When I smell Tom Ford White Patchouli on my skin, I'm reminded of this bizarre billboard that I used to see near my grandparents' house, when I was a kid. It was for a cigarette brand called 555, and it read, "SMOOTHNESS. ABOVE ALL ELSE."

This pretty much sums up White Patchouli. It's a gentrified patchouli, not dirty or overly earthy or reminiscent of the back of someone's VW bus.

If you walked into a record store in Chicago wearing this, John Cusack would not be tempted to turn around and emphatically yell, "Get your patchouli stink outta my store!" as he did to Tim Robbins. (Please, please, let someone else out there love the movie High Fidelity and remember that line.)

It's very well blended, no sharp edges, just smoothness. Notes include patchouli, white flowers, peony, bergamot, coriander, jasmine, rose, ambrette seed, blond woods, and incense.

And now that we've had a reference to cigarettes and one to a movie, let's add in another pop culture reference for good measure, shall we? White Patchouli's drydown, for some reason, evokes cold, pale white marble, at least in my head. Think...Edward Cullen. And indeed, this scent could work on a man, especially a sparkling, rock-hard, undead one.

I can't say that I like it enough to buy a whole bottle, but then again, I've never really never been drawn to patchouli at all. That said, if you like the idea of patchouli but can't bring yourself to wear it, you might want to give White Patchouli a whirl.