As far as Team Byrdie is concerned, a spritz of perfume is as crucial to our daily routine as moisturiser. It's the pièce de résistance, the final step of our morning regimen that makes us feel pulled together, no matter how little sleep we got the night before. It's a subtle and undeniably intimate ritual.
But that doesn't mean we don't appreciate it when other people notice. Some perfumes are personal favourites, while others are crowd-pleasers. (If you're lucky, you'll get a fragrance that can do both.) And we'll definitely admit to reaching for a scent in the latter category when we're in need of a little confidence boost.
Count that as yet another perk of the beauty editor gig: Once you've cycled through more than your fair share of fragrance testers, you start to get a pretty clear idea of which scents earn the most compliments. Keep scrolling to see the perfume that won the popular vote, according to Byrdie editors.
Tom Ford Santal Blush ($340)
"This scent has become my signature purely because it earns me the most compliments. In fact, a woman I met for the first time last week told me I smelled better than anything she's ever smelled in her life, hands down. I'll take it."
Frederic Malle Carnal Flower ($449)
"Every time I wear this thing, people don't just compliment me—they gush. I once sat in a 30-minute-long Uber ride where the (lady) driver talked about nothing but the perfume. Somehow, the floral, almost beach-like tuberose scent pleases every nose. If it weren't so heart-stoppingly expensive, I'd bathe in it."
"There are only two fragrances I've ever worn that guarantee compliments every time. In college, it was Thierry Mugler's Alien, a woody-floral-amber hybrid that is truly unlike anything you've ever smelled and forever cemented its place in my heart when my crush complimented me on it one fateful night."
"These days, I gravitate toward scents that are little more subtle, and there's only one of the bunch that gets consistent praise: Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black. It's a creamy blend of violet, sandalwood, and vanilla that's totally intoxicating but manages to not be too in-your-face. It's actually ridiculous how many compliments I get when I wear it; I've developed a sort of vain Pavlovian response so that whenever I spritz it before going out, I expect someone to ask, 'What perfume are you wearing? It's AMAZING.' So far, I've yet to be proven otherwise."
Chloé Eau de Parfum ($140)
"I'm not much of a floral perfume kind of girl (I love musky, spicy blends), but after spritzing Chloé's Eu de Parfum, I've gotten a ton of compliments. It's rosy, but it has notes of lychee and amber to counteract what could be an overpowering, old-lady aura (when I think of rose, my nose immediately goes to grandma). It's light; it's fresh—I love it."
Which fragrance gets you compliments every time you wear it? Tell us in the comments below.
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