West Side Bond No 9 for women and men

boozy powdery dark pink rose and vanilla with amber and light sandalwood lingering in the background. Difficult for a guy to pull off. There is something dark and brooding in this that I can't quite put my finger on, it almost smells like liquid vanilla extract instead of the sweet vanilla I know and love. More formal and feminine than casual and masculine, this would smell awesome on a woman all dressed up for a night out on the town. If you're a guy in search of a rose fragrance I reccomend Cartier Declaration d'Un Soir and Maison Francis Kurkdjian Lumiere Noire Pour Homme.

Update : now that this has been on my skin for about an hour I partially take back what I said about it being feminine. It gets a bit darker with more amber and boozy vanilla with the rose taking a backseat. There's also an odd chocolatey scent too. The right kind of guy could definitely wear this one perhaps pairing it with a maroon or vermillion button up shirt.

I put this on at 6:00am and its now 2:00 pm and its still going strong. I really do enjoy the booziness of this and the rose and vanilla are to die for. I feel quite sensual wearing this perfume and others may not feel that way with the cake reference and all. But it definitely is for me. I really am glad I purchased it.

The people at Bond sent me a sample of this and now I own it. On my skin, it smells like an alcoholic standing in a garden of roses. LOL I do love it though! It's very boozy at first; I almost feel like I'm dousing myself in rum. Then the roses and vanilla come into play as it settles, but the booziness is still there. It's actually very lovely and unique with longevity around 8 hours on my skin and heavy sillage. I also agree with it being a comfort scent; it's very nice on cool, rainy spring days.

I loved this fragrance. Long lasting and yummy... Vanilla is definitely there. Big fan of Bond no 9 and this one is a keeper.

It smells like alcoholic rose water to me. Love the smell but I have had people asking me if I have been drinking?!?!

This perfume is smell of india. it got the blend of south asian flowers and it unquine smell. I bought it for my wife and she love it. This perfume is more femenine too as for the sillage is quiet good.

Okay, I wore this all day and I loved the opening, however what sillage is everyone talking about? Everyone says this is loud on projection and it's not at all. I kept hoping get whiffs of this throughout the day and nothing. I need a bit more sillage , but too bad because I love the scent. Great scent of red wine, roses, and vanilla. Good for gourmand lovers.

If you love TOCADE and it's vanilla rose sweetness, think of this as the slightly "naughty" version. The whole vintage circa 1950's cocktail party "vibe" I get with this makes me want to wear this for upcoming Holiday parties. A mature scent but the younger girls, who possess sophistication and self-assuredness could be comfortable in this one.

This is what an alcoholic who wears expensive perfume should smell like lol. This is one BOOZY perfume that just hits your senses in all the right places. It's mesmerizing, seductive, mysterious, and BOOZY. This is for sure top 5 in the house of Bond. You will oooooooze sensual mystery when you wear this. omg im in love with it i dont regret blind buying this at all.

I wish this was half the price that it is. I find it to be quite feminine. Soft, creamy, musky rose-vanilla. I have not tested hundreds of perfumes but I try to smell as many as I can and I feel that this has a unique smell despite pretty popular notes. Lasting power is decent, silage is light. Great for daytime use and pretty seasonless as well although I like it for early fall the best.

I might add.....this smells like "nothing" I have ever smelled before. Totally unique.

I get all these notes. I feel this is very feminine, leaning towards a younger woman. Perhaps in her 30's. I like it, and the Bond quality is there for sure. I just love the creaminess of their line. I don't think I will re-order again though. I am so in love with New Haarlem. This is will get moved to the back of the shelf and maybe even given to my daughter if she would like it. It's very nice, but not my favorite in this line. Try to sample before you blind buy. Although, it is pretty nice if you do find a bargain on it, jump at it. I love Bond No 9.

Intoxicating is just about right! Unique and truly magical rose/vanilla scent with a mesmirizing boozy impact and it lasts forever - in excess of 12 hours! Perfect!

Wearing this perfume is like eating creamy ice cream in a rose garden in late summer. Absolutely and incredibly yummy!

It starts off strong, and a little sharp in the opening, but soon lots of luscious rose starts to waft through. The moderately sweet, but very rich and dense vanilla kicks in pretty soon also.

Eventually there is a hint of musk which also makes its presence known, but really, the stars of this show are rose and vanilla.

This perfume boasts a wispy coolness to it throughout. Smelling it is just like inhaling the scent of ice cream straight from the tub.

The longevity is great...this being a perfume that lasts all day long without any reapplication. The sillage is strong in the start but gradually softens.

This is a cool and creamy vanilla/rose with a little bite.

All in all, a thoroughly intoxicating scent.

Second test run: couldn't do a thorough 1st run do to obligations.

Top Notes: I smell some citrus and musk from somewhere. Also, a good sharp peppery scent. Nice, not me, but pleasant enough.

Mid Notes: YEA GADS! there is this bleachy vodka smell!!! i'm on my way to a parent teacher conference, not exactly the image i want to project!!!

Dry down: I can smell the rose, definitely the rose, powdery-sweet--I can still smell a hint of lemon, but apparently that's just me. I don't get but a small touch of vanilla, not in anyway overpowering. (and I am a woman who loves my vanilla) I still stick with my original premise. Nice sophisticated rose, but more for my daughter than myself.

it's nice, not quite what i was expecting, but it is a fresh, light surprise. it's really more my daughter's style than mine and she adores it. but i do like it, could grow on me over time.

What a pleasant surprise, I was expecting something heavy like a middle eastern oriental falling towards rose & sandalwood but what I experienced was entirely different. It is all about vanilla thrown in with some delicious spices though rose is present all the way to the end but does not feel heavy. Great projection & longevity, Quite intoxicating !!

Lovely scent. Starts out with nice boozy rose, then the vanilla and amber kick in. I really enjoyed wearing it. Very unisex. Moderate projection and I got 9+ hours of longevity. This is on my buy list. 9/10

For me,the best perfume of the bond series.Very warm,quality.it makes me dreaming,thinking,takes me somewhere where i dont know.Elegant,positive,cool persons have to wear this.
Just one word : magnificent!

I got to test this thanks to Kchild who sent me a lovely and generous sample.

For a floral-woody-musk, it's much heavier on the "floral" part than any other perfume I know of in its genre. It's very strong on fresh, sweet roses. Next I would say musk is pretty strong, and I don't smell the woods so much.

I think this would be really nice just about any time of year. It's a great, modern, youthful, vibrant interpretation of the classic rose.

You know, I felt very flirtatious when I tested this. This is floral and warm with a touch of gourmand - just perfect for casual seduction.

I think Francopop's review is on-point. Rose wine and vanilla ice cream are two things I'd be prone to enjoy as a prelude to seduction. LOL

I get a decent projection and killer longevity, plus the swooning factor. Ladies, beware.... hahahaha

I love this scent! As "Francopop" has so brilliantly described, think of over-ripe, fading, potent and sweet Rosepetals harvested in the warm afternoon sun, dunked and drunk on lukewarm Rosé Wine....let it rest and add 5 scoops of vanilla ice cream, more roses, 1 or 2 peony heads, some rose-pedal jam, break in some toasted ice cream wafers, a dash of amber, musk, Ylang-Ylang and sprinkle with some real vanilla pod granules, and let it rest in the afternoon warm sun. Fill up with champagne, dress with more toasted wavers and serve!

This is a totally 100% cheerful, feel-good skin scent with very moderate projection (the vanilla accord stays on the longest) starting with that boozy, alcoholic whiff of roses, then the vanilla/ wafer/ baby-skin scent takes over and becomes sweeter and sweeter....nothing much else happens to this reliant "Labrador" of a scent.

Personally, I love this for the summer months, despite being a fairly sweet scent and I do funnily prefer it to the more potent and stronger, yet "cooler" and somewhat louder, more complex and crisper "Lyric Man" by AMOUAGE (some people might kill me now but despite liking "Lyric Man" I prefer it on a woman).

"West Side" also reminds me of "L'Eau D'Hiver" by Frederic Malle, also a very pleasant skin scent with similar soft (yet more milky and more almondy nature) character and little projection.

This is not a "head-turning" perfume but more of an intimate feel-good scent that you might wanna enjoy on those special and relaxed summer evenings.....perfect soundtrack to this would be Otis Redding's "Dock Of The Bay".

Very 'gourmand', you cannot stop sniffing, you wanna eat it as it smells so good. Advice, spray also on fabric to intensify scent.

West Side Bond 9 is a little sister to Red Door. If you couldn't stand the strength of Red Door but love the smell of it, like me, You will love to wear West Side. This is very easy to wear. Everyone I've asked just loves it. It has medium silage or projection. I can smell it on me without putting my wrist to my nose. My husband has never said my perfume is to strong when wearing it at home. I feel totally comfortable wearing this in any situation and it lasts 8+ hours on me.

Bond No. 9's West Side smells very similar to Tom Ford's Black Orchid (which was Michael Jackson's favorite).

Although both sway over to the feminine side, West Side is more unisex, and is much more tolerable for the metro-sexual male to pull off. West Side is a "doughy" and ripe/dense humid red rose with cream.

West Side almost smells like an upscale version of Paco Rabanne Black XS, except West Side is a rose-vanilla gourmand rather than the Strawberry/Praline of Black XS. West Side also has some resemblance to Euphoria for Women by Calvin Klein. Someone also previously mentioned that the nose behind West Side also created a similar perfume called Joop Jette, which is much cheaper.

I find West Side to be a very well defined, clean, transparent, rich, and lovely fragrance which is neither too heavy nor too light.

Creed's Virgin Island Water and Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille are next on my list of niche scents.

West Side by Bond No. 9

Rose` wine and italian vanilla ice cream in a sweet french gelaterie watching the world go by...that is my description of West Side by Bond no 9.

It lasts forever and keeps you wrapped up in a jolly dream for a very long while...wonderful stuff; great for evening wear and totally unisex...big thumbs up !!!

I was introduced to this fragrance by a rather good-looking male sales assistant. He wasn't trying to sell it to me, he was just so very eager to show me what he personally wore.

West Side struck me almost immediately as being rather strong, feminine in some ways with a note that resembled that raisin-type smell of tobacco. The scent when summed up in my own words, is tobacco-rose.

This fragrance has a lovely richness to it, that does make it extremely wearable for both sexes. There is a definite sweetness in there somewhere, perhaps even a gourmand touch, yet not too sugary.

This fragrance is very Wintery and warm, I couldn't possibly imagine anyone wearing it during the hotter months. The very alluring sales assistant informed me that he wore this fragrance whenever he went out, where many often asked what perfume he was wearing. It was not always a definite crowd-pleaser however it always had people intrigued.

Despite the array of floral notes, which do seem rather feminine when observed in its scent pyramid, West Side is very bold and very different. The drydown has a very likable carmelised quality, rich and syrupy.

Unfortunately this fragrance is not very long lasting, which was a shame because its sillage seemed to suggest otherwise.

Wending one's way through the ever-expanding world of Bond no 9 is no mean feat. No matter how many reviews I write, I find that still more lie ahead (WASHINGTON SQUARE and COOPER STATION are lurking on the horizon, when I have yet even to taste HIGH LIFE or MONTAUK!) And then some of their wares just take some time to wrap one's nose around, a case in point being WEST SIDE.

WEST SIDE opens with an evanescent cinnaminty freshness which, as I far as I can tell, no one but me has detected. For about one minute, this perfume reminds me very much of Dentyne (or is it Trident?) chewing gum. From there, the roses descend, not petal by petal, but by the truckload. The roses are suspended in amber, which abides through to the drydown, making this to some an amber rose perfume. I've seen comparisons to TOCADE, but I think that WEST SIDE is distinct, and while I very much appreciate the former, I'm not sure yet--even after multiple testings--about the latter.

I think that I do not understand WEST SIDE. For one thing, it does not remind me of music at all, since aside from the surprising and mildly discordant Dentyne opening--perhaps designed to mimic the experience of popping a tic-tac in one's mouth at the opening of an opera?--I don't experience a lot of development, much less lyric undulation. WEST SIDE is just sweet roses and amber to me. So what would the musical analogue be? Philip Glass?

As an irrelevant aside, I wish that they had used a less orangey red for this bottle. I feel that there is a clash of the reds between the roses and the vessel in which they are presented. I will say that the staying power of this edp is quite good, as evidenced by the fact that even after a few wearings, my purse spray is still nearly full!

Rose, Rose and one more time rose. To me it smells like mostly rose, moreover there are diffrent flowers and pretty big dose of sweetness which it could be trick of vanilla. Very pleasent and elegant fragrance, sometimes it reminds me of hot rose syrup (this kind of syrup for tea).

Pleasant floral but not outstanding. It has no significant development like some other Bond fragrances. At least, not on me. The rose note seems to predominate on me. Some Bonds I adore but this one is ho-hum. Itested this from a bon bon sample.

This is a powdery floral scent on my skin. I am a young adult male, and this scent was just to feminine when i tested it. I'm sure woman will love it but not for men at all!!

if you love amber fragrances, i recommend this one. all i had to do was smell westside on a spray card and i immediately purchased it when it first came out. it really is a beautiful, warm, and elegantly comfortable fragrance. the metallic undertones keep this scent from being too sweet.

I want so much to love this (I'm an opera lover,so I adore Lincoln Center,home of the Met), but so far it seems a bit understated for me. The first perfume where I can actually pick out the vanilla notes.Maybe just too elegant for me. I'm more Verdi and Puccini than Handel and Monteverdi. And you gotta love the bottle.

Powdery and soft. Pretty, yet somehow unremarkable as well. It is described as unisex, but I find it very feminine.

MMMM! This was one of my favorites! Smells soooo freakin' good! Like cakes and musk! I can't WAIT to get this!

Try "By Night Jette" from Jette Joop. It's the same fragrance, but WAY cheaper.

I love mariotgomez's comment "it reminded me of my mother baking a cake (vanilla)and my father bringing her a bouquet of roses" - perfect description! This is a beauty of a scent, elegant and voluptuous, yet comforting at the same time. A favorite!

Now having added this fragrance to my collection, I have to keep myself from wearing it every day. I like to keep others guessing what fragrance I am wearing. Today, when I spray this fragrance on, it reminded me of my mother baking a cake (vanilla)and my father bringing her a bouquet of roses. I Love this scent. It is one of my top 5 favorites.

This is truly a surprising scent by the Bond No. 9. West Side first seduces you with a floral note and then caresses you with a warming of amber, sandalwood, musk and vanilla notes. I look forward to adding this to my collection of fragrances.