My views on Bond no 9 THE SCENT OF PEACE have swung back and forth about three times now, so I am not at all surprised to see the ratings literally all over the map, ranging from detestation to true love.
When I first encountered this perfume, it seemed obviously to fall into the shampoo-conditioner category, which at the time I found merely amusing. It has become less amusing to me as the category has expanded and appears to be transforming people's very concept of what perfume even is. But I felt at that time that THE SCENT OF PEACE was a funny and enjoyable, certainly likable, scent, just not really a perfume.
Since then I had some sort of black currant awaking which involved me basically lusting after every single perfume featuring that note, and THE SCENT OF PEACE is one. As I revisited the perfume over and over again (having acquired a tester more for the bottle than the juice...), I discovered that I really loved the scent, which now belonged in the category of SSRI perfumes, also new to the 21st century. It's so bright and optimistic and cheery. It fits right in with Prozacoid Facebook. Disliking is strictly forbidden! Liking is fast and free!
My favorite time to wear THE SCENT OF PEACE is during the summer. For some reason the combination of grapefruit and black currant and what not expands into this gorgeously harmonious blend. I always wonder whether people around me agree, because it seems pretty clear that the sillage is huge in the heat.
What I have found in the frigid winter is that although the opening is still massively appealing to me, the drydown is much less so and starts to seem sticky a couple of hours into the wear. So sticky, in fact, that I start to think of the Elizabeth Arden sticky base used in Britney Spears BELIEVE and Badgley Mischka FLEURS DE NUIT and the Juicy Couture perfumes (except for PLJ).
So, in the end, I am forced to concede: everything you've heard and read about this perfume is true! I myself have covered the perceptual map on this creation in my various wearings and can only offer this piece of advice. This is one seriously mercurial scent, the complexity of which inheres more in its interactions with the wearer and the weather than in the composition itself, which is deceptively simple.
Glad you waffled on SOP. I like reading reviews that question our definition of perfume. It helps bring us closer to a more concrete way of understanding fragrance as art and design.
Curse this 250 character reply limit!