Description
West Side perfume, created by Michael Almairac, is inspired by the music of the very city, Carnegie Hall, the concert block, made of huge concert hall, two smaller halls and the museum, which spreads along whole block from 56th to 57th West Street, then Lincoln Center, complex of main cultural institution buildings, house of 12 arts, music and film industry, University, ballet, New York opera, Metropolitan opera, spreading all the way down the blocks on West Side, and the famous club Studio 54 in Manhattan. The bottle is decorated with universal symbol of music, the violin key, connecting this perfume with the musical heritage of the New York City, to which this fragrance is dedicated to. The music is everywhere on the West Side. The perfumes, as well as the music, are based on well balanced rhythm, melodious composition, harmonic or high notes. Top notes seduces us with the floral accords of intoxicating rose along with exciting ylang-ylang and peony, while the heart is warm with sandalwood and amber. Soft and warm vanilla and musk form the base. Bond No 9 West Side was introduced in 2006 as a unisex fragrance. It is available in 50 and 100 ml.
The nose behind this fragrance is Michel Almairac.
Tyoba – :
Worst bond imo. Smells like some liquor for the first hour to two. Super strong alcohol smell. When it does evolve, it is not enough for me to consider buying it. Only bond I would never buy and this is my favorite house.
D-KlAuN – :
West Side has been one my favorites from Bond No. 9.
Rose, Vanilla, and a boozy note similar to an excellent Merlot.
The booze note softens and blends beautifully with the other notes, amber and sandalwood. I do not find the sandalwood prominent per se it is simply wood to my nose. This oh so wonderful. And the star is the rose.
Pritguififs – :
Initially I do not like the rose opening but it evolves into a really great red wine and caramel on my skin.
tsv-m – :
West Side is one of the Bond No 9 perfume that I love the most. Yes it is rosy,and I can relate the use of color red and the G key on its bottle.
Italians love roses, and classical music.
Wearing this I feel like an Italian going to an opera in the evening wearing a tuxedo, accompanied with a beautiful lady in red. It is sophisticated, elegant, and high class.
The rose for me is a bit boozy due to the amber, and it is warm and hugs you up to the dry down.
Many people love Amouage Lyric for rose perfume, but for me it is this one.
dasssha96 – :
West Side is a nice and simple floral scent with moderate sillage and above the average longevity suitable for spring/summer, daytime.
It leans clearly to feminine scents. It’s nice, I like it but it’s not for me.
Dominant notes are rose, peony and mild vanilla.
TONI018 – :
A light vanilla rose. Rose can be a problem for me as I dont like them too heavy, overpowering, powdery or grandmotherly. However no problem here. It’s light floral and fresh. This is a very impressive scent. Its the type of scent that makes other people want to know what you are wearing. Oh and I’m not usually into bottles but I love the design.
Algiz – :
My first Bond No 9! I have to say I haven’t been drawn to this house – something about the combination of the brand’s very high prices and very ugly bottles rubs me the wrong way, as if their target audience is people so rich they can afford to be disdainful of beautiful things. Of course I’m aware it’s reading WAY too much into it, a stupid prejudice, but there you are…
That being said, though, sampling West Side has dispelled most of my prejudice: this fragrance is obviously high quality, it performs exemplarily, and it smells wonderful. I love rose scents, and this is a good one, warm and comfortable and rather heady – a naturally fragrant rose in a soft bed of warm amber and vanilla, sweet without going overboard. Like others have mentioned it isn’t exactly original, but it doesn’t need to be. I keep getting lovely, mood-lifting whiffs of it all through the day – you really get your money’s worth with this one, which is saying a lot at this price.
I obviously like it enough not to want to be without it, but I have enough rose scents as it is, and call me plebeian but I do like to get something I like to look at when I spend 100+ euro – so I guess I’ll have to hunt down a decant of this one!
ztm282speagoessenda – :
Don’t spray the atomiser too close to the skin , spray from a distance and then feel the notes come alive otherwise this smells like an irritating burnt rose and vanilla mess.
skorpio – :
I didn’t like this at first but gave it another shot. It does a 360 with being boozy at first to more floral. Layer it with Molecule 02 for something very nice. Women seem to like it and compliment it a lot.
mener – :
Rose makes too feminine.
mitrik – :
The 90’s in a bottle
Feminine
Dashka315 – :
Very unisex. Very dense. Has enough depth for a man to wear it.
al1977al7777 – :
I agree with those who smell a sweet rose liqueur, even sweet red wine… But on me it is even more a dark chocolate smell, slightly bitter. A bit of pipe tobacco, too. Rich and dense.
N1k_One – :
Just got this and at first spritz, it reminds me of a margarita..but as it settles it immediately smells strongly of a sweet honey..I love it!!
v.fearless – :
I found a sample of this in my stuff and sprayed it on without know wat to expect. While I’m not sure it’s my cup of tea exactly, I will say it’s a very lovely realistic rose that is not sharp or green or anything else that can often annoy me in rose scents. I like the warm ambery vanilla base too. Very pretty.
peduha – :
This is the first Bond I’ve tried that makes me want a FB. Pleasantly surprised to find that West Side is my kinda rose: – it is a honeyed rose, rather than a sugary one, it’s curvaceous with no sharp edges, and this rose is in full bloom, it’s not twiggy or green. Each time I’ve tested it it’s remained linear until I can’t smell it on myself anymore – about 3 hrs. I’m digging the musk, which is unusual for me, I think it is white? It’s alluring & present throughout, not just in the dry down. Funny thing – this wan’t even on my radar – it’s never come up in note searches or been suggested = that I can remember. I just found a good price on e-bay! Happy perfuming everybody!
breaburne – :
This reminds me of a fragrance from the 90’s….I just can’t quite put my finger on which one. Maybe a cross between Bob Mackie and Anne Klein II?
syq054Negeltzex – :
Love. Love. Love.
I have been searching high and low for a lush, sweet rose scent. Nothing screechy or harsh. Not a tea rose scent, a sweet pink cabbage rose that blooms once a year and makes the whole yard smell like heaven and honey. I have sampled so many fragrances I’d started to think my perfume didn’t exist.
And then, randomly, I came across this amazing fragrance in this hideous bottle. Thank goodness my first experience was a decant. So let’s get this out of hte way: the bottle is horrid. And it makes absolutely no sense for the scent inside. It’s loud and technicolor and makes me expect some over the top modern musical.
That’s not what you get (thank heaven). This is the freshest pink antique roses, just opened on a fresh dewy morning drizzled with honey and pollen. This isn’t some stuffy specimen rose garden full of upright nose in the air hybrid teas. This is a cottage garden where big old antique roses 7 feet tall and 12 feet across are covered with a thousand blooms and jammed in with peony, iris, tulips, daisies, and just about anything else you can think of. All so tight together no ground even shows. The air is cool and fresh and smells like heaven and there are bees buzzing through all that floral madness.
Ignore the bottle, what’s inside is amazing.
Forex U Turn – :
I’m wearing a tester of this right now and on my skin (2 sprays, upper forearm) it smells like red wine, and vintage boucheron, and wet asphalt, the peony really comes through as it hits the dry-down which is very nice. It’s very intriguing and a little intoxicating. As a man I can see myself pulling this off, especially if layered with some kind of leather scent for colder months (thinking tuscan leather) or a juniper (ex nihlo 352) for summer.
Nice projection and scent!
krushandia – :
As a rose fragrance lover, I can say that this is a BEAUTIFUL ROSE FRAGANCE! The rose here is ambery, kinda boozy and powdery but without being too feminine. What a beautiful and gorgeous fragrance that I discovered! Great fragrance for winter/fall time. Mad longevity too. 9 out of 10
alex1 – :
I am a garage sale person and after collecting frags for 3 years now I knew it would happen………….high end frag unknowingly thrown into a random box of gift soaps & half-empty nail polish bottles…for cheap! YEAH!!!!!
YES: this weekend I was at a sale and noticed a familiar star shaped bottle in an open shoe box……THIS BOND No. 9 !
This is my first experience with Bond No. 9 and I’m actually happy that this is “not for me” so I can just sell it and make a few bucks.
Now before I sound like a greedy money-hungry pig; I will say this:
To me this smalls like a “celebrity” scent from T.J. Maxx with a lot more complexity & longevity. A lot more!
There is quality here–but no originality. Plus the bottle looks like ugly Christmas wrapping paper from the 1980s. Hideous.
I will say this though: I spritzed this on my hand on the ride home.
At first I could barely smell it and not too much was going on. Then like 10 minutes later it started to really open! Stuff was happening!
So I am impressed with the structure of this frag…..but like I said: not for me.
Paid $5.00 for a 95% full 1.7 oz bottle!
I break for garage sales!
Foreks_Kniga – :
First spray/top notes: Wine and roses–the big roses that no longer have a scent nowadays, but when I was a kid I remember smelling bouquets of them and this is that deep, rich rose scent. Not trellis roses or the soft, fresh, pink rose scent of the ones in the garden. Hot house, long stemmed red roses.
I smell a hairspray note, in the sense that it smells like a woman who is all dressed to go out with perfume and all, and has just finished off with a quick spritz of hairspray. I can’t decide if I like that part of it or not–it’s not present in sillage, just when I put my wrist to my nose in the first half hour.
Sandalwood and ylang ylang make me think of Samsara, but this doesn’t really smell like Samsara. Also the musk in this is different from the ones I usually like: a sweaty skin musk. But it’s a nice counterpoint to the roses and sandalwood, and keeps it from being too stuffy or austere. For me, the vanilla doesn’t come out until far into the drydown.
Overall this is not gourmand at all to my nose, even though it reminds me of a good red wine all the way through, with the rose. I wouldn’t eat something that smelled like this, but it is extremely elegant and refined, and definitely suited to wearing when dressed up for a fancy night out. In that sense, I totally buy the marketing campaign. 🙂 I will enjoy wearing this to the local performing arts center.
BUYLASIX – :
Michel Almairac and Bond really knocked one out of the park with West Side.
I feel selfish and greedy with this one, I wear it at home on special indulgent evenings, when I’m doing exactly what I want.
West Side is a boozy rich red rose, with ylang ylang, amber and sandalwood. West side is absolutely sumptuous.
I’m exploring more of his scents now, Cabaret and l’artisan Roses Voleur are also absolutely worth trying. They too have something to say that’s unique in the olfactory world.
kata123 – :
Red wine, roses, expensive clothing store, friday… That’s what I think when I smell this.
This is an amazing rose vanilla scent. This is like bouquet of fresh red roses with no unneccessary sweetness. And the peony is a nice touch in there! I love peony. Yes there is white musk but it isn’t as heavy as it could be, it doesn’t give me a headache. I’m not prone to headaches with perfumes but sometimes too much white musk makes me have a headache, propably cos it’s synthetic ingredient. Vanilla is great, very much combined with sandalwood. And with that I mean I don’t smell either one, but I smell the mix that sandalwood+vanilla makes most of the time (examples would be: Vanisia, Dior Addict etc high quality sandalwoods and vanillas).
This scent is evergreen and it doesn’t matter whether is day or night when I’m wearing it. It’s not too heavy for the day and not too light for night time. Also it has great lasting power.
It isn’t confirmed anywhere that this would have red wine note but I sure do smell it all the way through. Never thought I’d love that scent so much. But it actually could be just the rose. Also I smell some tonka bean and in the top notes some leather maybe.
tomi1948 – :
there is no way in hell its unisex. This is very sweet gourmand, that smells almost cakey, full of vanilla and touch of amber. I fell in love with it and bought it on the spot.
Them after wearing it for a while I realized it reminded me of something-Vanilla Musk by coty lol
yep, those two are very close.
So if you don’t have the $250, get Vanilla Musk.
pump68 – :
I wanted it mainly because of the gorgeous bottle rather than anything else… I play piano and the music marks on the red bottle just looked stunning, it is probably one of the most beautiful bottles from Bond No.9
While the presentation is superb, I find the perfume a little disappointing. On my skin it has almost zero silage, definitely a skin scent, with very good longevity. I get a soft rose-vanilla combo, with hints of powder. Not much going on here, it is mostly a comfort scent… a far cry from the musical statement I was expecting looking at the bottle.
I was expecting a symphony and I got instead a lullaby .
West Side is a pleasure to look at it, as for wearing it, well, it’s wearable, very tame, pleasant , and totally forgettable if you don’t see the bottle.
The beauty of the bottle is not enough to counteract the gentleness of the juice, I need something with more oomph.
shtilman – :
This is simply GORGEOUS! This is the kind of fragrance you can blind buy and be completely sure what you see is what you get. It’s extremely wearable, high quality, smells divine of liquor roses & amber.
vladiah – :
Thanks to a wonderful fragrantican I got this in a fabulous swap! At the start, West Side is not anything exciting, opening a little sweet (vanilla) and musky. It then morphs into what my nose would describe as that sweet, fresh, herbally and slightly bitter smell of green or unprocessed tobacco. Maybe really expensive Cuban cigars?? Strange, I know. I guess that could be the combination of rose and sandalwood. I also smell what I would describe as champagne, again sweet, dry and slightly bitter, a little boozy but not like wine or liqueur. The musk, vanilla and sandalwood remain constant. Eventually I get a faint whiff of my fave ylang ylang and ambre. I actually wish they were more prominent. I think this for me is better suited for cooler weather. It’s a nice interesting blend but not a show-stopper. It gets a “like” from me.
lepeskin1972 – :
Reminds me of watered down shaving cream…one of the very few fragrances in my collection that I deeply regret blind buying! 🙁
poJKBXwqsEWXD – :
WEST SIDE is an intoxicating perfume. I love to close my eyes and just inhale it deeply. The initial spray for me, is like a cork soaked with a viscous, amber-y vanilla liqueur. The red, ripe rose maintains her presence behind the initial booziness and becomes more prominent as this scent becomes one with the skin. The dry down is a satisfying rose, vanilla and ylang ylang that is warm, thick and erotic. This perfume is sweet, but not cloying. The sillage is intimate and the longevity is average for me, 3-4 hours. Albeit listed as a unisex, I think it sways more feminine because of the amber-y sweetness. But, I am confident that this would smell very alluring on a man.
costea.xxx – :
Very nice,delicious,unique, I never heard a scent so … reminds me of great evenings Gala : Music rooms, lined with books, and people around me who speak of symphonic music,classical, etc … flipping through the pages of books, and while I was offered a glass of Champagne, in absolute relax we celebrate, we talk, while my taste champagne listening to the music of a piano in the distance…. the note is the dominating .. pink rose petals that are not too heavy, but they give a touch of class to the smell,magnificent. Essence of Music!
Sillage: 8.5/10
Longevity: 8/10
Scent: 9/10
Overall: 10/10 ♥
BUTCH-64 – :
I’ve tried this twice, once in Nordstrom’s from a stick, but didn’t feel like I gave it a fair chance, and with the ratings on here, tried again from a decant. This is a horrible blend. Nothing delicate or classy about it. If this had a name like Gaga or Bieber, it would have been proverbially crucified on this site, but because it’s Bond 9, it gets dutiful ratings for the house.
There’s a sickening sweet almost burned caramel (not in a good way) vanilla which overpowers on me. Everything else is dwarfed by the artificial scent. The sandalwood then explodes into my nose in a way I can’t comprehend. I don’t know what the designers were thinking on this one… or really many of the Bond 9 line. There’s a couple I like fine, but I have yet to find a true “love” in this house. This one is just gross!
everydayzz – :
I really (very quickly) fell head-over-heels in love with this one.
I’d like to preface this by saying I never thought I’d find a Bond No. 9 fragrance that I enjoyed, and here I am looking at a potential new signature scent!
West Side is, in short, heavenly. I was blown away by how, above all other things, SIMPLY PLEASANT this is to wear!
The opening is vanilla liquor, very boozy and butterscotch-y in a way, with a deep rose note behind. Velvety, balmy, sugary, blood-red rose. Hints of peony and sandalwood peek through, but they’re fleeting. This scent is thick, silky, round and romantic when it hits the skin, and never is sharp or screeching.
Into the drydown the vanilla turns more toasted/mildly burnt and crunchy – but in a very charming way – and the roses persists. If you’re familiar with “Roses Vanille” from Mancera – it’s that type of feel, but done with much more finesse and a gentle touch. A trickle instead of an avalanche.
While West Side lasts literally all day on skin and clothes (easily 10-14+ hours), it never feels too bold or overdone. I do love smelling great, but I don’t want to worry about always punching people in the face with my cloud of perfum. Something so wearable but still remarkable.
10/10.
wolf93 – :
to me this is intense cafe minus the cafe note (pretty inexistent even on the original one)
BOXA16 – :
Once again, I thought all the “Ooh-Aah” reviews would save this boring dusty blahness of a perfume, alas no words could compensate for what my nose was forced to endure :/ The first wiff was oddly medicinal, then came the powdery “oh this might be awesome after all” scent, only to quickly finish with a “I’m in my grandma’s attic” tirade. If you want to smell your age and you’re over 80, knock yourself out! Otherwise, spend your money on a more worthy scent! 😛
usss1713 – :
I smell amazing, like my adult self, lived in… a little more experienced.
West Side breathes notes of wine and roses and just a tad bit of lipstick. The vanilla is underneath, like a subtle lotion applied hours ago. I know it’s there, but it’s not displayed prominently as a centerpiece like the beautiful roses or close at hand in my favorite stemless wine glass. The amber is warm, safe, but a little late arriving. Wait for it, he’s worth it.
The olfactory experience that is West Side is the perfect date fondly remembered. Wine, roses and a familiar warmth.
Close your eyes once you spray it. Where did it take you?
I’m betting a wine bouquet can be found near by and the someone you shared it with just as close.
zrh668elipseskism – :
Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I have been a huge fan of vanilla and rose all this time. I thought I hated rose as a perfume note, but when mixed heavily with vanilla, it is heavenly.
This perfume surprised me. The lady at the Bond counter said it was her daughter’s favorite perfume, and I tried to shake it off, saying, ‘oh I’ve smelled that one, it smells like tangerines’. She said ‘no, you must be thinking of another one, this one is very sweet’. So she sprayed some of it on a card for me, and I got goosebumps! This smells SO GOOD! She saw the look on my face and handed me the bottle to spray on myself. This smells like vanilla and an expensive rose soap. I can’t stop sniffing my arm. It has lasted 6 hours so far, which is atypical of a Bond for me [they normally last 3 hours tops]. I have been getting faint wafts of it all day, so the sillage must be pretty good as well. I am going to have to buy this.
I am a huge fan of Mancera Roses Vanille, if you like that one I think you should definitely try this one.
blr383speagoessenda – :
I went into the store to have a whiff of Bond No. 9 New Haarlem, looking for a gourmand fragrance to be my new signature scent. Well long story short – that on me, didn’t smell like the awesome, expensive breakfast I was expecting it to, based on the reviews I read!
I tried a few more fragrances by Bond, with similar notes to New Haarlem, until… I smelled West Side.
And, oh, oh my. I wasn’t expecting to like it.. instead.. i Just ADORE it.
Despite the notes which don’t look those of a gourmand perfume at all.. this definitely is an edible number.
On me, this fragrance opens with sweet and vibrant, warm rose, louder than the common, clean and soapy version of a rose scent, but still innocent and pure. Upon opening I detect hot cookies and raisins. Like tea time in an Irish garden.
Then, the peony and ylang-ylang start to peek through treating us with a cleaner, cooler version of the same rose note, while clearing the way for the vanilla to make a grandiose entrance.
The flowery freshness lingers for a little while, no more than 20-30 minutes, after then, the vanilla settles in, and here we get more sweetness again, which once more dissolves slowly and this time, it turns creamier as we reach the amber notes, which last very long, and gradually and seamlessly fade into the darker sandalwood – the note that closes the fragrance.
During all of these sweetness ups and downs, which prevent the perfume from getting boring, the rose always remains, it never ever disappears – it simply shows us different sides of her character by mixing and dancing with the other notes..
To sum things up.. this fragrance is simply a work of art. GENIUS.
Please note though – this is a very complex fragrance that should be tried on skin before purchasing, as the tweaks and turns it makes can get odd on some people..
artermprank – :
Actually this is the only Bond I could wear and could actually own. Rather simple take on a vanilla gourmand rose, soft yet warm, just like a mother’s embrace. Soothing and care free, yet balanced and gentle on the skin. Projection and longevity is amazing.
5 of 10
mixaildanc – :
I know a couple of Michel Almairac’s roses. Voleur de Rose for l’Artisan Parfumeur and the inexpensive but spectacular Cabaret for Grès. Voleur is a beautifully simple-to-wear patchouli rose with and earthy/fruity bent. Cabaret is a long-lasting musky rose/incense and one of the best perfumes available for about 25 bucks. Clearly, the perfumer knows his way around a rose garden.
If you like West Side, it is a richer, more complex perfume than either of the above two. If you’re not fond of it, it’s just more complicated. West Side doesn’t have the transparency of Cabaret or the succinctness of Voleur, but it is a well considered take on the gourmand-floral. West Side is built on a woody rose/vanilla core that gets pulled this way and that by a number of modifiers, making it a difficult perfume to categorize. Peony pulls the rose in a loud, frazzled direction. A sweet milkiness, I assume a sandalwood analogue, pulls the rose in a woody/creamy direction. Vanilla takes the rose toward the gourmand, but it’s not a Willy Wonka over-the-top dessert frenzy. It smells a bit like a rich, creamy porridge with rosewater. If the ‘neither/nor’ thing bothers you, West Side might not be your cup of tea. But if you like the idea of a perfume that presents a different face to different perspectives, give it a go.
West side isn’t my bag, but I can dig it, baby. It’s nicely composed, it wears very well over time and has an unhurried, zaftig sensibility. It’s dense and cozy, more a ‘come hither’ fragrance than a sillage monster.
from scenthurdle.com
isp99 – :
boozy chocolate vanilla cake…. I use this as a go to sleep scent never wore it in public since it really is feminine and not unisex!
Scaba2007 – :
On me, there is a strong syrup vibe, not sure if I truly enjoy it. But then I reallyenjoy the other part of this fragrance – the rose, amber, sandalwood. Keep going back to try it. Which is not a bad sign – although my wallet stops me short of actually purchasing.
If you have it – enjoy! 🙂
kovalenko6000 – :
I was sent a decant of this, and truthfully, I was not eager to try this. In the decant, the sandalwood and musk seemed to almost overpower the rose, which I didn’t enjoy.
I finally sprayed it on, immediately noticing that it had decent sillage. I got rose at once, but also with that sandalwood, so I decided to let it do its thing and ignore it.
About 10 minutes later, I unexpectedly picked up this massive whiff of a slightly sweet, yummy rose. Not in-your-face sweet, though. This is a little honey-sweet. With vanilla. Yums.
After about an hour, it calms down slightly into a gentle, but still vibrant, rose mixed with mostly sandalwood, backed by musk, amber, and some vanilla. It comes across as trying to be creamy, but never really gets there. It also has a more masculine, boozy vibe, which could be nice, depending on your preference.
5 hours in, and West Side becomes rather muted. It no longer envelopes me, but I can catch whiffs of what is now a deeper scent, that seemed a bit more vanilla cake-like. I would say it fades completely after 6 hours on me.
As stated above, sillage was good. I sprayed once in the hollow of my neck, and once just above each elbow bend, and for the most part, it felt like I was constantly enveloped in it.
I mostly like this, but I think the decant that I have is more than enough for me. I’m not too partial to wearing a scent which, on me, leans on the masculine side. It is still a lovely, lovely perfume though.
rysapysa – :
I Love West Side, at my nose to my skin I find no alcohol in here, but lots of Peony, Ylang Yland and Musc. For me definitely one favourite from this house. Its a bit sweet, and happy, delicious. I do not know these places Bond have named their scents and maby that is also positive thing. For me they just come like they are – Scents, without mind connection to environment. Few others have also started to love this scent when got inspired by me. I think it works really well here in North where winters are cold and summers are also cold to some people I think (between +20 to +32 celsius)
Here we find West Side to be sensual floral beauty with some sweetness in it. This is one of my best scents I have. Love from Finland ***<3<3<3***
Brtdtrjkiu – :
When I first sprayed this I absolutely did not like it. Smelled like sniffing a liquor bottle to me. Then….it dried down. And what an absolutely stunning dry down it is. Gourmand vanilla rose with the perfect balance of powder. West Side has gone from no thanks to one of my very favorite fragrances and I have two full bottles plus some hoarded samples. I love it so much it has made me reconsider my feelings for the house of Bond. I fell in love with this house in 2003 then my feelings changed after a number of disappointments and escalating prices and never ending releases. But West Side is making me want to give Bond another try.
I LOVE a bi-polar perfume moment. 🙂 One of the best things that can happen as a fragrance head. As long as it is a negative turned positive. Not quite as much fun when it is the other way around. But when a fragrance can make you do a complete 180 on an entire fragrance house, you know you have found something special.
fedula – :
I’m generally a citrus person who doesn’t go for sweet fragrances but this one’s a winner, opening with liquor-soaked roses and eventually turning to honey touched with just a bit of sandalwood. This is something I imagine Winnie the Pooh would wear on a night out on the town… the honey note is that pronounced on my skin! I don’t read this one as overly feminine though (Winnie the Pooh is a guy, right?) … it just feels warm and comforting and the drydown leaves much of the sticky-sweetness behind.
BuLLiTT – :
It was a love at the first sight. I bought it on the spot. Then…. When I got home and smelled the paper on which I had sprayed the fragrance in the store, I almost cried. It dried to a sweet, masculine old fashioned sent. I was determined to return it, but I gave it one more try. And magically, on my skin it opened up to this gorgeous scent and never turned to that sweet overwhelmingly musky yacky smell.
I love it again and totally recommend 🙂
bonton_2859 – :
This on my skin, is amazing. As a perfume freak and owner of many high end scents, I purchased this one on a whim. I loved it but wasn’t expecting much. Every time I wear it — It never fails to receive a compliment. This is absolutely the diamond in the rough in the Bond No. 9 line. One of three of the only Bond’s I actually purchased. (Most give me a headache although they do smell great).
mhes65 – :
I agree with cake on the sour rose. This is okay, but it’s pretty “meh” to me. I get some maple-syrup notes in the drydown. I’m not very fond of Bond as a house as I tend to be underwhelmed by their fragrances, especially for the price. This one smells very synthetic and isn’t very well-blended. I got a strong smell of alcohol for the first few minutes. It’s just a basic sweet-and-sour perfume, which doesn’t suit me because I like complexity. I will say that I like this bottle best over other Bond No. 9s, but that’s about it. Pity, I was expecting more.
alexn72 – :
This one is very strange on my skin , It smells like Sunlotion warmed up on skin, the Rose isent very clean , it almost dirty mixing With ylang ylang, amber,peony and sandalwood. on me its no Vanilla at all. musk a tiny bit , Its more feminin then masculin IMO . There is kind of a tobacco smell in it making what seam to be a clean smelling perfume dirty and not very Nice ..It can be skin cemestry but this realy is nothing special taking the price and all in to consideration.
I can relate to the Bozzy smell that People is talking about . But its not in a positiv way. Thsi to me smells almost like some one do when they have been out on the town drinking and having some sigarets . I know this is extream and i do not want to offend anybody. but this is how it smells like to me
I have to look twice at the sample to see if i had the right one. so many positive rewievs . well well.. not for me anyways
nikitamil – :
189) From Russia with Love
A rose, treat this flower is the prerequisite for all perfume brands in the world.
But when I think of Bond 9 I’m obviously very afraid of the result.
The disappointment was beyond my expectations.
The opening is very alcoholic(boozy), like opening a flask of vodka. There are no special head notes, no pyramidal composition. It’s just a smell that will decrease. At heart, even if there is not a really one, well yes there are rose petals floating in the bottle of alcohol and the vodka is strongly vanilla.
What is this? no head notes, no background notes?
You paid over $ 200 for a floor cleaner (and you’ve missed a bottle of Guerlain or Amouage). It gives me the impression of having spilled a glass of red wine on me, a rose for a bum.
This brand is undoubtedly in the most mediocre I’ve ever tried, and yet I have done hundreds.
There is in the U.S. divine little niche brands like Olympic Orchids, or very good like Smell Bent, and then of course the dozens of other European ones you can found everywhere in NY. So why pay such a price for a perfume that I did not even dare put in my bathroom? Is it a New Yorker fad?
Good longevity, weak sillage and very bad quality.
Une rose, traiter cette fleur est le passage obligé de toutes les marques de parfums du monde.
Mais quand je pense à Bond 9 j’ai évidemment très peur du résultat.
La déception a été au delà de mes attentes.
L’ouverture est très alcoolisée, comme ouvrir une flasque de rhum. Il n’y aucune note de tête particulière, pas de composition pyramidale. C’est juste une odeur qui va diminuer. En coeur, même si il n’y en pas vraiment, et bien oui il y a des pétales de rose qui flotte dans la bouteille d’alcool renversée et le rhum est vanillé.
Quoi c’est tout?? aucune notes de tête, aucune note de fond?
Oui Voila, vous avez payé plus de 200 $ pour un nettoyant de sol (en plus d’avoir raté un Guerlain ou un Amouage), il me donne l’impression d’avoir renversé un verre d