At heart, I am a New York City girl, and no matter how long I live on the West Coast, I will always complain vociferously about the lack of corner delis and the fact that everything closes at 10 p.m. So it should come as no surprise that my signature scent is by Bond No. 9, a fragrance company whose entire line is named after New York neighborhoods.

Nuits de Noho, my favorite, is described as a “new kind of nighttime femininity: Irreverent, unapologetic, favors a shot of icy vodka … the ultimate in sexy avant-garde urbanity.” Well, that pretty much describes me to a T … although I’ll admit to perhaps being a little biased. Is it mere coincidence that Noho was my old New York stomping ground?

The fragrance, which opens with dark, woody notes and then develops into warm jasmine, vanilla, and patchouli, is just magic with my body chemistry, and there’s not a single night that I put it on that I don’t instantly think of all the fun I had wearing it on nights out in Manhattan. Nuits de Noho is my signature nighttime perfume—and I do mean nighttime, because it’s a little too heady and sensual to wear during the day.

The real magic of the scent—or of any Bond No. 9 scent, for that matter—is that it is ridiculously well made. These fragrances do not come in watered-down cologne versions of the real thing. Bond perfumes are pricey, yes, but they are worth it, and with a real eau de parfum, you can quite literally feel the difference on your skin. The scents last all night, and frequently into the next day.

I picked Nuits de Noho as my signature fragrance long before I had ever seen the ad copy for it or learned that it’s described as “irreverent” and “unapologetic.” To me, it just felt like home. And no matter where I live, whenever I wear it, I keep memories of home with me.