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Bond is getting me run out of town

post #1 of 18
9/15/07 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
Once in a while one of us will post a memorable compliment and offer it for discussion, if nothing else but to reminisce about the merits of the particular fragrance. I, on the other hand, have experienced a string of negative comments in the past few weeks, all of which were Bond-related, so I thought I'd share:

Hamptons - My brother's girlfriend told me "uhhh I've been meaning to say that you smell umm....well, I mean, I just don't think anyone around you would want to smell that, and I don't know who would want to wear it."

Gee, thanks lady. She said that just before we embarked on a three-hour frolic around California, which sure made for a comfortable ride. I believe it smells great, like a polished SMW, and if nothing else is inoffensive, so that one really took me by surprise.

Coney Island - "It smells like pavement and an *expletive* zoo, dude."

Hmm...I was impressed with the pavement observation, but the body language during delivery and emphasis on zoo more than made up for it.

Another time I decided to wear it to class on a hot day, and I'm pretty sure it "allergied" the girl behind me to another part of the room.

Wall Street - "Someone smells like my sister's house full of cats. Is it you? Yeah, well sorry, its true."

I was irritated by this one, since it as close to a signature scent that I have, given how many different scents I wear, and it is just a plain ol' weird thing to say. I love the cucumber opening and musky vetiver finish...no where do I get cats from it, and I KNOW the smell of cats (old neighbor).

I've started mixing some other scents into my rotation to break up my recent Bond-exclusive love affair. Also, I've generally stopped wearing frags to classes based on these incidences, since all of my classes are small. I'm a little bummed out because these are some of my favorite frags, and I wish they'd receive a warmer reaction. Until then, I'm going to be keeping them more for myself at personal times to preserve my enjoyment and appreciation of them.
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post #2 of 18
9/15/07 at 9:22pm
i can't believe people talk like this to people's faces! I mean really, when i smell a scent I don't like I keep it to myself unless asked...if ever a scent is failing the non verbal body language is generally enough to get the point across. It's not like mentioning it is going to make the smell go away..like pointing out someone's fashion faux paus...it's poor ettiquette...

sorry dude
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post #3 of 18
9/15/07 at 9:50pm
I have smelled hamptons and Wall street and geez where did they come up with those conclusions! Those two smell nothing like the descritpions! Wall street is fresh and aqua/herby....Cats WTH?
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post #4 of 18
9/16/07 at 1:05am
John,

Colorful post
Sorry to hear Bond is giving you so much trouble.

Sincerely,
~Mad
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post #5 of 18
9/16/07 at 2:10am
All I can really say is that things you and I an everyone else here might recognize as nice or beautiful or well crafte or artsy or a clear interpretation of this or that, are not necesarily that obvious to people who do not own 100 bottles of cologne, and have sampled countless others. The girl with the allergies, you could not know, nor help, but the others well you cannot take it to heart.

IF you are only wearing cologne to garner compliments, and with this I have no problem then by all means do indeed stop wearing those bonds and try some others, or some other houses altogether, but if you like them, do not stop wearing on their accounts. Some people will like them and keep quiet, just as those have dissented loudly... You can search for jaques fath yang and see the post about the school teacher who made the comment "oh he always smells good" when someone ELSE commented. Most likely no one will tell you they like the way you smell, and only those comfortable enough with you will even tell you that they don't... this is getting long but you get the idea.

Figure out why you're here and then that's it
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post #6 of 18
9/16/07 at 3:57am
1) Maybe you're overapplying? If people are commenting/moving away from you without solicitation of their opinion, perhaps you may want to tone it down a spray or two.

2) I actually have a good Bond story. Last night I wore Riverside Drive (which I hardly ever wear) and was out at the bar. a friend leaned in to give me a hug and smelled my neck and said "OH MY GOD YOU SMELL WONDERFUL!" and then made his friend come over and smell my neck too. It was pretty funny.
I don't love Riverside Drive, just kinda like it, but it went up a few point in my book last night!
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post #7 of 18
9/16/07 at 6:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rentboy View Post

1) Maybe you're overapplying? If people are commenting/moving away from you without solicitation of their opinion, perhaps you may want to tone it down a spray or two.

2) I actually have a good Bond story. Last night I wore Riverside Drive (which I hardly ever wear) and was out at the bar. a friend leaned in to give me a hug and smelled my neck and said "OH MY GOD YOU SMELL WONDERFUL!" and then made his friend come over and smell my neck too. It was pretty funny.
I don't love Riverside Drive, just kinda like it, but it went up a few point in my book last night!

I thought the same thing. It sounds like it could be overapplication. I only receive compliments if somebody is violating the 3 feet rule.
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post #8 of 18
9/16/07 at 7:10am
While I'm not all that familiar with the bond line and as such can't directly comment on it, I must agree with Rentboy about over application. Even the most wonderful fragrance can get a unwelcome reception when over applied. As I've become a more sophisticated fragrance user, I've found that I apply fewer squirts and get far more positive reactions from others.

Every fragrance has its own sweet spot as to how to how best to apply so this is just a starting point. I would suggest starting out with 2 or 3 squirts of a fragrance. I would also experiment with adjusting how close to the body the bottle is when you spray.

It is good to remember that we are not the best judge of how we smell. Fragrance fatigue; that phenomenon where if you smell something all the time, after a while you brain just filters that smell out, makes it impossible for us to really judge how we smell. So get a trusted friend to give constructive feedback.

One thing that I have noticed I still get compliments on a fragrance long after I have lost the ability to detect it on myself.
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post #9 of 18
9/16/07 at 10:55am
Although I don't know all the circumstances associated with John's unpleasant experience, I do agree with the previously expressed opinions about the dangers of applying too much.

In the privacy of my home, I might enjoy applying a lot of fragrance. But when I am outside my home and there are other people around, I have come to the realization that quite often the desired olfactory effect is achieved with fewer sprays applied rather than more, and very often all I do is apply one single spray. And, for a few of my favorite fragrances, even one spray is too much. This is certainly the case for me with Serge Lutens Chergui and Givenchy Pi. In fact, I have to figure out how to successfully apply an amount less than one spray for the times I want to wear one of these fragrances. One solution might be to decant them into a small roll-on bottle so that I can have more control over the amount being applied to my skin. Another solution might be to shoot one spray of the fragrance into the air a few feet above and in front of my head, and then walk through the created mist. One of the happy side effects of this situation is that my bottles of these fragrances will last much longer!

I believe the Bond No. 9 fragrances are all EDP in strength, which is stronger than the majority of other fragrances. Because they are stronger, I always use a little less of the juice than normal when applying Bond No. 9.

Of course, there are some fragrances which require a heavier hand when applying them because they are so light. My favorite fragrances that belong in this category are: Mark Birley, Czech & Speake Neroli, and The Different Company Divine Bergamote.
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post #10 of 18
9/16/07 at 11:42am
Thats a bit harsh. Both Hamptons and Wall Street are good fragrances. Just apply with a light hand ...or stay away from these people
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post #11 of 18
9/16/07 at 11:47am
  • kbe
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John View Post

Once in a while one of us will post a memorable compliment and offer it for discussion, if nothing else but to reminisce about the merits of the particular fragrance. I, on the other hand, have experienced a string of negative comments in the past few weeks, all of which were Bond-related, so I thought I'd share:

Hamptons - My brother's girlfriend told me "uhhh I've been meaning to say that you smell umm....well, I mean, I just don't think anyone around you would want to smell that, and I don't know who would want to wear it."

Gee, thanks lady. She said that just before we embarked on a three-hour frolic around California, which sure made for a comfortable ride. I believe it smells great, like a polished SMW, and if nothing else is inoffensive, so that one really took me by surprise.

Coney Island - "It smells like pavement and an *expletive* zoo, dude."

Hmm...I was impressed with the pavement observation, but the body language during delivery and emphasis on zoo more than made up for it.

Another time I decided to wear it to class on a hot day, and I'm pretty sure it "allergied" the girl behind me to another part of the room.

Wall Street - "Someone smells like my sister's house full of cats. Is it you? Yeah, well sorry, its true."

I was irritated by this one, since it as close to a signature scent that I have, given how many different scents I wear, and it is just a plain ol' weird thing to say. I love the cucumber opening and musky vetiver finish...no where do I get cats from it, and I KNOW the smell of cats (old neighbor).

I've started mixing some other scents into my rotation to break up my recent Bond-exclusive love affair. Also, I've generally stopped wearing frags to classes based on these incidences, since all of my classes are small. I'm a little bummed out because these are some of my favorite frags, and I wish they'd receive a warmer reaction. Until then, I'm going to be keeping them more for myself at personal times to preserve my enjoyment and appreciation of them.


Casting pearls before swine often results in trampled pearls--slop, however, usually gets a tremendous reception
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post #12 of 18
9/16/07 at 12:03pm
I apply much less fragrance than I used to. Interestingly enough, I used to get WAY more compliments.
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post #13 of 18
9/16/07 at 1:41pm
Thread Starter 
As a general rule, I never go above three sprays, and I'm especially conscious of this for an EdP. I spray to the front and back of my neck, and a final one on a single wrist, which I'll immediately rub against the other. I don't think over-application is a problem in my case, and I'm aware that it could garner such reactions of people.
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post #14 of 18
9/16/07 at 7:50pm
Those people are not your friends.
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post #15 of 18
9/17/07 at 4:31am
Could it be that your skin doesn't react well to the Bonds? I know that I can't wear certain things because, for whatever reason, they turn rancid on my skin. The most glaring example is EVERYTHING with the Polo name. It's not that they don't suit me, they just plain smell BAD on me. I've long concluded that there is a component the manufacturer uses that just doesn't work well with me. How else can I explain it? It's a shame, really, because I like a lot of the Polo collection -- but on other people.
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post #16 of 18
9/17/07 at 6:40am
Wow. Hard to figure with Hamptons. I get good reactions from my family on it.

Wall Street could be a little "smothering" on me.

My guess is that you're over-applying. 3 to 4 sprays should do it.

Like today, I wore Azzaro Visit to work. 3 sprays is my max with this one.

With this many "bold" comments, I think you must be wearing too much.
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post #17 of 18
9/17/07 at 12:16pm
Get new friends.
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post #18 of 18
9/17/07 at 12:44pm
Don't worry about this, ive gotten bad comments (not quite as bad as yours) but, comments like "that smells like cheap butterscotch" for Ambre Sultan, "that smells like my grandmother" for bois des iles, "that smells like my grandmothers dirty basement" for Royal English Leather, "I guess that kind smells like cologne" for Bois du Portugal, I've gotten negative comments on Eau Noire, Lalique Equus, and Tabac Blond. Of course, these people were all idiots who think Kenneth Cole Reaction is the ultimate in fragrance (thats not meant to be offensive, its obviously not an unpleasant smell, but I hope everyone knows what I mean ... ), and I second the "swine" comment from above. I've obviously also gotten appreciative comments on all the above fragrances from people who really matter...
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