Gypsy Water fragrance notes
Head
- Bergamot, Lemon, Pepper, Juniper Berries
Heart
- Incense, Pine Needles, Orris
Base
- Amber, Vanilla, Sandalwood
Where to buy
Latest Reviews of Gypsy Water

Brands update, re-brand and reformulate all the time for many reasons. I don't think it would be out of reach for Byredo to simply rename this one. If this is a good scent, I'd never know, because I'm not going to touch it with a ten foot pole. G*psy is not my word to use, and I won't wear a frag whose name I wouldn't speak aloud. It doesn't mean free spirit, it doesn't mean wanderer, it's a slur used against a marginalized group.
I know this doesn't bother a lot of people, but whether we like it or not, our spending speaks for us. I hope people aren't buying this stuff because they explicitly don't care about the oppression and genocide of Romani and traveling folks. And if they aren't, maybe they shouldn't be buying it at all.

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Everything about this is nice, nice opening, nice drydown. Does it have the 'wow' factor? I'm not too sure.

The base adds a vanillin note that is accompanied by a weakly ambery sideline.
I get weak sillage, poor projection and a rather suboptimal longevity of three hours, with the last hour being very close to my skin.
This summery scent is pleasant in its top notes, but only in a watery sense of a way; the rest of its development not exactly bad, but it is characterised by being generic, synthetic and diluted - as evidenced by the poor performance on my skin. 2.5/5

Projection is adequate and longevity is decent lasting 6-8 hours.

Good fragrance overall I guess, just not for me.
Not something I'll be decanting or paying $200+ dollars for.

Gypsy Water reminds me of that style, albeit with a great slug of vanilla and some incense, both of which arrive a little too soon on the scene to muddy the waters. In addition, whereas the favorites of my teen years were assertive, with the kind of heft and projection that could cut through even the thickest of girls' bathroom and college-bar cigarette smoke, Gypsy Water stays close to my skin.
While it lingers, it's interesting enough to keep me sniffing, hoping to snag and hold on to the accord of piney goodness that pokes out every now and again, but the whole thing disappears so quickly that I can't see paying full price for a bottle of something this elusive, no matter how intriguing.

To highlight the obvious, the EDC is obviously not much of a performer, but that's to be expected. I've not tried the EDP but I imagine it's a bit stronger, and better be, given the much higher cost per volume.
That said, Gypsy Water is a pleasant aquatic, a mix of citrus (lemon/bergamot), pine, and sandalwood, primarily, to my nose, though a handful of other notes are listed. I don't get any vanilla, for example. Still, it's a good blend, and I'd be curious to try the EDP to see if performance is better.
While the scent is nice, I certainly wouldn't opt to buy this, at $240 for a 250ml bottle. Far too expensive for the weak spray that it is.
7 out of 10

Lemony freshness then a creamy warm but not gourmand vanilla with a touch of amber on a bed of opulent woody notes of sandalwood creating a radiant, fresh and versatile aura. In fact the lime hits me first but mellows out quickly and the it just becomes sofly clean creamy scent. Not too overpowering but definitely there. Perfect for days that are growing cooler and shorter. All of the notes blend together pretty well. If you are looking for a nice soft not so in your face vanilla citrus that is just enough to obtain a swoon, you are exactly at the right place.

What a good start, or so I thought.
Unfortunately the party was soon gatecrashed by a lumbering ambery-vanillic accord that overstayed its welcome and just about overwhelmed everything save for the persistent incense.
If you enjoy vanillic insense scents as much as I do this is probably middle of the pack, some ways behind Atelier who did a far superior job with their Insensee Vanille.

Maybe it's more suitable when the weather get's warmer?
The juxtaposition between the"freshness" and the sweet warmth from sandalwood and vanilla is not cutting it for me. I miss nuances and depht.
If you do enjoy Gypsy Water I strongly suggest that you try the perfumer Jerome Epinettes Bonbon Tree at & Other Stories. I'm wearing Gypsy Water on one wrist and Bonbon Tree on the other and in my humble opinion it's basically the same scent by the same perfumer but to a much more appropriate price tag at & Other Stories. Gypsy Water just don't have that luxe , exklusive, expensive feel to it as with perfumes from Hermes or Lutens that imidiatly makes me feel special and exhilarated.
There is of corse nothing to complain about projection and longivity in this case when I just want to scrub it off...

It begins both lemony and coniferous. The lemon is sweet. The only other pine/lemon concoction I have worn is Blenheim Bouquet, but this comes off rather opposite, with none of the austerity of the Penhaligons offering. The pine gives way to vanilla and this comes across lemony dessert. Pleasant, but perhaps a touch too sweet. Is this the stuff of Gypsies? I have no idea.