Calamity J / Lady Vengeance / Not a Perfume (Juliette Has A Gun)

By Andrew

Calamity J

The idea behind Calamity J is very clever. The top notes are essentially tart grapefruit eau de Cologne arrangement, but where convention might place woods or a light chypre underneath, Calamity J offers a smooth iris root accord. The velvety texture of iris provides an ideal foil for the prickly citrus and herbal top notes, and the result is an unusual and enjoyably lively interpretation of iris. Unfortunately, the citrus accord is short-lived, and nothing of equal interest enters in its place. After fifteen or twenty minutes of effervescent pleasure, Calamity J slips into a slender. mild iris, white musk, and vanilla accord. While the base notes endure for several hours, this scent stays very close to the skin, and it takes a heavy application to make much impact. My sense is that perfumer Ricci was aiming at transparency, but the result feels disappointingly hollow and incomplete after the clever introduction. There’s plenty of competition in the iris root field these days, and I don’t think Calamity J stands up well against Chanel’s plush 28 La Pausa, Acqua di Parma’s magisterial Iris Nobile, Heeley’s elegant Iris de Nuit, or Maître Parfumeur et Gantier’s quirky-yet-dignified Iris Bleu Gris.

Notes: patchouli, iris, amber, musk, vanilla.

Perfumer: Romano Ricci

Introduced: 2009

Lady Vengeance

Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind Lady Vengeance, has an admirable knack for breathing new life into classical ideas by approaching them from novel directions. With its dark rose and patchouli, Lady Vengeance echoes gargantuan 1980s rose scents like Knowing, Paris, but Kurkdjian has trimmed that style of its fat to yield a structure that’s at once more clear and incisive. In its relative starkness, Lady Vengeance also reminds me of the bold, Arabian-inspired rose and oudh style embodied in Montale’s Black Aoud and Czech & Speake’s Dark Rose. While the medicinal pungency of oudh is absent in Lady Vengeance, a bracingly astringent edge on its patchouli yields some of the same piercing quality.

Lady Vengeance grows softer, sweeter, and more voluptuous as it dries down. The vanilla and rose accord that it arrives at after a few hours’ wear feels natural, rounded, and comfortable - if also much less provocative than the patchouli and rose that comes before. Lady Vengeance is not a shy scent. It projects a good distance and leaves plenty of sillage behind it, so I’d advise modest application in fragrance-sensitive environments.

Notes: Bulgarian rose, patchouli, vanilla.

Perfumer: Francis Kurkdjian

Introduced: 2006

Not a Perfume

Let’s hear it for truth in advertising! Not a Perfume is a dilution of the proprietary aromachemical Ambroxan, which is employed as a base note in many, many fragrances. On the evidence of Not a Perfume, Ambroxan is not ready for prime time as a solo player. I confess that I’ve lost patience for this kind of olfactory one-liner. Once past the “Oh, that’s what Ambroxan (Iso E-Super/Cashmeran/…ect.) smells like” experience, there’s not much left to say. I’ll only add that bottling a single chemical in this manner requires no skill, artistry, or invention – just the nerve to charge consumers for the label.

Oh, you want to know what it smells like? A little bit briny, quietly musky, and of course, completely linear. I imagine you could obtain a sample from a supplier somewhere if you’re really curious.

Notes: Ambroxan

Perfumer: Romano Ricci

Introduced: 2010