Tom Ford Eau de Soleil Blanc review: the heart wants what the heart wants

I spent most of 2020 and 2021 being obsessed by scents. I don’t know why – was it that being cooped up in my home deprived my nose and brain of stimulants? Was it to remind myself that my nose was working? I surrounded myself with candles, spritzed perfume, tackled my fragrance samples, baked bread, made stew and inhaled. When the stores opened again, I made a beeline to the fragrance counters.

And because life is too short, I finally got Tom Ford’s Eau de Soleil Blanc. I’ve got a complicated relationship with TF, the brand. I don’t like the makeup particularly, I find his glitzy 80s aesthetics brash and cringey, but I share his obsession with suntan lotion-like fragrances. And I’ve wanted one form or other of Soleil Blanc since 2016.

Mr. Ford’s obsession with suntan lotions scents (and mine)

In 2007, he did a collab with Estee Lauder, and launched lipsticks and a fragrance: Azuree Soleil, the OG suntan lotion scent. It came back through legal loopholes one year later as Bronze Goddess, and Alberto Morillas, the ‘nose’ aka perfumer behind the fragrance, found his crowning glory in it: it’s just so damn good. (I’ve written a lot about it through the years, because I like it a lot and own it in quite a few iterations.)

I was wearing demure Hermès during that time, elegant, restrained and business-appropriate: take me seriously, it screamed. I don’t remember what the fragrance business was like at the time, but I guess Azuree Soleil/ Bronze Goddess was like a hedonistic punch in the face. (From the Aughts, I basically remember Clinique Happy, MJ Daisy and D&G Light Blue. We did wear a lot of florals, didn’t we?!)

When Tom Ford licensed his beauty brand with Estee Lauder in 2010, he kept away from suntan lotion skin scents. Then, in 2016, he launched Soleil Blanc and Orchid Soleil (apparently discontinued), picked up steam in 2017 with Eau de Soleil Blanc and Soleil Neige (2018). In 2021 we got Soleil Brulant. Let’s see what they launch next year. As with BG from Lauder, they seem to have realized that it’s sufficient to just give us the same thing in a slightly different iteration every year.

Tom Ford: Eau de Soleil Blanc review

KEY NOTES: Coco De Mer, Ylang Ylang from Comores Island, Bergamot Flower

FRAGRANCE DESCIRPTION: Vibrant with radiant citrus, Eau de Soleil Blanc presents pistachio, infused with spices that transport to a remote private island. A blend of jasmine, tuberose and ylang ylang from the Comoro Islands sparkles with Moroccan orange flower, as luscious Coco de Mer brings the perfume’s balancing warmth.

Tom Ford

Perfumer: Nathalie Gracia-Cetto

Eau de Soleil Blanc opens with a slightly bitter citrus accord of bergamotte and cedrat, accompanied by spices that aren’t that ubiquitous pink pepper (thank God!), but cardamon and the milky green pistachio. The floral heart is mainly white with capital letters: a white, clean jasmine (no cat pee associations here!), a fleshy, unctuous tuberose and, for me, the first suntan lotion accord association: ylang ylang.

The “coco de mer” accord mentioned in the official description above is what gives Eau de Soleil Blanc its coconut scent: the coco de mer is, in fact, a palm tree from the Seychelles whose fruit have a coconutty, slightly citrus taste and smell. Eau de Soleil’s dry down is a wonderfully smooth benzoe and tonka accord.

And yes, it’s fun, and warm, and that ideal day at the beach that exists solely in your memory: for me it’s the exotic white flowers in a beach resort and my mother’s Pucci bikinis and SPF4 suntan lotion from the 80s.

Comparison: Bronze Goddess, Soleil Blanc, Eau de Soleil Blanc

White flowers, coconut, and the warm skin scent of suntan lotion – that’s what all of those three connect. And depending on the person you ask, you’ll hear that those three all smell the same, or are nothing alike.

I chose Eau de Soleil Blanc over Soleil Blanc because it adds to the tuberose-ylang ylang-benzoe-tonka mix of Soleil Blanc the citrus top notes (bergamotte, cedrat) that make Eau de Soleil Blanc sparkle: it gives it a hint of freshness that elevates the ylang ylang coconutty vibe and makes it dance. Soleil Blanc is basically a floral gourmand to me that lacks that beachy vibe: sure, it has that tropical feel due to the tuberose/jasmine/ylang ylang – but then, it kind of peters off into a sweet skinlike musk-but-not-musk scent of benzoe and cocoa. (It’s also hellishly expensive with $263 for the smallest 50ml bottle.)

Bronze Goddess these days comes as a (OG) Eau Fraiche and Eau de Parfum. (Is your head spinning yet?) The Eau Fraiche obviously is a very evanescent fragrance. I have to reapply every three to four hours, while every iteration of Soleil Blanc clings to me like nobody’s business. (I’d say it lasts about twelve hours on my skin.)

Bronze Goddess vs. Eau de Soleil Blanc

Bronze Goddess and Eau de Soleil Blanc achieve a very similar thing slightly differently: while Eau de Soleil Blanc gives you a blast of citrus and spice in the top notes, Bronze Goddess doesn’t. BG also hits you directly with a blast of coconut milk and amber right when you spray it, then developing into something more complex.

In the end it’s the question of price, longevity, seasonality (theoretically, Bronze Goddess is a limited summer edition every year) and what you prefer as top notes. BG comes in a 100ml bottle for a very palatable $68 (Ulta), while you usually can score great deals (I just found it for 46,50€ on a German webstore).

Price & Availability

And if you were thinking, when seeing this post: “why does this weirdo write about a summer scent at the end of summer?” – well, that’s because I’ll be totally wearing it in winter too, on dreary grey days when all you want is a hint of a tropical beach.

Eau de Soleil Blanc is available at (for example) Sephora, Douglas, and the Tom Ford website, starting at $95 for 30ml.

Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.