I have a pretty extensive collection of perfume and I'm always trying new stuff. So it's no half-hearted claim when I say that Chinatown is not like any other perfume I can think of. Oh, it's got familiar notes in it. And it's not some weird combination that was created more to be unique than to be wonderful. This stuff was made to be wonderful, but it just gets there in an altogether mysterious way.

The mysteriousness of it makes the name Chinatown an apt one: it's both familiar yet different. So let's talk about the fragrance. What I love about this scent is the patchouli and sandalwood, but those are undercurrents. Top notes are bright peach. It's a fruity-floral combo that has strong Oriental underpinnings.

Sometimes when you read a perfume review, you can somewhat envision (or en-smell) what the fragrance might be like. If you're like me, you're not very good at this although your olfactory ruminations usually take you to the right neighborhood. This fragrance is hard to describe and even harder to imagine.

You gotta try it. It's very like the Bond No. 9 line-up. If you know those scents, you'll find some of their signature notes in it. But it's also an interesting scent, not "like this" or "similar to that." I'd love to see what an Amazon-type retailer would do with this scent when it comes to, "Customers who like this product also like ...."

Bond No. 9 makes beautiful star-shaped bottles (which unlike the Angel starburst bottles from Thierry Mugler sit upright and orderly on your dresser) for all of its full-sized eau-de-parfum products. Chinatown is one of the few in the Bond No. 9 offerings to come in two bottles. The fancy one is studdied with crystals. It's ornate in a Mae West "too much of a good thing is wonderful" kind of way.

This is a very rich, textured, sensual, "big girl" scent. I've heard it described as sexy, which is maybe not the way I would describe it, but it's apt. It's more sensual and mysterious. We love this.

You gotta try this--and you can get it now!

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