40 Days and 40 Nights of Beauty Brand Reviews

Day 5 , Bond

Cavewoman: My love affair with perfumes began when I was 6 years old, and my Mother was getting dressed on a Saturday night to go dancing with my Dad. She wore a green silk taffeta dress, a grey swing coat with a rhinestone brooch, and her favorite Yanky Clover perfume. She smelled heavenly and she looked like a movie star. She kissed me goodbye, and her scent lingered on my skin. That was 50 years ago.

My love affair with New York City began when I was 17 years old, at a college dance at John Carroll University, where two supremely cool boys taught me some very hot new dance moves. They were mysterious and fascinating, and they took me under their wings. When one of them transferred to Columbia University later that year, he invited me to a special weekend with a formal dance. I bought a $30 standby ticket at the airport, lied to the nuns about where I was going, and off I went, hoping that my cute NYer would be waiting for me at the West Side terminal. He was. We walked for hours that night in New York, stopped for coffee at the most charming Village cafe, and he smiled indulgently as I gasped like a tourist at the lights and signs in Times Square. I've been back to New York a hundred times since then, and I still get that same feeling of wonder and awe every time.

When I read an article in New York Magazine a few years ago, regarding the launch of a new group of perfumes called Bond No. 9, it was as if my two loves had became one! On my next trip to NY, I headed straight to Madison Avenue, where I found the tiny storefront near Barney's, and my love affair with Bond began. Sixteen fragrances were displayed in graceful urns, each one holding a fragrance named for different neighborhoods of New York. I was overwhelmed and dizzy with eagerness, and it did not take long before my first Bond No. 9 scent was being decanted for me into a glass bottle with a gold honeycomb cap. I bought an ounce of a scent that contained notes of chocolate, cocoa, espresso, and mirabelle plum. I used it up within two months. That first Bond was So New York, and to me, it was the perfect marriage of city and scent. I now have So New York in the exquisite star bottle, and every time I spray it, I'm back in New York, and I'm content and happy. My next trip to the store resulted in two more purchases, and my Bond collection was begun.

I wrote a letter to the owner of the company and told her how delighted I was with my Bond fragrances, and to my surprise, she wrote back to me. We began a delightful correspondence, and when Chinatown was ready to be launched, we arranged to meet at the Madison Avenue store. I was accompanied by some friends that day, and as we entered the store, the most amazing scent filled our noses. Laurice Rahme was standing in the store waiting for us, and she embraced me and the scent surrounded us. She handed me a small lab pump bottle of Chinatown from her own supply, and I was touched and speechless. That day, we all went to lunch, and dished like old girlfriends about the perfume industry and our love of fragrances. I'll never forget it.

My Bond collection has grown considerably since that first purchase, and there have been more of those lunches and a visit to the Bond St. store as well, where Laurice, the most gracious and generous hostess, welcomed us to her beautiful flagship store. She greeted us warmly, as old friends, and giggled as she presented to us a most luscious buffet table piled with delicacies and beautiful treats that she herself had purchased that day, especially for us. She looked so lovely in gray silk taffeta , ruffles framing her face, blue eyes sparkling, and served us a little drink she invented using sparkling water and pomegranate juice. We sipped and we were under her spell, listening to her charming French accent as she told us, and showed us, some Bond things to come. We swore ourselves to secrecy!

From the adorable candy-wrapped samples, to the gorgeous Italian glass star bottles, to the elegant urns, Bond No. 9 is the essence of New York chic. I have a special place in my heart and on my perfume tray for my bottle of So New York. Scent and memory are perfectly intertwined within this bottle. One spray, and I'm in love all over again

Annieytown: The first time I experienced Bond's Chinatown was smelling it on Laurice's wrist. We entered her store and the sillage wafted toward us. We were in the mist of our usual chatter but all of our noses were twitching in her direction. She promptly gave her opened lab bottle to Cavewoman and we all stuck our heads in for a whiff.

The group was a motley assortment of fragrance fiends. Each lady had her own specific fragrance taste that ranged from the almond lover to the chypre junkie. At this one defining moment we all agreed on thing.

We were all smitten with Chinatown.

The notes are peach blossom, peony, gardenia, tuberose,patchouli, cardamom and woods. The cardamom note is what hooked me in.

From wikipedia:Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic fragrance. It is a common ingredient in Indian cooking, and is often used in baking in Scandinavia. One of the most expensive spices by weight, little is needed to impart the flavour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamom

This spicy peppery note mixed in with the creamy gardenia is just gorgeous. There is just no other words for it.
I am nearing the end of my second bottle and still find it ravishing and stunning. It is one of my favorite fragrances of all time.

Bond is sold at Bond Boutiques and Saks.

Call Shawn at Bond if you want to cave on Chinatown or for any orders at 212-228-1732.

http://www.bondno9.com/catalog/

Photo: Blogdorf Goodman.

Disclosure: This products featured in this post were purchased by the reviewers.