherry on the cake in moments of glamour and intimacy.
