Review: Bond No. 9's Madison Square Park

By MUA's Cavewoman

It is no secret that I have been ranting about our terrible Winter since the beginning of December when it wasn't even officially Winter yet.We started getting snow and bitter cold around that time. I think I've seen the grass on our lawn maybe twice since then. Every day, wondering if I could get out and run errands, drive to my Zumba classes, or get myself over to my Mom's house, it's been depressing and too, too long. The park across the street from my house is bare. Brown limbs attempt to reach for bits of blue in the sky, they seem heavy and tired, too, as if longing along with us humans for a little sun, maybe a leaf of crocus popping through what seems like a thick crust of ice piled everywhere along the pathways. We wear black. Or maybe gray. We wear our heavy-hitting scents because they seem right in the cold and dark. We try to cheer ourselves up with a bright scarf or a new lipstick, but we're tired. We want some Spring and we are beyond ready. I'm fortunate to live within the city, for all that is good and bad about it, it's still home. But I am even more fortunate to have Mill Creek Park right across the street. Within a few weeks, I'll be seeing joggers and runners, dogs happy that their owners can finally take them for a run, elderly people with a bit of a spring (Spring!) in their step. Little children on their bicycles, brighter clothes, spirits lifted, flowers blooming and trees budding. And the scent of freshness in the air. We will gladly store away our dark clothes, and our dark scents, and reach for the colors and scents of Spring.

Greeting Spring in proper style, and honoring a beautiful park in another city, Bond No. 9 will soon present its latest New York City neighborhood tribute, Madison Square Park. Created by one of my favorite perfumers, Laurent Le Guernec, this newest Bond scent is Springtime in a bottle, from its hot pink "dress" to its pretty bright green flowered necklace! The scent itself is as bright and happy as the bottle itself. Balancing perfectly between its floral and green notes, when I smelled the scent I totally understood the bottle design. What I loved most about the Madison Square Park fragrance is what makes it different from any other scent I own. Immediately on the skin, all the notes are present. From the dry grass notes to the florals of rose, tulip and grape hyacinth, to the lush teakwood and vetiver root, it is as if the park itself, as you see it all at once, is completely present from start to finish in this perfume. Imagine yourself in the park, with the trees, grasses, and flowers in your view. Imagine all of those things together at once, in a scent. That is how Madison Square Park feels to me. I'm so amazed at how the perfumer was able to capture this in scent. Madison Square Park is not a green rose, it's a rose, with green. It sparkles with brightness and freshness, and at the same time, it has depth and personality. I can't stop smelling my wrists!

Spring is 17 days away. I'm hoping that the crusty ice of our miserable Ohio Winter will soon melt away, along with the long dark days that came along with it. I can't wait to see the tips of the tulip leaves push through the earth and show their promise of the beauty of Spring to come. I will wait eagerly for the launch of Bond No. 9 Madison Square Park, on April 15th. I want to slip that flower collar onto my wrist ( a shout out to the fabulous Shawn who designed the flower bracelet-pin!) and head out into the park for a long walk in the fresh air. Thanks, Bond, for reminding us that even though it's been a long Winter, we'll soon have a gorgeous new Bond scent to celebrate the return of Spring!

Notes for Bond No. 9 Madison Square Park:
Grape Hyacinth, Huckleberry, Prairie Dropseed Grass, Red Leaf Rose, Red Hunter Tulips, Hoptree, Teakwood, and Vetiver Root.
A press sample was provided to the author of this review by Bond No. 9
Credit: Bond 9 PR
Review by Cavewoman