The Days of Bond and Roses

Review for Bond 9's Saks-En-Rose
by Cavewoman

Yesterday I was walking in the mall with my gang. We had started the day with lunch, meeting at our regular table, greeting each other with hugs. The girls commented on how lovely I smelled. And continued to admire my fragrance all through the rest of the day. One of them even said "you get great sillage with that scent!" - she said it at least twice. I'll back up a week and tell you about it.

We were shopping in Cleveland last Sunday. It had been ages since Ms. Blogdorf and I had been able to spend the day with the gang, and we were eager to see the girls and hit the stores. With no real agenda for the day, we set out to hunt, gather, sniff, and test. We're really good at browsing. We stopped at Saks to check out what was new and noteworthy and were lingering over the Chanel counter, and I turned around to say hello to Barb, the lady at the Bond counter. We chatted a bit over how adorable the new High Line bottle was (first time I actually saw it in person, it's just beautiful) and then I spotted something else. It was familiar and yet odd. It was the Saks Fifth Avenue For Her bottle, but with a pink subway token in the center instead of the usual black-and-white token. I asked Barb what this was, and she said "oh, it's the new Saks but in a rose version." Rose. The magic word, for me anyway. I love rose scents. I sprayed, I fell in love, I caved.

I was not even aware that Bond was releasing a new Saks scent, and Barb told me that this was to be a Mothers' Day promotion but the fragrance would be a permanent part of the Bond collection. I was so captivated by the fragrance that I didn't even remember the list of notes she had told me as I was spraying. For the rest of the day, my gang commented on how lovely the fragrance was on me, and I smiled as I carried around my little Saks bag, precious box tucked safely inside. I had truly stumbled on a winner. I can't even remember the last time I fell so instantly and completely in love with a fragrance. And aren't roses the ultimate flower of love?

Bond has done a few rose-based scents in the past, and they are all part of my collection. Bryant Park is a breezy, youthful rose, and I wear it mostly in the warm-weather months. West Side is a sophisticated, womanly rose with depth and maturity. Broadway Nite is a devastatingly feminine rose-violet fragrance that is as exciting and dramatic as a rose scent can be. Saks-En-Rose is modern and complex. There is a hint of green, some subtle spice, a heart of the rose, and a woodsy base. Notes of dry dates and mace combine to give the top an exotic but restrained sweet-spice and keep the green from becoming too prominent. In the heart, the combination of tuberose and rose is unusual and perfectly balanced. And in the base, soft sandalwood, my most favorite of all wood notes, and my favorite wood to combine with rose. I think they're perfect together. The amber is barely there, just for a bit of richness, and on me I don't get much of the musk at all.

The perfumer for Saks-En-Rose, Laurent Le Guernec, has created some of my other favorite fragrances, many Bonds (including the gorgeous, spicy Harrods) and the fabulous MAC Air Of Style. He likes the nutmeg. So do I.

So now it is day 8 of owning this beautiful fragrance. I have not worn anything else since the day I bought it. It has (GASP!) replaced Chinatown as my all-time favorite Bond scent. I never thought I would say that! A huge thanks to Laurice for this new fragrance!

Disclosure: This perfume was purchased by the reviewer