Astor Place (2009)
by Bond No. 9

I often put a bit of a fragrance on the back of my hand to sniff during the day at work and sample. Today, I decided to grab a random Bond out of my desk drawer at home – I grabbed Astor Place and thought I’d give it some more attention since I’d only briefly smelled it in the store up til now.

When I first put it on, I got a pleasant, but not exceptional plummy fruit note. It seemed nice enough and I thought perhaps it could be something the GF would like when she wanted something light or girly. By the time I had gotten to work, it had fallen flat. I’m not sure exactly what the culprit is, but it’s turned into the smell of shampoo. I lived with a number of girls one year in college, and this is the smell of their just-washed hair while getting ready to go out for the night. I think the freesia may be to blame, but I can’t be certain. What I get now is nothing more than wet Pantene hair. Every now and then, I get a pop of citrus, likely the mandarin sticking its head out for a breath of air.

I wrote most of this earlier and then headed to a meeting. Astor Place did evolve some, but not much. There were a few minutes that I felt like it was going to turn into something better, more tart – but then it settled back into a shampooed head. The juicy mandarin is smothered with the hammering freesia and white florals.

I’m left pretty disappointed for the most part. It’s a pity – the bottle is quite a sight, and the real location seems to be very cool. Perhaps that intersection has a lot of recently washed heads of hair.

I bought this for my wife, in her words "it's a clean scent."
I think it smells like chloe 2008 but lots stronger and that's a good thing. We both like products from Bond so this is an easy thumbs up.

How do you convey a sense of humor and a sense of danger at the same time in a single piece of public art? Well, start by building a 2500 pound metal cube, then mount it on one corner, and allow passersby to make it spin.

That's my reaction to Rosenthal's "Alamo" (a.k.a.
"The Cube"), the sculpture that inspired Bond. No. 9's newest NYC tribute, Astor Place.

I was hoping that the fragrance construction would echo the Cube's playful, gravity-defying structure. The notes are promising: fresh orange, cool violet leaf, earthy iris. Poppy provides the humor: the flower has no scent s far as I know. Equally invisible is what should be a sturdy base of musk, teak, and ambergris. If the fragrance tips over, blame it on the freesia: strong, long-lasting, overpowering freesia.

By overshadowing the base notes with a heart note, I suppose Astor Place does engage playfully with its sculptural inspiration. In the end, it is funny but dangerous. If you don't like BIG freesia, watch your step.