Washington Square
Bond No. 9 (2010)

I like this one, but don't know when I would wear it other than in a cozy environment. It is unisex (to me). It has a powdery, musky undertone and might be cloying if over-applied.

A nice scent, very woody. It was good enough that I was happy to finish the sample, it's not so good that I would get another sample or re-purchase. It lasted well--from application at 9AM, I could still smell it on skin at 10PM.

Bond No9 Washington Square is a very nice big surprise, but not a very easy one. First of all I did want it to smell like a modern version of the amazing Chanel No19, but it is not anything like it. Anyway, let's go on. Second, I should have antecipated a Narciso Rodriguez Essence edp and edt vibe from rose and musk. And at the beginning it does smell like an elegant Nivea body cram, but more neutral, it is not a smell I associate with my mother, like the NR scent. But then out of nowhere, bergamot, leather and geranium, lots of geranium, does a turn to the right towards a very male scent, in fact to be more precisely, a barbershop scent. I must confess that Washington Square is everything I wanted/expected from YSL Rive Gauche pour Homme. All the best is in there making it a wonderful fragrance for men for any occasion, time, season. Perhaps a little too mature, but what the hell, one day boys will be men. There's even a hint or two, well maybe three, of Chanel pour Monsieur, but the final product is more refine.

Washington Square may be a place in NYC but it is a very French scent, all the way. I know also that skin chemistry is a mistery most of the time but it is hard to think a woman wearing this Bond scent. Isn't that right, James?

To start of with, I get a pleasant floral geranium-dominated white flower blast, that soon is joined by a pleasant rose; the latter is, however, on my skin not more than an average specimen with limited development. After about five hours it seemed to vanish, but then the base kicked in with a pleasant honey note combined with a very soft and gentle amber; a whiff of suede is added. Good and unobtrusive in the office in spring.
On me silage and projection are limits, but the eventual total longevity is a stunning ten hours. Nonetheless, on me this does not go beyond a middle-of-the-range impression, so the licence to thrill needs to be revoked.

Like it, but not in love with it. However that could change any day now because the fragrance has so much going on that when I find the right twist it will be a shoe in.

my old neck I find it hard to get excited testing a new Bond no 9 perfume since I know it's going to be a perfume in a star bottle, and on the label will be a New York city name. With the exception of the giveaway names, such as Chelsea flowers, a floral, New York Musc, a musk, or New York Amber, an amber, the name and the perfume have no relation whatsoever. Chinatown is a beautiful contemporary take on a classic French genre of perfume. Nuit de Noho is a misguided derivation of Angel. Little Italy smells like diluted orange cleanser/solvent. So Washington Square, where I lived in the 1980s and never saw a rose outside of a perfume shop, smells like bergamot, tarragon and rose. The ridiculous marketing conceit of the perfume line aside, Washington Square ain't bad. In reverse chronological sequence, Washington Square winds up a capital-m Musk, small-w woody Rose perfume. On its way to this soft, sweet yet fairly loud finale, Washington Square shows off a brisker, stronger and more aggressive rose in the middle notes. The topnotes are in fact the most interesting part of the perfume, with a brassy bergamot topnote surrounded by a sharp, cool green touch from tarragon and geranium. Where you might expect the astringent green top notes to lead into a fairly sharp rose, and despite a touted leather note, the rose itself smells sweet. I imagine a lot of people would enjoy the basenotes of this perfume, but for me the soft landing into the marshmallowy basenotes (Is it Amber? Is it patchouli? Is it musk?) is a letdown. Still, high marks for a long-lasting perfume that shows a deliberate progression. from scent hurdle.com