Governors Island

#1173 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I love the simplicity of an all-in oriental scent that's only trying to do one thing: mimic an altar full of smoking, resinous incense. I have at least 30 popular scents with all these notes and more, but sometimes, as in this case, less is more. But I hate the price. Bond No. 9 may not appreciate this, but you could go for the much less expensive DSquared's "Greed Wood" for $28, sadly EDT only, get a hint of citrus, and the cypriol almost stands in for the incense. Maybe comes off a little more green and less churchy, but you save more than $130. It's a thought. I don't know if I like this enough to drop $160 for it (a feeling I have about all the Bond No 9 scents}. I have a bunch of incense scents already. I think for the non-incense enthusiast this scent could come across as too oriental, though it has the virtue, for me anyway, of not making it "grandmotherly" with a rose note. It has acceptable longevity and projection. For car pooling and office wear you'd go light, but respray over lunch. For me this would be more of a dinner date scent. In any case get a decant first. You can see from the reviews that like most orientals it's a polarizing fragrance. I've spent a lot of my life in cathedrals and temples for meditation, contemplation, martials arts practice, so incense scents are very soothing and familiar for me, but they definitely aren't for everyone, and this stuff is too pricey to make a bad blind buy. Good luck and good hunting!

My favorite from the house, instant love. It's one of those "now you smell me now you don't" like molecule, JHAG and another 13. It's closer to another 13 in that it's more of a complete fragrance as opposed to molecule and JHAG but still minimalist. It's a incensy (in a good way) and musk based fragrance. Not that it matters, but whenever I wear this I get compliments, not in a "you smell good" but in a "what is it that you are wearing, smells good" curious type of way. I would say it's unisex, maybe slight lean masculine. I agree with CrissyCK, I remember I smelled gypsy water and thought it was in a way an inferior version of this fragrance, but they have a similar incense note. You will go nose blind to this, in that you spray it and think "is that it?". But 20 mins later you'll get a strong whiff out of nowhere, and the game of hide and sneak continues for hours. Spray this on clothes and it will last a long time (stayed on my sweater in the closet for 2 weeks). And while you might not smell it on you, others will. It's also weirdly versatile, I would wear it for all seasons except summer, and I can see myself wearing this day and night. For me it's actually worth the price tag (although I'll admit it's overpriced) so I will be picking up a full bottle soon.

From these reviews it seems that this scent is favored more by men than the ladies, but I'm female and I adore it. This became my signature scent immediately when I discovered it about a year ago; I couldn't get enough of it. One spritz on my wrist or sweater and I find myself inhaling the warm, spicy scent all day long whenever I want a little happiness buzz. It's not floral at all, which may be why I love it - florals often mildly irritate my nose and seem to devolve into an aggressive, overpowering soapiness that masks the other elements, especially over time. This scent doesn't change from the beginning to the end. It's deep, woody, spicy, creamy, intoxicating. To me there's just a touch of sweetness - maybe the Cedar? - that balances the rest and prevents it from being too sharp, as many unisex fragrances are. The last time I left the house to run errands I sprayed some on my scarf, and two people complimented me and asked what I was wearing. Both described what they smelled as "light and fresh", which surprised me. Maybe they really meant "different"? It's a unique scent and the price tag is pretty hefty, so I advise testing before purchase. It's very long-lasting but silage diminishes to somewhere between intimate and moderate after a few hours.

This is a real sleeper and one of the only fragrances I sold, and then regretted it, so I got it again. First I'll say this fragrance had a learning curve for me to understand it. I couldn't even smell it at first. This is a molecule fragrance comprised of base notes that can be hard to smell and describe. It appears in different forms, alternating between unburned incense sweetened with a touch of honey, to white musk, to white woods, to ozone. Good for office use and can be used for layering if you're into that. I received a really interesting reaction recently from a work colleague. She told me that I smelled good, like a waterfall. Said it smells like running water, water mist and ozone. Longevity is strong, projection seems to bounce from close to skin to room filling so I'm careful with the trigger. Some people will not understand or appreciate this fragrance because it acts like a ghost, seemingly disappearing and then reappearing very strong. I will forget I am wearing it and then out of nowhere, I'm surrounded by it. Give it some time, it plays a lot of tricks with the nose, but I think it's fun to wear. IFYKYK 🤍 Scent 8/10 Performance 8/10

Out of all the modern molecule type fragrances I’ve tried, this one is the most wearable for me. It’s not a style that I’m usually drawn to but I find this quite addictive in a subtle but persistent way. I agree with many of the sentiments below. It’s clean and kind of fresh but without being cold, sharp or bracing. It’s fuzzy with smooth rounded edges. It has an ethereal quality without being insipid. On my skin, I don’t pick up any smoke but a slightly sweet, woody tone with a subtle musk. Performance on my skin isn’t bad either. It’s not loud by any means but it is persistent and has good longevity. Although it’s subtle, I can still smell it’s there, creating a nice comforting scent bubble. I see this as very unisex - it has soft femine aspects combined with masculine woody elements. Governor’s Island is a great fragrance and a must try if you like a woody, musky molecule type scent. I wouldn’t pay full price for it but I got a great deal at Nortino so I’m happy.