After a couple of years running a luxury multi-brand perfumery of the same name in London’s Mayfair, Natalia Mizejewska has now developed her own range of complex, genderless scents. The name is Bel Rebel and it means Beautiful Rebel. Bel Rebel is a new niche fragrance line created by a rebel team in a rebel city. The perfumes are cruelty-free, predominantly vegan, and produced in small batches, with 100% compostable packaging. Quality should never mean compromise.

The official launch of Bel Rebel took place in mid October, but their shop opened last week and we did not miss the chance to visit the store a couple of hours before the grand opening! We found the place in the heart of Mayfair and we were impressed by the minimal aesthetics and the beautiful and feel-good design of the place. Soft lines, clean environment, beautiful light, indulging smells. We did not know what to expect, and everything was a positive surprise. We were immediately welcomed warmly and we were made feel like home. The first thing that caught our attention was the smell of the fragrances that brought immediately beautiful memories to us. 5 fragrances in total, each one of them with a distinctive personality. The moment you open the bottle you feel that a powerful scent is released. Either it is a bubble gum or roses or even a smokey scent, the smell is powerful, strong and irresistible. It will definitely not go unnoticed!

We tried all 5 of them, but our favourite was the Bubble gum perfume. Not only because it smells actually like bubble gum (a scent that we had never before seen in a perfume), but also it brings childhood memories and happy images on our mind by the time we put it on. The scent lasts is long-lasting and is a guarantee feel-good smell. The other thing that caught our attention was the packaging. Each bottle comes in a package grown in the Netherlands. Yes, that’s right, it grows. It’s made of agricultural waste and mycelium (which is a part of mushroom), which is fully compostable – you could literally throw it on the ground and it would be fine. You could also use it as a planter, or a container. Apparently sustainability is an important factor for the company who commits to small batch production, bespoke and refillable fully-recyclable and magnet-free bottles, carbon-neutral bags, cruelty-free and vegan scents.

We met Natalia Mizejewska, who was running a multi-brand perfume boutique, before launching a perfume brand with the same name name. “Preparing to launch a new brand in the current circumstances raised plenty of moral dilemmas. Is it the right time? Is it appropriate to promote a luxury product in this moment?” Then, she thought about our own relationship with perfumes and that we often turn to fragrances seeking comfort. “They bring joy, calmness and, most importantly, a sense of normality. The scents we love accompany us everyday, for our own pleasure. Bel Rebel’s collection has been designed for this exact type of an individual discovery.”

Natalia mentioned: “We take something beautiful and subvert it, blending it with unexpected twists which result in truly exceptional fragrances. Our scents create unique narratives, and challenge industry conventions. We aim to simplify what’s overly complicated and glamorised, believing that the radical honesty is the way forward not only in the perfume industry, but in all industries”.

“Achieving transparency as a brand is difficult, and transparency in the perfume world seems nearly impossible. We want to change that. By removing the mystery, and being straightforward and honest we encourage fairness and sustainability at every stage of product production. Is it worth it? We heard it can hurt business—but it changes lives. We hope that our actions will create a positive change—only by working collaboratively we can thrive and learn from one another. And just maybe then we will be able to achieve a fair pricing not only at a retail level, but also at the farmers level. We’d like to set a precedent for open communication between brands and customers, and encourage other brands to do the same”.

Bel Rebel was founded by Natalia Mizejewska who came up with the concept and narratives of Bel Rebel’s perfumes, created the list of initial ingredients and chose the final selection, but there is also a strong team of lab technicians, perfumers, writers, editors, creatives onboard to make Bel Rebel a reality.

Natalia says “Our perfumes are cruelty-free and produced in small batches, with 100% compostable bespoke mushroom packaging grown in the Netherlands. All our fragrances are made in-house in London”. There are 5 scents in total Born to Rebel, Bubble Gum, Rebel Soul Air and Unrequited. We did not create them as an antidote or response to any event, but we hope that the peacefulness, the pure joy and the spiritual calmness of the perfumes will evoke the feeling of tranquillity and ease which is especially needed in these difficult times. We hope that it will have a similar effect on you as soon as you smell it. If you’d like to discover Bel Rebel yourself, please get in touch so we can send you a set of samples”.

The perfumes are retailing at £139 and are now available at www.belrebel.com

EMAIL: REBELS@BELREBEL.COM
INSTAGRAM: @BEL.REBEL
STORE: 32 SEYMOUR PLACE, LONDON, W1H 7NR, ENGLAND