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My first test of 2011 - Lady Vengeance

By Anonymous
Juliette Has a Gun perfumer Francis Kurkdjian's dramatically-named Rose bulgare, patchouli and vanilla scent.

(I had originally attributed this scent to Romano Ricci but after some research realize it's the perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, who formulated Lady Vengeance and Miss Charming for JHAG).

Yes, it has cousins in Montale Black Aoud and L'Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses, with major differences. Lady Vengeance is smooth, elegant, sophisticated and a seamless blend of the rose, patchouli and vanilla. I don't find LV as dark as Black Aoud, and the rose is much more pronounced in LV than it is in VdR... (of course that could be my nose, but in LV the patchouli comes forward and the experience is quite like a good patchouli-musk oil I used to wear, rather than being a story about rose.)

That is not to say that Lady Vengeance isn't a little dark... it's more the dark and mystery of a confident woman in slinky black haute couture and impeccable smoldering makeup than the brooding dark mystery of Black Aoud's Gothic / Victorian corseted lady in black (or frock-coated Gothic Dandy in black). Which puts Voleur de Roses squarely in the Medieval Faire black velvet broomstick-skirted hippy chick category.

I can certainly appreciate Francis Kurkdjian's treatment of the rose and the elegant simplicity of this scent. Sillage and longevity are impressive on my perfume-eating skin. A nice scent to start a new year, smelling like the proverbial rose.
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Comments

  1. AromiEroticiJanuary 1, 2011 at 12:08 PM

    Hmmmm......Rose, patch and vanilla. Sounds uncomplicated and delicious. I truly like those three notes when combined in the right amounts.

    Nice review and comparisons actias !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. tarleisioJanuary 1, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    LV is one of my favorite roses, now that YSL 'Paris* has been clubbed to death and left to bleed...The amazing thing about it is it seems so simple, judging from the notes, but on me, at least, it gets very complex, maroon-velvety rose and dare I say it...more than a little Goth. That's perfectly all right. I used to be one, and it takes one to know one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 3, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    tarleisio... I can certainly see how LV could be a certain (very slinky and confident) type of Goth!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 3, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    ...and probably the lady with the lacing through her back-piercings when she turns around in that slinky black dress.

    ReplyDelete

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