EDWARD'S EDIT

Posted on by Edward Bess

For Edward, flowers are so much more than just beautiful decoration only to be admired – he sees these natural beauties as embodiments of the most intangibly important parts of life: memory, love, joy, passion, and purpose.

IN THE BLOOM OF YOUTH

Growing up in South Carolina, Edward remembers being surrounded by flowers blooming nearly year-round. His early affinity for all things beautiful informed his love for flowers of every kind. Memories of Edward’s childhood are dotted with quintessentially Southern blossoms – velvety white magnolia petals, the sweet aroma of honeysuckle nectar that filled the spring and summer nights, admiring carefully crafted camellias, and smelling the intoxicating fragrance of yellow Jessamine year-round.


WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Ever the aesthete, Edward favors flowers when sending a “thank you” or to commemorate meaningful milestones: “There’s a special kind of joy and delight that comes from receiving a carefully floral arrangement,” he says of making arrangements to send an arrangement. “I love requesting for the bouquet to include flowers that the recipient can hang to dry should he or she wish to forever remember the occasion by.”

When not at work on his latest beauty creations, you can find Edward spending the morning meandering through New York City’s famed flower district on 28th Street, carefully selecting the perfect petals to inspire his next beauty breakthroughs. Known for their particularly exotic specialty selections, the Dutch Flower Line is Edward’s favorite place to find flowers of all sorts to adorn his design space. With their offerings of cut flowers from everywhere around the globe, you never know what unusual blossoms will turn up, and it’s that very sense of discovery keeps him coming back time and time again.

BOTTLING BEAUTY 

Often, a specific flower will become a source of inspiration for Edward. “When creating my perfume La Femme Bohème, I specifically wanted to include Jasmine Absolute for its intoxicating smell,” he recalls. “It’s enchanting, sensual, and almost narcotic, but there’s a delicate, elusive quality to it.”

Much like La Femme Bohème herself, the essence of jasmine isn’t easy to capture. The ephemeral blooms must be carefully handpicked to avoid bruising the petals and disrupting the scent, and it takes about 8,000 blossoms to distill into 1mL of Jasmine Absolute.

This luxurious essential oil may be pricey, but Edward had no doubts about including it – and he was right. Evoking memories of sultry summer nights and the endless promise of a new day, the fragrance of this dusk-blooming star-shaped flower was the perfect ingredient to round out La Femme Bohème’s sweet, earthy notes of amber and honey. The end result is wild, free, and unforgettable.

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