I am a huge fan of fragrance. So when a new brand hits the market, I am all nose, especially when my favorite more established fragrance brands are being worn by what seems like everyone. I hate smelling like everyone else. In fact, I pride myself in seeking out unique scents that take my senses on a magical carpet ride to another place or time. Then there is the immense joy I feel when I get positive reactions from those who get physically close to me.
Knowing my proclivity for perfume, a friend of mine just introduced me to Béatus, a new collection of six nature-inspired fragrances that hail from France (of course) and will formally launch this Valentine’s Day. Béatus was founded by Gabriel Reboh, who is also the brand’s Artistic Director alongside of co-founders Christi and Billy Busch of the Busch Beer family dynasty, who came on about two years ago to help Reboh take the fragrance company to greater heights.
“Béatus is a brand seven years in the making. I created the product line after spending several years in France, the world’s fragrance capital and realized that it was truly possible for scent to inspire confidence, affection, love, elegance, and personality. This was the inspiration to launch my journey of creating an ultra-premium and luxury set of fragrances. Béatus in Latin represents a blend of emotions that embody the essence of the brand—happy, lucky, rich, opulent, abundant, generous, splendid, magnificent, and sublime. There are so many reasons to discover Béatus fragrances,” he tells me.
Born into a family of artists and beauty experts, Reboh opened his first salon in Montreal and then expanded to Miami’s Bal Harbor Shops and Melrose Avenue. He attributes his passion for fragrance to both his family as well as his storied career as a stylist and art director where he worked with celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, and Sharon Stone.
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“My background in upscale hair salons has exposed me to unique environments surrounded by celebrities and leading artists. That environment made me live, breath and indulge myself in luxury scents all day, in various notes and forms. Born into a family of artists and beauty experts, I launched my first salon in Montreal, and then expanded to Miami’s Bal Harbor Shops and LA’s Melrose Avenue. Being immersed in the world of smells became a part of me and that desire is what drove me to create the fragrance brand Béatus.”
I was very curious to learn about how the partnership with Billy Busch came about since it may be hard for some to see how beer and fragrance connect. Reboh explains to me that he introduced the brand to Billy and his wife roughly two years ago, when the couple was considering launching a fragrance brand of their own alongside of his illustrious family.
“Launching a perfume line has been a strong interest for the Busch Family for some time now, and they were very excited about what Béatus Paris stood for as a brand. After sampling the fragrances, the family decided to indulge into this venture with me. The Busch family bring decades of world-class production experience acquired through their involvement in the family’s American beer empire. The Béatus brand was created in accordance with the Busch family’s dedication to quality and excellence.”
One of the things that make this clean fragrance brand unique compared to other luxury perfume brands is the potency. “Apart from being a sustainably produced fragrance, all of our perfumes have amongst the highest concentration (22% to 25% of pure perfume) compared to other luxury perfume brands,” responds Reboh. “The higher the concentration, the longer the scent lasts on your skin and clothing and the more you appreciate the notes of various scents. There’s actually a whole science behind creating a robust, well-balanced fragrance and that is why we have partnered with renowned French chemists such as Dr. Jean Francois Rumigny to create a nature-inspired, premium perfume line.”
In fact, Jean Francois Rumigny isn’t just a chemist he’s a neurobiologist. I wanted to know how working on the brand with someone who studies the body’s biology of the nervous system lent itself to the experience the brand delivers.
“At its core, scents are scientific and there’s much more to scenting than meets the nose. Our noses are sensitive organs that detect more than 300,000 different scents. Having a neurobiologist on board ensures that science and the artistic sides work together to deliver a consistent experience,” explains Reboh. “Fragrance is a complex matter and our neurobiologists ensured that the fragrances’ molecular composition work in tandem with the scents to optimize the consistency of the smells and adapt to the pH of the user’s skin. The entire Béatus collection has long-lasting scents due to a careful choice of extracts and fragrant molecules based on our teams and partners extensive experience.”
The brand sources their raw materials from Grasse, which is known for being the perfume capital of the world, especially for sourcing flowers and herbs like jasmine, may rose, tuberose, and lavender. When it came to production the men chose a well-regarded partner.
“In my travels across France for inspiration, I was introduced to some of the world’s top perfumeries, chemists, and fragrance professionals. When I decided to start my journey in creating the fragrance collection, I leveraged that network and selected world-class partners to formulate the fragrances,” shares Reboh. “Beatus’ production partner of choice, Symrise, is a world-famous perfumery with a heritage spanning over 220 years. Symrise is the # 1 supplier of fragrance raw materials and are truly committed to perfume excellence.”
Attraction to fragrances has never been about gender and it is one of the things that I love about perfume. In fact, I am more often drawn to fragrances that are considered masculine, especially if they have sweet notes.
“Although all of the fragrances are unisex, we have Gardens, Alhambra and Giverny that appeal more to women given the lighter floral ingredients. The rest of the collection, made up of Tropical Forest, Sylve Noire and Haute Futaie, have a tendency to appeal more to men given the woody notes and ingredients such as Oud,” adds Reboh. “From our experience, women also really enjoy our men’s collection given it has a strong yet sweet scent. You can check out the full list of ingredients and inspiration for each perfume on our website.”
For those curious to see what the six fragrances are all about, Béatus will be available in several retail stores like Neiman Marcus (as well as their online stores) in the upcoming weeks. “We are slowly expanding to different retailers across the U.S. so that sampling the fragrances will be more accessible to consumers,” Reboh tells me. “We also have launched our own online store where you can purchase the perfumes directly. Béatus will soon also launch the ability to purchase a collection sample kit, where you’d be able to purchase miniature versions of the entire collection of the six perfumes for a rich sampling experience.”