help! l'artisan parfumeur or bond no. 9 or serge lutens?

Lasting power depends on your skin! To make them last longer, please apply the scents on top on the unscented lotion and behind your knees. Out of L'Artisan and Bond #9, there are some fragrances that last longer than others, and my skin/hair tend to "capture" most of the scents, but, to tell you the whole thing about "darker and sexier" -- go for Lutens!

welcome, sark!

most people say that bond no. 9 has better staying power than l'artisan, but i have no problem with l'artisan's staying power. they're all expensive, the bonds, i think, more than l'artisan, but chinatown and new haarlem are very distinctive frags - there's not a lot like them (except rochas man, which is supposed to smell like NH, though i've not tried it). all three of the ones you're interested in are nice. since you live in new york, you could test all three in the same day! aedes de venustas on christopher street carries l'artisan, and it's a short walk east over to bond street to test the bonds.

happy sniffing, and let us know what you end up trying/buying.

I'm biased towards my winter favorite, New Haarlem. Love the way it smells on me and the women I've known who've worn it. Chinatown is also deadsexy on a woman. Test both (and others) and see which one really makes you feel it.

In case you haven't, try Tea for Two by L'Artisan.

For me, Bond's EDPs have a little better staying power than most L'Artisan fragrances I have tested.

Musc Ravageur is more a cold season perfume, you re not going to wear it in the summer in New York but it 's a million times a more precious and beautiful perfume than New Haarlem (although both created by Maurice Roucel).

I m not a big fan of l 'Artisan nor Bond; if you want something extremely sexy for the summer you must go for Fleurs d 'Oranger by Serge Lutens but I must warn you it drives guys crazy in the city by hot weather!
YOu can also give a chance to Angelique Noire by Guerlain, a sexy dark perfume (only at Bergdorf & Goodman), I wear Rose Barbare from same Guerlain exclusive range, very sexy too but not as dark.

Welcome Sark!! You and Quinpus ought to hook up for a girls' day on the town!! Go stark raving bonkers storming Aedes and Bond and sniffing exuberantly and going bankrupt together!! :bounce:

Sigh.

On this blonde (fair, dry skin - also " of a certain age") living on the Carolina Coast LAP's for the most part are more apt to be fleeting. Adore Chinatown and also Broadway Nites and tend to ignore winter v. summer, day v. nights kinds of criteria. But only your nose and your bod will tell you what's right for you. It's a wonderful journey and you have lots of traveling companions here on BaseNotes - keep us informed!! :bounce:

welllll I personally find Harlem very interesting it starts a little heavy but i love the dry down very sexy- i think it would translate both cold and hot weather- some of my gal pals smell great in Chinatown it doesn't work for me- and i think Bond lasts longer L'Artisan has some nice scents but they do not last on me.Hope this helps.
You could also try Tobacco Carmel by Fresh.

Hi Sark! Welcome!

L'Artisan and Bond are two of my favorite lines, so this is a tough question for me. Certain scents in both lines have extraordinarily good lasting power for me. Bleecker Street is enticing and seductive. I like it on me, and I love it on my husband (this is how I feel about Musc Ravageur as well). I've experienced positive comments from complete strangers on Bleecker. Lasting power is fabulous - be careful not to overapply! The bottle is so beautiful. In my experiences at Bond counters and boutiques, it seems like everyone "oohs" and "aahs" over this bottle.

West Side is one of the "darker" fragrances, and it really lasts. The first time I wore this, in my excitement, I oversprayed. I went to a hockey game and I think everyone in the Honda Center could smell me. But this is gorgeous - This one has a beautiful bottle, as well.


Have you tried So New York? It has a coffee note, but it's lighter than New Haarlem, so it may be easier to wear in humid, hot weather. It's not "dark" to me, though. In fact, with the possible exception of Nuits de Noho, which is more "elegant" than dark to me, Bond doesn't have anything all that dark?

You may like Bryant Park, too. It's not "dark" but it's surprisingly edgy. It's much more complex and unusual that it sounds when you read the notes. It's a good one for summer nights.

At L'Artisan you may want to try Mûre et Musc Extrême, Jour de Fête, Safran Troublant, Dzing!, Voleur de Roses, L'eau d'Ambre and Bois Farine.

Not a L'Artisan or Bond, but I recommend trying T Takashimaya (at Tak), and Anné Pliska. You can get samples of Anné Pliska from Luckyscent.com. Both are dark, sexy, and mysterious like Musc Ravageur, but have more amber.

Let us know what you choose!

I never wear Fleurs d 'Oranger in the winter, it stays harsh on the skin and never quite develops and blooms to more sensual stages. from my experience, the warmer, the hotter, the more humid the weather is the more beautiful Fleurs d 'Oranger is.

That was an interesting review Tovah. I love Bonds and L'artisan's, but L'artisan's don't seem to last long on me.

Hi Sark,
Let us know how you fare.

I just spent a lunch hour at the Bond counter over here. We don't quite have the selection that the big NYC department stores have, but my favorites are (no order):

Scent of Peace
Chinatown
Nuit de Noho
Broadway Nights

Some of the lighter ones that I like are:

Bleeker Street
Little Italy

I just discovered the new Rousse by Serge Lutens and reading your posts I have a feeling this is really for you, it 's sexy, elegant but also profound, enigmatic and intriguing in an understated way.
as far as I m concerned this is my next purchase.
I love Fleurs d 'Oranger because it 's very sexy and men love it but it has a lot of depth and personality too.
I ve been wearing Rose Barbare a lot this winter but I don 't think I ll get a second bottle next year, no matter how sexy and many compliments it gets me, I find it too generic and I just got bored with it.
I had a sample of Chelsea Flowers too last year, I felt the same way, for such an expensive fragrance I thought it was sexy and feminine but I expected more than that for an exclusive niche.
Four years later Fleurs d 'Oranger is still a sexy winner for me in the summer.

I agree with you, unfortunately none of the Bond No 9 scents thrilled me at all, the concept could have been so much better provided they had had fragrances with more character and personality which you find more in the Lutens and Malle lines, and also a concept that was more authentic about New York City and less "touristic".
New York it 's also Roosevelt Ave in Queens, the most ethnic ave in the whole world!! Bryant Park, the fashion week thing... is just another "Eiffel Tower" souvenir like scent. It 's just midtown, totally desertic after business hours, really poor and easy concept, New Yor City really deserved better.

I love Musc Ravageur, I wear it by cold weather better, the first time I ever tried it at Barney 's it was three years ago in the midst of summer heat LOL
btw, Aedes will have Rousse in April.

everybody has their own perceptions on that. Memories for my boyfriend a born and raised New Yorker is Flushing, same for one of my best friend, her most beautiful memories are in Sunnyside, where you have today over 130 different nationalities and these people contribute so much to this city.
If you ever saw the movie Fried Green Tomatoes... that 's the environment she was raised in. My dear memories are the East Village in the early 90's when it was still a mix of struggling artists and hispanics with rents that were ten times cheaper than it is today and white people who wouldnt dare going beyond avenue A.

I think Bond did Fire Island and East Hampton scents too, well nice but what about Coney Island? OK it 's less glamourous and high class today but in terms of History it 's a million times more beautiful and authentic than "Fire Island". Even my gay friend always boycotts this gay ghetto in the summer!

You know it 's like they d do the same concept in Paris and would only come up with scents like "Tour Effeil", "La Concorde" and "Parc Monceau". That would be extremely lame and boring "postcard" fragrances.

That said I really like Chelsea Flowers, the fragrance not the concept since it doesn 't really remind me Chelsea whatsover but it smells really nice. I had a large sample last year that I got at the boutique but I thought it was so expensive...maybe I ll fall for it this year.

I just wish Bond 's concept was more authentic and less touristic.

I have to concur with jasmin de grasse the fleurs d'oranger is the fragrance that does it for me when my girlfriend wears it especially summertime ,most of serge lutens can be worn by either sex but this one just screams WOMAN to me.

This is a great thread and I love reading everyone's impressions here.

My two cents are:

L'artisan Voleur de Roses, and Safran Troublant

Bond no 9 West Side

Serge....serge, serge....sigh....
Daim Blond - it sounds like you really responded to that one...
Ambre Sultan...sultry and sexy

I think Chelsea Flowers is supposed to remind one of Chelsea Market....

Chelsea Market? it 's a huge building with food shops inside, smells like fish and meat lol, it 's not far from the (ex) meat market actually.
Chelsea is such a diverse community of people, a mega mecca of healthy proud gay men but also a lot of housing projects ethnic people mostly hispanics, art galeries and the famous Chelsea Hotel!
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I m not surprised fleurs d 'oranger has become Lutens most successful best-seller. I think it is exactly what many guys want women to smell like...

I agree, but I don't know how well the scent of Spuyten Duyvil would sell in an international market, LOL! (I often wonder how many people who wear Champs Elysees or Rive Gauche, etc. know they are named for neighborhoods.) Some of the names of NY could be funny as perfumes...Meatpacking District...Hell's Kitchen... Or how about DUMBO? tee hee...

But seriously, I know exactly what you're saying. The concept behind the fragrances is to sell traditional, idealized ideas about New York, in much the same way that Hollywood sells itself...and that just not the way New Yorkers work.

yes I understand but you know New York is not Paris. New York it 's the energy and the diversity of people that makes it unique!
even Hell 's Kitchen, the Meatpacking District , the East Village have lost a little of their identities over the years, New York it 's not Akron either, it has changed so much.
If I was working on this project I would focus more on the diversity concept than traditional "neigborhood" concept. I would launch a Chelsea scent that smells like poppers coming in a bottle honoring Gay Pride flag colors, a Coney Island scent that smells like cotton candy, I mean I d be so so so more creative than what they ve been doing and these would sell like crazy!

Shouldn't the Coney Island scent smell like Nathan's Hot Dogs?

Coney Island has a lot of history, it was run down for a lot of years but it s coming back, from what i heard they ve renovated and made it more hype than it used to.
but yes it s popular and so what, I m sorry but Bryant Park it s a boring concept or at least they should have called it Fashion Week which would have been more exciting since the rest of the year nothing s going on there and that after business hours it s an empty ghost area because nobody lives by Bryant Park.
besides Central Park, The Chrysler Bldg and the Statue of Liberty (which they havent done) the historical neighborhood concept doesn t work for a city like New York like it does for Paris. You can do Parc Monceau or Parc Montsouris in Paris, that would be rather lame too and I m sure they are more exciting things about Paris than "pretty" parks but still it would work more.

If they dont see that New York it 's all about the diversity of people and the 24/7 energy out there then they don 't understand anything about this city.
again it 's a touristic concept and besides Upper East side clientele I doubt average new yorkers from all walks of life relate to Bond s concept.
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thats great news then, really glad they re doing Coney Island! Spanish Harlem, finally something hispanic for a city that has half of its population spanish, that was long overdue lol

so you fell for Daim Blond? that s great.
what so new york smells like? I was at the boutique last year and after trying many scents that didnt thrill me I thought Chelsea Flowers was really nice but also realised "generic" so I only got a large sample. I may fall for Chelsea Flowers and buy it, I really like even though it 's not a masterpiece perfume and that it s overpriced, I like it the way it is.

Daim Blond is a skin scent, it 's not a sillage perfume but like many Lutens it starts strong to evolve soft and discreet.
what a great suede scent! the most ladylike leather perfume, a contemporary vision of Audrey Hepburn 's class and elegance.

two sprays between your breast and one or two by the nape of your head and you re all done!

yes I would but Im not big on spraying wrists, I like cleavage, nape and the inside arms better. I think theres no rules to it, it 's very personal. if you re afraid to spray too much all at once but you still want to have a decent sillage throughout the day, discreetly reapply twice or three times, actually that 's what I usually do.