Mysterious Nomad

I've not smelled Gypsy Water, so I won't attest to anything. This also has no resemblance to actual hinoki wood, which I own in essential oil form. It's actually much more pleasant, soft and wearable. There's a little citrus, but it really isn't the leading note. In fact, it doesn't smell like typical bergamot at all. "Mysterious nomad"? Ummm...not at all. More like warm, familiar, comforting hugs in a bottle. For the hour that it does project before fading, it's a beautiful and approachable tomboyish wood. Could be considered classically unisex (who cares though wear what you like regardless of gender). In the far drydown after this settles for a good long time it gives me the sensation so strongly of September/October sunlight warming up fallen fir needles in the afternoon. It's exactly the Pacific Northwest in the fall, one of my favorites aromas on the planet. It's so acutely accurate, that it made me tear up a little...this smells like home. How ridiculous to cry over a body spray! But honestly, I'm blindsided by just how realistic it is. I apologize for the oddly specific anecdote, but these moments (whatever they are for us) are the reason fragrance is such a precious pursuit. Longevity is still rather poor, because this fir needle thing is hardly detectable aside from being a skin scent. Which, to me, is almost better...it's just an intimate little scent for my own enjoyment, but absolutely nobody is going to smell this after an hour or two. ☀️ 🌲 🍂

Cozy lemon cake. Warm and pleasant, easy, approachable, office-appropriate everyday scent. Slightly musky vanilla-sandalwood. I love it. 8/10 I have GW as well, and I can confidently say that neither I nor my husband can tell a difference with the scent profile (especially after the first ten minutes or so). In the dry down, the difference is obvious because GW is completely gone... a nomad who has moved on in their journey and left behind just a memory ~ There are two reasons I am happy to buy this overt-dupe (even though I feel it’s a little icky that companies steal creative IP so blatantly in the perfume world): - The name isn’t racist. - It lasts about ten hours longer than the original. For GW to cost $235 and last only 10-30 minutes... I kind of think they deserve to get ripped off on this one, as that’s what they’re doing to their customers.

I know there’s some differences in opinion on whether this lasts long or not, but I still smelled it on my skin after 16 hours, very faintly. I would say that on some people it will be very long lasting, just not very strong smelling, as it has a weaker sillage. To me, this smells like a true spicy citrus. I know the notes say bergamot, I get a gorgeous lemon and pine primarily. I haven’t smelled G* Water from Byredo, but when I heard it’s a dupe, I looked up their notes and I would be surprised if it’s not. It smells very piney, spicy citrus with a hint of sandalwood vanilla to the dry down. Highly recommend as a long lasting citrus, but I wouldn’t call this girly by any means.

It’s weak but it’s cheap so just baptize yourself in it. I have it layered with Lush’s Vegan Leather Jacket and I’m pretending I dropped 250 on a new TF nobody knows about. Ngl the person who said it smelled like creamed corn is incorrect but I still laughed til I cried at that statement, so well done. There’s musk but it’s unlisted. Like very white musk fantasy musk but more spicy stuff rather than floral. You are going to smell like a dirty hobo, but a sexy one.

Im sitting in bed at 11:20pm and utterly dumbfounded at how I’m still able to catch whiffs of this after I sprayed it at around 11:30am this morning. I love this fragrance. It’s actually louder than G Water IMO, thought not as smooth and well blended. The differences are negligible however. This cheap alternative gives me the same reaction I get from the original GW. Well worth the price of entry and a worthy alternative for the financially challenged.

I haven’t tried the perfume this is supposed to be a dupe for so I can’t speak to the accuracy of that but I think it’s a wonderful smelling perfume. It’s definitely very sweet in a non-gourmand way with some spice and depth to it. It’s got an interesting woody base to it that has some freshness that really evens out the sweet top note for me. I get a lot of compliments when I wear this, it’s become a staple in my rotation.

Pair this with Father Figure or a FF dupe (BBW's Guilty as Fig or Dua's Hidden Gardens), and thank me later. ;) I love the bright, fresh opening and clean, powdery (somewhat vanilla?) dry down. Performance isn't the greatest, so opt for the cheaper body spray instead.

so excited this was added to fragrantica!!! this is my favorite out of this new collection. i love this brand. they really last all day for me and smell so luxurious. very woody, smokey, with a honey overall sweet smell.

Is this discontinued? I want to cry, impossible to find now... 😭

This is gorgeous and smells way more expensive than it is imo. And I think the packaging color on this one is really pretty; Fine'ry is hit or miss with me in that regard. I feel grown and sexy wearing this. This is the gold jewelry of fragrance in my mind. Smokey sweet. Actually much sweeter than I was expecting, and in a good way for my nose. But ultimately I decided to return it because I found the smoke was a little much for me. It was something I wouldn't reach for very often. I also have a lot of similar fragrances like Sweet on the Outside, Vanilla Skin, etc. that I find a bit more wearable. From memory it gives me a similar feeling that MM's By the Fireplace or Jazz Club does. The smokiness giving me a slight headache is very personal and truly isn't a knock on this frag. I think this is one of the best of Fine'ry, and I say that as a huge fan of the whole line. This one is balanced, interesting, classy. If I wasn't a lunatic about keeping a very small collection then I would definitely keep this one, especially for the price. I imagine once we start getting some summer nights and then get into the fall, I will probably wish I had this one again.

I haven't sampled the OG so this is purely based on the scent itself. I do quite enjoy it! I think it's a very unique scent at the price point and quite unisex. I don't get a ton of tea myself, but that may be because I have lots of actual tea perfumes. The opening is nice and fresh with the bergamot and hinoki and the dry down is a sweet, woody vanilla- but not a gourmand vanilla, like a sweet and soft powdery vanilla. I'm surprised they didn't mention the vanilla in the description because it's much stronger than the listed notes and lingers the longest, but maybe they thought it wouldn't sound masculine enough? Regardless I think it's worth a try for the price, Target usually has sampler bottles out of it so I'd recommend stopping in person to get a sniff before buying a full size.

I like this fragrance quite a bit. It opens with bright bergamot blended with spiced woods, followed by a subtle touch of sweetness. The dry down brings in a soft, powdery musk that adds elegance and depth. But when I initially sprayed it on my skin, it was harsh and too citrusy for me, almost like a citrus-scented cleaner. I wasn’t a fan at first. However, after about 15-20 minutes, the dry down completely won me over. On my skin, it develops into a gorgeous, easy to wear everyday scent that feels clean and sophisticated. It’s definitely a unisex scent that layers beautifully with a wide range of fragrances, allowing you to create custom scent combinations. Overall, it smells expensive, refined, and effortlessly put-together. 7/10 Sillage 6/10 Longevity 6/10

this one is really nice, perfectly unisex. can’t compare it to g water, never smelled it. this one starts off with a burst of citrus, and the tiniest hint of black pepper imaginable. it dries down to a very smooth woodiness. these perfumes perform like body sprays - the ones i’ve gotten, i’ve gotten for good deals in FB groups. i only spent $10 on this one, and that’s about right just for performance. it’s really not complex, but i wouldn’t be expecting that from fine’ry and the notes listed. it’s just a good, cheap freshie to layer with and definitely spray on clothes. 6/10 just for performance, but it smells great.

Lemon candy and fall leaves. This fades into a weak skinscent on me in no time so I think it's going to be better used on top of some other perfume oil. Demeter Saffron (really matches up to the concept) and Ginger Ale (sweeter candy) pair up nicely so far. This is my first foray into this brand and I also have never tried Gypsy Water, what this is supposedly duping. Like a lot of really cheap perfumes, this makes my throat and skin itch a bit. I was hoping to get more of a woody/spicy, more hinoki-forward vibe here but I still like it. Perfect late summer frag.

pepper jumps out at you when you spray it, bergamont is what lingers though. kinda weak though, so try to increase longevity by spraying it on clothes or moisturized skin. i was told this smells rather strong though, but the person that told me that is quite sensitive to smells while mine is admittedly a bit dull. i genuinely don't get the reviews saying this smells like creamed corn or vaginal. i'm not getting that at all. 4/5, points subtracted for poor longevity.

While it's not my favorite or even my top three finery it has a nice unique fresh scent profile Although Montana sky from pacifica is a different fresh scent profile ( but they both have black pepper and a wood) it's unique in the same way/sense. Not Wowsers but the scent notes together is a nice and unique dna. I can smell all the scent notes almost evenly but of course the citrus and wood stand out. A nice fresh wood, quite the combo.

i bought this because i, like many others, love gypsy water but cannot find a way to justify the price. mysterious nomad definitely has a similar vibe, but i couldn't detect any vanilla in the dry down and i'd say it's a bit more linear overall. layered with a powdery vanilla body spray or lotion would make it almost identical to byredo. if you're curious about this one, it's definitely worth trying!

Happy to report that this smells just like Collette Tocca which I guess smells just like G-slur Water Byredo. Idk, it’s $40? Staying power is worse but it’s cheap. Use it like a body spray. Great in warmer weather. It’s fresh and woody and it’s everything to me. Lemon merengue by a pine tree. I’m very happy. ETA I went to the Byredo store front to test and yes it smells like G Water lol

opens with a pleasant bergamot and black peppery bite that quickly settles into a warm, sweet, incensy wood smell. i wish the opening scent stuck around more, but it is pretty nice! i tend to like a dry wood, so maybe a little sweet for my taste, but i could see myself picking up a full bottle of this just because its such a good deal, and it smells and performs well above it's price

I can smell a hint of pepper in the opening, then some woods, and finally a LOT of vanilla in the dry down. Like I can still smell the powdery amber/vanilla after many hours of wear (thankfully I like vanilla). I was hoping it would have a stronger Hinoki scent because I love Hinoki wood, but it was more of a generic woods. Overall a decent scent for casual, cozy fall/winter-wear.

Aromatic spicy dark pepper like aroma. The performance isn't great here, but I do find the scent pretty unique. Kudos to the brand for coming up with a suitable name for the fragrance. Apparently, this bottle is discontinued? Not sure if that is true but either way, a solid scent. 7/10.

Beautiful but longevity and sillage for me are poor. Opening is spicy and citrusy, I get some honey and tea notes in the middle, then finally an amber/woody dry down. I have the body mist that I plan to layer with other fragrances. Shame this doesn’t last very long on me at all.

I was loving this for a while. Not sure how close it really is to G Water because I've never smelled that. But sometimes when I wear it, it smells like creamed corn to me. So I'm not sure if that's a me problem or what.... 😅

smells so good and sophisticated and niche for the price but the longevity is terrible, even after 10-16 sprays on my skin and clothes, the smell faded away after about 20 minutes, with no noticable scent left on my skin :((

The dry down of this is really good. Woody, warm and fresh at the same time. I tried ALT Bohemian Water, a dupe for Gypsy Water and I felt it was light, weak and underwhelming, but this one I like. Edit: Truly unisex too.

It smells mostly of bergamot, then white musk, and then it’s gone. It’s nice, though it’s mostly bergamot so it does give me a bergamot tea impression. Don’t get any of the black pepper, maybe a bit of wood?

more citrussy than the original. leans more masculine upon first spray and dries down to be pretty identical to G Water but a little less sweet. good longevity and great deal !!

I really like the way this smells, but it's the only fine'ry fragrance that I've had issues with longevity. It doesn't last longer than 10 minutes on me. Kind of a bummer.

This is decent. For the price, pretty good. It starts off way more peppery than G Water, but then in the middle and base is a pretty spot-on dupe

I actually prefer the body spray version of this, but it is a great dupe :)

Weak longevity performs like a body spray. Not worth the price

I sprayed this on my hand in the store (Target) and I loved it! ... once I brought it home, the strong citrus scent was a little too much for me. I mean like lemon drop and pinesol. Almost like furniture polish. Then it settles down to a pleasant little skin scent. I’ll have to wear it out of the house a bit and see how it performs outside. I just don’t like how it performed when I sprayed it on in my bathroom.

It does smell similar to Gypsy Water, but the lemon is too overpowering. It starts off as a freshly squeezed lemon and doesn’t really fade into something more tolerable until 30-40 minutes in. I was hoping to get more of the woody/vanilla notes. I had to pass because I didn’t want to smell like lemon cleaner. Maybe it would be better layered with a woody/vanilla body lotion?

(This is a regarding the body spray.) Bergamot, hinoki, and black pepper are some of my all-time favorite notes so I was expecting to love this one. Unfortunately, it just smells like a super generic musky scent on me. I get no freshness or spiciness at all, just blah. I am hoping that the EDP brings more to the table and will be trying it out in the future.

At first, it’s like oooh—wet, slightly fresh, and riding that fine line between masculine and feminine. It’s got a sexy edge, but then..... the drydown. ( Common flaw of a few of Fine'ry's collection it seems. ) Why does it start smelling vaguely like unwashed lady parts and lady sweat? Not in a full-on gross way, but in a way that’s weirdly sensual. Just maybe not something you actually *want* to smell like. The drydowns for Fine'ry really kill it for me.

at first i could smell the bergamot and black pepper and then it very quickly became a generic sweet gourmand scent. have yet to find a woody scent so far that actually smells woody on me.

I don't know how to feel about this one. It smells like my grandma if I got real close-up to her... but something about its uniqueness makes me keep on going back to smell it? It's a bit appalling to me but I keep on thinking I can do something to make it better, like letting it mature or layering it with a lotion other perfume. 6/10

Body spray is a complete fail on me. I was hoping for a naturalistic, spa-like scent, but it just makes me smell unwashed.

It’s good—I like this citrusy, peppery, woodsy fragrance. I really like how it opens, but I’m not sure about the lasting power. I work in a field where little to no fragrance is preferred, and I went light. Update: So I love the peppery opening, but I feel like it disappears way too quickly. I would’ve liked it to linger for a little while longer. That freshness really goes away like within seconds, and the hinoki wood is milder than expected tbh. I think somebody commented about using this like a body spray? And I would have to agree. It gets a lot softer, and obviously the bergamot is the only main note upon dry down. I like it, i really enjoy the smooth, sweet citrus from the bergamot and a little bit of depth from the wood. I just wish that pepper lingered a little bit more. I think this actually would pair very well with 000 from Le Monde Gourmand, since they’re both bergamot-heavy. or even Boy Smell’s newest Citrush. As for the Byredo...I’d rather get what I pay for rather than overpay for the same, if not worse, quality (or so I’ve heard). I would like to compare the two side by side soon. Will update.

I honestly wasn’t expecting much, since I find a lot of Fine’ry fragrances just meh, which is most likely since I’m not the biggest fan of the original perfumes they are trying to “mimic”. However, this scent is...chefs kiss! I’ve never smelled the original by Byredo, but Mysterious Nomad is stunning! It’s woody, spicy, citrusy, sweet, balsamic and creamy. I’ve honestly never smelled anything like it. For me it opens with a bright bergamot and spicy pepper cloud. As it settles, it becomes this intoxicating woody, smokey, balsamic honey dream. The honey note in this reminds me of the honey in Bee by Ellis Brooklyn, that rich, deep, dark, balsamic honey. This smells like such an expensive and niche perfume, when it’s only $30!

This is really solid - I have no interest in buying perfumes from Byredo, and Fine'ry have (allegedly) duped the poorly named G* Water. Mysterious Nomad has better staying power and achieves a similar result for $30 in the EDP version (there is a cheaper body mist but I can't attest). If you like a sweet citrus and woodsy (with light spiced) composition you will enjoy this. I'm going to try layering this with sharper citruses fragrances this summer because Nomad is on the creamier sweet side.

To me, this smells like limoncello mixed with maple syrup and something almost... smokey? It’s very sweet. A little bizarre, but not outright offensive. It’s a bit synthetic-smelling and not especially refined. I haven’t tried the Byredo G-water, so cannot compare the two, but I will say that I don’t get hinoki or black pepper in this. I did buy a bottle of this, but I just don’t find myself wearing it. When I do, it lasts 6+ hours on my skin. Will probably destash.

it smells like a TF tobacco vanilla dupe i had forever ago but this one smells blended. the dupe i had was like if someone handed you two separate fragrances and asked you to smell them at the same time, this one is much better. there's not much of a black pepper scent. it's actually pretty smoky. trust the reviews that compare it to some of the margiela replica fragrances, they're right.

This smelled like a MUSKY CAT CAME AND PEEd on my ARM!! The dry down was even worse... it kept smelling more and more like MUST... and bad BO! Now one thing about it... I love smelling good... I never smelled the OG... However the notes sounded interesting... and so did the finery one! WELP... if your in to BAD BODY ODOR with a hint of lemon... than this is your girl ... 🤷🏻♀️

It’s similar to sweet on the outside without the sweetness. Make no mistake, it’s not a gourmand but they share similarities. Initially fresh and spicy but the dry-down is vanilla. This smells pretty masculine if I had to place it on a spectrum, the vanilla is paired with a dominant woodiness. Among finery’s stronger offerings.

I found this to be a scratchy, heavily synthetic dupe of GW. There are similarities, but the Fine’ry version lacks scent progression, depth, and smells like a if GW was made into a cheap body spray. The lasting power is (accurately) minimal. If you want a dupe, look elsewhere.

I add this to my basic vanillas that need more woodsy depth. It’s a nice unisex woods.