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Monday, May 28, 2007

Perfume Review: Bond No 9 Coney Island

Coney Island is the latest Bond No 9 scent scheduled to launch on June 1. For the fellow non-New-Yorkers who, like me, are unfamiliar with the neighborhood, according to Wikipedia:

Coney Island is a peninsula, formerly an island, in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a famous beach lying on the Atlantic Ocean. The eponymous neighborhood is a community of 60,000 people in the western part of the peninsula (...)

The area was a major resort and home of Astroland amusement park that reached its peak in the early 20th century. It declined in popularity after World War II and endured years of neglect. In recent years, the area has been revitalized by the opening of KeySpan Park, home to the successful Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team.

Bond No 9 "were intrigued by the vintage allure of this century-old fantasy-land with its honky-tonk chic, its Mermaid Parade, its incomparable hotdog haven" and "wanted to celebrate its future, too, just as a formidable revival is getting under way". The scent, with notes of margarita mix, melon, guava, cinnamon, chocolate, caramel, musk, vanilla, cedar and sandalwood was created Michel Almairac, the perfumer behind Bryant Park and West Side.

The start of the scent is a tangy citrusy blend. I smell lemons, limes and even oranges. They smell a little candied, but not overwhelmingly sweet at all, bringing to mind a refreshing, only slighly boozy drink served in a glass with sugared rim. For a while there, I smell a slight melon note, but just when I start to think that scent might go a fruity route, it changes the direction drastically. It grows warmer, "thicker", more "solid" in feel, the vanilla becomes very apparent as does the cinnamon note. At this point, I like the Coney Island quite a lot. It has the kind of soft, not too obvious gourmandness that I always appreciate. I don't smell chocolate or caramel, the middle stage is all about sweetly piquant cinnamon and fluffy vanilla on me. If the scent stayed that way, it might have even ended up on my wish list for summer...The drydown, however, was disappointing for me. After the joyful, colorful robustness of the top and heart notes, the composition suddenly looses all its oomph and becomes rather pale and unexciting. The base has an aquatic note that bothers me and an overall understated, neutral feel of a typically fresh unisex scent. I very much wish that the bright, happily inebriated, indeed carnival-like feel of the first two thirds of the scent stayed till the end.

Coney Island will be released on June 1. Bond No 9 will start accepting pre-orders online mid-May.

The Mermaid Parade poster is from coneyisland.com.

28 Comments:

Blogger ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Hi M.!

You and I agree on this one. I just couldn't get excited about it and the aquatic, flat ending left my wanting more ... a LOT more. I hope the move went smoothly and that all is well in your world!

xo,
T.

10:35 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

T,
Lovely to "se" you! The move was...ughm...something I wouldn't want to do again for a good long while. :-)
I agree, the ending of CI was flat. Especially disappointing after the scrumptious middle stage.

10:40 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

Count me in on that as well. I wanted a lot more from the drydown. Being named "Coney Island" I thought it could have gone a bit further..

11:16 PM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This one didn't wow me - I felt like the vision didn't match the outcome. From the moment I first smelled it - all I got was Parsley. And I personally only like the smell of parsley when I'm chopping it, not spraying it.

But I'm not disappointed, really. Just one more scent that I don't have to worry about budgeting for.

Hope your Holiday was marvelous, M!

Best,
-MD

12:11 AM EDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

Thank goodness, something not to lemming! I was really wanting this based on the notes, but sounds like viw an hit that summertime needy spot

7:04 AM EDT  
Blogger lilybp said...

The notes sound just awful to me, so I was a bit taken aback when, reading the beginning of your review, I thought I would have to try this! Having finished it, I'm glad to see I don't.

When I was a kid, I knew three things about Coney Island, though I'd never been there--boardwalk, hot dogs, and the Cyclone, which was supposed to be (from a NYer's perspective, anyway), the greatest rollercoaster in the world. I wanted to ride that rollercoaster. But I suppose it's long gone, and has been surpassed many times by ever more death-defying rides.

7:04 AM EDT  
Blogger elle said...

It's always such a relief to read reviews about scents I know I won't have to try to magically make fit into my budget (a lot like those old commercials about cramming people into VWs). Definitely have no need for even a decant of this one.

7:44 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"How do you bottle fun?" That line had me so excited. I will still make a trip to Saks to smell this one but I no longer feel I could order un-sniffed. Why is Bond always missing the mark? They are so much better when I think of the concept and NOT smell the juice. Oh well, my credit card is still reeling from that Indult purchase... that damn luckyscent! My husband always says "sent from hell is more like it"!

Marina, I hope you don't have to move for a long time! I just moved with a young child and one on the way and it wasn't easy. But now were nestled in and it feels great, so keep your chin up! Also, there will be one more Marina in the world come September, we found out it's a girl and after already having a boy we couldn't be more thrilled. May she love perfume as much as we do!!!

7:53 AM EDT  
Blogger chayaruchama said...

Cograts, Kayliana !
That is spectacular !

My Juvy loves this, and wears it well...
But it didn't do NOTHIN' for me, alas.
Pretty enough, but for the aquatic thing, and the fact that thw woods are very sharp, which always gets me goin'.

Money saved, to go towards some of those knockout Bruno Acamporas [hint, hint]...

7:57 AM EDT  
Blogger marchlion said...

Wow, I felt like I was there on the ride with you? Isn't it disappointing when something just collapses like that? Maybe the marine bits are supposed to refer to the water, but I don't think I'd like it any better than you do. Acts 1 and 2 sound like fun, though...

8:21 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

T,
What it needed in the base ...can you guess what's coming?...is a bit of skank. :-) If they wanted to have an aquatic quality woven into the blend, they could have had the salty-leathery things that Creed Cuir de Rusie and S-Perfume S-ex have.

8:44 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Markdavid,
Pasrley? Interesting! I don't think I've ever smelled parsley in perfume before. But I oftne smell, or rather imagine that I smell, dill :-)

8:45 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Patty,
You never know, it might be a delight on you from start to finish!

8:45 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Judith,
I would have loved to go on a ride like that as a child too! :-)
For 2/3rds of the scent's development I actually thought I might need it too.

8:47 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

L,
Well...I have two examples for you - POTL and Ellie D. Both either bad or meh on me and wonderful on you...Just sayin' :-)

8:48 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Kayliana,
Oh my goodness, I am so so so happy for you!!! Wishing you all the best till September and come September!!!!

8:50 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Chaya,
I refuse to try the Bruno Acamporas. :-) Super-expensive oils, no no no.

8:51 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

March,
Act 2 was especially fun.
I just think they could have done the marine thing in a somewhat different way. Maybe could have gone the salty-leather route or something.

8:52 AM EDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

Why oh why Bond no. 9/Almairac felt the need to inclue the "village bicycle" aquatic note in this one is beyond me. Perhaps Bond should take their time in releasing fragrances instead of churning out half baked fragrances around an already played out perfume structure.

I am surprised you find Creed's Cuir de Russie to be "saltish" - to me its a very unusual pairing of ambergris, birch tar leather, and citrus/bergamot notes. It lacks the gasoline harshness of Knize Ten, and is more "manly" and substantial in its composition (interms of the % and quality of leather) than the floral Chanel version (which is quite fine itself). Infact the leather is very evident yet never harsh nor too light - the balance is fantastic. It works wonderfully on me! Oh sorry, was this review about Coney Island ? :p

10:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Faizan,
Yep, I do find Creed's Cuir de Russie to be salty. But I like that quality in leather perfumes. Salty leathers are sexy :-)

10:33 AM EDT  
Blogger StyleSpy said...

Bleah. Sorry, it sounds awful. Margarita mix, melon, AND guava? Throw in that chocolate and it sounds like a nightmare. I'm so completely underwhelmed by all the Bonds, and yet they keep cranking them out, like cotton candy at a carnival...

11:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

A,
Of the recent Bonds I liked West Side the best, in fact I liked it a lot. Coney Island is nice, right untill the drydown.

12:28 PM EDT  
Blogger NowSmellThis said...

Have not liked any of the Bond Beach scents so far (Fire Island, Hamptons, this one) but I rarely do like anything aquatic so my hopes for Coney Island were not high. Have to agree on this one, the top notes are the best part. Really hoping Brooklyn turns out to be a great scent -- Brooklyn deserves a great scent, for some reason :-)

12:51 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

R,
Brooklyn is the next one? Interesting! Fingers crossed for it then.

12:58 PM EDT  
Blogger Beth Schreibman Gehring said...

Hmm,
I can never get too happy about any of the Bond #9 scents. I love their names and bottles, but like a gorgeous guy with really bad breath, I'm always left gritting my teeth. It could be because I've never had the time to really experience them properly, or it could be the fact that their representative at Saks here in Cleveland is just totally and impossibly mean. The final straw was when she kept insisting that something in a pink bottle that smelled like cotton candy was a "TRUE" llotv scent!

7:42 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Beth,
A mean SA can spoil any scent for me, ugh.

8:08 AM EDT  
Blogger accordiandynasty said...

I have never received as many compliments on how good I smell since I started wearing Coney Island about 3 weeks ago. AND, I think people LIKE me more beause I smell so delicious. Not even kidding! I'm suprised to see all the disappointment in these comments before me. Maybe you guys are a little to snooty about scents.

10:57 AM EST  
Blogger accordiandynasty said...

spell check! I meant "too snotty..." in the last part of my comment. It always discredits a person when they have bad grammar or spelling.

11:00 AM EST  

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