5 Self-Care Essentials Bond No.9 Founder Laurice Rahmé Swears By
Welcome to Take the Edge Off, a series that breaks down the beauty and self-care routines of influencers, CEOs, experts, and celebrities. Find out how they unwind and decompress, while taking a closer look at the holy grail essentials they're currently raving about.
New York is the muse for beauty company Bond No.9, which counts itself as the first city perfumery to be headed by a female founder, Laurice Rahmé. The brand was born a short time after the September 11 terrorist attacks, a time when the city smelled like a literal war zone.
"The inspiration for Bond is a sad story. We're a downtown company, so when September 11th happened, we had a bad smell in the neighborhood for a few months, so bad that stores and restaurants started closing," Rahmé tells BAZAAR.com of Bond No.9's inception. "It just motivated me to make New York smell good again. I asked a number of fine perfumers from France that I know to create a fragrance for each New York neighborhood. Twenty years later, we have 80 neighborhoods with their own scents—within a candle, cream, or some kind of beauty product—and every year, we add two or three more."
Though Rahmé doesn't consider herself a perfumer, she works with different experts around the world to develop unique scents for her brand. "They were happy at the time to do something for the city," she says of perfumers who helped to jump-start Bond No.9. "So everybody dedicated a fragrance—one for Harlem, one for Chinatown, one for Little Italy. We had all this talent that was happy to do something for New York at the time, and they're still doing it."
BAZAAR.com catches up with Rahmé to learn more about her holy grail beauty routine, deep love and longtime practice of yoga, and personal revival of bold makeup. Here, a short list of the go-to self-care favorites the beauty founder returns to time and time again.
What are you reading these days?
Right now, it's La Peste, or The Plague, by Albert Camus. Reading the novel, it's exactly a description—from that century—of what's happening with COVID right now. Sad story. It takes place at the beginning of the century in North Africa, and then it went to many other countries.
What are some of your go-to bath and/or shower products?
Because I'm half French and half Lebanese, I use olive oil, but it doesn't have much of a smell, so I mix it with lavender. There's nothing better than olive oil for your hair and your skin—I know it sounds a little unsophisticated, but if you mix it, it's fabulous.
I'm 72 now, and as I get older, I need richer treatments, which is why I started using the La Prairie Skin Caviar Cream, which I've been using for seven years now.
What beauty or self-care products do you use on a regular basis to help combat Zoom fatigue?
When I'm wearing the La Prairie Skin Caviar Cream, I always feel that my skin looks supple and hydrated on camera, so it's really one of my favorites.
Do you ever light a candle or stick of incense to decompress? If so, what are some of your favorites?
The Scent of Peace has been our top-selling fragrance for many years, and it's very relaxing. With all that's going on in the world, I'm using a lot of Peace candles.
What was the last beauty product you put on today?
The last beauty product I put on was probably my La Prairie Foundation. I also really love using Guerlain's Terracotta Bronzer—it makes it look like you've gotten a suntan on the beach, and it's a very soft powder that's not drying.
Are you into bold makeup, no makeup, or no-makeup makeup right now, and why?
I always wear bold makeup, but during the past two years, because we've been wearing masks, I was not ready to wear makeup again yet. But lately, since we're a bit more free now, I've been doing bold makeup again, because I've been missing it so much. And I'm sure I'm not the only one; we women miss our lipstick.
What's the last fitness class you streamed or attended in person?
I've been doing Ashtanga yoga for the last 20 years, and this morning, I just finished my latest class; I use an instructor at home and do it twice a week.
What's one piece of self-care advice you'd recommend to our readers?
I've been mediating for the last 25 years, so I savor it, and that you can do anywhere that's quiet. It includes a lot of deep breathing, which is very relaxing. It's very important to breathe deeply. And one of the side effects of COVID is that it really affects your lungs, right? So I always recommend efficient relaxation and deep breathing—you cannot do better than that.
You Might Also Like
