ShopDiary

Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue

Andy Warhol would have celebrated his 80th birthday this year. To coincide with the occasion Bond No. 9 New York is introducing the third Andy Warhol fragrance called Lexington Avenue. The name comes from an apartment that Warhol lived in during the early 1950s when he was an illustrator for the I. Miller Shoe Company; therefore the mélange of women’s shoes decorating the flacon.

I got my sample vial of Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue in the mail recently. Shawn of Bond No. 9 has faithfully mailed samples of new Bond No. 9 fragrances to me ever since I bought my first Bond No. 9 scent, Chinatown, from him almost two years ago. He doesn’t know I’m a blogger. He just knows that I’m a client. And I’m afraid to confess that I’m not a very loyal one at that since I’ve bought scents from other brands since then. Don’t tell Shawn!

At any rate, I had missed the flurry of blog posts about the fragrance back in July when I was on vacation. So, except for the knowledge that Bond No. 9 scents are usually unique and interesting, I didn’t have any pre-conceived idea of the fragrance.

Lexington Avenue is a floral woody chypre composed of blue cypress, fennel, cardamom, roasted almonds, pink peony, iris, crème brûlée, pimento berry, patchouli and sandalwood. The scent starts off with a rare wood top note, blue cypress, that gives a unisex vibe. It briefly moves on to sweet gourmand notes and then finally settles with base notes of patchouli and sandalwood. It reminds me a bit of Silver Factory, the first Andy Warhol scent. I did not smell traces of my beloved Chinatown as other reviewers have noted. Not lemming worthy, in my opinion, but interesting enough. Lexington Avenue is a heady scent that should be comforting in cold weather.

Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue will be available in September in 100ml ($195) and 50ml ($135) at Bond No. 9’s four New York City boutiques, www.bondno9.com and at Saks Fifth Avenue. For the holidays a limited edition flacon, featuring a detachable and wearable sterling silver chain adorned with four Robert Lee Morris sterling silver shoe charms of Warhol’s shoe designs, will be available for $575.

Call Shawn at (877) 273-3369 to order. Email me on how to get 15% off and free shipping!