Our take
What does Lost Cherry smell like?
Released in 2018 as part of Tom Ford’s Private Blend, Lost Cherry embraces a boozy, sultry, almost cinematic gourmand style. The opening is unmistakably cherry: dark fruit, cherry liqueur and bitter almond, recalling kirsch and candied morello. The heart softens things with rose, jasmine and a velvety plum that add depth. Tonka bean, sandalwood and vanilla in the base create a creamy, slightly woody warmth that holds well. The composition plays between forbidden fruit and dessert, with a hint of alcohol that keeps it from turning into candy. An openly seductive scent that launched a wave of gourmand cherries.
When to wear it
Wear it at night in cold weather, for a date. It suits fans of bold, slightly theatrical gourmands.
The story of Lost Cherry
Lost Cherry arrived in 2018 in the Private Blend line, which Tom Ford created in 2007 for his more specialised compositions. Tobacco Vanille and Oud Wood are its historic landmarks. A year earlier the house had courted controversy with a deliberately crude name, Fucking Fabulous. Lost Cherry carries on that taste for innuendo, since losing your cherry is a barely veiled sexual image in English. Louise Turner composed it. The brief pushed fruit toward something darker and more nocturnal than the pink cherries of mainstream perfume. The deep red bottle sets the tone before the first spray. It landed just as gourmands were moving beyond mass-market perfumery and into niche. Its boozy angle, more grown-up than candy, set a template others followed. Tom Ford extended the theme himself with more cherries, including Electric Cherry and Cherry Smoke. Rival houses have released plenty of gourmand cherries since then. Lost Cherry is still the reference point, the one every newcomer gets measured against.
Our detailed review
Straight out of the nozzle it smells of kirsch and cherries in syrup, boozier than fruity, with bitter almond that recalls the stone. This opening splits people. Some smell cherry candy. We smell the bottom of a liqueur glass, with a small alcoholic sting that lasts about fifteen minutes. A more floral phase follows as rose and jasmine wrap around the plum. This is its best moment: the fruit turns dark and almost candied, and less sweet than at the start. After three hours tonka and vanilla take charge. The almond comes back, powdery now, in a creamy base where sandalwood stays shy. That is our main reservation. The drydown resembles a lot of gourmands and loses the character of the opening. On dry skin it also fades faster than the first hour suggests. It will please anyone who likes grown-up desserts and a boozy Black Forest cake. If marzipan-style almond turns your stomach, walk on by.
Lost Cherry vs its rivals
La Petite Robe Noire shares the cherry and almond opening, the rose and the tonka-vanilla pairing. The differences are in the detail. Liquorice, anise and tea give the Guerlain a darker, drier and more powdery feel, while Lost Cherry stays syrupy and boozy. Cassili from Parfums de Marly takes the plum, vanilla, tonka and sandalwood. It swaps the cherry for redcurrant and adds frangipani and mimosa, ending up as a creamier sunlit floral with no alcohol at all. Good Girl only shares almond, jasmine and rose. Its coffee and cocoa make it a darker gourmand, with tuberose on top. Pick Lost Cherry for the liqueur effect and for evenings. La Petite Robe Noire is the easier everyday cherry. Cassili suits you if you want the sweetness without the kirsch.
Longevity, projection and use
Rated 4 out of 5 for intensity, this eau de parfum projects well for the first two hours before moving closer to the skin. Expect six to eight hours in normal conditions, a little less on dry skin and more on a knit. Two sprays are enough, one on the neck and one on a wrist. Outdoors in the cold, a third is justified. This is an autumn and winter scent for evenings, dinners and dates. In summer the liqueur turns to syrup and gets tiring fast, even in small doses.
It belongs to the Gourmand, Fruity family. Lost Cherry is one of 14 creations by Tom Ford in our encyclopedia.
