India stole my heart. I’ve said it before, and I will no doubt say it again, but it really did. While the ancient temples and palaces left me in awe, while the stunning beauty of Matheran left me speechless, it was really Bombay (as it was known then) which did it. For someone like myself with a nomadic upbringing and who stopped counting all the places she lived in before she was even twenty-one, Bombay somehow felt like home. It was the perfect mix of East and West, a city of contrasts with such incredibly high energy and with such a gusto for life that it left one feeling just a little more alive.
Among my many memories of Bombay was one day which began with lunch at the Queen’s Necklace, a sweeping, gleaming curve of beautiful white buildings by the sparkling, electric-blue sea, and which ended at the wee hours of the morning the next day, staggering out from an exclusive nightclub to see lines of mango sellers with their stalls before us. There were cars and people everywhere, the street lights glittered, and the sheer volume of noise outside quite rivaled anything inside. Mumbai at night is as much an electric jolt of energy as Mumbai by day — perhaps more so.
From Moscow and Shanghai to New York or Paris, I’ve never quite seen or felt anything to rival the brightness, bustle and expresso-in-the-arm energy of Mumbai. Nor have I ever encountered a perfume that encapsulates the sights, the sounds, the colours, and the very feel of a city. Not until Bombay Bling, a ravishing, euphoric explosion that really has to be tried to be believed. I fear that I simply won’t be able to do it justice, this wildly energetic creation that — unbelievably — has managed to bottle a whole city’s bursting zest for life.
Bombay Bling is one of a trio of Indian-inspired scents from the Indie perfume house, Neela Vermeire Créations, Parfums Paris (“NVC”), and it was justifiably chosen by the prestigious perfume website, CaFleureBon, as one of their top 25 fragrances for 2011. Launched in late 2011, it is the result of collaboration between Ms. Vermeire and the famous perfumer, Bertrand Duchaufour. Each of the three fragrances that they created is meant to pay homage to a different part of India’s history, with Bombay Bling (the third and last in the line) representing modern India and, in specific, the glorious vitality of Mumbai.
As the company’s website explains:
This joyful creation embodies every aspect of the very modern, colourful, eclectic, esoteric, ecstatic, liberal, happy side of buzzing India, a world economic power, where nothing is to be taken for granted, where the underbelly of the big city combines with the glitter of Bollywood on the vast sandy stretches of Juhu Beach and the Queen’s Necklace. Fortunes are made and lost on the Bombay stock exchange and gambling dens of Mumbai. Abandon yourself to the nightlife as dawn breaks over the city. There is nothing like it and there will be nothing like it. Welcome to a vibrant new India!
I can’t recall the last time I read a press release or perfume backstory and thought to myself, “I’ve actually experienced part of that tale!” And I have with Bombay Bling. (Well, minus “the fortunes made and lost” bit, unless you count the small fortune I lost shopping and at the races.) But I can tell you that Bombay Bling delivers on its promise because it truly took me back to the city, collapsing space, time and geography in a remarkable way.
The perfume manages this feat, in part, due to its long list of notes. Unlike many perfumes nowadays with their six or, maybe, eight ingredients, Bombay Bling has seventeen! The fruity-floral oriental has:
Mango, lychee, blackcurrant, cardamom, cumin, cistus, Turkish rose, jasmine sambac, Madagascar ylang-ylang, tuberose, plumeria [frangipani], gardenia, patchouli, tobacco, sandalwood, cedar, vanilla.
Bombay Bling opens with a veritable BOOM of mango! It’s an explosion of the zestiest, sweetest, juiciest mango you’ve ever tried — short of cutting in twenty fresh ones and reducing them down to their most concentrated levels. It’s unbelievably fresh and bright. Even though Ms. Vermeire has used green mangoes — not yellow ones — yellow, red and orange are the colours that practically shine before your eyes.
Seconds later, other notes follow. There is tart black currant (or, as I call it, “cassis”), carrying a hefty punch of zesty tanginess, and sweet, light lychee. There are also light hints of jasmine and rose, too, but the accompanying floral notes are primarily dominated by sweet plumeria. It’s soft, fruity, almost peachy, and has a subtle creaminess.
Thirty minutes in, the fruity-floral notes take on another hue with the arrival of sandalwood. It adds a slighty smoky creaminess and an element of woodiness to the mix. There is also a growing whisper of tobacco. It’s not sweet or fruited like pipe tobacco, nor is it anything close to cigars, but rather, like tobacco leaves being cured in the sun: honeyed, dry, and a little woody, as well as a little nutty. Or perhaps that last note comes from the cardamom — it’s sometimes hard to tell with a perfume that’s as superbly well-blended as this. Either way, the tobacco note adds a lovely depth and contrast to the perfume’s sweetness. It’s never masculine, heavy, or coarse but then, nothing in this lovely perfume is.
For some reason, my nose also detects something that really smells like bright, zesty lemon, along with a hefty dose of fresh ginger. To my surprise, there is also something that smells distinctly like anise or black licorice. None of these ingredient are in the perfume, but that’s what it smells like.
What I don’t really smell in the perfume is any one particular flower. Though there tuberose, rose, gardenia and ylang-ylang, they’ve all been blended into a single, very feminine, sweet floral accord. This isn’t a perfume where you can smell, for example, tuberose in any dominant way; by the same token, neither the ylang-ylang nor the rose trump all the others. Perhaps the plumeria does most of all but, as a whole, no single flower really stands out — and that’s a very good thing. Tuberose, gardenia and ylang-ylang can be very indolic, heavy, even bullying notes. In less capable hands, they can lead to headaches and a sense of over-ripeness that verges on rotting fruit, sourness or plasticity. None of that ever happens here.
All these new additions add further complexity to the perfume and take it far beyond the confines of a mere “fruity” scent. The sudden spiciness, subtle dryness, and smokiness are a noted contrast to zesty mango and the tart cassis fruits, as well as to the sweetness of the slightly tropical florals. Each note adds up to much more than individual parts, creating a balanced, harmonious whole that is never boring, singular, or generic.
The combination of these contrasting elements means one thing: Bombay Bling simply doesn’t smell like any fruity-florals I’ve encountered. And it is a testament to the very sure, very expert hand of the legendary Bertrand Duchaufour that all these eclectic, rich notes melt so perfectly together without any discord or abruptness.
By the second hour, there are still further newcomers on the scene. This time, it’s pine needles! The cedar tree has a distinct role here, adding some chilled freshness and coolness to the mix. It brings to mind a pine forest where the floor is covered with sweet florals but there are tangy black currant berries in bushes nestled near the giant roots of the tree. It’s unexpected — like much of this perfume — and it’s the one time that Bombay Bling didn’t truly evoke Mumbai for me. Then again, eclecticism and sharp contrasts is perhaps the ultimate embodiment of that city of paradoxes.
Four hours in, Bombay Bling is a fascinating mix of tart cassis, cool cedar pines, creamy sandalwood, and some slightly musky jasmine, with just a faint dash of earthy, dry cumin. The earthiness and spiced dustiness underlying the sweetness really brought me back to the dusty, spicy, sweet aromas of Bombay’s bustling street bazaars. But the really entrancing part is the sandalwood. It’s copious and positively swoon-worthy.
As Ms. Vermeire showed in the astoundingly beautiful Trayee, she prefers to use real Mysore sandalwood. That is a very rare thing in perfumery today given its prohibitive cost and the Indian government’s protection of this over-sourced prized wood. The expert perfume critic, Luca Turin, has often bemoaned the use of a synthetic replacement in “sandalwood” perfumes or the reliance on the very different Australian sandalwood, and he’s right. Real sandalwood is usually too expensive for most perfumers, especially if used in any significant quantity.
Here, as in Trayee, there is a significant amount of absolutely genuine, lovely sandalwood. And it dominates the final hours of Bombay Bling’s development. At the ninth hour, the perfume is sandalwood and cedar with tart black currant and hints of some musky jasmine. By the thirteenth hour, it’s just sweet, soft vanilla and creamy sandalwood. Yes, I said the thirteenth hour. Bombay Bling’s pure essences and rich ingredients makes this one very long-lasting perfume! Even on my voracious skin where very little lasts for a significant amount of time, Bombay Bling had incredible longevity. I smelled faint traces of it here or there well past thirteen hours, truth be told.
It is remarkable and supports everything Ms. Vermeire has said regarding her goal of using only the finest raw materials and expensive essences in her perfume. For example, her amazing Trayee was made without regard to cost:
I did not give a budget cap so Bertrand Duchoufour never had a budget – Trayee is one of the most expensive perfumes he has created. We made sure there are lots of high quality natural ingredients…. Most niche companies want to spend 150 euros or so max per kg of essence. We went more than 7 times that so the essences are expensive (and hopefully exceptional).
The same “to hell with the cost, we’ll only use the very best” approach shows with Bombay Bling, too. Neela Vermeire Creations is a tiny company that clearly has put the bulk of their resources in their production costs. The perfumes are not cheap, but they don’t work with giant distributors to add further mark-ups to their expenses. There is no corporate slickness behind any of this. When you order from the company, you will receive a handwritten note from Ms. Vermeire herself.
The goal is one thing and one thing only: to make truly rich, luxurious-smelling perfumes that are the very best they can possibly be. And Neela Vermeire Creations has succeeded in that goal with one perfume, Trayee, receiving a Fifi award nomination (the perfume world’s equivalent of an Oscar nomination) and the other, Bombay Bling, being critically-acclaimed as one of the best perfumes of its year.
Bombay Bling deserves that accolade without question. What you have is an unbelievably vibrant, bouncy, joyous scent. Like the Bollywood movies that it is a partial nod to, Bombay Bling screams out high-octane energy and begs you to “be happy!” and “go dance!”
It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that when the perfume blog, Olfactoria’s Travels, recently asked “What is the most uplifting perfume you know?,” the repeated answer was “Bombay Bling!” Read the answers; the references to Bombay Bling are so numerous, that Birgit at one point said it should be considered as “prescription medicine.” It’s not just the readers of Olfactoria’s Travels, either. On numerous different sites or perfume groups, people repeatedly turn to Bombay Bling when they’re blue, when the weather is grey and chilly, or when they’re in need of an energetic pick-me-up.
On Fragrantica, there is almost a uniformly gushing assessment of the perfume. One commentator raves that it is like ” like the spirit of Mardi Gras or Carnival captured in a bottle,” while another writes “[h]appiness and sunshine in a bottle, this makes me see the perfume in rainbow of colours. Full bottle worthy???? Every last penny of it to me.” Clearly, Bombay Bling’s happy, incredibly exuberant heart seems to make it people’s “secret happiness weapon.”
Bombay Bling is not cheap. It costs $260 for a 1.8 oz/55 ml bottle. In perfumery, as in many other things in life, cost is no guarantee of either quality or a positive experience. But, in this case, I think you are actually getting what you pay for. There are many similarly priced perfumes out in the luxury market (albeit, usually for a slightly larger sized bottle) but the luxuriousness of Bombay Bling’s ingredients make it truly stand out. To me, it is the equal of perfumes from Ormonde Jayne and the uber-luxury perfume house, Amouage, and far surpasses many fragrances from better-known, luxury perfume houses. Thankfully, however, Ms. Vermeire offers a Discovery Set (see below, in the Details section) which lets you try 10 mls of all three of her perfumes for a very reasonable price.
I highly recommend Bombay Bling. The complex notes mean that you don’t have to be just a fan of fruity-florals to like this scent. Nor do you have to be a woman. There are a number of men who adore and wear Bombay Bling. On Luckyscent, the perfume is categorized as “unisex,” and I think it is.
The sillage is not overwhelming, either, so it is definitely something that can be worn to the office. In fact, I was surprised by how moderate the projection was for a perfume with notes as rich and as heady as these. After the first thirty minutes, I’d say the perfume could be detected only from a distance of about two feet away. It’s a strong perfume, and you can smell it on yourself, but it’s softer than Trayee. And it’s definitely no Fracas that’s going to immediately overwhelm someone across the room. Thereafter, the projection became much less and you’d have to be close to someone to detect it. I also noted that Bombay Bling is even more moderate when you only dab on a little, as opposed to applying a few sprays. It’s office-friendly, but it’s also something that is extremely versatile. I could see this being used as an antidepressant in a bottle, to go on a date, or just to have dinner with friends.
In short, it’s sexy, it’s happy, and it wants you to dance, dance, dance! I suggest you take it up on its offer.
Disclosure: My sample was courtesy of Neela Vermeire Creations. However, that did not impact this review in any way.
DETAILS:
Cost & Availability: In the U.S., Bombay Bling is available exclusively at Luckyscent where it costs $260 for a 50 ml bottle. Samples are also offered at $7 for a 0.7 ml vial. (And the site ships world-wide.) A much better offer comes from Neela Vermeire Creations itself which offers Bombay Bling as part of a Discovery Set that includes the award-nominated Trayee and Mohur, Neela Vermeire’s rose perfume.The set is available exclusively on the company’s website. It costs: €21 (or about $27) for three, much larger, 2 ml vials; or $117 or €85/90 (depending on your location) for three large 10 ml decants. Shipping is included in the price. In Europe, Trayee costs €200 for the 55 ml bottle and is available at Jovoy Paris, the Swiss Osswald Parfumerie and Munich’s Sündhaft. You can find a few additional retailers from the Netherlands to Moscow which carry Trayee on the store’s Points of Sale page.
Love your impressions of Bombay Bling! They’re quite similar to mine when I reviewed it. And I’m almost about to post my review of Mohur (next week for sure)
BB is very happy and joyful scent, it easily gets you into positive thinking
Thank you, sweetie. I’m so glad you liked the review. 🙂 I actually felt a bit like dancing when wearing it, hence the YouTube clip of Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews from “Bride and Prejudice.” LOL. I can’t wait to read your impressions for Mohur; I have the sense it will be very much your sort of perfume. I’ve scheduled it to be tested next week, so we will both have reviews of it and it will be very fun to compare our experiences. 🙂 xoxox
I’m not going to be happy until I try these…thanks for the heads up about the
Discovery set!
I actually think Bombay Bling would be very much your thing, Nancy! In fact, I was thinking of you when I noted that the ylang-ylang is not noticeable in any dominant way in this, since I know you’ve pinpointed that note as one of your problematic ones. And my word, that mango…. that mango! Unbelievable. Really, I fear my review in no way did justice to just how exuberant and HAPPY this perfume really is.
Okay, definitely trying this first then! I am weeping for missing mangos (Costa Rica- January seems like ten thousand years ago). The ylang-ylang worried me but I trust your assurance, and I have never been to India but am dying to go, and love Indian food and fashion.
This is how a fruity perfume should smell. All three of her scents are amazing. Trayee is my favorite but I do like this a lot. It is a very happy scent and you can totally smell the quality of the ingredients.
I absolutely agree with you on the fruity issue. I’m generally not one for fruity perfumes, but this is definitely how to do it! Thank you for stopping by, Poodle, and paw kisses to your furry one. 🙂
While I don’t doubt Neela Vermeire uses the best of the best ingredients, I have a feeling the price relates to the fact that she (seems to) have a very, very small operation, which probably drives up the costs a lot (no economies of scale and all that business). I hope to see bigger things from her in the future, both because I think she’s amazingly talented (I had a lot of fun with Bombay Bling) and because I’d like to see her prices go down slightly, and I think they probably would if she were manufacturing on a slightly larger scale. I could be totally wrong, though, it’s just the impression I have.
I need to try this again, my only problem with it was that while I liked it, it wasn’t “me.” But I had a reach appreciation for the richness and complexity of it, so I think it will probably grow on me more with a few more wears. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that happened. Thanks for reviewing this one, I’m glad you were able to try it.
I also have to give her kudos – my sampler set came SO fast from France with a little note as well. Great experience!
You’re not generally one for fruity scents, Kevin, but I think this is definitely worth trying a few times. Simply because of those added, complex notes; the tobacco and sandalwood, along with the spices, make it far more than a simple fruity scent, imo. 🙂
I’m glad you had a great experience too with your order. Her packages arrive extremely quickly, don’t they?
Beautiful review, thanks for taking me to Mumbai with you. I just love the fact that you receive a handwritten note from her, great touch. So, obviously now I want to try a sample, sigh, fingers crossed the company ships to Canada (without crazy duty charges)….I want to be happy, sexy and dance:)
Thank you for the kind words. I definitely think you’d like this scent, Jackie! Oddly enough, I am currently wearing something that made you come to mind from the moment I put it on. You’ll have to wait and see what it is, but I think it is so you! Especially given the outfit you wore today and which you showed on your blog! 😉 Sexy as always, honey! xoxox
Aww thanks!! I checked they do ship to Canada:) **Happy dance** I can’t remember if I mentioned this but I have 10 samples coming from stc!! So excited!!
A perfume that reminded you of me…I’m intrigued!! Can you give me a hint? Something fabulous?? Oooh I can’t wait to read about it!
I’ll give you a hint: it’s by Serge Lutens. 🙂 I’m so excited you have an order coming in from Surrender to Chance? What did you choose and what are you most excited for? Did any of the ones you tried in your last order feel like a good match for you (as opposed to your mother with the Tom Ford Black Orchid)? lol. BTW, I still can’t get over those high-fashion runway pieces you posted and have sent the link to a few people. Simply amazing clothes! xoxox
Thanks!!! Yay!! That makes me happy to know that you enjoyed them as much as I did:) I just can’t get over the detail! Beautiful!!
I’m excited about everything in my order, but I’m most excited about Chergui!!! I don’t think I’ve had a perfume before with honey, so I’m really curious as to how it will smell on me. I also got the 3 pack sampler from Ormonde – women, tolu & ta’if…excited to try all three.
Since I was disappointed by Tom Ford’s private blend amber I decided to get Hermes amber narguile & elixir des merveilles…but I will say Tom Ford’s amber helped me distinguish frankincense, remember I had a hard time telling it apart from incense. After a week of wearing that bad boy, it was all that I could I smell. When applied lightly the fragrance is nice but anything more than that… all I can smell on me is frankincense.**shudder in memory of it** But I am going to give Tom ford another chance with Noir de Noir – I took your advice about rose scents, maybe I’ll like it better than Bvlgari. Also got his private blend tobacco vanille…this one is out of curiosity. If I don’t like either of them, well then I will have to break up with Tom Ford and only love him for clothing, accessories and make-up.
I would say the only good match from that order was Coromandel, I ADORE it.
I also ordered two Dior perfumes: Dolce vita ( for my mom) and Portofino – about a year ago I got a sample tried it & threw it out instantly but half way thru the day I like it. lol! So, now armed with a little knowledge I want to give it another chance.
Guerlain Aqua Allegoria – Mandarine-Basilic – another one for my mom as she’s thinking about buying it.
Sorry about the novel!!! Once I started, I couldn’t stop 🙂
Hahaha, Jackie, why am I not surprised by your reaction to the Tom Ford Amber Absolute? I would never have chosen that for you. I think I compared it to an 800-pound gorilla in my review. And if I (who love frankincense) thought it was way, wayyyyyyyyyyy too much, then I imagine it would have been even more so on you. Boy, that one was a very tough one. I can’t even begin to imagine you in Amber Absolute!
I can definitely see you in Chergui, Ambre Narguilé, and Coromandel. Tobacco Vanille, also, depending on whether you go light with it. Tolu and Woman, to a lesser extent; I still don’t know how you feel about woody scents or orange blossom. Or orange — which will make or break the Elixir for you, I think. I will also be very interested to see what you think of Noir de Noir!
How sweet and fabulous that you got your mother a lot of samples! You know, given what you’ve said of her tastes in the past, I think she might adore Trayee. I really do! I’m so glad she will get samples to test out. Spread the adventure! 😀 Please let me know what you think of some of the stuff when you get them in. I’m dying of curiosity!
Love, Love, Love! Both Bombay Bling and your review of it.
I also noticed that 8 people mentioned Bombay Bling as their happy perfume. I think it says a lot about it.
Awww, I’m so glad you liked the review, Undina. And yes, it was amazing how many people listed Bombay Bling as their uplifting scent, wasn’t it? But how like you with your love of numbers to actually COUNT them! ROFL. That made me grin and laugh to no end, you sweet, sweet thing. xoxoxox
“It’s a gift and a curse” ((c)Monk) 😉
What an amazing and so accurate and personal reflection of Bombay Bling! I adore each of the creations by this amazing team. Loved your review..
Hi Sandi! Thank you so much for stopping by. I’m glad you liked the review and thought it accurately represented Bombay Bling. I feared I could never do it true justice. 🙂 Do you have a favorite out of the three scents?
A suitably exuberant review! I have not been to India, but I enjoyed Baraka and Slumdog Millionaire. 🙂
My favourite part is the vanilla and sandalwood base and I love the dessert-like quality.
Thank you, Vanessa. 🙂 I smiled at the “exuberant” part of your comment. I think it’s all that Bollywood clip of Naveen Andrews dancing. LOL. I can’t seem to stop watching it for some reason. Dessert-quality…. hmm, I didn’t really get “dessert” from this, I have to say.
Hmm, it’s been a while, but there was a creamy pudding aspect in the later stages – like Sira des Indes, if you know that one? Maybe I should just try it again and check.
What a lovely review, Kafka! I was lucky enough to win a trial set from Australian Perfume Junkies (thanks, Portia!) and I also got a sample spray from a swap buddy (one of your readers who left a comment above — you know who you are!). Alas, these fell victim to my v-e-r-y s-l-o-w testing regimen (I don’t have one but I like the word). I shall try all 3 this month which happens to be mah birthday month — yes, my special day is really my special MONTH. I have a niggling suspicion that a Discovery Set will be mine soon 🙂
LOL! I like your style; making the whole month your special birthday month! Love it and need to consider perhaps adopting that approach. Well, first off, Happy Hajusuuri Month! *grin* Second, your v-e-r-y-s-l-o-w testing regimen is killing me through curiosity. I always want to know what you think of something and seem to lack much patience. So, when you do get around to testing any of the three NVC perfumes, let me know what you think and if you have a favorite. For me, Trayee wins out thus far — but just by a nose!
Woo hoo, I tried Trayee today and my my my, such a beautiful fragrance. I’ll wait until your review to leave a longer comment about it! 7 hours and it is still going strong.
Hurrrah!!! Trayee is my favorite of the line, squeaking out Bombay Bling by a mere hair (only a mere hair)! I did review it, and you can find the link within this Bombay Bling post. It really is such a spectacular perfume, isn’t it, Hajusuuri? And guess what? On my perfume-consuming skin, I think Trayee lasted over 13 hours. On your perfume-retaining skin…. well, it may last forever! 😉
A great review for a great scent! Bombay Bling always makes me think of a certain park in Delhi that I no longer can recall the name of. The park was mostly grass, a few historical ruins and young trees, scattered all over the place. The idea was probably that these trees should grow up and give much needed shade to picnickers, but meanwhile there was another purpose found for them. In most of these trees, semi-hidden among the branches were young couples, usually the girls shawls would be strategically and gracefully wrapped around the heads of themselves and their dates, thus hiding their identities and exactly what was going on to anyone passing. As arranged marriages still are the norm in India, this might have been the only way for young lovers to meet. Thinking of that park always makes me happy and Bombay Bling perfectly captures that spirit of love 🙂
Change of plans today – instead of a do-over of Mohur, I decided to try Bombay Bling today. Why? Feel and picture – low 30s / bare branches covered with wet & heavy snow vs. high 50s / bright & sunny, puddles everywhere.
Bombay Bling was the exact opposite order – an initial burst of juicy fruit (the mango!) and a creamy cozy vanilla dry-down. I enjoyed Bombay Bling, a beautiful blend of fruits, flowers (so subtle and nicely blended I couldn’t tease out what went into this), a not-at-all-unpleasant whiff of body odor, something minty and then finally vanilla.
Of the 3, my favorite is Trayee, followed by Bombay Bling. Wait, that’s only 2! I’m on the fence about Mohur. To be continued….
What was the exact opposite order? The order of notes that you experienced, or the weather that it evoked as compared to what you’re currently experiencing in NY?
Trayee is absolutely my favorite too and the one that I’d adore having a full bottle of!! I still haven’t tried Mohur. This week, this week, I hope. Though the arrival of Malle’s new Dries van Noten will probably screw up my schedule even further. I suspect that the Mohur is going to require at least two long tests for a really accurate, full assessment of it, given how it’s supposed to be the quiet sibling as compared to Trayee and Bombay Bling.
Deciding to try Bombay Bling instead of Mohur (for the 2nd time) was due to the weather change (i.e. using a sunny perfume on a sunny day) AND as it turned out the notes I experienced from Bombay Bling were also in the opposite order of weather experienced Friday (feeling of wanting to nest or be cozy) / Saturday (I just wanted to go out and shout hello to the world).
Ordering my birthday month Discovery Set from the NVC website was too easy. It was literally 3 steps – From clicking the Pay button, Logging in to Paypal, then clicking the Submit button. The exchange rate was good, too — €90 = $120.07 (€1 = $1.3341)…I used to be ecstatic when the rate was €1:$1.50.
As to the Dries van Noten, I’m hoping to win one of the ten samples from the Posse but if I don’t and your review comes out, it may very well be my first lemming from you!
What an absolutely terrific and exuberant review! I absolutely love Bombay Bling and am saving up for a full bottle to call my own. It is like pure, radiant happiness in liquid form!
I was also surprised to see that it was green mangoes used, since big, juicy red, yellow, and orange ones were what came to my mind too.
Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m really glad you loved the review. I feared I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. As for those mangoes, I’m glad I’m not the only one with giant red, yellow and orange colours flashing before my eyes! It’s a fantastic scent, though my favorite is Trayee. That’s one *I’m* saving up for myself! 😀
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Yes, I am back in this thread, dear Kafka. This week, I wore Bombay Bling twice (in honor of Undina’s return) and while I loved it…it did not last long on me. I had to come back to see how long it lasted for you…a whooping over 13 hours! Now, do not fall off your chair — on me, it barely lasted 4 hours! I used 5 sprays which is way more than my usual application of other perfumes…and wow, just 4 hours. Contrasting this with our Opardu experience…4 sprays of Opardu lasted me way over 8 hours while on you it became fleeting after 4 hours. I’ll have to wear Bombay Bling again when it is not so hot!
Oh my word!!!!! I’ve heard that heat quickly evaporates perfume but it’s been ages since I’ve been in hot conditions for any significant amount of time. Here, one quickly scurries indoors and everywhere is heavily air-conditioned. FOUR HOURS on you!!!! Definitely a huge surprise, particularly since you’re the one with the glue skin. lol. I wonder how long Opardu would last in the exact same temperature?!
Well, every morning I walk 1.4 miles from the train station to my office (SUBWAY? Thanks but no thanks). The last 2 days had been hot from the get-go. Last week I used Opardu for several days and Mitzah a few times as well; both of these did much much better than Bombay Bling. I am not giving up though but will wait until the weather is not as hot!
Those are totally crazy numbers, especially given Opardu and how it was on me! Now I have to wonder: would Bois des Iles (EDT) bloom in the heat even more, or disappear like a complete ghost in even less time than it did initially (back when you used just 2 sprays)?
Ha! You know me too well, dear Kafka. I wore Bois des Iles EDT during the last heat wave several weeks ago and it bloomed rather nicely and stayed with me for over 6 hours; I used 3 sprays and I think that was just right. The other perfume I had been using in the heat was Dior Mitzah and with 3-4 sprays, it lasted ALL day on me – Yummmmm. Speaking of Bois des Iles, I truly am considering getting the extrait…I just have to find a good excuse to buy it untested….the Chanel Boutique on 57th Street did not have a tester 🙁
Fascinating differences in outcome! I wonder if StC or The Perfumed Court has Bois des Iles in pure parfum form. Hmm, I’m going to have to check on that!
Kafka the Enabler…I kind of like the sound of that. I checked STC and sure enough they carry the Pure Parfum….but I just hate hate hate shelling out for a sample of non-niche and for just an itty bitty volume but hey, better than regretting a $175 for 14mLs purchase! And just an aside, I just find it amusing that the Chanel website has an auto replenish option starting with this time only or every 30, 60, 90, etc. days.
Well then, It goes on to my (not so private) STC Wish List and will order it when there’s a 20% off sale. I’ll report back on the Bois des Iles thread when I do…….
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Bombay Bling sure opens with a burst of fruitiness. As time passes it gets better and better, the fruitiness fades and the sandalwood becomes more noticeable. But I don’t think it ever gets as good as Trayee or Mohur, so for me it’s a lot of time spent to get somewhere that I could get sooner and better elsewhere. But my daughters seem to like fruity fragrances and they have become more interested in perfumes lately so I think I will test it on them. Can Bombay Bling beat Daisy Eau so Fresh?
I’m afraid I’m not a teenage girl, so I don’t know if BB can beat out Daisy Eau So Fresh, but LOL! I fear BB will be too sophisticated and complicated for them. I suggest you find one of your wife’s friends who likes fruity fragrances and give the sample to her. It may be much more appreciated. 🙂
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