Can I be honest for a second? So long as this is a safe space, I guess I can admit that I haven't always been a huge fragrance person. Applying perfume didn't become a daily habit for me until I was in my late twenties, when hearing my friends and coworkers rhapsodize about their favorite scents and smells inspired me to work on my collection of everyday fragrances. While I'm still curating my lineup as we speak, the newest scent that I've been fully convinced to add to my collection is Byredo's Alto Astral.
Alto Astral is the newest fragrance to launch from the brand, and it's a sweet, gourmand scent that's a tribute to the culture of Brazil. "Alto Astral is that moment when your energy shifts and everything feels light and full of possibility," Byredo's longtime perfumer, Jérôme Epinette, tells Marie Claire. It features top notes of coconut (hence the imagery), which Epinette hopes will convey a sense of optimism and joy.
In need of a new go-to scent, I spent a few days testing out Byredo's new launch. Read ahead to get my unfiltered thoughts it.
The Fragrance
Alto Astral is a gourmand scent that features notes of coconut water, aldehydes, jasmine, sandalwood, cashmere, and salted amber. "Everything about this fragrance was very intentional," Epinette says. "I had a clear vision from the start. I knew that notes like coconut water, milky musks, and cashmere woods would work in harmony to tell this solar story."
Per Epinette, the fragrance is meant to capture the energy of Brazilian culture, and he was inspired to create it after spending time in the country. "Having traveled there and spent time immersed in its vibrant culture, I was truly inspired by the optimism and energy that pulse through everyday life," he says. "I wanted the scent to capture that unique blend of warmth and vitality that’s so deeply rooted in Brazilian culture."
Of all the notes featured in the perfume, the coconut water is probably the one that's most prominent in my opinion, but the scent itself isn't overpowering. It's also really warm and musky without leaning too far on the masculine side, which I can really appreciate.
The Application
On my first day wearing this, I'll admit that I wasn't super generous with the application—trying out new fragrances makes me a little nervous sometimes, so I try to be a little conservative with how much I apply in case I end up not liking it. As you can imagine, that caused the scent to not linger for as long as I would've preferred it to.
The next day, I got a bit more liberal with it, first adding a few spritzes to my neck right after getting dressed, and then working my way down, spraying the insides of my wrists and my legs. Then, I waited for it to dry down on its own, as opposed to rubbing it in and potentially breaking down the fragrance.
The Wear
After spraying the fragrance on at around 8:30 this morning, I noticed that I could smell myself during my entire walk to the train station. That said, by midday, I could still faintly smell it on myself, though I definitely felt like the scent had worn off a bit—a potential sign that I wasn't quite as generous with the application as I could've been.
The scent is great, but it's one that you may have to reapply during the day if you have evening plans.
The Takeaway
I was nervous about this scent being a bit to masculine for me at first, but after trying it, I was impressed by how versatile it is. It's a gourmand scent, but it doesn't lean too far on the sweet side, and while you can immediately get a whiff of the coconut water in as little as one spritz, the notes aren't overpowering.
So would I wear this again? Definitely! I can appreciate that it doesn't fit strictly into the box of being a summer or fall scent and is something you can wear year round. It's one that I'll 100 percent be adding to my collection.
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