Saks-en-Rose - The Newest Bond No. 9 Fragrance

Saks Fifth Avenue and Bond No. 9 have introduced a bouquet in a bottle. Saks-en-Rose, a contemporary blend of rarely used top notes like succulent dry dates and verbena-like lantana leaves, is wrapped around a heart of rose.

Loyd Cassler and I experimented with it yesterday. We were both immediately struck by the gorgeous floral notes. As it dried down, Loyd continued to love it. I became concerned about a spice I couldn't identify. Now I know from the Saks press release that the spice was nutmeg, so I'm going to have to try it again before I make a purchase decision. I'm not a spice girl! There are certain spices I don't want in my food, and I don't want them in my fragrance either. Nutmeg is one of them. However, what makes "floral me" reticent will attract many others. You need to smell this new fragrance; I think it's going to be a blockbuster.

Too mesmerizing, too impudently beautiful to ever to be overlooked, the venerable rose sets the standard for lush and romantic perfumes in my book. According to dispassionate botanists, it works its magic by being the most perfect and balanced of flowers: voluptuously honeyed, but not too sweet; as rich and deep as balsam, but joyously sparkling too; warm and simultaneously cool; sensually beautiful - yet spiked with thorns. No wonder the rose has long been the subject of myth and lore in cultures all over the world. This was the official flower of the goddesses of love, Aphrodite and Venus. Its petals were employed as stuffing for the sultan's mattress in ancient Persia. Over the centuries, it's played a key role in Hindu weddings. And in 17th century France, roses were so valuable that they served in lieu of cash as legal tender.

There are thousands of varieties, but it is the pink rose - a symbol of grace and happiness - that is the key ingredient in the third fragrance venture between Saks Fifth Avenue and Bond No. 9. Saks-en-Rose, as the Eau de Parfum will be known, marks a departure from your grandmother's rose. This is a self-possessed, future-oriented, and multifunctional rose - beguiling on an evening out, informal over the weekend.

Following a contemporary blend of rarely used top notes - succulent dry dates, verbena-like lantana leaves, and spicy mace (from the nutmeg family), the scent segues into its resolutely floral heart of pink roses, orris (cousin to iris), and seductive tuberose. This beguiling bouquet lingers courtesy of musk, for a hint of feral, and the woody notes of sandalwood and amber. The bottle design derives from the same subtle sensibility. Saks's millennial deconstructed-script logo is written in strokes of pure black on the traditional Bond No. 9 flacon, rendered here in milky white. Both the cap and the Bond No. 9 metro-token, displayed as a centerpiece, are in petal pink.

This fragrance landed at Saks stores this week, just in time for buying Mother's Day gifts - and in time for Friends & Family (10% discount on beauty - pre-sale starts today, and take-it-with-you starts April 22). Because the pink rose has traditionally been bestowed as an expression of admiration, elegance, and appreciation, this might be the perfect unique gift for Mom! Saks-en-Rose is available only at Saks Fifth Avenue and will be available at Saks.com once their Webmasters get it posted.

There are two sizes: $215 for 100 ml and $145 for 50 ml.

Photo and italicized press release courtesy of Saks

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! May the luck of the Irish be with you today and every day!

Remember to wear green today. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day! Here are some green-themed products and offers to put you in the mood.

Interested in a new green fragrance? Bond No. 9 High Line ($145 or $220) is now available (you can read the BTiB post here). The scent starts off with a prairie grazing weed - purple love grass - mixed with citrusy bergamot and zesty Indian rhubarb. The perfume’s floral heart is composed with red-leaf rose, Lady Jane tulips, and grape hyacinth. Its lingering base notes combine bur oak - from the sheltering tree that thrives in New York - with imported sea moss, musk, and teakwood to evoke the Hudson River’s proximity.

How about a green eye shadow? Even if you don't want to cover your lid entirely with green, you can use the shadow as a liner close to the base of your lashes or "paint a pop" of green in the center of your lid.

The Armani Beauty Maestro Eye Shadows ($29) are among my favorites. The formula contains pure silk-like powders to create a soft, lightweight texture that glides onto the eyelids in a silken veil of color - the application is even and easy to blend. Three different finishes replicate the breathtaking effects Giorgio Armani achieves with silk in his clothing: #15 is matte and gives smooth, deep color; #13 is satin to create a lustrous sheen; and #14 illuminates with iridescent deep teal shimmer. All three are gorgeous, and as you might imagine, I have all three! I'll be wearing #13 today.

Don't forget the green nail polish! Choices abound.

Let's not forget the earth-friendly products we now call "green." Beautorium is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a drawing. Three Green Beauty Selection Kits worth over $100 each will be given away. You can enter their contest by becoming a Beautorium fan on Facebook or following @Beautorium on Twitter - or both. Sign up today, and you will receive special offers in e-mail. Beautorium is a standout company - one of the best natural and organic beauty sites on the Web!

How will I be celebrating? I will prepare my hair with John Masters Organics shampoo and conditioner that I bought from Beautorium. I'll be wearing my latest green fragrance, Armani's green eye shadow, a green tourmaline on my hand, and, of course, a touch of green in my clothing. I may have to go looking for some green beer too! Hope you have a fun day!

Photos courtesy of life123.com, Armani Beauty, and Beautorium

Bond No. 9 High Line, the World's First Railroad Perfume

When we conducted our informal fragrance poll during our recent HERMÈS giveaway contest, the winner and other entrants selected a BOND No. 9 fragrance as their go-to scent. Now, there's a new perfume in the line for you to try!

Launching in March, Bond No. 9 High Line ($145 or $220, depending on size) was designed to evoke the images and smells of wildflowers, green grasses, and urban renewal. As we have come to expect from Bond, that's a quirky image!

I'm going to let them tell you about it - their words are charming.

Since when do new neighborhoods arise in New York? Hardly ever. After all, this city is already jam-packed with just about every kind of community imaginable. So when a new part of town appears, you can be sure we’re in for something completely different. Like our latest and most dynamic neighborhood, the High Line, which serves as the subject of Bond No. 9’s Spring 2010 Eau de Parfum. An improbable aerial walkway lined with concrete planks and railroad tracks, landscaped with meadows, wetlands, and wildflowers, the High Line hovers 30 feet above street level as it meanders along its route from the Meatpacking District to the former 34th Street rail yards - sometimes bridging its way through buildings along the way. Lately too it’s begun serving a daily parade of New Yorkers and visitors wanting both a respite from and a fresh take on our non-stop kaleidoscopic city.

Bond No. 9, purveyors of New York neighborhood fragrances, has long been enamored with the High Line and its perfume possibilities. A scent that conveys a whiff of urban wildflowers and a hint of industrial grit, with bits of Tenth Avenue energy and Chelsea gallery style added to the mix - the idea intrigued Bond. So they set about creating Bond No. 9 High Line.

The result is an androgynous floral-marine bouquet, contrasting the hardy flowers and greens that grow along the High Line’s route with intriguing notes from far away. The scent starts off with a prairie grazing weed - purple love grass - mixed with citrusy bergamot and zesty Indian rhubarb. The perfume’s floral heart is composed with red-leaf rose, Lady Jane tulips, and grape hyacinth. Its lingering base notes combine bur oak - from the sheltering tree that thrives here - with imported sea moss to evoke the Hudson River’s proximity, along with musk and teakwood, to remind us that Bond No. 9 High Line is a metro-perfume.

The textured silkscreen surface design on the clear glass High Line bottle furthers the beauty-emerging-in-a-gritty-urban-industrial-environment narrative. In the foreground, hardy blades of tall grass and determined fuchsia tulip buds sprout from gunmetal grey rail tracks (affixed to the bottle as a metal plaque) displaying the name, High Line. As for the Bond No. 9 token logo, it appears raised in relief as a backdrop.

Bond No. 9 has joined forces with and became sponsors of Friends of the High Line, the nonprofit organization that spearheaded and oversaw the revitalization and reuse of this abandoned rail line in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. For more information about the High Line and Friends of the High Line, go to www.thehighline.org.

Appearing on-counter in March 2010, Bond No. 9 High Line will be sold at the four Bond New York stores, Saks Fifth Avenue, and at the Bond Web site.

I'll be on the lookout for this one. I love makeup and fragrances with a cause! It gets better. Bond wants your empty perfume bottles for recycling - all of them! Just take your empty glass perfume bottles, theirs or anyone else’s, to Bond No. 9 boutiques and Bond No. 9 counters at Saks Fifth Avenue nationwide. They will take care of the rest. And by way of an eco-friendly thank-you, they will give you a refillable pocket spray free with any purchase.

Photo courtesy of Bond