No Job in New York for Me, Thank You All the Same!
Bond no 9 ANDY WARHOL SUCCESS IS A JOB is a strange creation. It's not really oriental, and it's not really chypre. It's not fruity floral, and it's neither woody nor aromatic. It seems like another boardroom strategy table effort (cf. Bleecker Street) to come up with something--anything--new. That said, I must confess that I like SUCCESS, in spite of itself.
The fragrance opens with the tiniest bit of pepperminty freshness--similar to what I detected before chez Bond no 9, at the opening of WESTSIDE, except that there it was cinnaminty--which then becomes slightly sweet and powdery like its brethren BRYANT PARK, LEXINGTON AVE, and CHINATOWN. This I attribute to the modern patchouli presentation unique to Les Bondeurs. But rather than developing fully into that oh-so-yummy sweet chypre, SUCCESS suddenly veers again to form a complex with a pink powdery aspect. Some have identified this stage as empirically indistinguishable from "strawberry jello powder," a referent phenomenologically unfamiliar to me. The closest thing to this in my experience may be Tums quickpak berry powder. It's definitely not as sweet as pixie sticks, nor the powder accompanying lick'em sticks. It's much closer to, well, like I said, Tums quickpak berry powder.
So here's my take: you need to have fresh breath during your interview for a job in NYC, and then once you've landed one, you're going to need serious Tums to keep it, not to mention the stress of living in NYC, with all that that implies, including $3K monthly rent for a 300sq ft studio fully equipped with the modern kitchen convenience of a hot plate next to the toilet.
Against all objective perfumista criteria, I somehow like this one, too, though I probably won't be adding it to my collection anytime soon.
