I'm a Fragrance Snob and a Beyoncé Fan—Here's My Unbiased Review of Cé Lumière
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Design by Bella Geraci
Beyoncé spent all of 2024 putting pressure on our pockets. This past year, the singer launched a hair-care line, whiskey, and another fragrance at what felt like lightning speed. Cécred, the hair-care collection she unveiled last February with her mother, Tina Knowles, has been well-received. It’s scooped up a few awards, including an Allure Best of Beauty prize. Sir Davis, Bey’s whiskey made under Moët Hennessy, nabbed four rather prestigious awards before it even touched shelves in August. And she didn’t get them because of her name, either—she submitted anonymously, presumably to avoid any bias over being a celebrity-backed endeavor. Most recently, she released another fragrance, Cé Lumière, the sister to her 2023 Cé Noir scent.
Queen Bey isn’t the type of celebrity to drop a ton of products on us, so these launches felt a little out of character for the singer. If you consider yourself a member of the Beyhive, your bank account has likely felt overwhelmed with all the newness she’s been putting out. The year 2023, alone, was a very expensive year to be a Beyoncé fan with the (well worth it!) cost of the Renaissance tour. If you thought 2024 would offer a 12-month breather, you were sorely mistaken. The good news is that no one is forcing you to spend money on anything, and that includes Cé Lumière. But if you were to fork out the cash, in my humble opinion, it would be money well spent.
Cé Lumière Eau de Parfum
$160.00, Beyoncé Parfums
Cé Lumière is tied to the world Bey’s created for Cowboy Carter, act two of three in the multi-album work she’s still in the process of rolling out. For over a decade, Beyoncé has released music in a way where it is to be experienced—savored, even. From visual albums to tours, she breathes longevity into her projects by making them multi-sensory events.
Her new fragrance, Cé Lumière, is the scent of Cowboy Carter, but this launch came with less fanfare than Cé Noir. We didn’t get a cute video of her talking about the scent. Just two Instagram stills alerting us to its arrival. But that was more than enough to spark my interest.
The Packaging
Cé Lumière comes in the same packaging as Cé Noir, this time in a metallic gold colorway. Just like the first scent, it’s nestled in a little holder, which I could do without, but I understand the vision. I’m a gold girlie through and through, so I’m more partial to the look of this new version. It complements the visual story we’ve gotten (so far) from Cowboy Carter. And no, there still aren’t official visuals — just YouTube visualizer, but the golden tone does remind me of the sun on a parched desert landscape, depicted in many of the videos we do have for the album.
The Experience
Both Noir and Lumière include notes of jasmine sambac at the heart and citrus at the top, but Cé Lumière is definitely not a flanker for the first drop. This fragrance is completely different—warmer, more sophisticated, and alluring. It has the intensity and mystery Cé Noir lacks.
At first spray, you get the spiciness of black pepper and the brightness of citrus, the perfect openers to support the prominent jasmine note, which is at once assertive and inviting. Even when the top notes settle, you can smell them in the backdrop, complementing the density and darkness of the jasmine. The musk and patchouli notes at the bottom offer a soft landing for the white floral-heavy heart.
Longevity
The scent trail for this fragrance at first is significant, but overall, I would say it’s moderate. You’ll smell it at arm’s length after four hours. On my skin, it lasts three hours. Not ideal, but here’s the kicker: It lasts far longer on your clothes which, fun fact, adds longevity to your fragrances anyway. I went nose blind to it after three or four hours, but people said they could still smell it on me well after that. I sprayed this on my body, clothes, and sweater for a birthday celebration and wore it to the office one day. The scent was still on my sweater a full day after in both cases, so make sure you wear this one with a knit for maximum longevity. Besides, this scent profile is exactly what you want steeped into a sweater. It’s wonderful.
My Honest Thoughts
Where Cè Noir didn’t say much to me, Cé Lumière is a yapper, and I’m hanging onto every word. She is sweetness and strength, darkness and light, intoxicating but grounded. This scent is far more dynamic than its predecessor. It feels like a completely different, more interesting woman.
My issue with Cé Noir was that it was just… nice. It didn’t have much personality, which felt out of step with the Renaissance era, a joyful, iconic moment in pop culture. It deserved something stronger and more statement-making. Cé Lumière leaves the impression I was looking for with Cé Noir.
I compare Bey’s latest to one of my favorite jasmine-forward fragrances, Amouage Portrayal Woman. It’s a go-to of mine. Where Portrayal Woman is ruthless and smoky through the wear, Cé Lumière is soft and comforting. Like I said, it’s a sweeter scent, while Portrayal Woman is something you’d want to linger on a well-tailored suit jacket.
One critique is that I wish Cé Lumière had a leather note. It’s apropos for a fragrance that goes with a cowboy album, plus I think it would add more grit to this scent. But I’m going to check myself here—my nose is drawn to niche blends. The leather might make it less appealing to a mass-market audience. What’s good for the hardcore fragrance girlies isn’t necessarily the preference of more casual fragrance wearers, and I get that.
We’ve gotta do something about that shipping cost, though. The bottle is available at Beyoncé’s website for $160 (for 1.7 fluid ounces) but comes up to $194.90 when you add tax and shipping. The almost $200-dollar price tag might deter someone who isn’t a Beyoncé fan from buying this, and that’s a shame because this is actually quite nice. Charging $18 for shipping is egregious—there absolutely has to be a less expensive option, or you can at least fold some of it into the overall price. I’d rather see a $170 price tag and $8 for shipping than what is currently being offered. It might be a psychological thing, but it could make pressing “Pay Now” less painful.
Cé Lumière Eau de Parfum
$160.00, Beyoncé Parfums
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