After a couple of week of sampling many of the oh-so-very-French L'Artisans (reviews to come soon) I really needed something different. Because, let's admit it, I'm all for the continental refinement, but no matter how much Serge Lutens I own, I live in Jersey, a handful of miles away from Manhattan, where I spend all of my play-time (and do a great deal of my shopping).
Enter Bond No. 9.
The Bond st. store looks gorgeous (and there are a few others in the city), but now they have launched their website which makes things so much easier. Or does it?
I tested three fragrances. I was very curious about this summer's new launch- Fire Island. I think it's part of this fragrance trend that brought the Azuree oil and made it sell out in record time. Sexy, beachy scents, with a dose of baked skin, double dose of tanning oil and a whiff of sex. Though the top notes are cardamon and ozone and there's neroli in the heart, on my skin there were only two stages: very floral and very very musky. Both phases were quite good, so I'm not complaining, but as my observant husband summed it up- it's very nice but very not me. I think it was the over-floralness that made it hard for me to wear. When it comes to this summery floral and sun scent genre my choise falls on Moynette Paris. Probably because of the vanilla in its base.
My second one was the lovely Eau de New York. It was another two dimension fragrance: sharp citrus and soft musk. The citrus part reminded me of L'Occitane's Neroli, an old favorite of mine. But in this case it's fuller and deeper, and made me wish that these notes had lasted longer. Because after about 15 minutes we were back in musk. A nice one, that on my skin felt very similar to V Absolu, only with a much better staying power. So it was good, but didn't rock my world.
Unlike New Haarlem. I knew it the second I sniffed the vial. This was IT. Didn't even have to look at the list of notes to know that it was practically made for me. And trying it on, I was not disappointed. From the top notes of lavender and bergamot that actually linger behind, the coffee and cedarwood that give it a strong, deep heart that also doesn't fade and a gorgeous drydown that takes all that is good in amber, vanilla and patchouli and makes it "my thing".
It's dark, velvety, makes me think of high heels on a city pavement late at night. Definitely a great choice for the cooling weather and the only thing that made me not wear my Miel De Bois again today. This is something that I need a full bottle of, and I need it now.
Enter Bond's new website that was recently launched. It's cute and whimsical, though the functionality could improved. But at least from now there's a quick way to buy these lovely fragrances. Or so I thought. Apparently, not all the fragrances can actually be purchased from the site, and New Haarlem is one of those. I did a quick web search, and it appears that my new obsession is exclusive to Saks. I wish Bond have disclosed this info on their site (and linked directly to Saks). I'm not letting anything stop me, though. This is one fragrance that I must own.
No comments:
Post a Comment