Bond no. 9 New Haarlem, Fire Island, Eau de New York

Bond Street, NYC, looking towards Broadway.

After a couple of week of quality time with many of the oh-so-very-French L'Artisans (reviews to come soon) I really needed something different. 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 floralness that made it hard for me to wear. When it comes to this summery floral and sun scent genre my choice is Moynette Paris. Probably because it's much sweeter.

My second one was 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,  with an impressive staying power, but very synthetic and not original. So it was good, but didn't rock my world.

Unlike New Haarlem. A Maurice Roucel creation.
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 my kind of thing.  From the top notes of lavender and bergamot that actually linger behind, the coffee and cedarwood that give it a strong statement of a  heart ,and a gorgeous dry-down that takes all that is good in vanilla and patchouli. This is a gourmand fragrance with a herbal twist thanks to the lavender. It's also spicy and a bit naughty; there's no dull moment.

New Haarlem is dark and 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.

As I mentioned above, Bond's new website was recently launched. It's cute and whimsical, though the functionality could improved. But at least from now on there's a quick way to purchase. Or so I thought. Apparently, not all the fragrances can actually be bought 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, at least for now. I wish Bond have disclosed this info on their site (and linked directly to Saks). I'm not letting anything stop me, though: a couple of clicks and New Haarlem is on its way to me.

Samples were sent by the company.