Chinatown Bond No. 9 (2005)

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7.7 / 10 249 Ratings

Chinatown is a popular perfume by Bond No. 9 for women and men and was released in 2005. The scent is floral-sweet. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.

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Perfumer

Aurélien Guichard

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot, Peach blossom
Heart Notes	Gardenia, Orange blossom, Peony, Tuberose
Base Notes	Gaiac wood, Cardamom, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Cedarwood

Ratings

Scent

7.7 (249 Ratings)

Longevity

8.0 (195 Ratings)

Sillage

7.4 (170 Ratings)

Bottle

7.7 (181 Ratings)

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 13.07.2019

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Reviews

03/07/2019

8.0 10.0 9.0/10

Catch22
0 Reviews

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Catch22

Helpful Review

The Seer (The Swans)

A masterpiece, says Luca Turin. Like Secretions Magnifique. That's not exactly true, of course. Depressing, yes, but what is missing is the idea behind SM, the olfactory blindness as a trick. This is about expressiveness without a specific theme. And if not everything deceives me, then Safraleine has also taken on a supportive role.

It is a very certain balancing act between chemical odor and well-being. Repetition of the eternally equal against doubt of its actuality, hideous. What's true? One would like to listen to the quoted music again and ask, how for the sake of the goddess did someone come up with the idea to construct such an acoustic disaster?! Yes and no, isn't it just garbage? (One should already be able to replicate 100Phon broadband perfectly with Kraft technology, better 110 ... measured!)

It is clear to identify the standardised greasiness with the smell of deep-fried fortune cookies. Sure it has sweetness, too. For me, however, it is simply pleasantly horrible, of alarming artificiality, which answers every question with arbitrariness. Let's be honest: as non-geniuses, this world of eternal being at the mercy of time and space, of thinking and fearing from nothing to universal peace is a deterrent to us. We dummies don't even know what not knowing feels like, we work.

Summary: fantastic rubbish that deserves to be brought close to the consuming population for 30Eus/100ml. As a clue.

5 Replies

08/11/2014

7.5 5.0 7.5 5.0/10

Dalmajen
45 Reviews

Dalmajen

Very helpful Review 5

No fancy Chinese Lanterns...

I am have finally tried a Bond fragrance. I avoided these fragrances, as the prices are way out of my price range..I would have to be virtually in love to buy a FB of any of these. I was Lucky enough to have been gifted a large sample of this, and decided to make a day long testing of this. My first impression is a peach sprinkled with cinnamon, followed by a smokey vibe. This smokey accord drifted in and out for the first hour or so. It was quite pleasant, but nothing extra exciting..the floral heart notes were rather bland..in other words, they didn't shine through as expected. I seemed to detect more of the orange blossom than the other listed notes. The dry down was pleasant, but the volume was turned way down...as if they were told to stay in the background. It lastest on my skin for quite a long time, which is a great feat! But, the sillage is low key...hardly noticable, on me, anyway...my view on Chinatown is a watery, but simple spice fragrance, with a very nice dry down, that comes across shyly. It didn't float my boat, as I love more dramatic type fragrances, and this does not live up to the price expectation. It had a particular note that I detected in the reformulated Opuim..that sort of watery cinnamon note..hard to describe, but there..i am so pleased I was able to test this, as I have always wondered what magic Bond had to offer. So many beautiful, and great bottles! I won't pass judgement on this house, as would need to test a lot more fragrances..but, Chinatown didn't have the Wow factor for me..it is just a nice, and ordinary fragrance. Almost like Chinatown without the mystery.....

2 Replies

04/26/2014

10.0 10.0 8.0/10

ScentFan
325 Reviews

ScentFan

Helpful Review 5

Followed My Nose

Brand new to Bond No. 9, I stood at a counter chatting with the sales people and sniffing away, periodically renewed by coffee beans (they totally clear my nose). I must have sniffed a good dozen of them, including Chinatown early on and kept returning to it. At the end, after nose-clearing pauses and a final sniff I bought it, heavenly woody, spicy thing that it is. Initially, the peach and bergamot lay a welcoming olfactory carpet for the sweet heart florals that ordinarily might be too much but in this case the woods ground the scent, and the cardamom with the peony takes me straight to the orient. Later I learned this much-hyped scent won awards. To my nose, it deserves them. Wear this one to Lincoln Center or to dinner at Eleven Madison

02/03/2014

2.0/10

stephaniek
44 Reviews

stephaniek

Helpful Review 1

Tuberose Trouble

I wanted to like this, but the tuberose kills me. It just smells like an Aunt. In some creations the tuberose works and isn't as dominant. It's trouble in Chinatown.

1 Replies

11/22/2013

ForrealMe2
6 Reviews

ForrealMe2

Very helpful Review 5

Chinatown Bond No.9 2005

Well i must say i was into the hype when i bought this one..and i really love the bottle. It is my second favorite from the Bond house thus far but i still have many more to try. So let's get into the Pro's and Con's shall we?
Pro's:
This is a classy and fun gourmand. Right off the bat you can smell a powdery candy scent and i kid you not it is just like pezz candy and it almost is sour in a sense. On top of that it is floral with the wonderful gardenia's and its blended quite well..not obnoxious at all as some gardenia fragrances can be..but another favorite note that it has that i adore is cardamom which makes this fragrance not only sweet but very spicey...so this is a sweet and spicey fragrance! The patchouli does not come off as loud so if your looking for a gourmand fragrance that the patch is turned down i think this would be a wonderful choice and it does last long.
Con's: I think once again the price is too high for this fragrance because even though it lasts long the sillage is not as strong as the other Bonds. I do wish the sillage lasted as long as the fragrance did but it does last at least. I don't have really much bad to say about this fragrance because it is of better quality i just wish they weren't so dang expensive but cie la vie!
I do like this fragrance but i don't go for it much so even though i love the scent i probably won't repurchase unless i crave for it in the future but i do think it is a worthy purchase just because i love the scent and can see it being a scent many would love..from the description it sounds like it would compete against fracas but i don't know if it smells similar to it but the notes sound similar and i heard fracas has that same pezz candy vibe going on too. So i definitely say try it or buy it it is worth a sniff and it does smell good enough to own it in comparison to many other fragrances out there.

01/31/2013

7.5 7.5 7.5 7.0/10

Missk
1165 Reviews

Missk

Greatly helpful Review 6

Complex and super feminine

I had Chinatown on my 'for test list' for years, and never found the opportunity to test it. My favourite department store, (the only Bond No.9 stockist in Australia), pulled the line back in 2010 with no prior warning, leaving me at a loss of where to find genuine samples. Finally I have a sample of Chinatown in the palm of my hand, and it gives me great pleasure to write my thoughts down in words.

I can certainly see why Chinatown is so popular, and I too consider it one of Bond No.9's better scents. It could be classed as either a gourmand or a sweet, woody floral.

Chinatown opens with a delicious licorice accord, much like a paper bag filled with soft, fresh licorice sticks. A few seconds later the scent settles into a smooth, sugary peach blossom and spicy cardamom blend. It had a very distinctive gourmand feel at first, one that I could thankfully tolerate as the sweetness never became too cloying on the skin.

The heart introduces a fascinating white floral twist. Gardenia and tuberose add a beautiful and somewhat seductive buttery-ness, which I find both complex and suitable. The floral accords in turn make the composition appear less foody, essentially shaking off the last of its gourmand qualities.

Chinatown becomes richer and smoother in terms of composition the more it develops. By the drydown, the woods, vanilla and patchouli are in full swing. I love patchouli, and in Chinatown it smells just about perfect when mixed in with the buttery white florals and sugary vanilla. All in all, this is a truly sensual and captivating olfactory experience.

I think it's essential that I stress my concern over Chinatown being labelled unisex. I'm one of the most open-minded people when it comes to gender and perfume, but in all honesty I think many men would shy away from something so sweet, feminine, and overtly pink. I really can't picture a man wearing this, sorry.

I am suitably impressed with Chinatown, but once again the price poses a slight concern. Why does Bond No.9 have to be so darn expensive? I just cannot bring myself to part with my hard earned cash for the chance to own one pretty bottle of Chinatown.

09/29/2012

6.0/10

Awesomeness
247 Reviews

Awesomeness

Greatly helpful Review 6

Hermes 24 Fauborg meets Tauer Eau D'Epices

I had an opportunity to blind-buy a full-bottle of Chinatown at an insanely low price. I am glad that sanity intervened and I purchased a sample instead. Reviews are generally favorable for this fragrance yet all over the board, and now I understand why. Simply, Chinatown is distinctive yet unique.

My take is that Chinatown is Hermes 24 Fauborg meets Tauer Eau D'Epices. I like the impression of this scent, and the quality is definitely there. It has a modern vibe to it, and I'm not quite sure whether it's a floriental or a floral chypre. However, you really must like, enjoy and appreciate the near sickly sweet searing of the white floral heart - gardenia, orange blossom, tuberose. Hermes 24 Fauborg takes me to the cliff but doesn't go over, but Chinatown starts to make the descent. What lends Chinatown its sweetness is the florals, not the base. Personally, I prefer the latter, not the former.

My skin amps up white florals, so that's the dominant character of Chinatown when I wear it. However, white florals are on my "dislike alot" list. I appreciate the fragrance and the quality, but I'm never even gonna use up this sample.

05/10/2012

Kosmoskukka
18 Reviews

Kosmoskukka

Love,

Ohh Chinatown, I have been watching You from distance so so long time. Felt we might have a story to tell toghether.. just wished I could have You close to me. And finally friend of mine arranged us together and You will be mine very soon. I just can`t wait**

2 Replies

01/18/2012

10.0 10.0 10.0 9.0/10

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Greatly helpful Review 7

Cardamom-Dusted Peach Trees in Full Bloom

Bond no. 9 Chinatown is one of my favorite perfumes to don before watching a film at home in wintertime. It starts out smelling very oriental, a close olfactory neighbor to Kenzo Jungle L'Eléphant: lots of cardamom and perhaps some of the components of five-spice powder, which is the only sensible connection to Chinatown that I've been able to come up with.

Rather than becoming darker and more intense, in the manner of Jungle L'Eléphant, Chinatown blooms into a huge peach orchard with blossoms proliferating as the sillage expands. The spices are still very present, dusting the peach blossom petals, and the woody aspect of the composition remains important as well, but the peach flower scent becomes progressively more dominant as Chinatown develops.

By the end of whatever film I happen to be watching, I invariably find myself in the midst of a cardamom-dusted peach orchard, admiring how wonderful I smell! The composition is not fruity in the sense of peach actually being present or directly detectable. Instead, this composition captures the trees as the first blossoms begin to open, before the fruit appears.

Chinatown is not for everyone, and caution is in order to those who do not appreciate strong, powdery cardamom notes, à la Jungle L'Eléphant. Some men may find this all-too flowery by the end--or perhaps too sweet--but to me it's a joy to wear and a bona fide perfume with an interesting development trajectory that is simply gorgeous from start to finish, at every stage throughout the wear.

In my estimation, Chinatown is a complex and beautiful fruity-floral-oriental chypre worth trying by anyone who appreciates fine oriental perfumes.