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Bond No 9

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Bond No. 9 Central Park West Eau de Parfum

March 23, 2012

The latest from Bond No. 9 is the 7th city-inspired fragrance called Central Park West. The actual packaging of the bottle is exquisite with the houndstooth checkerboard pattern and large pink flower (the vial shown is a lab sample sent for review). The description of this scent indicated this would be a highly complex floral. I was surprised to find that it’s more of a pure clean scented floral. Since this is in the Eau de Parfum formula, the fragrance is quite intense. A single spritz provides a highly-concentrated floral mix of gardenia and jasmine. As Central Park West dries down, it becomes slightly less floral/green, but still remains a pure floral throughout the life of its wear (which I found lasted all day from early morning to late evening).
  • Top notes include narcissus, ylang ylang, black pepper
  • Middle notes are gardenia, jasmine, citrus-like linden, orris
  • Base notes are vetiver, must, white oak and treemoss

Central Park West is perfectly suited for spring, but I have other fragrances that I prefer. I found this one a bit too mature for my taste, but I do like it more than the fragrances that were recently released Jo Malone London Bloom Collection. If you’re looking for a new spring floral scent to wear, this is definitely one to check out. Although I found it too mature, it’s light enough to not be too heavy, but I still prefer scents that are on the lighter side.  I do envision myself wearing the sample down to the last drop, however, right now I’m just not quite smitten enough to justify a full bottle. Currently my favorite Bond Fragrances are the ones my husband wears (Chez Bond, Copper Square, New York Amber). I’m also quite fond of Chinatown as well (for me) and occasionally West Side (I have these in the mini bon-bon sprays).

Central Park West is currently available at Bond No. 9 New York Stores, Saks, Nordstrom and bondno9.com and available in a 100 ml ($250), 50 ml ($180), body silk ($130), candle ($110) and shower gel ($75). You can visit BondNo9.com for more details.

Have you tried Central Park West? What did you think? Do you have any other favorites from Bond No. 9?

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Bond No. 9 Cooper Square

July 20, 2011

Bond No. 9 Cooper Square Eau de Parfum made its debut a year ago inspired by “that up-and-coming hotspot, Cooper Square, where the East Village meets NoHo, and the Bowery and the new über-Downtown begin.” I believe this was designed as a unisex scent, but to me this is predominantly masculine and extremely complex. My husband fell in love with this the minute he smelled the sample from a Saks catalog describing it as “incredible”. The notes include cognac, juniper berry, lavender, myrrh, oblibanum, patchouli, cashmere wood, musk, vetiver, ciste labdanum and timberwood. This comes in three different sizes (check pricing and sizes here on BondNo9.com) in a lovely silver bottle with a Bond No.9 print in a see-through metallic coppery-gold type of finish.

I have to admit this isn’t really a review from me, but more of a mini photography project. I could not resist playing with my photo apps using the beautiful reflective silver bottle as my test subject. I’m still new to the different lenses, filters and lighting options – this was the perfect opportunity to play. These apps can make even a shopping cart look good. (Just google hipstamatic images and you’ll be amazed.)
I’m horrible at describing complex scents, but if I were to describe this, I would say it’s spicy, earthy, rich and completely seductive. If this were a movie, it would be the equivalent of Meet Joe Black. I asked my husband for his thoughts (since it is his cologne).

Me, “describe Cooper Square for me … please.”
His response, “I don’t know, it smells good and I just spray it on.”

L-O-L. We’ve known each other for nearly a decade and ever since our first date, he’s shown an amazing ability to find amazing scents … for him of course. It doesn’t matter what he wears, it just always works. In this sense, we’re opposites since I find it rare that a fragrance smells good on me. When it comes to describing fragrances, I guess we’re the same: we just know it when we smell it. 

Some instagram and hipstamatic fun:

There are a couple Bond No.9 fragrances I’ve tried from samples that I liked. Given the fact that I’m super fickle with scents, I’ve never splurged on a bottle for myself. I can’t help but admire the displays at Saks everytime I go though. Visiting the individual stores is high on my list of things to do when I eventually find the time to go to NY 🙂
What are your favorite Bond No.9 scents? Do you like them? Or do you find them too strong?

All photos taken by me. Kindly do not republish, thanks! For inquiring minds, all photos are still taken with my trusty Sony (see it here) and the vintage photos were taken with my iPhone 3G.
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