Aujourd'hui

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.

The scent of peace is one of the main reasons that I love Bond No.9 fragrances so much. What this fragrance adds despite all of its simplicity is nothing short of a beautiful and very evocative fragrance that takes a very bold and interesting approach to freshness and its best. I always go for fragrances that have a creamy edge to it and The scent of Peace definetly has that. In fact it has alot of it, With the burst of grapefruit and the crushed juices of beautiful Blackcurrant, The Scent of Peace begins like something that could very easily be the base of a wonderful fragrant recipe. Lily of the valley brings a floral elegance and grace to the fragrance while the Musk brings the dry-down into a sensual and very soft territory. I must tell you, Go out and sniff this fragrance, don't worry about expensive it is, but at least sniff it and you'll know what I'm talking about. If you're like me and you end up buying it then good for you because you'll have invested money into a fragrance that will become a friend, and the best kinds of friends never ever bore you and they never go out of style. Thats what The scent of peace offers me. It offers me something Honest, Likeable and fresh amongst a sea of cloying and provocative scents that only exist to try and get me laid lol. But on a more serious note. TRY IT and see for yourself. Peace + Love to Everyone.

The Scent of Peace sticks out amongst a sea of fruity florals. It's light, fresh and incredibly juicy. Black currant is probably my favorite fruity note, it's tart and always smells like it's just dripping with juiciness. That being said - Scent of Peace is the perfect fragrance for summer, when you want to feel fresh and keep cool. There's a breezy, airy quality there that just feels refreshing. The Scent of Peace is a bit on the softer side - and didn't have much projection for me (which is a shame, considering the price). Lastly, the scent really matches its name. I can't imagine The Scent of Peace offending anyone, even the most scent-sensitive types.

How a headline can lead one astray! It does not refer to the scent, but to a phenomenon that Walter Krämer has described inimitably entertainingly in his book “How to Lie with Statistics.” Overall, it is a very enlightening read for anyone who wonders about the diametrically opposed messages that the world of statistics can scientifically produce, depending on who the client of the study is. A superlative becomes synthetic when the basis of the survey is cut to fit too arbitrarily. My garden, for example, is certainly the most flower-rich on the middle and northern E…-Street. The problem is that my direct southern neighbor's garden (a retired gardener) looks much more lush and, above all, better maintained. The Guinness Book of Records is full of this kind of superlatives. With the following lines, I do not want to do any injustice to the “FiFi Awards” of “The Fragrance Foundation” from New York, whose significance I cannot assess. I am merely describing what spontaneously came to my mind and speculating a bit on top of that. “The Scent of Peace” is reportedly the “Winner in the Top 5 Finalists for 2007 Fragrance of the Year FiFi Award for Women’s Nouveau Niche Category.” Aha. Setting aside the fact that I would have expected Fifi to prefer completely different scents (Ha.Ha.Ha.), I was immediately reminded of a passage from Krämer's aforementioned book: “No matter how mediocre a performance may be, there is always room for a superlative…. An impresario who wants to finally award a prize to a weakly talented protégé simply creates one for the most listened-to up-and-coming singer under 23 years from Romania. The coveted Oscar will soon also be awarded for the best unmarried Mexican makeup artist without a high school diploma.” I find it completely incomprehensible what about this Bond is award-worthy. And it honestly has nothing to do with the fact that I find the entire brand presentation, in its optical over-the-topness - to put it mildly - disgustingly intrusive. Pure coincidence that Bond No. 9 is a US company and is based in New York like “The Fragrance Foundation”? Don’t the Americans love to celebrate themselves - see Oscar - the most? I remember a radio report about a Grammy award ceremony. It stated that the non-American experts shook their heads over the award for the US pianist Emanuel Ax. Apparently, the rest of the world agreed that Ax is certainly a very good artist, but not world-class, just as little as the specific CD recording awarded to him. At least, that’s the tenor of the broadcast that has stuck in my memory. A peak of embarrassment was that the Grammy winners were read out by none other than…Emanuel Ax. For that - as well as for the Grammy - he could of course do nothing. Now finally to the perfume. I’ll be quick, I promise. At the opening, there is a sharp citrus fruit, grapefruit is fine. There’s a bit of herbaceousness, which fits with the blackcurrant. The subsequent fruit is quite muted, already carries a base of wood, yet it is pleasantly fruity-fresh. In the best sense, average. This phase, which extends over the entire span from the third to the eighth quarter-hour, is the top time of the scent with its gentle fruitiness, imperceptibly supported by the openly mentioned Hedione. From the ninth quarter-hour onward, the chemistry takes over. A flabby mixture of Hedione, light synthetic wood, and perhaps a hint of heliotrope-vanilla almost completely replaces the fruit, and The Scent of Peace becomes woody-watery. In the further course, which already reaches the sediment around noon, a mixture of synthetic wood and white musk with the usual long-lasting effect emerges. Speaking of “award-worthy”: Offering something like this at a price of more than 200 euros for 50 ml is an outrageousness that justifies a deduction in the rating. Based solely on the scent, I would have chosen a 5.0. I thank Taurus1967 for the sample.

The Scent of Peace has caused all the trouble! This perfume is the reason why I fell ill with perfumania! It is the reason I found myself at Parfumo and cannot come away any more. It is the reason why I think expensive fragrances are better than others. It is the reason why I am completely puzzled. It is the reason why I am so bewildered. But Scent of Peace also taught me to be patient. It taught me that a fragrance smells completely different on skin during its drydown compared to its beginning. I taught me that there is more than just one holy perfume grail, and a lot more... It happened about two years ago. I went to town, wearing my new white coat with big black buttons and belt. I just had left the nail salon where I had lots of cursory small talk concerning beauty. I was all dolled up, and my Marco Polo bootees gave me about respectable 6 ft. This is how I pranced, or better: hovered through the crowded city center on a saturday, and I felt like a young godess – no, like a fashion model! I was so full of smug self-satisfaction that I thought I felt the need for a new fragrance for my outfit. And so I just dropped by one of those expensive looking perfume shops still lead by the owner. I wouldn't have done this before, but my look and outfit sent the signal that I was ready to spend money. So, I dared to enter with the mere expectation of a good service. The sales assistant analysed my style, made compliments, asked for my favour and then presented her suggestions by giving me a sample of each. Among those samples, there was also The Scent of Peace. Back home, I fell head over heels in love with it. This was something I never had smelled before. Unisex? What does that mean? Brilliant! My only problem that day was that I looked like spending money but I had none. Oh, no! 235 € for a bottle of perfume? So far, I had had no knowledge about these high prices. I sensed that this fragrance is worth every penny, but it definitely exceeded the budget that I allowed myself to spend for a perfume at that time. In Eternity's world, there had only been permume mass market so far, for 16 years. So I booted my laptop and had a hard time googling for it. I got forwarded to Parfumo and to Kankuro's reviews, and got stuck since then. It is hardly possible to find a bargain sale of The Scent of Peace, so I waited at least a year before I finally was able to call this fragrance my own. And whenever I use it today I really have to smile about my previous appreciation. I was unable to spot or identify what it was that I liked so much about this fragrance. Today, I am, and the charm is gone. The Scent of Peace is a very harmonic and fresh fragrance. It is nothing new that grapefruit and Lily-of-the-Valley can provide freshness, but basically, it is the currant that makes this fragrance interestant. It does not smell sweet or fruity. It just pours its violet juice over the fragrance. Just imagine having a scent that is so fresh and comfortable as if you'd just have taken a shower or washed your hair with lots of shampoo. Besides this fresh feeling, current adds another dimension. The freshness gets an individual note. It is enjoyable like a prickly dry white wine that tastes like berries so you cannot get enough of it. The Lily-of-the-Valley appears and adds anothe kind of freshness, more tender and refined. Now the fragrance has got you. It seems highly complex, but an ordinary person cannot understnd where this redolency comes from. It is simply the fresh berries that are unknown in the mass market! The hedione in the heart note appears to be a transparent flavor enhancer that makes the fragrance shine and prevents over-applying. The hedione itself is not detectable for any layman. The fragrance stays beautiful very long, and you feel clean and special with it. The musk in the base note does its best, but nw I have a problem: after some time, the cedar provides a masculine tartness to the skin. At this point, I sometimes feel a bit embarrassed because I am afraid people may think I had used a men's shower gel or would have used a men's antiperspirant that now comes into view. So, it is a unisex fragrance par excellence, but for women I would recommend daytime use. It is not suitable for a night out or clubbing since whenever the skin warms up and one may start to sweat this tartness comes into view. For men, however, this development is a perfect match. Still, The Scent of Peace is a very special fragrance to me, but the demystification by its fragrance notes and development for me has contributed to the loss of its glorified leading position. Whoever likes hyacinth and finds this fragrance too expensive should test Coquelict by Il Profvmo. Whoever likes berries in a feminine without sweetness and tartness should test Amethyste by Lalique. These three fragrances all have a certain similarity with each other. By the way, I am not the vain, smugly person that you might suppose by this story. I just wanted to express that you have to feel comfortable in your skin in order to finally skip your long time mass market signature scent. Fragrances not only reflect the way we are but also the way we want to be and what we want others to see in us. A perfume is more than a fragrance. It is a non-verbal statement, and the perfume we wear can make our emotions and attitudes visible for others. Thanks to Bond No.9 and The Scent of Peace who have caused all the trouble, but have taught me a lot :-) Edit: Today, after getting experience with some other fragrances I more often take Miss Charming by Juliette has a Gun rather than The Scent of Peace. This fragrance is not so much about berries, but it has lots of feminine freshness. Translation: Apicius