I Love New York For All was the standout of Bond No. 9’s new I Love New York Collection. It smells like a bowl of Apple Jacks cereal, or maybe a Cinnabon. This may not exactly sound like a ringing endorsement, but it’s actually quite a positive thing for a sugar cereal fiend like myself. ILNY For All is a sweet, warm cinnamon fragrance with a touch of milk. To my disappointment, I do not detect any of the promised coffee note. ILNY For All smells instantly appealing. Gourmand lovers need to try this. In his review at Now Smell This, Kevin dismissed ILNY For All with the words “You’ve smelled this generic gourmand-type perfume a hundred times”. I’m sure that’s true, but I personally have never smelled anything like ILNY For All before, so it seems original to me!
I liked ILNY For All enough to buy a bottle, but I did not love it enough to keep the bottle. For Bond No. 9 prices, a perfume needs to do more than smell great. It should also tell a story, or provoke a surprising reaction. Earlier Bond fragrances, such as Chinatown or Fire Island, had the power to transport you (to an Asian food store or a 1950’s French beach, respectively). ILNY For All reminds me of an attractive man at a party who ultimately disappoints you by not having much to say. If ILNY For All was about $50 cheaper, however, I would have kept my bottle and considered it money well spent.
SCENTS OF SELF 
Hi Ari – if you like this one, you may also like Thierry Mugler’s Miroir des Envies aka Mirror of Desires. Very similar! They share that cereal/cinnamon note, which I actually “read” as buttered popcorn, and LT in The Guide describes as Nutella/hazelnut! Not my favorite to wear (I’d rather eat it!), but definitely interesting. Hey, speaking of…I have a sample I’d be happy to send you (received it when I purchased Angel Le Gout de Parfum, which I’m wearing today…another gourmand fragrance with lots of CHOCOLATE!). 🙂 Email me!
Karin, that’s so generous, thank you! But is the Mirror of Desires still for sale? I was under the impression it was limited edition and had been discontinued, and I hate to fall in love with hard-to-find things.
It’s still available on the TM website, and also shows up at discounters.
In that case I will definitely email you, thank you! I hope it is closer to “nutella” than “buttered popcorn” on me!
I was gifted another sample by Nordstrom. I STILL just smell sausage. I would much rather smell buttered popcorn or nutella. Mmmm, nutella.
It’s quite possible that ILNY For All smells exactly like sausage. But as I have never tried sausage, I can’t comment on their similarity!
That Prufrock poem could be given a transatlantic spin: “Do I dare eat a Cinnabon?” Even utensils don’t really cut it, I find. Or they do, and stuff squelches out. I am not sure I would like this scent if it resembles a Cinnabon. They – and it – would come into my category of: “Not worth the ca(lo)ries”… (or the mess) : – )