34 Bohemian Cafes

In true Thin Wild Mercury fashion, 34 Bohemian Cafes is evocative, rooted, and expertly blended. The juniper and pepper are bracing - you can imagine this mixed drink hitting your bloodstream - supported by a grungy, atmospheric warmth. The top notes settle quickly into a phenomenal "place" smell: if you had a dusky rose perfume clinging to your clothes when you entered a dim, smoky, intimate space full of leather furniture and sticky wood tabletops, and then you lingered there, doing whatever underground debauchery genuinely suited you, all night long, this is how you'd smell when you reemerged into the fresh air. I imagine this particular Bohemian Cafe has a corner full of tattered secondhand volumes or a table toward the back full of ridiculous but deeply earnest poets squabbling amongst themselves, because something in the drydown - I imagine the iris and musks combined with that gorgeous aged leather and tobacco - really, really brings to mind the smell of old books and papers. Is it a little challenging? Maybe, if you're not a smoke-and-musks person. Is it a crowd-pleaser? Probably not. Is it intense and antique-grungy and melodramatic? Yes, in all the best ways. I'm obsessed. Even if you're not a smoky-musky-woody perfume person, I highly recommend sampling this one, just so you can appreciate the artistry.

For me, this feels like the bridge between the NY and the LA collection, but before we get into it, let's get something out of the way first. Despite the word Cafes in the name, this is not a coffee scent. This is Thin Wild Mercury after all, which means the fragrance was inspired by a different era. There's tobacco smoke, but it's not that simple either. It's in the air, it's soaked in the walls. Pink peppercorn provides a spiced kick, while a dry textured rose grounds the scent with a weariness. There's history, complexity, depth, and character. The reason I connect with this one is because it reminds me of myself. Sitting in a quiet, dimly lit corner of a coffee shop, scribbling together notes, then giving those words meaning, based on life. The adventures of a tortured soul, suffering through grief, finding love, searching for more. The description says poet and yes, I can see the poet, but it's also the rebel, the dreamer, and the visionary all rolled into one.

34 Bohemian Cafes is the home of your grandmother you don’t get to visit often. Or possibly a funeral home. Though I won’t venture there today. The opening is a smooth, rich, almost honeyed tobacco with a hint of sharp pepper spice. It dries soft and smokey, covered over with paper dry florals. Especially that rose. The home this builds is one strewn with intricate doilies, heavy quilts and hand crafted wood furniture. On the walls hang dusty, delicate, bouquets from years past. A pipe smoking habit is poorly hidden amongst the flowers. Such an inviting and soothing scent. Makes me long for a person that doesn’t exist in my life. I think I’ll become her. Easily a daily wear. Any season any time. So lovely.

If Replica By the Fireplace is a roaring living room hearth, 34 Bohemian Cafes is the smoldering embers of an outdoor bonfire. The juniper, pink pepper, floral and other organic notes give this one a lovely outdoorsy quality. It's still incredibly warm and its sweeter notes bring to mind a hot toddy on a cold evening. Wore it for an afternoon hiking in the pacific northwest and fell in love with how it blended with the smell of the forest. Going to be a staple fall/winter wear for me.

I loved this at first smell when I first purchased the NYC sample set from Thin Wild Mercury (later went back for a travel size), and it wasn’t until I read these reviews that it occurred to me that this could be a polarizing fragrance! I think it perfectly nails the boho vibe of an artsy, smokey, jazz cafe filled with leather jackets and instruments. Not great for spring or summer, but I adore it for fall & winter. I guess it’s not a safe blind buy, though!

I would by this in an instant if it was a candle... very sexy but a bit challenging for me to wear I’ve changed my mind about this... this is a beautiful fragrance... dry down is intoxicating... I feel sexy when I wear this. Jazz club vibes but sweeter....dark academia book by the fire... Lasts forever

After the (admittedly offensive) leather and rubber, it's a hypnotic incense that turns into syrupy liqueur. I love twm's dusty wood furniture. I find this fairly clean despite the tobacco and leather(new car smell), and the drydown is caramel sticky. Calm and sensual.

34 Bohemian Cafes reminds me of the theory that ghosts are like footprints of us existing in a single place but in different planes in time. There is something so vast and rich but devastatingly lonely about this perfume, like memories gathering dust and ectoplasm.

I like this one and girl of the year. Theyre a bit similar, top through base notes were all yeses for me. Although the base note kinda gives me a tobacco candle vibe but that’s ok. I like those anyway.

First impression from the sample set is that 34 Bohemian Cafes reminds me a lot of Chateau, another perfume from this house. It shares the same rosy, woody DNA, but with the addition of smoke and leather versus Chateau’s clean linens. I’d imagine this is what I’d smell like after a night out where I wore Chateau and hung out at a bonfire, borrowing my boyfriend’s leather jacket and bumming his cigarettes. I’ll need to test longer to get an accurate sense of the longevity and sillage, but the sample is radiating strongly and leaving a lovely scent trail, so I’m inclined to assume this is another big performer from a house that does beast modes well.

I don’t know what you guys are talking about. I find this one pleasant. It’s like a spice but found in the wild, not like a grocery store spice. I didn't like it as much on a piece of paper but on the skin it smells deeper and warmer. Maybe like a herby candle?? It’s not my favorite scent in the world but she’s cute.

I love the energy this one brings and I wish it worked better on my skin. Even though I didn’t connect with it immediately, I found myself smelling it on my wrist throughout the day. Maybe it’s an acquired taste. I also think I prefer more sweetness than this scent is willing to give. The notes are blended beautifully and the scent itself builds so much intrigue. I get a lot of pipe tobacco and musk, dark room with a wood stove and some dried flowers. It’s like Sherlock meets Alan Ginsberg. I want my boyfriend to try it.

This one is my second favorite of the NYC collection after Girl of the Year. Unfortunately that iris note in both perfumes kills it for me and overwhelms the rest of the notes on my skin. Really wish iris/orris wasn’t in these, but if that loud powder note had worked for me I’d probably be wearing this.

not bad from afar, smelling it faintly off my wrist was very nice. Too close to it and I definitely got the more barbecue smell, which was not great.

BLEH! the opening was promising: buttery iris against plush leather backed by an alluring trail of smoke and woods. but soon enough the leather turned into rubber, the smoke grew dank, and the forest succumbed to the overgrowth of juniper berries. the woods are sticky like syrup, and to a fault. my teeth hurt every time i catch a whiff. this isn’t a cafe; it’s a candy store with staff that don’t wear deodorant.

This is an old smoker’s leather jacket. Old ashed cigarette and wet worn out leather. It doesn’t ever settle into something wearable. It needs freshness or brightness to balance out the overwhelming funk. The notes list has some fresh-er notes included, to my notes these are not present in a meaningful way, just old cigarette smoke and leather.

smells like old :) like a very smokey rose but in kind of a nauseating way. enjoyed this way more in the bottle than on myself. tried to scrub , didn't wanna come off so now I must have a headache the rest of the day I suppose

again love the idea of this brand but this scent smelled like dirty clothes to me. like a piece I would pass on at the thrift because I couldn't stand the smell. jealous of the people that get it!! it sounds so cool

I find this aggressively Smokey, in no way one would find sexy and in every way you would come home from a dive bar smelling of cheap cigarettes

On paper, I should have loved this one, but it unfortunately gives me the worst headache and makes me nauseous. :(