It's quite hard to write about fragrance, which is why it's something I've done rarely throughout my nine (NINE!) years of blogging. Equal parts art and science, perfumers are sort of the rock stars of the beauty world (anonymous or not) and scent itself is highly individual, to say the least. I'm a fragrance snob of sorts, but by no means the worst of them – for those extremists, visit some of the niche fragrance sites around the web. But I'm a snob in that I refuse to wear, for example, a mass market or designer fragrance, with rare exception, preferring niche fragrance houses with limited distribution.
I've needed a new fragrance for some time now, and tested many in the process. There are scents that I keep in my rotation – Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, Kiehl's Musk Essence Oil and Child Perfume – but I wanted newness, and a scent that could transition more easily from day to night.
Enter Byredo. The uber clean packaging and mysterious fragrance names from this Stockholm-based house seduced me, so while in Paris, I stopped by Colette (THE HOTTEST NIGHTCLUB IN PARIS IS COLETTE, she said, a la Stefon) to sniff and to explore their small but thoughtfully curated beauty level.
Of the Byredo scents, it was hard to choose a favorite - and I admittedly overwhelmed myself by smelling too many perfumes in succession. Regardless, I fell in love with three - La Tulipe, Gypsy Water and Mojave Ghost, which as you can see above, came home with me. It's a mysterious scent, as mysterious as its name, and unlike anything I've ever smelled before. I'd describe it as a skin scent, warmed with floral notes of violet and magnolia, that smells almost like a gorgeous Southwestern desert breeze.
In retrospect, given that Byredo is about 30% less expensive in France (my 50ml bottle was just 90E, as opposed to $145 - and the exchange rate is very favorable at the moment), I should have purchased the trio. Regrets, I've had a few/two!
Explore the world of Byredo, visit their site or Barneys New York.
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