Bohemian Bluebells

We live in a strange world in which Zara, a seemingly soulless global superpower of a company can hit the jackpot just right, making a once-in-a-lifetime niche-rivalling, complex, sophisticated and frankly superb scent. I only write this review after buying out the remaning stock of Bohemian Bluebells on sale. Opens with hippy lavender, something you would expect to smell in a 90s headshop. Then it rounds out, develops, envelops you in a cloud of SPA-incense or expensive French soap. Almost makes you wonder if it's possible to have a lavender gourmand, honey-sweet and a bit powdery at the same time. This scent is nostalgia personified, slightly vintage, but also very clean and warm at the same time.The longevity and power on this is seriously massive too and nothing like you would expect from Zara, known for weak juices. If Jo Malone produced this for 5 times the price I would still buy it. Sadly Zara discontinued it for the sake of continuing to spit out 10 new unoriginal fruity compositions a week. I may be biased though because it seems like I'm genetically predisposed to love floral-woody-musks. I'm a sucker for this type of scent.

I love this one so much. Nothing smells like this, it's daring, bold and gorgeous. I love when I get whiffs of this throughout the day and I do - thank goodness because it's inviting and handsome and warm. Excellent atomizer and bottle too. Love it. I wore it to teach yoga today and it's been making me happy for over 4 hours now. Update: I get it now. One of my most favourite scents of all time has the exact same notes (with others) as this Zara Bohemian Bluebells - Obsession for Men by Calvin Klein. No wonder I love this. Lavender. Musk. Sandalwood. Slightly powdery sweet-ish on the dry down. My favourite Zara perfume 9/10 performance and 9/10 scent. On me, this lasts 10 hours (only two full sprays behind my ears on my neck), whereas the other Jo Malone/Zara collabs can be weaker.

the most daring and interesting scent from the emotions bunch, I can see why it isn't a crowd pleaser, it is the misunderstood child from the collection. I instantly loved it, the lavander at first is strong and herbaceous, then it envelops in honey accords ( reminds me of the honey in soir de lune) with a creamy sandalwood backbone. I find using it often before yoga and meditation , it is grounding , herbal and sweet, for the yogi on the go.

Bohemian Bluebells does start off with a strong lavender, but that quickly dissipates and becomes a sweet rosemary musk. There is a hint of bluebells in there, however the rosemary musk is by far the prominent scent here. I absolutely love it. Its light on its own but blends beautifully with Jo Malone wild bluebell or/and blackberry & bay.

It is quite a different and remarkable fragrance. While the intense lavender and musk notes create a beautiful harmony, it can also cause severe headaches for some people. Although it is a perfume that is not very suitable for the perception of the Turkish perfume user, it is worth trying, I really like it. Different and noticeable.

This is a genuinely lovely, natural smelling, easy to wear lavender. It's sweet and fluffy and makes me think of biscuits. I'm not sure I've ever smelled bluebells, but they must be somewhat similar to hyacinth, which I can definitely detect in the middle notes. It's a very cosy fragrance and quickly turning into a favourite.

I bought a tester kit of the entire Jo Malone x Zara line and just got around to trying this now. The opening is quite strong and reminiscent of an herbal concoction, almost got a bit of chamomile as well. It later developed into a beautiful honey-soaked lavender. I wish it was a bit more subtle, but it's quite hard to wear.

My favorite fragrance out of the entire collection (closely followed by Ebony Wood). Very natural dry powdery lavender with other wildflowers. Surprisingly good longevity for the line. It can easily be my favorite lavender scent at the moment and lavender is my favorite note, so that says a lot. Got multiple bottles.

A dark and musky lavender. Seems a bit more masculine than feminine to me. Smells like a French lavender to me. It is really growing on me. I was not in to it at first, but I am really intrigued by it. I agree that the name is an odd choice. I would pick something like Bohemian Retreat.

I love this one, hands down my favourite from the Jo Loves collection, but you really have to love lavender for this. Warm lavender tea with honey, drank in a garden while the sun shines on you. I wish it would last a bit longer on me though.

Strong lovely lavender scent, why did they discontinue this TT Still looking for a similar scent for about the same pricepoint and haven't found one that is as nice as this. Not a bluebell scent like the namesake, but still a nice lavender.

Simple lavender note, very safe for everyday Dried down to calming note, i sleep better after spraying this on my pillow For €22 this is beautiful fragrance Doesn't last long on me (l live in hot humid city)

I love it, it reminds me of the smell of wild flowers & fresh air in spring. I hope they'll never discontinue this one.

Strong lavender and so pretty, I love it

So glad to read that I'm not the only one who smells a good quality cheese in the top notes. To me it smells like Austrian/German mountain cheese tastes when you get a bit too close to the rind. Anyone else familiar with that flavour? That note vanishes after a bit though and you are left with a chic and cozy lavender in the style of Chanel's Jersey (I wouldn't say it's a dupe though). Surprising how niche this smells for a Zara x Jo Malone scent. If you are looking for an affordable fragrance in the 'weird niche meets mainstream elegant' category this might be for you! EDIT: I noticed a general annyoing thing on Fragrantica and you probably did, too: Reviews are getting deleted just because some people don't agree with someone's take on a fragrance. So I see that my review has been getting downvoted as it seems like that cheese note I was talking about is another one of these things that apparently only some people can smell (like some get pickle notes in certain woody fragrances or to some coriander tastes like soap). But I don't think reviews should to be downvoted just because someone's nose or opinion differs from your own. As long as everybody is respectful I find different takes and opinions very interesting to read and to see the wide scope of how different people perceive the same thing. That's why probably most of us are reading the reviews here! And different opinions can also be helpful for people who are thinking about blindbuying. So unless it's spam or blatantly mean I don't think reviews should be downvoted. If you don't agree with someone's perception, what you can do is add your own review so that others can read a different take. That's way better than voting for someone's review to be deleted and gives everybody a closer representation of how these fragrances are actually perceived by many different people. In general, it's a weird system that doesn't work if there are narrow minded people being active on the platform. It would be way better to only be able to like reviews and have a flagging button for spam and things that are unacceptable to say so that a designated moderator can look through them and delete things if it's actually neccessary.

I couldn't really make up my mind about this. First sniff off the scent strip, I hated it. Okay maybe hate is too strong a word, but I definitely didn't like it. I couldn't place the smell but it was just overwhelming. Sniffed it again when I was home, by then it has faded into this light, sweeter honey and flowery-musky scent and I loved it. It made me doubt myself, if I had remembered wrongly, mixed up the strips (I was testing a couple of them at the store). Decided to purchase it today. It was the same overwhelming and spicy scent that I disliked. It quickly faded into the honey + flowery musk scent that I liked. I tried slathering on unscented lotion and testing again. This time it lasted a couple of hours. The lavender scent was more obvious this time round but it lasted 5 mins at best. Given that I also own Fleur de Patchouli and Tubereuse Noir, the performance of this is really disappointing. A lot of potential, but pointless if it's only going to last a couple hours. However, I must admit it does last longer on clothing, so I suppose that's an alternative. Edit: oh and the sillage is really week as well. I can only smell it when there happens to be a strong gust of wind (I'm guessing it's emitting off my clothing though), or if I were to deliberately sniff my wrist. All in all, I did end up really liking the scent (once I get through the top notes) but it doesn't last long enough for me to be able to fall in love with it

BB is a dry, powdery lavender scent, not bad for its price point, but could be the most divisive fragrance in the Zara Emotions line. As a lover of lavender, I like the honeyed lavender opening. The lavender is herbal and realistic. The honey note manages to give the traditionally masculine-leaning lavender a sweetly feminine edge. It is an interesting use of lavender, and manages to be more reminiscent of the flower growing outdoors in early summer rather than the essential oil. Still, underwear drawer sachets come to mind. It has a woody drydown, becoming sweetly musky. It lingers, becoming increasingly dry. There is a strange buttery quality to the drydown also. Sillage and longevity are both moderate - BB performs better than others in this line. Unusual, even a little strange, BB needs to be smelled to be understood, and is definitely not a safe blind buy. Could be unisex. Funny choice of name too - much more lavender than bluebell. An interesting lavender scent that is also a bargain. 3/5.

A very unusual take on a lavander perfume. Smells clean and very, very, very soapy. I don't get any woodyness from the sandalwood, just lavander and musk. The longevity is moderate, however, the sillage is really intense, at least in my experience. Two sprays, one on each arm and you get a soapy lavander trail wherever you go. I like it. I don't love it but it is nice and different. Edit: i've been wearing it for a couple of hours. This is one of those really polarizing scents. My mom loves it on me, she actually said "now, THIS is a good perfume! It smells so lovely!". My partner really deslikes it. He thinks it smells like some kind of detergent. It's so funny to me how a single perfume can be perceived so differently! Edit 2: a few months have gone by and now it became an absolute love and go to for days that I want a very calming perfume. This is confortable, calming and cozy in a fresh sort of way! Cozy for the warmer months

Keep in mind that this was discontinued, so i had to hunt for it online. There is a small chance that the scent has mutated a bit from it's original state. It does open with a lavender note in the first few seconds, which settles into a more herbacious version of it very quickly. Which is a bit sad, because i hunted for this out of love of lavender. As soon as it sinks in, to me, the most prominent note is the musk. Intensely musky, definitely animalic. This is why i preface this review like i did, because a lot of people seem to report almost no musk. In the long run, you get the sandalwood as a backdrop, the musk shining through and, if you close your eyes, maybe a hint of a lavender scented soap that your grandmother had in her bathroom, definitely a lifetime ago. I was looking for a feminine punch of lavender but I am not mad at what i got, as i do deeply enjoy sandalwood and musk.

The opening is weird! The lavender note is so strong it actually reminded me of smelling a top quality cheese. As it dried down on my skin it started smelling woodier and elegant. I actually really liked it and purchased a 40 ml bottle. I really recommend it for the drydown. After 2 hours the scent you get on your skin is sweet, but not sticky, and really pleasant. It is not necessarily a sexy scent, but it feels like home. Smells of a good holiday in the Tuscany, with great food and great company. I'll definetely get myself another bottle once this runs out (or before that, we all know how Zara works!). If you want originality, don't look any further. This is just the antithesis of synthetic and ozonic. Smells natural and great. ATTENTION: Do not wear this for closed environments. It can be pretty toxic. Also, one or two sprays is enough. 7.6/10.

This is very interesting fragrance. It reminds me some Martin Margiela Replica fragrance but can't recall which one. I don't get how some of you guys can smell Kenzo Jungle in it... I slightly get the touch of some notes similar to CK Be. But in the end of all the similarities I think this is very interesting and quite original fragrance. It has some very soft cottony notes, a bit like very old-school baby shampoo with a lavender coming through. I think it's very comforting fragrance for spring time. It actually reminds me of a fresh spring breeze. I might get the full size bottle of it. PS: I ordered the discovery box to try them all out so will let you know my opinion of all of them. So far this one is the most surprising.

I am mostly into warm, floral and sweet scents. But I liked this one from first sniff. It isn't like anything I have smelt before. It starts with some wild lavender that portals you to an open field with sunshine. Well blended musk and sandal follows closely. The end result is a fresh, clean, soft and powdery scent. The disappointing things about this one are that others can't appreciate it as it sits so close to skin and it doesn't last long enough on me without dousing myself in it. It could have been 'love' but unfortunately I've to settle for 'like' with this one for those reasons. . . . If anyone of you can suggest something that smells like Bohemian Bluebells, but doesn't have it's shortcomings, I'd love to hear it.

Surprisingly I’m having a hard time picking up the lavender. It evokes more of a hokey gift shop or a Yankee Candle than anything “bohemian”. The sandalwood really stands out and I swear there’s also cinnamon in this. I expected it to be a lot more mature and sophisticated. It doesn’t last long at all either. Note: I liked Bohemian Bluebells a lot better on my second wear, the lavender’s stronger than what I thought was cloves or cinnamon originally. I think this was meant for colder weather, it’s the perfect fall-to-winter fragrance. Lasted much longer this time around as well, so I changed my overall rating from 3/5 to 4/5!

This makes me a bit nostalgic. I get some 90's vibes from this one. I get like cozy crystal boutique and luxury soap. There's a pretty sharp lavender note at first, but when it dries down it becomes more powdery and sweet. I do actually enjoy this one alot! It has a light musky smell to it, but I get no bluebells. Overall this feels nostalgic and comforting and I really enjoy it. My daughter thought it smelt like something an elderly lady would wear, and I can get why someone would think that. But, if you like lavender, and if you don't mind a powdery, musky scent, then you should go for it!

I’m brand new to fragrances and this was my first blind buy. I was nervous based on the reviews but it was cheap so I went for it. I got the roller ball and keep in mind my nose is unrefined! It’s all lavender at first. I like lavender, but it is kinda an old lady scent. Once it dries down I can definitely smell sandalwood and musk and it does remind of a gift shop with incense burning. I like that, it’s nostalgic and smells like the 90s. I made my teenage sons try it out and i think it smells great on them. My 16 year old said it smells like “a barn or soggy wood”. Lol

The bigges shame with Zara perfumes is that they are in-outs. I received a 10ml roller of this fragrance from a friend who didn't enjoy it. For me it was love at first try. So I hunted down a big bottle on second hand market. It is s lovely sweet and powdery lavender. I especially enjoy it during hot summer days. Even though it's sweet it feels refreshing. With time it settles down to sweet woody sandalwood and musk mix. Very simple and pleasant. If you like lavender and see it somewhere on second hand market, I definitely recommend getting it.

Ok, this one is really strange. Opening and drydown are like two totally different fragrances. Bohemian Bluebells opens with very strong lavender note, but it didn't last long. After approximately 10 minutes it changes radically - on my skin there's no more lavender left, only woody/spicy base which really reminds me Kenzo Jungle. I even put Jungle on my other hand to compare and they smell so similar. Of course drydown of Bohemian Bluebell is not so potent, but I can really feel the similarity between these two

Since so many people dislike this fragrance I feel obligated to write my thoughts about it. At first i smell the lavender but at the same time something that I only can associate with a very buttery home made caramel! After a couple of minutes, I smell only the later. Are some perfumes more inclined to be perceived differently depending on the person's skin and noses then others? Not amazing but nice, and a bit strange.

This is a very interesting fragrance. It's comforting and refreshing at the same time, very romantic... It actually brings to the fore a lot of emotions for me. It's a pale blue dress on a cloudy morning, a lullaby, a homemade fizzy drink. Beyond description in terms of notes. After some time, it takes on a certain 'grandma' feeling but that's not a bad thing here. It's just comforting.

I have mixed feeling about this, I love it but also it is not my kind of fragrance. I put it on my son’s (8yo) clothes and turned out it smelled really good. He wore it almost everyday and 12hours+ later, when I about to wash it, I still can smell it clearly. Absolutely gonna buy again for my sons and me (when i’m in the mood of wearing white shirt and jeans).

Honey, lavender, musk. For me this is a great scent once it dries down. The first whiff was borderline unpleasant, really strong powdery punch of lavender potpourri. But that dissipates quickly and the dry down is so pretty- warm honey, light lavender and wildflowers, musk. It's lovely on a warm, sunny day and sits close to the skin.

Strong lavender opening, for some reason the musk is incredibly resiouns on me, so I don't love-love it. I'm still glad I have it in my collection because it works well on me and doesn't go full herbal nuke.

Levander and musc, nothing complex. Calming and comforting. I miss a bit of creaminess or powderyness but otherwise its great for home or for those days you dont want to wear any strong scent.

Cold, unisex, and just plain weird. The most unusual lavender scent in my collection. I'm not sure if it's a love but I do pull for this on occasion and am never disappointed I did.

Big herbaceous lavender joined with some sweet musk somehow gives me an impression of wild flowers, a bit dirty, a bit earthy.

Sweet honey, lavender, and slight musk but no woody notes I can detect!

Opens with a burst of lavender, slowly subdued to a sweet aromatic lavender scent, which is not unbearable, but I wish the opening pure dry lavender smell would persist if you are not going to give me other more interesting notes in the dry down. The dry down still smells like lavender, but not as 'aroma therapy'-like kind of authentic lavender, its bit sweet for my taste, almost like a candy. Sadly I don't detect any wood in it.

I got a rollerball of most of this collection and specifically tried them without looking at the notes, I can easily say I don't get much from the florals. The perfume comes off as a feminine spicy almost bitter scent that dries to almost nothing. Upon reapplication, I smell more like bath salts than I do a floral perfume. No particularly strong feelings on this one, I probably like the name more than the perfume itself.

Heady lavender and powdery musk with hints of earthiness 🪻🌫️ Can wear it on a hike during rainy weather to feel like a part of nature,, tried my friend's bottle and not kidding I had butterflies flying around me cuz maybe I oversprayed it while going on a nature walk 🏞️ Lasts for about 3 hours on me and projects enough for people around you to smell it which is a big deal for Zara 😂

I loved this perfume when I first bought it but after wearing it a handful of times it makes me feel nauseous when I smell it. The initial spray smells nothing like the dry down. It is super strong and herbal in the beginning but dries down to a powdery, musky, sweet, honey lavender tea scent. It is a really unique fragrance but I don’t think it will appeal to all.

This is extremely lavender heavy, but not the sweet cookie lavender you might recognise from Mon Guerlain. This is a very herbaceous, aromatic lavender - quite masculine in comparison. It's bright and refreshing, and settles down into something creamier, but it's never sweet. I can see why it's divisive - it's very interesting though.

If I was about to judge it blindly I'd have never guess it is a lavender based scent. All I get is some blueberry pie with slightly herbal hints. Sweet, lovely, not cloying, but honestly I have no idea where to wear it to. Maybe the Barbie movie premiere would be the right place to rock it :)

I put this down as a 'like', and was wavering on a 'love', but after wearing it a few more times I've had to downgrade it to an 'OK'. I thought it was just the sort of sweet, lightly honeyed, musky lavender I was looking for, but after a while it becomes cloying and starts to irritate me.

It is really sweet and herbal. I have some different things on this fragrance. It smells like estragon and honey for me. I wouldn't recommend it to you, if you want to look beautiful in a modern way of looking beautiful. But I would like the smell if it wasn't so stifling.

hmmm... idk how i feel about this one. the spray is not that appealing but the dry down gets a little better. it turns into a lavender, honey, musk skin scent. it smells like lavender hand soap lol. it's up to you if you see it as good/bad thing.

I don't know how bluebells smell, but this is a lavender fragrance that smells a lot like a room spray rather than a perfume. It's not bad, just something I'd rather have on my linens than on my wrists.

Probably the least popular of the ‘Zara Emotions’ created by Jo Malone. But I got it anyway just to complete my collection of this series. It’s definitely more ladies than unisex.

Ambiguous cold floral that didn't excite me.

I recently ordered some perfumes from the site of Zara Greece and among them it was a small box with the vials of this collection. The first one that I tried was this one, but it was a big disappointment. Anyway, because I was in a hurry, I did not check the notes carefully here in Fragrantica, and it was the first sample that I randomly, blindly grabbed out of the box. The very first moment I put it on, a very strong smell of lavender standed out first, that made it unbearable and took me by surprise. I really wanted to wash my hand. It reminded me of a mothball. It took it quite a long time to mellow but the majority of the time its only main note was the lavender. I will do my best just to wear it a couple of more times so as to get rid of it, to consume it, in order to reduce the financial loss and that's it. It is really unbearable for me, I have read that the lavender has soothing, relaxing, qualities, but the specific perfume is a big NO for me. I own the perfume "Sheer Veil" by Vera Wang which contains lavender but in this case the result is wonderful.....totally the opposite.... very relaxing, well blended, with a nice, floral smell. When it comes to perfumes it is a very subjective matter anyway.....I have not studied chemistry in the university and I do not know many things about the world, the science of "perfumery" but I truly believe that the harmonious/congruous blending in the perfumery is really important, if not the success factor.....P.S.: I recently uploaded another review for a different fragrance by Zara and I mentioned that it had a kind of misleading name. I think the same scenario happens here, too. There are not any bluebells in the composition, and for me, imho, this is frustrating and deceiving.

I was excited to find some of the Emotions line at a local Zara store, but only this and Ebony Woods had testers. I loved (and eventually purchased) Ebony Woods, but sadly, this was a hard pass for me. I rarely dislike fragrances here on the site, but for some reason, Bohemian Bluebells immediately reminded me of Caladryl itch relief lotion. The lavender I picked up smelled dry and herbal. Though it's not exactly a bad smell, it did not smell at all like a perfume to me, certainly not something I'd like to wear. There was something a little musty about it. I have to note, though, that I had a bad experience with Caladryl as a child. I accidentally slept-drank some of it from a bottle on the nightstand, waking up immediately after with a terrible taste in my mouth, LOL. (I can still taste it from memory!) So this may partly influence my dislike for this perfume. Still, better try before you buy.