Bleecker Street (2005)
by Bond No. 9

Absolutely Beautiful

What a beautiful fragrance.

I thought nothing could replace my #1 designer fragrance or my #1 niche fragrance, but Bleecker Street has done it.

I originally received a sample vial of it when I bought Chez Bond as my first Bond (and first Niche fragrance). I tried it (along with a few other Bond samples) and was immediately intrigued by the presence of Oak Moss. When my sample vial ran out, I immediately went online and bought a full bottle. I have received compliments from males and females and my wife loves this on me, too!

This is a definite "try" for the serious hobbyist and is, by far, the best Bond I have ever smelled.

Pros: Longevity, The Smell, The Dry-down
Cons: The Price"

03 September, 2013

someone left the cake out in the rain

Pairings. Combinations. Fusion. Synthesis. There are plenty of words to describe how two ideas, objects or properties can be put together. Broad strokes, there are three outcomes: Blend, eg. citrus fruit and leaf in an eau de cologne; Complement, as in the rose/patchouli pairing of 1970s-1980s chypres; and, Synergy, the classic example being the new quality that arises from the pairing of lavender and coumarin in the fougère.

Three positive outcomes, that is. Outcome number is dissonance. We have lots of words for this one, too. Discord, strife, cacophony, incongruity. There isn’t the comparable olfactory term for the aural disharmony, so I’ll propose one. Bleecker, after the perfume that inexplicably combined gourmand and aquatic notes. Was it hubris? Was it nepotism? I can think of a number of scenarios that might have lead to this perfume, but they all center on original sin. Bleecker St. isn’t bad for the tinkering that might have gone on in the editing bay. Someone had to have been given a long leash not to have been stopped early on in the making of this perfume. The flaw in Bleecker St. isn’t one of measure or imbalance, it’s conceptual.

29 August, 2013

Don't love many Bonds but this one is a winner

The opening smells citrusy to me so i was surprised when i checked the notes. About 20minutes in it starts to get a little more earthy and green yet i find the scent linear. I personally love this scents and the longevity is outstanding. Even the projection i would have to put at above average.

02 August, 2013

Bleecker Street

A fresh fragrance, redolent of blueberries, violets and fresh cut grass. A little powdery and becomes a little bit musky and dirty as it dries down, but overall it's good for the spring. It is unisex, however, men can wear it perfectly fine. Projection and longevity are a little better than average. A big plus on this fragrance is that it is original and there is nothing that smells quite like it.

The problem I have with this fragrance is the ingredient quality. While the company certainly chose the recipe, the notes themselves individually are a bit too synthetic. That, and the fragrance loses a lot of it's flavor and uniqueness during the dry-down. I feel like this was purposely made to be sampled at the store and bought at first impression rather than be worn and deeply analyzed. Also, the expensive price of this fragrance makes these flaws even more critical.

If you can handle these flaws, then this would be a good unique fresh spring-time scent for you. However, this could have been more than just good, perhaps a masterpeice, if a better company made it.

01st June, 2013

First thoughts: Aquatic yet green, reminds me of the beach, a "deep sea" type of scent, mellow but exciting.

Longevity is EXCELLENT, put it on at 10AM, and I can still smell it at 6PM. One thing to note is that the scent doesn't really change. Projection is good.

I really enjoy this scent, but I could never imagine buying it at Bond No. 9 prices.

15 December, 2012

This might be nice on a man, but another fragrance that I find inappropriate to call unisex. It's definitely masculine. I don't know if it would be absolutely delicious on a man or just smell like bath and shower gel. It's got a strong, clean scent that could go either way.

***
Edited to add: I tried to leave this on my arm after I sampled it and it started to become really horrible to me. I had to wash it off. I thought that everyone was exaggerating that the Bond scents sometimes have an ingredient that makes them sick but this is the first one where I can understand it. Yuck. I really did start to get a headache.

If you're looking for strong, the scent sure did last and last. It seemed even stronger to me after about 5 hours than when I put it on and I had trouble washing it off. Wear with caution!

30th November, 2012 (Last Edited: 01st December, 2012)