West Side (2006)
by Bond No. 9

I fell for this within the first 1/2 second of a sniff. It's a jewel of a perfume in an amazingly attractive bottle. When I fall for a fragrance I often read blogs and such for reviews, and the reviews I've read so far about West Side are fascinating. West Side seems to bring out a lyrical spirit and a poetic aura in its reviewers.

Aside from feeling kinship to the artistic air of the analyses, one review made me giggle a bit. The reviewer feels that West Side smells like the "child" of Tocade and Organza Indecence. The reason for my smile was that the thought was so similar to my own reaction: West Side seems like of "child" of Tocade and John Paul Gaultier Classique. I think West Side will bring many, many new fans to the Bond No. 9 line.

I have been underwhelmed by most Bond scents, but West Side is absolutely beautiful. Goes on smooth as silk, softly sweet with a boozy edge that is intoxicating. The florals are just right (never too high pitched), and they blend perfectly with the sandalwood, musk, and vanilla. Appropriate day or night, any season, for any event. If you're looking for sexy skin scent, give it a whirl. Chinatown gets all the buzz, but I prefer West Side.

I'm reminded of Dunhill Desire but with vanilla added instead of tonka bean. This to me is more feminine and has a powdery sweetness that doesn't appeal to me. The opening flowers almost smell like a half-drunk lager that's been sitting out for a while, which is weird because I find the aroma appetizing and memorable. Overall I don't like this one but I don't dislike it either.

It has only been 4 minutes since I put this on my wrist...and already I am on Basenotes talking about it. Yes, it is that significant. I have smelled this before, but not in a perfume, rather in a body cream for women that I thought was nice but my inexperienced nose at that time thought it was waaaaay too sweet and seductive (I think it was called TURA, yellow bottle, blue writing. Google it). Yet here I am willing to try this and not worried one bit that it might be too femme for a manly dude like me!
OK, back to the fragrance. It is super sugary sweet but it is tempered with a deep red wine note (the rose?) which I ma banking on to maintain my manly. Anyway, a must have in any respectable collection. Smells very different, 99% sure you have never smelled this before. Nicely done.

Finally: a Bond No. 9 scent that doesn't come out of the bottle smelling exactly like something else. There's rose here, and something that smells to me like an unlisted patchouli note, but happily it's far too sweet to conjure up Voleur de Roses. The rose in West Side has a warm doughy overtone that I smell in certain old damask roses, and which when emphasized helps bring a rose scent into clear unisex territory.

West Side remains quite sweet as it develops, though the rose mellows to make room for other, somewhat indolic floral notes. There's some obvious vanilla in the foundation, along with a faintly animalic amber, and it's the floral, vanilla, and amber combination that dominates West Side for several hours on my skin. With time a raunchy little musk note pops out of the shadows to make the scent more palpably "naughty."

Later on the pendulum appears to swing back, as the rose detaches itself and moves forward once more. Then, over a couple of hours, the entire composition slowly folds down into a soft vanilla drydown. West Side has more character than many of the other Bond No. 9 scents, and its relatively long lifespan is another advantage. While I don't think it's earthshaking, I do consider it one of the line's more worthwhile scents.

Delish. Far better than the Caron everyone compares it to, although I can certainly see the similarities. Imagine Royal Bain with better ingredients and far more staying power and projection. This is a bright, vibrant, delectable frag. Unisex? Yes, but be prepared for one helluva floral opening, guys.