“Could Byredo ever put a foot wrong?”, I couldn’t help but wonder during a recent Carrie Bradshaw-esque musing session. No, self. Don’t be crazy. So long as the sun rises and sets each day, you know the perfume masters will be cooking up a cult-worthy fragrance in one of their sweet-smelling labs. The latest product to top must-have product lists everywhere is Byredo’s Gypsy Water Kabuki Perfume – a true game-changer for a ~gal on the go~. Fragrance in powder form has a certain elegance to it – the brush is super delicate on the skin, and the powder absorbs beautifully. It’s subtle, and I want it on my neck, wrists, and décolletage 24/7.

My first thought upon unwrapping this beautiful gift from above was: “How does this not already exist, and why did I not think of it myself?!” The brush application sits at the intersection of simple and genius, much like Old El Paso’s decision to include both soft and hard taco shells in their taco kits. It’d bring a tear to even the most dry of eyeballs.

I’ve done my fair share of ill-prepared commuting over the years. I was in a medium-distance relationship for over three years; a period of my life that was characterised by running late (literally) to the intercity train headed for my boyfriend’s house on a weekly basis, only realising I’d forgotten the required items for a weekend away once aboard. You know, small stuff, like a toothbrush, and underpants. Conversely, when I do give myself time to prepare, I’m a serial over-packer, meaning I’m compelled to lug around three quarters of my beauty cabinet everywhere I go, just in case any number of hypotheticals happen to materialise – high tea with the Queen, lunch at the White House, dinner with A$AP Rocky. None of them ever have, but I’m not willing to give up hope and/or shoving my entire life into a suitcase quite yet…

Do you know what’s weak? My upper body. Do you know what’s heavy? A travel bag that’s stuffed full of beauty products, giant bottles of perfume included. Thank Christ for Byredo, then. I just did a very accurate, very complex weight-test – my iPhone in one hand, the Byredo kabuki in the other. The perfume felt appreciably lighter – so light, in fact, that my hand didn’t even seem to register that it was holding anything at all. I live for such portability in beauty products. Anything that contributes to me not looking like Quasimodo after I’ve dragged a bag around Europe for two months automatically qualifies as Product Of The Week.

You can take it everywhere you go, even if you have a fondness for tiny, impractical Gucci handbags from the 00s (me). You’ll never have to cry-watch as airport security confiscates your $250 bottle of perfume again. Your next ~walk of shame~ is going to smell great. Your colleagues’ noses will rejoice!

Portability aside, there are many, many other reasons why the Byredo kabuki is our most-frothed product this week. The price is right, at only AUD $69.00. The brush was inspired by the traditional kabuki brushes that Japanese actors use to apply their theatre make-up. Cool! The brush feels super soft ‘n’ gentle on application, and is easily retractable, so it won’t spill out in your bag like a regular perfume would. The packaging is some of the most fleeky around. It contains everyone’s fave fragrance – Byredo’s Gypsy Water – which really shouldn’t need any introduction. In case you’re behind the eight ball, Gypsy Water is a heavenly mix of bergamot, lemon, pepper, juniper berries, incense, pine needles, orris, amber, vanilla, and sandalwood. Fresh to death.

Painting your neck with micro-fine, delightfully fresh powder from a compact kabuki brush is also lots of fun. Try it some time. Buy it here.

Words, Madeleine Woon.