Bond No. 9's latest launch is the 4th in the Andy Warhol series and named Success is a Job in New York. The Andy Warhol series so far consists of Silver Facory, Union Square, Lexington Avenue and now Success is a Job in New York. The fragrance is said to be inspired by money and named for an article Warhol illustrated for Glamour magazine in the 1950s.
I read Fragrance Bouquet's review of Success is a Job in New York (henceforth simply Success) in July and have been looking forward to sniffing this intriguing perfume ever since. I must say ordering from Bond No. 9 is sheer pleasure. I ordered yesterday and received the perfume today, lovingly wrapped in their subway token tissue paper with 3 bon bon samples that I'd requested. And this was their free ground shipping, not overnight express or anything like that.
The fragrance itself is comparable to Bond's Chinatown & Lexington Avenue in it's uniqueness. This is one of those very difficult to describe little gems. It's hard to categorize - being oriental, floral-oriental and gourmand but also exhibiting a chypre-ish vibe at the start. After wearing Success for 7 hours, I've decided it's a floral-oriental on me. And a delicious and pretty one at that. One I'm very happy to have irresponsibly purchased unsniffed!
The overall thrust of the perfume is what I like to call a "true perfume" - notes do not stand out for me - it is a smell all it's own, a very identifiable smell - such as Loulou, Angel, Chinatown, Amarige or Mitsouko are unmistakeable scents. Success is sweet (I like this sentence on many levels). But not too sweet for me by any stretch. It's initially quite strong and messy, starting off being just about every scent family at once - citrusy, floral, oriental, gourmand and spicy. As expected, Success settles in about 15 minutes to a sweet, powdery, floral oriental. But these words do not even describe it well. The strongest floral note for me is jasmine, and in some respects the jasmine in Success has a teensy weensy similarity to Creed's Jasmin Imperatrice Eugenie.
I sprayed Success on my friend today. Sometimes I like to get a bit of perspective, to see how it smells on another person's skin a few feet away. On my friend, it smelled very pretty and powdery, somewhat like high end cosmetics, the way I often find Amouage fragrances to smell.
Bond No. 9, as a perfume house, is increasingly impressing me. They definitely know how to tickle my fancy by creating potent perfumes with sillage to spare. One complaint many have about Bond perfumes is the pricing, but with this sort of quality and longevity a 3.4 oz bottle of Success could easily last you a lifetime. I've found several favorites amongst Bond's offerings with Broadway Nite, Chinatown, Lexington Avenue, Silver Factory and New Haarlem and now I think I've found my favorite Bond of all in Success.
Notes
Top: Bergamot, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Mandarin
Heart: Pimento, Tuberose, Rose de Mai, Jasmine, Plum, Iris
Base: Patchouli, Vanilla, Benzoin
Just to keep a tally of new releases that I've loved in 2009; I'm crazy for Parfums d'Empire Wazamba, Sonoma Scent Studio's Tabac Aurea, By Kilian Back to Black and now Bond No. 9 Success is a job in New York. Success is really good stuff.
I'll have to try this one soon - I love Lexington av and Chinatown. :)
ReplyDeleteI like that idea of spritzing on a friend...I can't get any friends to submit. Yet. ;)
ReplyDeleteBond No. 9 scared me with something -- well enough that I can't remember what at the moment -- and another seemed enough like something else that I put the whole house out of my head. Convenient, that, since there is certainly enough clamoring for my attention.
Of course, your kind words, combined with invoking two that I *do* like (Wazamba and Tabac Aurea) mean that the wall is starting to take some hits. It just might come down someday.
Well, given your good taste (I love Tabac Aurea, Back to Black, and Wazamba), it seems that I have to give this a try, despite the horrendously tacky name. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is really good stuff - can't wait to get my bottle too!
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