I couldn’t have been Lilly Pulitzer in another life because…she’s still alive, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the preppy “pink-and-green” color combo Pulitzer often uses in her designs. I was initially attracted to Bond no. 9 High Line because of its pink-and-green bottle — not its juice; High Line is a type of fragrance (rather artificial, high-pitched and “Fresh!”) I usually shun, and yet….

Bond no. 9 describes High Line as “the scent of wildflowers, green grasses…and urban renewal” with “a hint of industrial grit.” High Line (perfumer: Laurent Le Guernec) was created to celebrate the “new” High Line* “neighborhood” of New York City which is: “An improbable aerial walkway lined with concrete planks and railroad tracks, landscaped with meadows, wetlands, and wildflowers, the High Line hovers 30 feet above street level as it meanders along its route from the Meatpacking District to the former 34^th Street rail yards — sometimes bridging its way through buildings along the way.“

High Line, the fragrance, is categorized as “an androgynous floral-marine” perfume (the “marine” notes reference the nearby Hudson River); it includes notes of bergamot, purple love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis), Indian rhubarb, red-leaf rose, orange flower water, Lady Jane tulips (Tulipa clusiana), grape hyacinth, sea moss, teakwood, bur oak and musk. (I found nary a hint of “industrial grit” in the notes.)

High line starts with a burst of bergamot and a clean and tart “vegetal-fruit” aroma…

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