Tory Burch Knock on Wood is a vetiver and blood orange fever dream.
Tory Burch Knock on Wood (50 ml extrait de parfum $135 CAN, Sephora) is semi-deranged but in the best possible way.
It’s as if the brand had a safe, rose-and-magnolia ‘elegant lady’ scent, but after hours, when everyone had gone home, someone snuck in and topped up the tanks with gallons of blood orange oil and resinous, jungle-humid vetiver. (That’s how perfumery works, right? Giant vats at the office?)
The blood orange cleanly slices through vetiver’s darkness, although it doesn’t stick around long. What you are left with is a sunlit earthiness with a spicy aspect and a hidden floral undertow.
It’s the perfect scent for a walk on a rainy November day. With social distancing a fact of life into the foreseeable future, one should go full-on with fragrance, because no one around you will smell it otherwise. I like to give myself a good blast and then stroll through the neighbourhood, leaving a brilliant sillage.