Fire Island (2006)
by Bond No. 9

Had Etat Libre d’Orange released this scent, it might have had a pair of hairy buttocks on the label and a marketing blurb blathering about the scent of gay male nude sunbathers. Coming from Bond No. 9, it’s actually something far less provocative. In fact Fire Island is a very literally rendered “beach” scent, a tropical fruit and aquatic composition that knowingly evokes a high-priced suntan lotion. What elevates Fire Island beyond the merely cute is a lovely spicy/green neroli note that no suntan lotion has ever aspired to. Fire Island succeeds in its mission of smelling like a day at the beach without taking itself one bit too seriously – at least for as long as the neroli hangs around. Once the neroli’s gone the remaining white “laundry” musk and aquatic-themed aromachemicals are a lot less interesting. As an echo of the shampoo you’d use to wash the brine out of your hair at day’s end, this drydown is conceptually apt, but it’s still anticlimactic.

Nonetheless, Fire Island is good, unpretentious fun, and belongs on the same shelf as other beach-in-a-bottle fragrances like Sugar Lychee and Jailia. Projection and sillage are both generous, and though the fruity neroli phase lasts no more than two hours, the drydown extends much longer. Like any good suntan lotion, Fire Island is pretty much gender neutral.

Bond No. 9 Fire Island

Growing up in South Florida in the late 60's and early 70's there was one "it" hotel on Miami Beach, The Fontainebleau. It was where the richest people who would flee the cold, of a mostly Northeastern winter, would stay. It was also where I had my Senior Prom. As a child I was able to spend many afternoons at the bow-tie shaped pool at The Fontainebleau. As I would be playing in the pool and observing the adults around me one thing I would notice was the brownest, most-tanned, sun worshippers were all using the same tanning lotion. It came in a large metal squeeze tube with orange and brown stripes on it. It was called Bain de Soleil Orange Gelee. I think it had an SPF of like negative 4, not that they kept track of that in those days. Most of these very stylish tanners would be covered in a sheen of this stuff and it had the most interesting scent to it. I could stand next to the pool at The Fontainebleau and breathe deeply and get a contact high from the amount of this baking in the sun around me. This was the smell of sun and wealth for me. I hadn't come across this smell in well over 30 years until I picked up Michel Almairic's 2006 creation for Bond No. 9, Fire Island. From the first moment I sprayed Fire Island on I was in my bathing suit poolside at The Fontainebleau as this scent absolutely is the scent of Bain de Soleil Orange Gelee. Of course now I can actually pick apart some of the threads that make up the tapestry of this scent. The top starts with a fresh beat of cardamom and neroli but it is quickly overtaken by a mix of tuberose and musk in the heart of this. This is the signature smell of Bain de Soleil and M. Almairic mixes a heady floral like tuberose with an animalic light musk which conjures up the sun kissed skin. As this develops into the base the musk becomes deeper and patchouli joins in but in a light, unobtrusive way. Fire Island's core is the mix of tuberose and musks and it is really nice. Because of the presence of those musks I think this is a very wearable floral for a man. Fire Island has a great longevity on me and it doesn't have a lot of sillage. It stays pretty close to my skin for its duration. M. Alamiric has reached into my memory and re-created a childhood spent poolside and allows me to remain a tanned young boy frolicking in a hotel pool even as I approach 50.

It smells like Coppertone plus shampoo. That's it.

Fire Island fragrance is appropriately scented fun! A dab of floral within a melange of musks creates a lovely and wearable beachy perfume! At first, I was sort of 'meh' on it...but after a couple hours I was sniffing and re-sniffing my wrist. As it wears on my skin I'm reminded of Barbasol shaving cream! Beyond beachy, it smells fresh and moist. I think it's unique and wonderful.

y'know, it isn't the scent with the most positive feedback, but I like it. it's very different. it smells just like the beach, and I love it for summer.

floral aldehydes with white musk. boring.