FiDi

I fell in love with Lafayette Street by this house and I decided to explore other Bond fragrances. I headed over to Jomashop and saw FiDi on sale for a steal of a price so I pulled the trigger and purchased it blindly. At first, I absolutely LOATHED this fragrance. I found it to be too peppery, too dense, and slightly suffocating. I shelved it for a few months until one day I accidentally sprayed it on not paying attention thinking it was Lafayette Street. I don’t know if it needed some time to truly blossom or if my taste has evolved since first purchasing this but I found the wear absolutely delightful! What I once found to be too thick, dense and suffocating became a rich, robust hyper masculine, virile, spicy composition with just a touch of sweetness to round out the fragrance. It kind of smells like Armani code with a heaping of peppery spices and the vanilliac sweetness dialed down one notch above the absolute minimum. There’s even a slightly leathery/suede animalic accord in the background (which could be coming from the Lotus and nutmeg heart) just like Armani code. It performs really well too with longevity reaching the 10 hour mark and projection maintaining at about a foot or two for the life of the wear. The sillage is alluring, wafting about giving your an air of masculine sophistication and virility. Less is more with this fragrance, 2 to 3 sprays yields the best results, any more and you’ll be choking out, and triggering the allergies of everyone within 3 feet of you. I wouldn’t say its a potent composition but it is very robust and rich and can become cloying if over sprayed. I’d recommend if you’re into spicy masculine fragrances, even if you’re not FiDi is still at least worth sampling.

After an initial blast of black pepper, this settles down to include musk and watery florals. As it dries down, it seems to gain complexity. At the point of dry down, I wasn't sure I could hang with the strong, peppery, burnt plastic smell, which is probably just the natural consequences of combining this much black pepper with fresh notes like bergamot and lotus. As this matures, it truly morphs into something lovely. The soapy aspect comes out and the peppery note fades into a background role. I made the mistake of reading some of the reviews while trying this for the first time — the reviewer who said this smells like Dial soap is *not wrong.* I'd say this is a very traditionally masculine, yet unique fresh spicy, slightly musky, clean/soapy scent. I'm considering getting a bottle simply because it reminds me of my dad, who passed a while ago and always used Dial soap. Longevity is quite good on me, but it's not so strong that it'll clear a room because of that initial, peppery blast. As someone who adores clean, very soapy scents, I'm thrilled to have found one with the kind of lasting power I need and want in all day fragrance.

Smells so interesting, in a good way. Girls love it and it has manly smell to it. The base finished with this fizzy like feeling, not sure what not that would be from. 12 hour longevity on my skin with moderate projection. People hate on Bond frags because they don’t have anything better to do. Bonds are nice mass appealing scents for people that want to dip their toe into a safe niche brand. Update: this smell is the best bond by far. Lasts forever, 36+ hours on skin and smells just so great. I showered twice and it’s still not off haha. I have literally had so many compliments with this fragrance that I’m considering buying another bottle.

Absolutley beautiful scent. This is a beautiful fresh spring and summer scent. To me it smells a lot like Prada Luna Rossa EDT - but FIDI is much better. Luna Rossa is nostalgic for me, so it explains why I love this one so much. I gave it a wear today and got a good 6-7 hours with it. It does not have beastly longevity, but for the scent profile it does really well. The projection is moderate, nothing crazy. This smell is gorgeous - smells like spring in a bottle. I will definitely be picking up a bottle for the summer season.

I got a sample of this yesterday and I've worn it the last two days. The main notes I pick up are Pepper, Mandarin Orange, Lotus, a little of the cedar, and a little of the musk. It's a peppery, floral, a little citrus...It's not bad. I let a fellow fragrance enthusiast at work smell it, and he was like, 'that's not bad. I like that.' It's a nice fresh scent. The price tag is still a bit too high though. As much as I love the Bond No 9 brand, the prices on their new release fragrances keep going higher and higher.

First Impression on skin: opening spicy citrus that dries down to musky powdered cedar on my skin. Reminds me of a high end milled soap and I love soapy clean frags. 🫧 Could be worn in any situation. Need to test further but so far I love it and I will probably buy a full bottle. Scent 7.4/10 Performance 5/10 P S. Bought a full bottle and eventually got tired of it and sold it off to a friend. The lotus is annoying, the drydown is solid. Performance is suprisingly average for Bond which usually perform.

One of the safest niche blind buys you could possibly get . Easily mass appealing . I call this “expensive deodorant “. So clean , masculine and sits on the skin for a while. Becoming one of my favorite freshies at the moment . Recommend if you want a suitable introduction to niche. Rating: 8.9/10 Edit : this one doesn’t last the longest but one of my favorite freshies . Suitable for day time business casual type of vibe in hot climates . Rating : 8.4/10

There’s always a stereotype with bond no 9 and usually they don’t get the best review. But on the grey market I feel like this fragrance is a complete hidden gem. I get a smother Prada Luna Rosa smell to it, nice soapy clean refine scent trails it defiantly blew me away and will be a keep in my collection. Perfect top 10 for spring and summer

Wore this today and I just have to reiterate what a hidden gem this is! I’m very surprised this doesn’t get more love but it’s a long lasting, interesting fresh/spicy fragrance with powerful projection. It’s extremely people pleasing without being boring. Show some love!!!

Dressed up tonka beans. This one is definitly strong and comes to life with the right body chemistry, you need an active lifestyle to enjoy it. Choking hazard when oversprayed.

Great office scent/daily if you want to smell different without offending others

It's essentially a bougier, much more refined version of a Sauvage-esque fresh spicy DNA. To me the name is misleading, as I don't find this scent to capture the energy and vibe of NYC's Financial District at all. I actually find this to be better suited to Brooklyn or the Lower East Side, while Chez Bond is a better match to the Financial District vibe. It's somewhat harsh, abrasive and synthetic, but in a niche way, and while it has moments that can induce slight headaches, it's nowhere near as cloying or potent as Sauvage, at least to me. I personally have no problems with the performance--as with most Bond No. 9 fragrances, that really isn't much of an issue. The scent profile leans masculine to me, just because of the heavy pepper and musk accord, but anyone of any gender can pull this off on the right occasion. I am personally not the biggest fan of the way FiDi smells on my skin, but I have to give props to the overall scent profile because I think this could potentially smell really nice on someone else. I'm currently selling my FiDi bottle on eBay, and if anyone's interested at purchasing the near-full bottle at a reasonable price, please feel free to DM me on here.

The opening is repulsive but the dry down might be one of my favorites. If only the opening was much better. I spray it well before I leave the house so no one else has to smell the opening. Opening is a very dirty musk. But then the dry down is beautiful. Good rainy day fragrance as I think it smells a little like wet wood. Anyone know of a fragrance with a similar dry down?

What attracted me to this is that it leans so masculine. I get citrus. I get aquatics, to which I'm partial. I get smacked with black pepper & the vanilla is the perfect accent to tame the citrus sharpness. On dry down, I get some musk & wood to balance the citrus opening. I'm a bit sad I don't get nutmeg but i likes very very much anyway. Great for warmer weather.

To me I get a lot of vanilla and cedar with a Savauge like opening of bergamot and pepper. With about 4 sprays from I get about an hour of good projection then settles in to a close almost skin scent. A great office scent, completely non offensive but also not that interesting while being very pleasant and subdued.

Ordered a bunch of decants and got this with it on a whim. Wanted to dislike it until it settled into my skin. Another solid bond fragrance. No BS review: 8.5/10 Might pick up a grey mkt bottle. Would pay ~150-170 for it, but not a penny more. Good stuff.

I really struggle with this one! I really wanted to like FIDI but to me it smells almost identical to Armani Code (the mens perfume). As a result, it doesn't really have that unique Bond No 9 smell and every time I smell it, I think of Armani...

It smells like a luxurious Gold Dial Soap . Projection and longevity is what you’d expect from bond no 9. Average at best.

I am reminded of I love NY for marriage eaquality as Fidi is just as spicy and peppery. Thumbs up!

I'm continuing my Bond No. 9 journey today with FiDi. So far my experience with the house has been meh. My first fragrance with the house, New Haarlem, was a success. But since then the fragrances have just seemed weird or uninspired. Maybe I'm picking the wrong fragrances to review? I'm not sure, but maybe FiDi can turn the tide. Let's get into it; Scent: The opening is floral, fresh, and citrusy. The primary notes I get are lotus, musk, bergamot, and black pepper. The strongest of the notes are the lotus and musk. The lotus takes point in the opening of this fragrance with a heavy dose of light and airy florals. It comes across as fresh, clean, and slightly aquatic. Up next is the musk, manifesting as a familiar clean, fuzzy note. It doesn't necessarily stand out as a note on it's own, but it imbues a noticeable fuzziness to the other notes in the opening. This is followed by the bergamot and black pepper. The bergamot is detectable in it's usual form of a citrusy and aromatic note with a bit of fresh spiciness on the backend. Lastly, the black pepper adds just a bit more spice in the background to tickle the nose. The dry down is musky, woody, and powdery. The primary notes I get are nutmeg, cedar, musk, and lotus. The strongest of the notes are the musk and cedar. In the dry down the musk has become a primary note in its own regard; clean and fuzzy with a strong powdery accord. It is joined by the cedar that gives the dry down a sturdy and pronounced woodiness. This is followed by the nutmeg and lotus. The nutmeg has emerged to confer a warm spiciness that contrasts the freshness of the musk. Lastly, the lotus is still present in the dry down with the same airy floral note, but it lingers in the background to let the other notes have the stage. Performance: Performance for the first hour is strong; projection at about 6 feet and an easily noticeable scent trail. After a few hours the projection had died down quite a bit to about arms length and the scent trail was faint but still noticeable. The fragrance became a skin scent shortly thereafter. When to wear: FiDi is a spring/summer fragrance best suited for daytime wear. This is more of a casual wearing fragrance, and I can see it being worn for outdoor activities or just lounging around. That being said, it's a bit too airy and playful with the florals to feel appropriate for formal occasions or office wear. Blind buy: I think this is a pretty safe blind buy so long as you enjoy floral, musky fragrances. It doesn't have any weird notes or strange accords that would turn people off. Do keep in mind that you may need to re-apply to have it last all day. Final verdict: FiDi started out as something I didn't really like, and ended up being something that I think is okay, but still not great. In the opening I was surprised by how strong the florals were. It's marketed as unisex, and the votes here on Fragrantica would lead me to believe it leans masculine; but the opening was overwhelmingly feminine to my nose. Once it got into the dry down it evened out a bit, but still not anything close to what I would consider masculine; more true unisex. Still, I think the scent profile itself was interesting and enjoyable. The performance was a bit lacking compared to what I've experienced so far with BN9. Projection and sillage were strong for the first hour, but it fell off quickly after that and became a skin scent around 4 hours later. Versatility for FiDi is average; it works well for casual settings in warm weather, but that's about it. The fragrance does have a mass-appealing quality to it though, and it will be enjoyed by most people. At the end of the day, I think it's a decent fragrance but not something I'm going to be spending my money on for a full bottle. As I stated, the opening is just way too feminine for my taste. And even though it balanced out by the dry down, the performance left me a little underwhelmed. But it's definitely worth a sample to anyone that likes this type of DNA. Scent: 7/10 Longevity: 5/10 Sillage: 5/10