Has there ever been a fragrance that you've just had to smell because of its name? For me, any perfume named La Femme Bohème would have been tempting. The fact that this fragrance is also one of three developed by perfumer Carlos Benaïm for Edward Bess made it irresistible, so off I went to sample it.
Aficionados of luxury cosmetics who happened to be in New York City in 2007 were caught off-guard by Edward Bess's initial appearance at Bergdorf Goodman. He seemed impossibly young as the founder of a cosmetics line, but there he was, debuting his first collection: a range of high-quality lipsticks that looked like "instant classics," performed beautifully, and steered clear of trends. Disclaimer here: I've been a customer at an Edward Bess cosmetics counter on and off for the past decade, so I'm acquainted with Edward in that context.
I actually remember asking Edward about his favorite fragrances back in 2009, and when he mentioned Olivia Giacobetti's IUNX line, I knew he was a serious fragrance-lover. His first perfume, a white floral named Eau La La (2012), didn't make much of an impression on me (gardenia just isn't my thing), but the descriptions for this new trio caught my eye. For the past week I've been wearing La Femme Bohème, an oriental with notes of honey, jasmine and amber and a descriptive narrative about a free-spirited woman who goes wherever the day (or night) takes her. Her story also includes mentions of cigarette smoke, wine and waking up "on a bed of hay." Wild nights, apparently!
I haven't done anything particularly daring or unconventional while wearing La Femme Bohème, but this fragrance does make me feel as though I could wander beyond my daily routine, if adventure called. It's the olfactory equivalent of a well-applied "cat eye" in black liner — a little edgy, a little timeless. It opens with plenty of broom flower, with its facets of grass and almond and tobacco leaf. This must be the "hay" of our heroine's night under the stars. The tobacco theme intensifies in the heart of La Femme Bohème and becomes more incense-y. (Incense is the motif shared by all three scents in this collection — I'll be reviewing Spanish Veil next week, so stay tuned.)
I don't usually wear fragrances with "cigarette smoke" notes —for example, Etat Libre d'Orange Jasmin et Cigarette is too literal for me, and Molinard Habanita is just too intense and musty for me to pull off. La Femme Bohème, however, lures me in with its hay note and its honeyed floral heart, and the smoke is so well-blended into the rest of this composition that I end up loving it. (And I've never even been a smoker!) The jasmine is a touch indolic, but it's mixed so deeply into the honey and incense-y smoke that it doesn't read as a discrete floral note; you don't have to be a jasmine-lover to wear this fragrance.
La Femme Bohème has moderate sillage and excellent persistence, leaving smoky-sweet traces on my skin throughout a long workday. I've been wearing it to the office in small amounts and applying more for evening. It smells particularly good on a scarf or cuffs the day afterwards. If La Femme Bohème were available in a smaller bottle, I probably would have purchased one by now. In the meantime, I'm feeling slightly addicted to my sample. It's not quite my usual fare, but it appeals to my hidden bohemian side.
Edward Bess La Femme Bohème is available in 100 ml Eau de Parfum ($175) at Aedes de Venustas or Neiman Marcus. You can find it in France at Colette.
Note: top image is Mrs. Rita de Alba de Acosta Lydig 1913 by Adolf de Meyer via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Oh what a lovely review. This sounds like it could have been made for me! I will have to hunt it down somewhere, which might be a deal breaker, since I may never find it. Is Mr. Bess’s hair as fabulous in person as it is in photos?
(And as an aside, I don’t think the cigarette note in JeC smells like smoke, I think it smells like a broken cigarette at the bottom of someone’s purse; there’s even a touch of spearmint, as if a loose stick of gum was down there, too. )
Hello! Maybe these fragrances will appear in other locations as well…? Keep an eye out!
And yes, E. Bess’s hair is just as beautiful in person as it is in photos. He was still wearing it short when he got his start at Bergdorf, but now (as you can see) it’s free-flowing in a Pre-Raphaelite way, and very healthy-looking to boot.
I didn’t know what he looked like, so I had to look him up. I can see why you’d say “Pre-Raphaelite”. He looks like he could’ve stepped right out of a Dante Rosetti painting.
Okay, I just had to Google his hair, and it sort of made my day.
Your description of a smoker’s purse is spot on! LOL! (The tiny bits of tobacco in all my lipsticks and chapsticks gave me the strength to quit.)
Oh, broom is gorgeous. I really want to try this too.
I didn’t know about broom until I first got acquainted with the Santa Maria Novella collection…they have a broom fragrance!
Didn’t know this, love SMN will have to try the broom one!
Oh my goodness, thank you for such an enticing review! This sounds right up my alley.
Holly, I hope you’ll have a chance to try it out, then!!
My oh my, he is a pretty specimen, isn’t he? I do miss the long hair on men aspect of the late 60s/early 70s era. I am more interested in Spanish Veil that in La Femme Boheme, the smoke note scares me. Has anyone sampled that one?
I really like long hair on the right men, too… my husband had long hair when we first met.
Stay tuned for Spanish Veil!
Oh, another to add to the never ending To Try list! Thank you for the review????
This one is worth adding to that list!
Beautiful review, Jessica..what you write is my thoughts entirely about this fragrance and I feel very tempted to by it
Also I love the 70’s retro feel the bottles have
Thank you! That is so nice to hear.
I like the bottles, too! and they have the same typeface/logo as his makeup — very classic yet modern.
Virginia Woolf’s Orlando is one of my favorite books, and Edward Bess is exactly how I imagined Orlando would look.
I’m looking forward to your review of Spanish Veil, too.
I need to reread Orlando…it’s been ages. I’ve seen the movie several times, though. (SWINTON!)
Such a fantast film, Swinton is DA BOMB!
Really one of my favorite actors (and style icons). She seems like a smart and lovely person as well as a compelling performer.
Yes! I thought the same thing! He’s definitely got Orlando written all over him.
This fragrance sounds amazing and I’m looking forward to hearing about Spanish Veil as well.
Thanks for the review, Jessica. This sounds definitely worth a sniff, and I have been a fan of his lipsticks.
Your smoke comment got me thinking of Fifi Chachnil, which I wonder if you like. Do you know it (or remember it)?
Although this one is more tobacco.
I do remember Fifi! I don’t have any samples to “revisit,” alas…
And as soon as I commented, I checked Beautyhabit,and they no longer have it on their website.
Hi, Anne which of his lipsticks have you tried? I am always looking for one’s that won’the dry my lips our…
I have Tender Love from the Ultra Slick ones, plus another that’s been dc’d. I find them very creamy and moisturizing. They used to be cheaper than $35. Ack, the price of lippies is getting out of hand!
Thanks!
Thank you for this review, Jessica! La Femme Boheme sounds *beautiful*, and I love the smell of broom (in spite of the fact that the plant is an absolute scourge on the west coast, and in spite of the fact that every time I stick my nose in its flowers I find myself nose-to-nose with a spider).
Oh no! Well, there does not seem to be any “intrusive spider” note here, for what that’s worth.
The couch that Rita is sitting on looks Art Deco.
The photo is from the end of the Belle Époque, a few years too soon for Art Deco I think.
Agree!
If you’re not a fan of gardenia or cigarette smoke, you definitely shouldn’t try Serge’s Une Voix Noire. Or maybe that would be the one to convert you
hah! I love the concept of Une Voix Noire…but as I remember, it was too White Floral for me!
I MUST try this one, what a terrific review. It may be THE one for me!!
I hope you’ll love it!!
Great review Jessica. I googled Edward Bess to see who we were talking about. Wow! Our 20 something son has the most gorgeous hair too. He grew it out to his shoulders during college and His locks were far more Lux than anything we gals were growing. And then he cut it off for law school! Seems a little unfair hmm? ????
I’ll be on the look out for this.
Some people get all the luck, hah!
Just because of his comment about Iunx, I will have to try his fragrances!
When I asked him that question, years ago, I was really impressed by his answer. Apparently he’d been spending time in Paris on business, so he’d experienced IUNX there. I’m always curious to know people’s fragrance tastes, but this was such an obscurely cool choice!!