This celeb-approved scent is my signature - here's why I recommend it to everyone who'll listen

If there's one indicator of a good perfume, it's this: someone stopping you on the street to ask what you're wearing. It's a fantasy, right? Wrong, it happened to me whilst wearing a certain popular, and oh-so luxury scent...

Considered to be one of the best perfumes for women and a true fragrance dichotomy, Byredo Gypsy Water is a unique, cool and under-the-radar perfume, smouldering beneath the mainstream waft of fruity-floral celebrity scents. And yet it's namechecked as a must-wear fragrance by almost every Beauty Editor I know, as well as a roll call of A-list stars - like Sienna Miller and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

As the name suggests, this nomadic scent is an ode to Romani culture. There’s definitely magic to it. Layered with pine needles, incense and sandalwood, the standout note (and the one that initially piqued my curiosity) is juniper berries. The effect is intriguing, alluring and enticing, so much so, that I recommend it as the one, premium fragrance worth adding to your collection - for the compliments alone...

Why Byredo Gypsy Water is the *one* luxe scent I always recommend

Of all the scents in my fragrance wardrobe (as a Beauty Editor, I’m lucky enough to have tried many of the best perfumes on the market), this is the one that racks up the most compliments.

My husband loves it. My children - who have been known to turn their noses up at some of my most prized perfumes - love it. And I have experienced that greatest perfume plaudit of all - being stopped in the street by a stranger to ask what it is I am wearing.

What makes Byredo Gypsy Water so special?

I am the sort of person who is automatically turned off by popularity, be it music, fashion trends or films (The Holiday? I just don’t get the hype!). Byredo Gypsy Water is still fairly niche, which obviously draws me in like a moth to a sweet-smelling flame. Its uncommonness is probably owing in part to its hefty price tag. At £140 for 50ml, this is no impulsive lunch hour purchase. 

After dropping enough hints to fill a copy of 'War and Peace', my husband very kindly bought me a bottle for Christmas 2021. I do tend to save it for special occasions - dinners out, family gatherings, date nights, and such - but that bottle is still going strong. If you’re lucky enough to ever receive a Byredo package, the experience of opening up the crisp white embossed box is almost as tantalising as the fragrance itself. Everything about Byredo feels like cool, understated luxury.

How well does it last on the skin?

Is it one of the best long-lasting perfumes? Sadly not, at least for me. It is a cruel twist of irony that the most delectable fragrance on the planet does not linger on my skin. Having said that, just because my nose becomes impervious to the scent after a few hours, does not mean that others do not continue to enjoy it. I am assured by those in close proximity to me that it still emanates into the day. 

I have found that layering the Eau de Parfum with the coordinating Byredo Gypsy Water Hair Perfume (available at Liberty) does improve the longevity of the fragrance. Still, nothing will put me off this enigmatic, fresh and woody fragrance. And until the compliments stop rolling in, I’ll keep on spritzing, sparingly, of course!